Is my Cylinder head okay?

[GTDannyGT]

Changing my head gasket and see this in my 2005 mustang gt how do I clean the piston and valves or is that not recommended? Do I just leave them and put everything back? Was also going to put hot rod caps in but not sure if this is an issue the car has 200k miles

 

[JC SSP]

Try a Wire brush and some solvent.

Although with the heads off why not have a machine shop freshen them up?

 

[GTDannyGT]

I was thinking about that but I have a budget with this lol I’m gonna get some quotes and see what my options are. What about the pistons are they okay to run still?

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

Apart from the no.3 cylinder possibly running slightly lean (clogged injector?) and some traces of oil around the intake valves (worn valve stem oil seals), I don't see any issues with the cylinder head or the pistons. Just spray them down with some carb cleaner first and then gently rub the carbon deposits away with a fine wire brush or some emery cloth.
You might want to take the head to a machine shop to have the valves lapped and the head surface checked for flatness. They can also replace the valve stem oil seals for you. Otherwise if you reassemble the engine and have problems afterwards, you'll be kicking yourself for having to tear it down again. It won't cost you much but it could save you a lot of money afterwards.
I'm not sure why you needed to change the head gasket in the first place since there's no evidence that it was blown.

 

[GTDannyGT]

I had an ongoing misfire that I could not figure out so decided to pull everything off and rebuild the top end and re do all gaskets that’s why I went down to the block

 

[JC SSP]

So you never found out or confirmed what was causing your miss fire?

 

[GTDannyGT]

I found out my timing chain guides blew so it’s definitely that lol but after finding that I wanted to just do all the gaskets cause if your under the car there is leaking everywhere

 

[86GT351]

Try a Wire brush and some solvent.

Although with the heads off why not have a machine shop freshen them up?

Never use a wire brush!!! It actually can put pit marks in the Aluminum

 

[JC SSP]

Ok copper brush like I use on my firearms. Lol

 

[86GT351]

Ok copper brush like I use on my firearms. Lol

A little better. LOL!

 

[GTDannyGT]

Never use a wire brush!!! It actually can put pit marks in the Aluminum

Would it be safer to use 200 grit sandpaper by hand?

 

[GriffX]

legitstreetcars has nice cleaning videos of head and pistons

 

[GTDannyGT]

legitstreetcars has nice cleaning videos of head and pistons

Alright I’ll take a look thank you

 

[86GT351]

Would it be safer to use 200 grit sandpaper by hand?

Absolutely. Take a sanding block so you know its flat