Parts Cleaning Alternatives

I have the top of the motor off my mustang and I now have to clean everything. The old days we would simply go get a bunch of gasoline and start washing things down. Times have changed and quite honestly I am very adverse to fire so I am going to go another rout. I have used multiple cans of brake cleaner but that gets expensive. Kerosene is an alternative that I have used in the past but the place I use to get it from (sold by the gallon from a gas pump) is no longer selling it and then you have to dispose of it (back in the day I would usually burn it in or take it to my friend that has a wast oil heater)

I am thinking of scraping wire brushing as much stuff as I can off dry. Then I am going to get a big bucket of dawn dish washing soap and water and scrub it down and see where that gets me. I will then go after the bad spots with some strait "oil eater" and then rinse it all down and see where I am at. BTW if anyone has not tried oil eater is is like simple green x10 in its ability to clean things. My problem is that I use to be able to get it at Costco but they stopped carrying it so other than mail order I don't know where to get it.

Anyone got a suggestions as to other modern and ecology friendly and safe backyard parts cleaning methods.

Some other idea's I had are:

Go get a can or two of engine degreaser and hose it down with that. Let them sit and the prince. I also have to clean the front of my motor as there was on oil leak where the intake manifold / block and the head meet that must have been there for years as there has to be 3/8" of dirt and oil caked on.

I was also thinking of getting one of those wands that you can attach to your air compressor that you then attach your hose to. Since I can generate 175 PSI with my compressor I was thinking it may be a kind of water blasting type of affair that may be good for cleaning things as well. The bad is that all the gunk will end up in my driveway. I will need a big pan.

The old standby I have used in the past is to take the parts with me to the local you wash car wash where they the wand type pressure washer thing bays.

I had another thought while I am scrubbing away. Has anyone ever taken a part and just scraped off the caked on stuff and then coated it with the waterless hand cleaner? Let it sit. Maybe mist it with water every now and then so it does not dry out.. .. . Or put it in a trash bag with a little water and seal it up for 24 hours? Then lightly scrub with a long bristle brush and wash with hot water?

Did GRM do a backyard parts cleaning article at one point? I remember a hand cleaner one.

I use laundry soap in hot water at home.

I do that until I get bored, then take the parts in to work and use them in the kerosene tank. Then I wonder why I bother doing it at home, since 2 hours of slaving over a tub of hot water equals abotu five minutes of working in kerosene.

The nice thing about laundry soap, though, is that the phosphates in the soap help keep the parts from rusting afterwards. My work area floods every time it rains, so rusting parts is a great concern of mine.

Lestoil works great but will strip it to flash rust state so be armed with WD40 or some to wipe down say cly bores before they flash.

I use these plastic mortar mixing tubs for a lot of my parts cleaning. Available at HD or Lowes, relatively cheap.

Scrape big chunks off. Lay on mineral spirits, kero or purple type cleaners and scrub w/ brush. Usually takes repeat applications but works well.

Tubs are good for keeping parts together after disassembly and storage too, ya don't lose as much E36 M3 that way.

I like those tubs... I have been soaking stuff in vinagar recently

I just started working in the r&d lab at a household cleaner manufacturer. One of the best degreasers going is orange oil. You can find some spray wood- care products with enough in it to dissolve asphalt. I intend to give that a shot on my next engine cleaning binge. As a plus, it's fairly harmless for the environs

I will keep an eye out for that, Clyde.. thanks!

If your primary concern is fire, brake cleaner is a poor alternative. It's flash point is like -25*F- that's very close to gasoline.

There is nothing much better than a basic good old fashioned parts cleaner:

Benchtop models start for about $45.

They come in all sizes and price ranges, and they very effectively recirculate the cleaning fluid to use it over and over saving on both the cost of the cleaning fluid and the environmental impact.

Mine is full of Purple Power. It's biodegradable, non-abrasive, and non-flammable. Works pretty well too.

I really want an ultrasonic tank big enough for an engine block. I think I could build a niche business around one to be honest. There really isn't any better way to get parts clean.

this spring i bought a small benchtop parts washer for $39.95, and a 5 gallon bucket of mineral spirits for $40.. i got it at Mills Fleet Farm, but i'm sure the exact same one is sold at places liek Harbor Freight.

i don't know how i ever got by without it- it is just so much better for cleaning up greasy parts than any other degreaser out there.. to do it any other way is just silly.

iadr wrote: Spray Nine, and pressure wash. Parts cleaners are from the 50's, SVREX... find me a modern shop with one, I defy you to. Not to mention having been banned the better part of 15 years in large parts of N America

I call horse poop. It depends what you put into it, and there are plenty of green parts-cleaners on the market. I LOVE mine, and it's certainly greener than letting crap go down the driveway or into the lawn.

Oh the days of Caustic Soda aerated tanks.... Was nothing that a 20 minute dip would not clean away from old gummed up iron blocks....Just don't forget to remove all the soft metals 1st....that included cam bearings...BTDT But yes their long gone now, For the better? maybe but still have some good uses. Most shops now have large "dish washers" think record player meets pressure washer inside a enclosure. Work? hell ya but i wonder about the oil galleys myself inside say a engine block.
Better for the envioment yes! Better for the highschool kid whos working at the shop OH Yes! So win win with minor possible pain of double checking the oil galleys and not having all the old paint removed big deal. Hell of alot better then doing it on your lawn and having EPA/DEP show up.

iadr wrote: Spray Nine, and pressure wash. Parts cleaners are from the 50's, SVREX... find me a modern shop with one, I defy you to. Not to mention having been banned the better part of 15 years in large parts of N America

Hmm Safety-Kleen must be making a mint off those fake part washers that we have sitting in the engine shops.

Also that's a big parts washer that was replaced new in 2007, after a fire that burned down most of the shop, behind the turbine section of an engine in my profile picture.

To the question, I like Simple Green for most cleaning applications that don't involve a tank and use a can of CLP Break Free for the really stuck on stuff. For the tank ones I second the Purple Power if kerosene based cleaners are an issue.

I'm always surprised at how well undiluted Simple Green works at cleaning just about everything. Hell, you can wash your car with it if you want to strip the wax off.

hmm now that i'm in an apartment on the 3rd floor and no hose access i'm going to have to figure something out... prob going to be a parts washer stashed in the corner of that little garage or just take it down to a DIY car wash with the pressure washer... but as I understand it they frown on such things lol...

iadr wrote: Spray Nine, and pressure wash. Parts cleaners are from the 50's, SVREX... find me a modern shop with one, I defy you to. Not to mention having been banned the better part of 15 years in large parts of N America

We had one in our university machine shop.

I am with SVreX. Nothing beats a good old fashioned parts washer.

I love the tub idea. Will have to look for those. We are building a Mini engine right now and I swore we would not build another engine without an ultrasonic cleaner...

So, we ordered a Pro Ultrasonics model 2013. Haven't gotten it yet, but will give full details once we figure it out. Yeah, I know they are expensive and not for the guy who does one restoration or engine in a lifetime, but when you are running through 3-5 project cars a year and time spent is important, it looks like a better deal. We will let you know.

We were next to these guys at the PRI show a couple of years ago and were amazed at what this machine could to to a carburetor or valve train in just minutes with no elbow grease.

What media did they use in the ultrasonic???

What ever happened to GUNK ?

In my fathers garage/dealership, many years ago, they always ha a bucket of gasoline setting around to clean parts. Fire inspector complained until one of the mechanics threw a lighted cigarette into it. Inspector left.

Whats the GRM-way to fab up a homemade ultrasonic cleaner thingy? A big plastic tub filled with cleaner, a heating element, and those car audio bass shakers mounted around the outside of the tub?

we substituted purple degreaser cleaning fluid in our parts washer , let them sit over night under fluid .

A friend and I have been looking into building our own ultrasonic cleaner, on and off... Doesn't look trivial, as there are details to get right in terms of frequency, power, choosing transducers, locating them...

A plastic tub I think wouldn't transmit the sound waves effectively, and the bass shakers wouldn't have nearly a fast enough response for the ultrasonic cleaning action.

I suppose it's a good question about whether a good long soak in simple green or something like that with the tub-and-bass-shaker (drum and bass?) arrangement might provide a little agitation to help the simple green work. It wouldn't have the strong cleaning action of the ultrasonic cleaner with cavitation and collapse creating little explosions-of-clean, but soaking and vibration doesn't sound like it could hurt...

EDIT: Couldn't find the link I meant to refer to, but here's another one: DIY ultrasonic cleaner info

Be prepared for a small explosion if you have done something wrong.

He he he the story of my life.