Cleaning Parts (soak)

[ortholithiation]

1. Pressure wash all loose gunk

2. Use Sparklean (K3PO4) in water and some dishsoap. Soak it nice and good for 2 days. Just let is soak , then srub stuff off with a brush. Let the chemicals do the work, be patient.

Al is a reactive metal - Acetic acid = simple green, and strong bases will start to corrode it.

3. Pressure wash/ scrub it off.

4. Get some mineral spirts/ paint stripper and a tooth brush for the stubborn hard shit.

[Pac1373]

^^^^^^ that sounds like a good time to me. Iam going to play firey tennis ball catch with the kids right now!

[u3b3rg33k]

Some of my favorites are brakleen and gasoline. I've rejuvenated a clutch or two in my day by soaking it in gas to get the oil out, and actuating it while fully submersed in gas a few dozen times, like this one that I had no desire to disassemble:



The key to using gasoline is to not use it in an enclosed space. Keep it out of the garage, or keep the door open. It only gets dangerous when fumes are allowed to build up. good luck trying to ignite a flat pan with 3" of fuel in the bottom.

Then, when you don't know what to do with the leftover gas, everyone gets on safety glasses (well, most everyone), and EVERYONE wears welding gloves. Then, you take a tennis ball, roll it in the gas, light it on fire, and play catch. Repeat until the fuzz is all burned off, and your supply of tennis balls has run out.

[RainierHooker]

I use non-chlorinated brake parts cleaner for small degreasing jobs.

For larger jobs Isopropyl Alcohol (good) or MEK (better) works wonders, especially since neither will leave a film, they evaporate quickly, and they are cheap in bulk. Word of warning though, if you use MEK, wear a respirator!

[!kid]

Is overnight or 24 hours max okay?

in my opinion thats to long. but ive never let any aluminum parts sit in simple green that long. you may or may not start to see pitting.

ive used mineral spirits to clean the timming cover and other little aluminum parts and they cleaned up great!

[5Toes]

Well yeah its the valves though, kind of easier to leave in place.

[Adrian_Visser]

just the aluminum

Just remove it with an aluminium magnet.

[5Toes]

Is overnight or 24 hours max okay?

[!kid]

do not leave simple green on aluminum parts for long periods of time its will start to corrode the alu


(if you dont belive me, read the bottle or go on the simple green website and read it for yourself)

[5Toes]

Yeah I saw that tonight at Schucks. Or I guess its Oreilys now.

[der affe]

dont use gas. if you think a stained driveway will piss your mom off imagine what a fried son and smoldering house will do for her spirits

yea, take it from me, fire bad!

pressure wash the big chunks off with just the water, no degreaser.

go to walmart (cheapest) or autoparts store and get PURPLE POWER BY COASTAL.
they make the purple cleaner for Castol. it runs around $5 a gallon. it is a very strong BASE and will dry the shit out of your skin, be warned.

douse the parts in purple power let soak, power wash, repeat until clean.

[5Toes]

Wonderful. Haha yeah so Ill try that on the bigger parts, because one quart of the spirits is not enough for them. Infact its not enough for a cylinder head to be submerged either

[blunttech]

Me confused

EDIT: the water wont rust anything? Hmm

just the aluminum

[5Toes]

Me confused

EDIT: the water wont rust anything? Hmm

[blunttech]

Get 1 gallon of simple green + 2-3 gallons of water with it in a 5 gallon bucket. It works much better mixed with water.

Works great, just throw stuff in and let it soak. If you skim the oil off the top and watch the acidity it can last for a few months of heavy cleaning. It works even better if it gets hot. I've thrown dirty cylinderheads and pistons in the bucket and they come out a day or two later shiny. Just watch the acidity so you don't discolor aluminum parts.

simple green works better diluted than full strength? Ive never tried anything but full strength.