Hey Guys,

In the process of a teardown and just removed the heads so that I can have them machined and new components installed. My concern is the exposed cylinder walls/block. I'm 2nd owner and this looks like the first time heads have been removed, decent amount of carbon build-up but overall in very good shape. Anything I should do to protect the open cylinder bores?

Original intention was only to have the heads off a few days while the work was done but budget didn't allow it so now it's going to be a couple/few weeks and I don't want to damage the block. It was bad enough that some coolant got into the cylinders when the heads were removed but I was able to get all visible traces cleaned up, so I don't want to compound the problem. Anything I should be aware of, steps to take or will it be okay sitting open until I get the heads back? A sidenote is the engine was not removed so it's still under the hood. I've attached a pic for reference of the current state.

 

Rub the cylinder walls down with some oil, and lay a towel over the engine to keep the critters out.

 

^^^This. Just don't be surprised when you get some oil smoke out the exhaust upon initial startup. It will burn off quickly.