Hey Guys,

So we pulled the engine and tranny out of Marc's 85GS on the weekend in prep for paint.

Now we've got the engine and tranny sitting on the floor of the garage and at least a month or two to wait for all the paint and body work to be done. In the meantime we want to completely degrease and paint the engine. We aren't rebuilding it (we're already dropping a few thou on the body work and paint), so we're just looking to remove the years worth of gunk and grime so that we can properly paint.

If the rotor housings weren't aluminum I'd use simple green, so I'm wondering if anyone else has a suggestion of a good degreaser/cleaner to use on it.

Should I just blast it with simple green anyway, then rinse it, take a wirewheel to it and paint it? I mean if it's not on there for long and I rinse it off and wirewheel it there shouldn't be much left to cause corrosion under the paint eh?

Jon

 

i usually take Purple Power and cover the engine compartment then rinse really well. just dont let it sit there for very long. and if youre concerned about the strength of the cleaner dilute it accordingly. i havent found anything that removes gunk better than Purple power. i also came across a paint called POR-15. its impervious to everything but UV rays. its used to Paint Over Rust. hence POR.
you cant even chip that stuff loose with a hammer. i was really impressed. the finish was also very glossy. just an idea.

 

Formula 88

 

Dawn dish soap, it cuts the greese


really im not kidding use Dawn.

 

He's right. I even used Dawn in the carpet shampooer. Worked excellent, and a fraction of the extremely inflated cost of Rug Doctor Shampoo.

 

mineral spirits.

 

Purple Power has the chemical that eats aluminum, Simple Green doesn't.

 

"GUNK" is the traditional favorite for Al. I actually have a quart of Gunk concentrate from eons past, before it was outlawed.

 

At work for cleaning aluminum radiators we have "Flourix"

its some acid solution, it works very well, though I think if you leave it on for too long (at the concentrations we use it at, it probably wouldn't even matter) it may damage it.

 

i agree with Troch and with Jester my hand cleaning solution is a mix of dawn dish detergent and a little silica sand and i use simple green for everything including my uhpulstery it works great and you can dilute it and still get great results

 

I use powerfoam made by Amsoil this is @ the top of the page in the link below

http://www.atkinsrotary.com/store/cu...me.php?cat=568

If you cant find any let me know and we will go from there...

Dan

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I'll check for the amsoil around here. It looks familiar.

If not, I'll go with simple green, but I've *SEEN* it oxidize aluminum so I'll be sure to rince. I use it so much in the rest of the engine bay, any overspray that hits aluminum causes a white film of oxidation in short order. Nothing a wirebrush can't handle though. And it's definitely good at cutting through grease and dirt like nobody's business.

GUNK is available here too but when I tried it in the past I didn't get much for results.

Jon

 

dish soap and a nice plastic scrub brush

 

Simple Green is the best. I use it on my dirtbikes and I can get them completley muddy, to clean them I hit it with water out of a faucet. Good luck.

 

What about using the method of oven cleaner like the one guy did a thread not too long ago about cleaning his rims. I was pretty impressed about it too.

 

Oven cleaner is very caustic to aluminum, most of them carry a warning.

 

Oven cleaner is a caustic: sodium hydroxide.

Dawn dish soap is an excellent cleaner, and mild on hands and other things you don't want to wreck. The Dawn detergent dissolves caked oil and grease very well. Another good solvent for old oil is...fresh oil. I've cleaned my black dirty hands with fresh oil, then removed the slippery stuff with rags, then finally washed away the superficial stuff with any detergent. Works better than most hand-cleaners.