Engine case cleaning advice

[Dpmulvan]

How do you guys clean up the exterior of your engine cases before a rebuild? I paid a shop to do one of my cases and was not happy with the results. Anyone ever try soda blasting? Dry ice blasting?

[Tippy]

Soda and dry ice are best, but can be pricey. It takes a lot media.

But, it'll look perfect when done.

[boosted79]

I did soda on the case and cam towers and glass on everything else. Then masked it and sprayed it with this https://www.clearcoating.com/products/#metals. I used the MC161 matte. Def. not cheap but it's the best clear available for coating metal directly. Any oil will just wipe off and not stain. The VHT clear turns yellow.

[Dpmulvan]

I know dry ice blasting is pricey because I looked for some of the equipment to do it seriously pricey. I guess I need to find or build a soda blaster. Thanks for the advice. That mc161 looks like good stuff, I used VHT several years ago and it's crap.

[Tippy]

I glass blasted my fan and housing, but I'd be a little nervous with engine components? Stuff embeds in aluminum.

[boosted79]

You just blast the outside surfaces then blow it off, wash with soapy water, no problem. Even with the soda on the case I pull all the plugs and run brushes thru all the galleys even though it dissolves, it's good to clean them out anyway.

[Flat6pac]

I put the parts in the safety clean brush the loose stuff off. Power wash the parts.
Then I spray degreaser from SamcClub and repower wash. Then I inspect and put more degreaser on the oil that was missed or too hard to get off. Power wash again.
Started like this, never been apart before, but wanted a reseal.




I think it cleans up very nicely
Bruce

[boosted79]

Re. soda blasting. If you change a cabinet from glass to soda to do a case you HAVE to thoroughly clean the cabinet before you use soda on the case. I dump the glass, vacuum the insides then drag the cabinet outside, remove the light and wiring then hose out the inside with a water hose. Then it has to be dried well or you will have a mess on your hands. Without doing this you will have some glass left over that may get into the oil galleys and you will have a bad day. After doing this I still pull the plugs and clean all the galleys and spray water through them all. It's a lot of work. Going back to glass is easy, dump the soda out and the glass in.

[Tippy]

I made the mistake of using Easy-Off since it eats grease nicely.

Don't be me. It's highly caustic and makes the aluminum form a thick layer of corrosion to protect itself afterwards.

[boosted79]

I use it on rough castings, no problem if you then spray it with vinegar after to neutralize the sodium hydroxide then rinse well with water. Don't use it on polished aluminum. Just did this.

[Tippy]

Good idea. I figured water would neutralize, but it didnt.

[Dpmulvan]

Bunch of good ideas, I thought about the oven cleaner but knew it was caustic to aluminum and never thought to neutralize it (good idea). I have a couple of 3.0's to clean and a few 915's and I think I'm going to buy another blasting cabinet to use soda. I have a gallon of aircraft extreme simple green that I was going to try in my ultrasonic cleaner maybe I'll have a go with that just to see how it does ( honestly I doubt it will do much). I know that glass isn't good for aluminum and microscopic pieces can get embedded in the part especially if you don't blast the part at an angle. I appreciate all the input!

[michael lang]

I just used mineral spirits with a brass brush. It took forever and a lot of elbow grease but the results that I got were worth the effort. The time always seems to take less when you have something good in the earbuds.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

Bunch of good ideas, I thought about the oven cleaner but knew it was caustic to aluminum and never thought to neutralize it (good idea). I have a couple of 3.0's to clean and a few 915's and I think I'm going to buy another blasting cabinet to use soda. I have a gallon of aircraft extreme simple green that I was going to try in my ultrasonic cleaner maybe I'll have a go with that just to see how it does ( honestly I doubt it will do much). I know that glass isn't good for aluminum and microscopic pieces can get embedded in the part especially if you don't blast the part at an angle. I appreciate all the input!

Since it's caustic, it eats grease easily and leaves the aluminum bright and shiny the day of. If you neutralize immediately afterwards, it should be fine.

[boosted79]

If anyone goes the cerakote clear route make sure you use an organic respirator. I've never sprayed anything as bad as that stuff including any paint clears. Just taking a sniff of it in the bottle will almost knock you over.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by boosted79

If anyone goes the cerakote clear route make sure you use an organic respirator. I've never sprayed anything as bad as that stuff including any paint clears. Just taking a sniff of it in the bottle will almost knock you over.

If it's nasty,smells and will kill you it always works. Ok I'm waiting for the dirty one liner.

['76 911S 3.0]

I had mine ultrasonically cleaned by these guys: Welcome to Ultrasonic Cleaning Corporation | Precision Cleaning and Testing Services

Apparently they do most if not all of PMNA engine cleaning services, as well as places like SpaceX. Jerry is very helpful, price was very reasonable, and they have all the fixturing to plumb the oil passages to really get a deep clean on the case. I also had my oil cooler and tank cleaned and pressure tested by them as well.

['76 911S 3.0]

This was how it looked when pulled, it was horribly caked in 30+ years of grease and oil:

[gtc]

I had mine ultrasonic cleaned as well. It was well worth the money, IMO. I don't think I could have gotten it anywhere near as clean.
Redmond European did mine (as well as the cam towers, chain boxes, oil pump, and some other bits.)

[JFairman]

Did you put the whole thing as it sits in your picture into a big ultrasonic cleaning machine or did you take it all apart first?
Maybe that's a dumb question.. I can't imagine that would be good.

Originally Posted by '76 911S 3.0

I had mine ultrasonically cleaned by these guys: Welcome to Ultrasonic Cleaning Corporation | Precision Cleaning and Testing Services

Apparently they do most if not all of PMNA engine cleaning services, as well as places like SpaceX. Jerry is very helpful, price was very reasonable, and they have all the fixturing to plumb the oil passages to really get a deep clean on the case. I also had my oil cooler and tank cleaned and pressure tested by them as well.