Rep Power: 0

Hey everyone. I picked up my cylinder head today from the machine shop. They milled it on the sealing surface but did not clean it at all. It is still covered in oil and all kinds of gunk everywhere except for the sealing surface. When I called the guy at the machine shop about it, he said they never clean them if the cam and valves are in the head and that they blew it off with air and it should be safe to put back on my car. Is this really common practice and is it ok to install it?
​is seems to me that metal particles or dirt would be left in the oil and would wind up ruining the whole engine.

 
Rep Power: 224

Every time I've brought a head to the machine shop I remove the cam(s) but leave the valves in, they always hot-tank it. I've only ever used one machine shop so I can't say if that's the norm.

 
Rep Power: 244

I would clean it. Not sure if it’s “normal” Or not but you don’t want any dirt or shavings getting into the engine.

 
Rep Power: 0

Ok, is there anyway I can clean it up at home without removing the rocker arm assembly or the cam? Could I just spray the whole thing down with brake cleaner and then oil it up before installing or something? Thanks

 
Rep Power: 512

I've always stripped the head before bringing it to my machine shop.

As far as cleaning goes, they've always told me, "I can hot tank it for you for $35 or you can buy a couple cans of brake cleaner and diy at home for far less"

Not sure how brake clean affects soft seals (e.g. cam seal, valve seals) tho, so do so at your own risk