Cleaners That Work

[72Rider]

Looking for some good advice on cleaners and paint. I just pulled the motor on my '72 K20 and have quite a coating of grease and oil in the engine compartment. I purchased some Engine Brite brand degreaser andit barely made a dent.

Nows the best tI me to clean with all the tight spots easily accessible. What's your guys favorite cleaners that work? Also, I have some areas that could use a touch of black paint. Any suggestions for paint that will stick for years to come... even if the surface isn't prepped perfectly?

Last one. I have a couple areasmall with light to mild surface rust. Is there a paint or something out there that will help stop or slow down the progress of the rust?

Thanks
Rider

[snipescastle2]

I've used oven cleaners before, and they work pretty good, just make sure you use this outdoors because the fumes will literally "take your breath away" you may have to re-apply the oven cleaner a few times, but it works the best if you scrape/power wash/steam clean the worst of the grime off before hand.
I've also used that "Gunk" engine bright stuff, unless the engine is hot when you apply it, it will hardly cut the surface of the grease. Oven cleaners like "easy off"
Tend to work so much better, but, beware, it will fold paint. So, mask off anything you don't want the paint damaged on.
With regards to light surface rust, you could probably use some "Navel jelly" hardware stores have it in the paint/solvent /stripper sections. Eastwood company makes a product called
"OxySolv" you brush it on,rinse it off. There is also another product that I used to remove surface rust and it also apples a zinc oxide coating to the surface of bare metal that allows the paint to adhere better, it's called "Jasco prep n prime" here's a link:
http://m.lowes.com/pd/Jasco-Prep-and...r-1-Qt/3586944
HTH,
Ben

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[ohboy321]

I have had good results using POR-15 Cleaner Degreaser. A restore antique farm engines (one lungers), and found that it did a much better job than GUNK, especially on old caked on dirt and grease.

[snipescastle2]

I've used oven cleaners before, and they work pretty good, just make sure you use this outdoors because the fumes will literally "take your breath away" you may have to re-apply the oven cleaner a few times, but it works the best if you scrape/power wash/steam clean the worst of the grime off before hand.
I've also used that "Gunk" engine bright stuff, unless the engine is hot when you apply it, it will hardly cut the surface of the grease. Oven cleaners like "easy off"
Tend to work so much better, but, beware, it will fold paint. So, mask off anything you don't want the paint damaged on.
HTH,
Ben

Posted via Mobile Device

[snipescastle2]

Sorry, double post...
Ben
Posted via Mobile Device

[Overdriven]

You do need to get the really heavy, caked on stuff off first by scraping or power washing. I like oven cleaner but I also like the purple degreaser Home Depot and others sell. With the degreaser I haven't had any issues with it eating paint like oven cleaner does.

[Dad's72]

Originally Posted by Overdriven

You do need to get the really heavy, caked on stuff off first by scraping or power washing. I like oven cleaner but I also like the purple degreaser Home Depot and others sell. With the degreaser I haven't had any issues with it eating paint like oven cleaner does.

X2 for sure. It is the Simple Green HD. It is diluted 3 to 1 and this stuff with a power washer will eat up some grease for breakfast. I just degreased a whole motor with it two days ago. Like night and day. It is safe to use on paint and in your driveway. The pressure washer makes quick work of the grease. I am planning on pulling my old motor and tranny and will use this stuff inside the engine bay as well.

[72Rider]

Thanks for the replies so far. I wanted to post up a couple pics, but I keep getting this message:

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I'll try again this evening.

[midniteblues]

I've allways liked the gunk engine degreaser but ya gotta watch as they are making a few differnt kinds now. The original stuff (orange cap)works the best.
after useing it i prefer to wash again with hot soapy water before painting anything.

I also use a stiff brush and a large pan/tub with gas in it to clean nasty grimy parts as long as you use it carefully.

There is allmost allways some sort of scraping involved though.

[Gromit]

For the grease I use odorless mineral spirits and 4"x4" squares of cotton terrycloth (cut from an old bath towel).

I put on nitrile gloves, fold the terrycloth pieces in half, dip or spray on the mineral spirits, rub off the grease.

It helps to wear one of those N95 masks that have the activated carbon layer to reduce the mineral spirit vapor going into your lungs.

I just use the cloths once and throw them away. The grease and mineral spirit soaked cloths make an doozy of a fire hazard though; I think they could even self-ignite in the trash. Usually if it is dry I spread them out somewhere noncombustible to let the spirits evaporate to help reduce flammability a little.

The advantage of this method over spraying is the grease doesn't end up all over your garage floor and driveway, etc.

For the rust and paint I like Ospho for the rust treatment and then just Rustoleum Professional line regular old spray cans from the big box stores.

[70's luvr]

Dollar tree sells "Awesome" that works great on grease.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by 72Rider

Thanks for the replies so far. I wanted to post up a couple pics, but I keep getting this message:

vBulletin Message
Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing.

If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error.


I'll try again this evening.

You need to size your pictures down. It is telling you that they are too big.

LockDoc

[72c105speed]

Awesome does work well for $1!

[Overdriven]

Originally Posted by Dad's72

X2 for sure. It is the Simple Green HD. It is diluted 3 to 1 and this stuff with a power washer will eat up some grease for breakfast. I just degreased a whole motor with it two days ago. Like night and day. It is safe to use on paint and in your driveway. The pressure washer makes quick work of the grease. I am planning on pulling my old motor and tranny and will use this stuff inside the engine bay as well.

Nope, Simple Green is not what I'm talking about. At Home Depot it's a blue gallon jug, but the stuff inside is purple. Labels says its made by Pep, may even be called Purple Degreaser. I used to use Castrol's version but have found they're basically the same.

Simple Green is ok, not as strong in my opinion.

[webfoot]

My favorite is probably carb cleaner.

Easy-off will strip paint like crazy. I actually use it to strip paint off plastic parts I can't put in the bead blaster as it will not harm the plastic.

[michael bustamante]

scrape all the crud off with a scaper. roll the chassis outside. go to the dollar store and get the cheapest oven cleaner you can find. get a few cans and spray liberally. wear a mask cuz that stuff ll choke you. let it sit for a half hour and wash off with a power washer if you have one. itll take a couple applications

[leddzepp]

POR Marine clean, or any bilge cleaner.

Job done.

[midnight rambler]

por 15 marine clean

[poway]

I buy oven cleaner at the dollar store for my grease removal issues. I haven't tried the Totally Awesome stuff yet. I'll get some this weekend.

[prodjay10]

A ford I pulled the motor on had a thick layer of dirt and oil so I used a spatula to scrape the thick layers off then kept hitting it with simple green and then water from hose. I think It would have been more effective with a pressure washer but it came out pretty good.

[byrdman]

Castrol Super Clean has always worked well for me.
It is alkaline like the oven cleaners, so it too is pretty harsh on the respiratory system.

[outfield]

I use Super Clean also, you can buy it in concentrate and dilute it down for many different uses.

One guy in the Detailing Section said to go to Harbor Freight and buy an assortment of brushes, use these first, then spray on the cleaner. Has worked well for me.

Originally Posted by byrdman

Castrol Super Clean has always worked well for me.
It is alkaline like the oven cleaners, so it too is pretty harsh on the respiratory system.

[57taskforce]

Green brakekleen works pretty good. That usually cuts the nasty stuff down pretty quick then I use the castrol purple stuff and the power washer after the big stuff is off. A scraper is always your best friend.

[In The Ten Ring]

I may try and clean up my engine bay a bit tomorrow. With newly painted fenders coming it would be nice if it was cleaner under the hood now.

[68huero]

Power washer for the engine bay. I just used SOS pads and hot water on my body and was amazed how it took the light rust off without hurting the paint. Steele wool works wonders as well on any metal surfaces...Good luck!