Degreasing/cleaning engine parts

Here's testing with Plastigauge:

And the rest of the site:

No way he's married.

Also, his comment on the piston pins coming out because the aluminum expanded more than the steel is wrong. The pins aren't pressed into the piston, they are pressed into the rod and are free to move on the piston. The second thing about this is that if the pins slid out at 80C there is something wrong. This is a lower temp than the engine operates at. This is an example of why a competent rebuilder should check everything out for you. I'm not trying to discourage you from doing some of the work yourself. In fact I commend you for learning.

As far as cleaning the parts, his methods may work, and if you are going to try this I suggest using a cleaner called Mean Green instead of Simple Green. The stuff works much better and is only $5 per gallon as compared to something like $14 for SG. There are issues with cleaning like this though. The first is water, which will make rust in a fast hurry. You'll want to dry your parts immediately and then put some type of rust preventative on any critical surfaces. This isn't a real big deal because any good engine shop washes their parts in a soapy water solution after hot tanking, which brings me to the second issue. Hot tanking is recommended for the block (and head if you are rebuilding it). This will help remove all the crud in the oil passages as well as the casting pores that you can't possibly get to by hand. The shop that hot tanks your block will also have to replace all the cam bearings, oil plugs, and freeze plugs after the block is cleaned and prepped. The cam bearings require a special tool to install them. Make sure they use some type of sealer on the freeze plugs. I normally use Permatex High Tack (also known as gorilla snot to engine builders).

The more I think about your engine, the more I think it probably has a lot of miles on it and is ready to be rebuilt again. At this point, if I were you and were going to rebuild the engine, I would take the block, crank, rods, and pistons to a competent rebuilder in your area and have everything checked out. You may just need a hone job on the cylinders and the crank polished, but have the crank journals checked out, the piston to bore clearance, the bore roundness on the big ends of the rods, etc. You may also want to have the cam checked for excessive wear (keeps the lifters in order if you take them out!!!!!). Replace the oil pump and screen, if you end up having the block dipped, have them do the crank, oil pan, and all the other steel/cast iron pieces that will fit in the tank. They'll usually do them for free or for a few bucks extra.

Chris