Morris Minor Owners Club

how does one remove all the accumulated crud and gunk that gathers around the cylinders?
i have got it all out of the heater and the radiator, but i cannot work out how to get it out of the engine block.

Caustic soda?

ah, i didnt think of that. would i have to first mix it up with water and then put the whole lot in the cooling system (which would be alot easier as it would clean the whole lot)

Dont forget kettle descaler. and when its all back together use some rad flush first to make sure everything has gone.

Drain cleaner in extremis! But don't leave it in there for more than an hour or so - with the engine running all the while!

ah, now drain cleaner sounds the bees knees, ill find some stuff and put that through. hopfully iy should be nice and clean afterwards

Wear gloves and don't breathe in!

ok, i tried caustic soda and used alot, so much so it stripped the main clean off the front cross-member where i spilt some, but alas, i the cylinder block tap is still clogged and their is still a heck of alot ot crud sitting at the bottom of the cylinder block. anymore ideas?

Try unscrewing the drain tap from the block and poking out the crud with a small screwdriver to start with. once it starts flowing you can use a flexible wire such as a thin welding rod to poke around the water passages to some extent. go back to it a week later and do it again until if flows clean.

If you cant get any flow at all then it is severely clogged up and would probably need a strip down and tank clean.

Go with what taupe says. a single piece af scale will easily block the tap.
Are you having overheating problems?
If not then don't worry too much about getting everything "as new" there is a fair amount of slack in the system (in a good way) and it will be fine.