On small stuff that's really got it baked on, I start with oven cleaner, then diesel, then soapy water. The oven cleaner seems to really penetrate the hard gunk. On a big project I'll start with the oven cleaner and a putty knife, and then I'll take the whole mess to my friend's shop who has a giant dishwasher type of a parts cleaner. It does a really good job, but he charges me $20.00 to plug it in to heat it up, and it's 15 miles away, so I only do that when it's really worth the effort. Wear gloves like those playtex gloves that your mom used to wear.

yeah that is better. Dont try to flush the diesel via the toilet.

Is oven cleaner ok to use on aluminum or just steel?

I've used it on aluminum, steel, magnesium, and fiberglass. I wasn't ever looking for a concourse finish, just looking to remove all of the gunk, so If you're looking for perfection I'd recommend that you test a small area first. I didn't notice any changes in color, but I wasn't looking for it. I was looking for gray metal instead of black crust. It gets spray paint off of fiberglass engine shrouds better than the new environmentally friendly paint stripper, that's for sure.

I took my engine cases to a local transmission shop and he put them in the cabinet that he uses to clean transmission cases (most are aluminum). He charged me $10 to clean the case ($20 for two). He did a great job for cheap. I use two cheap bead blasters to clean other stuff. One has glass beads as the medium and the other one has crushed walnut shells. The walnut shells are not nearly as abrasive as the glass beads and do not leave a rough surface on aluminum.

Tom

I have not started cleaning my 3.2, but I was assuming that kerosene would do the job.

I do put in some ATF to make it a little easier on the hands, also cuts down on flash rust.

When I had my engine apart I jet washed the cases, on the hard encrusted bits I used paint stripper to loosen it and then jet washed it again , and repeated the process until it was clean and then for the internal parts etc. and the final wash on the cases I used diesel in the parts washing.

hope this helps

Mineral Spirits. Doesn't corrode. Cuts the oil and varnish. Doesn't turn the gunk into cement.

Mineral Spirits.

+1/2 ... 'odorless' mineral spirits ;)

-michael

Don't do what I did...trusting the douche at Shuck's and using a water based degreaser. That sh--tuff cases aluminum parts to "fur up" in the blink of an eye. Thank goodness I have a soda blaster. YECH. Mineral spirits are a great idea!

Here's my case and cam towers back from the soda blasters:

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/346/dscf0462ci8.jpg

andy

I tried to find a dry ice blasting service near here.. northern CA - no luck anyone know of one?

Possibly a stupid question but does mineral spirits go by any other name? Is this the same thing as paint brush cleaner? Is there a chemical name I can look for on the can to see if what I have is the same thing?

TIA

Paint thinner, turpentine, white spirit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_spirits