How to keep junk out of the engine while scraping RTV off of block? Also, gouges on windage tray?

Hi everyone. I have the oil pan off of my Miata currently to fix a leaking rear half moon seal and also to drill and tap it for a turbo oil return fitting. I have the fitting in already and the oil pan all cleaned up, all that is left is cleaning up the RTV off of the block. However, I of course do not want any gunk falling into the engine while doing that. How do you guys recommend I keep all the old RTV and other junk from falling into the engine while scraping it off? I'm a rookie when it comes to any of this, so I'm not trying to mess anything up...which brings me to my next issue.

I made a pretty dumb rookie mistake with the windage tray. While trying to remove it, it was really stuck on there, so I decided to try and use a small screwdriver to separate it from the block. Well, I ended up gouging the windage tray up pretty bad. I got lucky that it wasn't the block. Here is a video of the gouges:

https://youtu.be/E1_4um0ONh4

It isn't great, and I know I messed up. You live and you learn. Would a healthy dose of black RTV seal that up, or should I look into purchasing a new windage tray? I'm not sure how salvageable it is.

Thanks for any help on both of those matters!

Japspec said:

It isn't great, and I know I messed up. You live and you learn. Would a healthy dose of black RTV seal that up, or should I look into purchasing a new windage tray? I'm not sure how salvageable it is.

I expect RTV will seal that fine.

As for the block -- is it still in the car, or did you take the whole motor out?  If it's still in the car and you're crawling underneath to clean it then gravity will prevent the RTV scrapings from getting into the engine.  If it's out of the car and on an engine stand you could accomplish the same thing by spinning it so that the flange is on the bottom.  Alternately you could spin it to a 90 degree position and then do whichever half of the block flange is on the bottom, flip and do the other one.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Japspec said:

It isn't great, and I know I messed up. You live and you learn. Would a healthy dose of black RTV seal that up, or should I look into purchasing a new windage tray? I'm not sure how salvageable it is.

I expect RTV will seal that fine.

As for the block -- is it still in the car, or did you take the whole motor out?  If it's still in the car and you're crawling underneath to clean it then gravity will prevent the RTV scrapings from getting into the engine.  If it's out of the car and on an engine stand you could accomplish the same thing by spinning it so that the flange is on the bottom.  Alternately you could spin it to a 90 degree position and then do whichever half of the block flange is on the bottom, flip and do the other one.

Thank you! Do you think I should file down the rough edges of the gouges before resealing? I feel like maybe that should help seal them up with RTV better. And thats a good idea rotating the engine 90 degrees and scraping off whatever is on the bottom half (its on a stand). I don't know why I hadn't thought of that!

i have a windage tray and oil pan that looks like it was hit by a jackhammer for 30 minutes. you'll be fine with that

ive never sanded or filed down the rough edges before but i also use a relatively healthy amount of RTV as well. Since its just a surface that is there to seal oil from coming out, i imagine you'll be more than fine without sanding it down. If it makes you feel better, I don't see why not.

turning the engine on its side is a good idea, not one that i personally bother with a whole lot. I usually just pick the large chunks out and scrape with an outward angle to minimize anything falling in, towels or anything that'll separate debris and the surface you dont want it on is my go to method. 

I'd have it pan side up, scrape it all off, pick the big bits out and then flip it right side up and use about 7 cans of carb cleaner to clean everything and let it fall into an oil drain pan

But I'm kind of inefficient sometimes 

Someone suggested shaving cream and a shop vac after. Never tried it myself.

I did the shaving cream and a shop vac when I was working on the heads / intake of my gm v6.  Worked awesome!

Shaving cream? Never heard that one!

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! The shaving cream one sounds interesting. I have yet to invest in a shop vac though. Probably a good idea to get one.

Japspec said:

Thanks for all the suggestions guys! The shaving cream one sounds interesting. I have yet to invest in a shop vac though. Probably a good idea to get one.

Note that shop vacs are designed to suck water, not hydrocarbons.  Aerosolizing a flammable liquid and then sucking it through an electric motor with lots of static and possibly sparks sounds like a good way to make something go boom.

I usually just plug all the drain hole with clean shop towels, or cling wrap, followed with careful, low suction vacuuming with a screen over the hose end. A vacuum 'crevasse' attachment also helps. Just make double sure that you remove the towels and/or cling wrap when you're done (years ago I found the remnants of red shop towel under the intake manifold on a V8). Owner said that he had the push rods and lifters changed at another shop some years earlier.

In reply to codrus (Forum Supporter) :

Good to know for the future, thanks!

I did the rotating 90 degree suggestion above, and it worked great. It was a little more labor intensive to rotate the engine by myself, but I managed!