3M RoloDisc

[DSiemens]

Has anyone used a 3M Rolodisc to clean the block and or head? The disc(s) are made of some sort of plastic?? compound, discs are in different colours which denotes grade of courseness. They are round and have many "fingers".

 

[Jdimig]

dsiemens



i have never used them on a head before, but i don't see why you could not use them. i have used them on many other projects and they seem to work good on metal surfaces. the only thing you need to be care full of is making sure you don't leave any plastic particles or residure on the head. just blow the head off with some comp. air and you should be fine.











-wes

 

[RTillery]

I sell engine rebuilding equipment to the machine shops and they love guys that clean off gaskets with the disc abrasives. The aggressive use of them will tend to dig into the narrow spots around bolt holes and water jacket holes lowering that area in relation to the overall height of the fire deck. When a head or block is set up in a surfacing machine it is obvious to see where the abrasive disc has dug in. We are only talking about a tolerance of a few thousands of an inch. A much better way to clean the decks is to get a bondo board, (large sanding board available at any parts store that sales body shop, paint stuff) and use a 36 or 80 grit paper to clean the surface. Good luck

 

[DSiemens]

Thank for the replies. I was wondering if possible metal erosion would occur. Now I know. Looks like I will be using lacquer thinner and a razer blade scrapper. The head is off, what a heavy beast. This is going to take some time to clean. Thanks again.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

I use the scraper & thinner routine every time, and finish with a scraper that holds a single edged razor blade. It takes longer to scrape, clean, and mop out all the head bolt holes than it does to remove the head.

 

[csevers]

There are several different type s of Roloc discs the multiple finger style, buffer pads,grinding pads The finger and grinder type will remove metal, the buffer pads are much safer I have used them with care and have had no problems. All the heads gaskets I have done I run a very thick wide ******* file across the head and block to see if there is some "low" spots, going one way and the other will show the low spots.

I have seen a chronic oil leak do to the use of grinder pads on an aluminum housing, couldn't see it with the eye but put a straight edge on it and it was very apparent, had to replace the acc drive housing to fix it, very expensive for a simple mistake.



Craig

 

[SMorneau]

I think it would be possible to clean off the deck and head with the roloc disc if you used the correct ones and were carefull. Even if you just end up polishing the head it may affect the sealing performance... just a thought.



Here is a tip on the rolocs, buy a 2" and a 3" holder. Use the 3 in pads on the 3" holders until they start wearing out and then use the same pads on the 2" holder to extend their life.

 

[JFinke]

I use the 3" green (medium) on cast iron heads and blocks all the time at work and I have never had a head gasket fail from irregularities. You need to scrape all the gasket chunks off first. Snap-On makes a carbide scraper that you pull. It will get the big chunks in several passes safely. If you try to clean the whole thickness of a gasket off one spot and next to it there is no gasket you can erode meatal. As long as the pad is moving (laterally, not just spinning) and covers all the deck surface evenly they are fairly safe. Never use them on aluminum heads. I use them carefully on aluminum intakes, timing covers, thermostat housings, ect. I have seen as many aluminum parts screwed up with razor blade scrapers or glass beaders as with the roll lock pads. The time you save cleaning parts on a for hire job is about an hour. When billing jobs at flat rate thats $60 for about dollars worth of pad.

 

[JoeBioDiesel]

You also need to be very careful about getting any abrasive into the oil return holes. I have seen several engine failures, on gassers, after cleaning up intake manifold surfaces. An oil analysis after using the Roloc pads will convince you...

I used to use them all the time. Now I don't use them on anything inside the engine.



Joe

 

[nickleinonen]

we have the 3m type rotoloc discs 3" at work we use on small air buffer/sanders. i have a 2" arbor on mine and i don't want a 3" for it. it lets the disc flex more. we use the brown course ones [they have medium red and some fine blue but i never use them] the brown ones will burn through 1/16" heavy paper gasket that is stuck down good [if it is in a bad spot where you can't scrape/hammer old one off... ]

 

[CFAR]

We quit using them after the 2nd engine replacement.