how clean does this have to be?? theres no easy way to do this except with a putty knife or screwdriver and even then i cant get it perfect.... i can get most of it but it seems like theres a small film i cant get off.....

help?

 

as long as you get most of it you should be ok. Just as long there isnt one big spot that could potentially cause a gap to leak oil

 

I used a wire brush and WD40 / Gasoline to clean mine. The cleaner and smoother the mating surfaces are, the less likely it is to leak.

 

ok so its just a really time consuming process.......

but how do you use WD40 or some liquid and not get any inside or even have the grease/dirt not go inside the engine??? that gets me a bit.

thanks again guys.

 

When i do it i just try to be as careful as i can , after i am finished run the jeep for about 50 miles then change the oil and oil filter just in case.

 

Don't worry about it. A wee bit of wd40 will not harm anything. If you've got chunks of gasket laying in the rocker area, vacuum them out. Little bitty pieces of cork or something aren't going to detonate that motor. Pieces of METAL...that's different...but your gasket is not make of metal, it's cork or silicone or something. A piece big enough to plug an oil gallery is something you can pick up with your fingers.