I've got a whole bunch of parts so unbelievably caked with grease (timing chain cover, tranny x-member, etc..) Gunk is useless against this caked grime. I've been using a wire wheel on a drill but its hard to get into small spots and it takes a long time. Does anyone know of a solvent that I can soak the parts in to loosen the grease and make the job easyer? Also, what's the best way to prep the engine before I paint it (I'm told that not the slightest amount of grease should be there)? Thanks, Dan Oh, I almost forgot, What can I use to get the same stuff off of the engine bay walls without damaging the nice paint that I hope is somewhere under there? Dan
Best bet is to take the parts to a shop that has a "Hot Tank" pay a few bucks and the parts come back clean,as far as the firewall and inter fenders goes You really don't think that the paint under the gunk is in good shap do You?Elbow grease is the best thing I know of to get it clean then a fresh coat of paint
After having worked for a midwestern railroad for over 40yrs, I can tell you about "Bozo" grease. As a machinest and engine builder we demanded clean parts and we got them with the helpers using hot tanks with caustic solutions. As EPA rules changed so did the solutions, now days they use a non caustic soap in hot water Proceco washers that have dozens of nozzles spraying and rinsing each part. At home now, we have built a hot tank on the same principle using a 55gal barrel, have a grate in the bottom and a drain valve on outside. Using a electric water heater element and several air pipes or bubblers around the inside, a quick connect on the outside for the air compressor hose. The local cleaning supply store has the same soap(non foaming) that works great. Engine blocks fit inside nicely and small parts are suspended form hangers. Works on all metals, aluminum does need to be rinsed very quickly though or a soap residue will get into the pores and stain. One other thing I have used is a cheap brand of oven cleaner but it can damage aluminum if left on too long. Wire brushes and elbow grease will work too. Engine blocks after initial cleaning are then sprayed with a good contact cleaner or carb cleaner, let dry and blow dry with air. Use a good brand of high temp paint and you should have a decent looking job. Ford blue is my choice of course. Hope this helps, ask anyone who builds engines, trannys etc. The worst part of the whole job is prepping the parts and cleaning. Good luck as always.
The best way i found to get the gunk out of the engine compartment of my comet was to spray down the compartment with castrol super clean and use a soft bristle wheel brush to scrub it down. Then just hose it down with a garden hoseor better yet a pressure washer. Then to really make everything shine you can spray down the compartment with tire foam. The foam will make everything shine especially all the rubber hoses and such
Hey now! Funny you should say that considering I just spent the whole afternoon degreasing the engine of a 54' Ford pickup. What a grease pit! I spray the whole engine down with Gunk and scrub the tar out of it. Then I pressure wash it with Castrol Super Clean followed by water. It gets 99% of the heavy crud off. The rest is scrubed off by hand. When it's done, it WILL be clean enough to paint.
I've been using EZ off oven cleaner and the pressure washer. I also soaked some parts in gasoline. It's doing the trick. Thanks for all your help
Be very careful with the oven cleaner! Its a real strong alkylide! (Spelling?) It will cause the thing to rust if you don't wash it VERY good with water. You can use kerosene or diesel to degrease. They are safer than gasoline and wook great for cleaning!
Buy a 5 gallon pail of Chem-dip from your local indy auto parts store. It's mainly for dipping carbs in, but damn does it take off grease. (It also takes off paint, plastic, etc). Only metal parts can survive in there!
I have heard from my mustang boys that they use a simple green mix that seems to work extremely well.
