well i got a motor off craigslist for $300. It had bad head gasket due to shop didnt torque down head bolts. There is roughly 3000 miles on this engine. New crate engine with new head. The engines outside looks brand spanking new. When i pulled the head today to put new gasket in there was rust on top of pistons and on valves. Should i pull all the pistons and re hone the block or should cleaning the top of pistons and valves be fine. There is absolutely no rust under the pistons just the top service and the cylinder walls due to was sitting for a year. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

how long did this thing set?

I would get the whole thing rechecked- valves, honing, new rings, etc.
all things considered, you could even have some rust around the crank and bearings.

 

Making sure that there is no rust on top of the piston, should just be fine, Make sure you polish the top however or you may have problems. And the valves also need to be completely cleaned of any rust or you may have some problems too. Don't forget to not make the same mistake the garage did, it just sounds like some moisture or water got in the block and settled on the valves and piston. All this is assuming there is absolutely no more rust anywhere in the block.

 

I agree with abecedarian, you should definetally make sure that there is no more rust anywhere in the block.

 

well i have the block on a engine stand now and looking through the bottom of the block at the bottom side of pistons and crank there is absolutely no rust just on top of piston and cylinder walls and on valves. Being that there is rust on the clyinder walls i think i might take it safe and have the block honed and cleaned. But i think i might get away with just cleaning the valves. What should i clean the valves with while there attached to head?

 

if it's just surface rust on the cylinder walls, you're probably okay.
if the head's off, an extra fine 3M scotch brite (0000 steel wool would be better) to clean the valves.

 

i will try that. thanks for the tip can i use a wool pad to clean cylinder walls as well or is that better to get honed