So I took off the intake manifold of my LT1 to modify and anodize it.. It was off for like a month, and now the lifter valley has accumulated dust and crud from being in my garage and also from above the intake manifold gaskets. (I did my best to clean the intake and blow off the crud with compressed air, but some wouldn't come off until the intake was removed)

Everything that's in the lifter valley falls down past the cam and ends up in the oil pan. Then it goes into the pump and then the filter. So the only things that could really be harmed are the cam and oil pump.

I'm thinking I'll just pull the oil pan (replacing the pan gasket anyways) and spray down the lifter valley with carb cleaner, and let all the crud fall out. Is there any chance the cam could be damaged by this? (It's a roller cam) Also, the engine won't be running for another year or so, so anything I do has to be able to sit that long without doing damage.

I could also try to wash it out with new oil I guess, but it may not do a good job of rinsing.

Any suggestions?

Nobody knows if carb cleaner will harm my engine? I'm about ready to go for it and hope for the best

wont hurt a thing--but you will need about 10 cans of it to do a good job--if you don't get all the crud off and it leaves any kind of sludge the cleaner will slurry in it and when u put in fresh oil and fire it up, the new oil will be diluted with solvent. Get it clean and let it airdry for awhile--

wal mart .88 a can i buy it by the case there (carb clean)
really cheap
james

I did it with 3 shop size cans of gumout. Everything was nice and clean. Then I put my shop fan under the engine and dried it out. The whole lifter valley and lifters were completely dry as a bone and CLEAN. After that I put the oil pan back and dumped a gallon of oil all over the lifters. Then I put a squirt of oil in each spark plug hole and spun the engine around a few times, just to make sure everything was well lubed again.

Before I get ttiwwp'd... I'll post some pics once the engine is all back together.. probably tomorrow.