Watch BRM’s 350 Chevy Engine Cleaning Video

Brush Research Manufacturing (BRM) bought a used 350 Chevy engine and tore it down. As last week’s blog entry and engine teardown video explained, our junkyard find needed engine cleaning. The block showed some light rust, and the cylinder walls required surface finishing. As a full-line manufacturer of brushing tools, BRM put its products to the test. As this week’s blog entry and engine cleaning video explain, performance starts with the finish – and the results speak for themselves.

Let’s take a closer look at the brush tools that are featured in our 350 Chevy Engine Cleaning video. They aren’t the only BRM products that we used for this project, but our new video includes some great shots of copper center wire wheel brushes, wire end brushes, toothbrush-style scratch brushes, and (of course) Flex-Hone® tools. Not shown in the video are abrasive nylon copper center wheel brushes, cylinder washing brushes, abrasive nylon twisted-in-wire brushes, and the Flex-Hone® for Rotors.

Copper Center Wire Wheel Brushes

With the engine teardown complete, the video starts with how BRM cleaned the V8 block with copper center wire wheel brushes. These small-diameter power brushes come in several arbor-hole sizes and are ideal for mounting in handheld power tools. Unlike larger-diameter brushes, BRM’s copper center wheels don’t push away from the work surface. Wire wheel brushes are great for rust removal, and can have either carbon steel or stainless steel filaments.

Wire End Brushes

As the engine cleaning video also shows, wire end brushes are great for general block cleaning.  BRM end brushes are available in solid, knotted, and circular flared designs, and are used typically with a high-speed handheld tool. These power brushes clean, blend, polish, deburr, and prepare surfaces in small, tight, or hard-to-reach areas. Choose brushing tools with carbon steel or stainless steel filaments, and the brush diameter that best suits your application.

Toothbrush-Style Scratch Brushes

BRM’s engine cleaning video also shows toothbrush-style scratch brushes for reaching small, tight spaces. These hand scratch brushes are available in several different widths and are ideal for hand deburring, thread cleaning, and the removal of rust or corrosion. Toothbrush scrub brushing tools are staple-set in wood or plastic, or molded in plastic. The bristles are made of stainless steel, brass, nylon or natural filaments.

Flex-Hone® Tools

BRM Flex-Hone® tools are available for any type or size of cylinder. The 350 Chevy Engine Cleaning video shows flexible cylinder hones in various sizes, and notes that these ball hones come as small as 4-mm. Automotive engine applications include valve lifter bores, coolant lines, valve guides, cam oil ports, cam journals, and cam bearings. The BC Series Flex-Hone® tools shown in the video can also be used to surface finish brake and wheel cylinders.  

GB Series Flex-Hone® tools are used to surface finish, deburr, and deglaze engine block cylinders or liners. Designed for bore diameters from 3-1/4” to 4-5/8” inch, these engine hones have an overall length of 13-1/2”. Like BC Series brush tools, GB Series flexible hones are available in a variety of abrasive types and grit sizes. As the 350 Chevy Engine Cleaning Video shows, BRM ball hones can be mounted in a handheld electric drill and impart the ideal cylinder wall surface finish.      

Visit the Booth. See the Block. PRI Show 2014 (Booth #5511)  

Do your tradeshow plans include a visit to PRI 2014 in Indianapolis this week? Visit BRM in Booth #5511 at the Indiana Convention Center and learn more about all of the automotive surface solutions that we used in our 350 Chevy engine project. Our technical team is ready to answer your questions, and can share the complete list of brushing tools that we used. Plus, you can see the block for yourself!  To arrange a PRI Show meeting in advance, contact BRM today.