Reviving the Dead '58 Hemi: diesel fuel as a cleanser?

[PNKMoore@xxxxxxx]

Dear IML folks:

I'm just getting started on a '58 Southampton, my first attempt at a "restoration."  The Hemi's been sitting for 27 years and I'm accumulating lots of great advice from Dick and Hugh about getting it back into service.  I read Ross's article too.  I plan to drop the pan, clean out as much gook as I can, clean the oil pump, pull and clean out the valve covers, etc.  I'll also wash out what I can from the collant chambers.  I'm not going deeper until I determine that the motor will fire.  A european mechanic friend of mine warned me to make my initial work investment by confirming that the motor would fire.  He said (add Swiss accent here): "You moost make soore there's a strong heart before you eenvest in the boody."  Sounds like mail-order bride advice.

Question:  One local motorhead has advised me to fill the drained block with diesel fuel and hand-circulate it to clean out the crud.  I'm not entirely sure I want to risk that, especially if I see an accumulation of baked-on goo that may be best left "asleep" until a rebuild.  I suspect, however, that the block is clear because there are dozens of oil change stickers stuck up and down the driver's door frame and even a few under the hood.  (what was that all about, I have to wonder?)

Regardless, any thoughts out there about the diesel method of block cleaning when you're trying to get a dead but not caked engine just clean enough to fire?

I'm having the best time with this!

Patrick Moore
'58 4 door Imperial hrdtp in Southeast Louisiana