Well, I'll probably be getting around to pulling my gas tank on the '78 van within the next 24 hours, and I'll probably try to get away with not pulling the whole motor. However, the block is dirtier then dirty, and I'm afraid of gumming up the air intake and knocking crap in the distributor hole, etc. Any recommended chemicals/processes? A putty knife and some patience? What do you folks do to keep your motors clean and shiney?
Anyone feel free to jump all over me and say "BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA!".
But ... I use brake cleaner. Brake cleaner turns oil into water and cleans an oily part faster than anything I have every seen. I recently took off my valve covers which has been leaking for quite some time. A few sprays of brake cleaner and they look like new. It REALLY eats through grease. That orange shit that they call "engine cleaner" is better for oven cleaning than anything else. It really sucks for anything oily.
Also, brake cleaner seems to desintigrate into thin air and leaves behind no residue. I recenltly used it on my wifes Honda to get all the nasties off her engine block. No smoking when the engine heated up.
-Ray
The Gunk type spray cleaners work fine. If you get the engine warm they work better. I've found if you can locae a DIY wand type car wash (few left) the high pressure and the Gunk will really clean oil/grease/dirt combo off. Use duct tape and plastic/aluminium foil to cover carb, distr, ECU/alternator. There are gas stations that have steam cleaners too.
The car wash is a good suggestion. I am planning on taking my Bug up sometime this week, and hitting with engine cleaner (brake cleaner) and then powerwashing it. You might spend a few bucks to get that pump going, but there is a certain satisfaction to watching all that gunk roll down the drain and knowing what a mess it would have made in your garage/driveway.
-Ray
Probly too late for Matt, but plastic grocery bags wad up nicely to block holes in engines while cleaning and/or working around them and dropping parts. ZEP 65 is a really good degreaser foam spray, citris based... best I've found yet. -BH
tank on the '78 van
away with not pulling
dirty, and I'm afraid
distributor hole, etc.
some patience? What
Nice suggestion, I'll remember that one. I thought about the DIY car wash, but having no way to get gas from the tank to the engine makes that difficult-- same with the gunk type cleaners that require some engine heat.
Brake cleaner was a thought I had, but I had to destroy what good rubber is left on the thing; that's probably what I'll end up doing though. I haven't yet pulled the tank-- the daily beater got a brake job, coolent change, cv boot repacking, ATX filter and fluid change, new power window motor bushings, etc. Next is some rocker & tappet block gaskets and pushrod seals on the hog, and THEN we can play with the VW. *sigh*
Thanks for the input!
-Matt
On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 22:02:35 -0400, "matthew j henschel" ran around screaming and yelling:
Matt, run down to advance auto and get a 2.5 gallon sized jug of "purple power"...it is about 8 bucks....use it full strenght and spray it on.(i use a garden sprayer...woohooo) good degreaser, cheap, and won't require you to start the engine for heat or drive it anywhere...as with the canned engine cleaners, will take a few applications...put it on, let it sit a few minutes(3-4, don't let it dry) then hose off....keep the handy dandy monster jug for used oil, then return it back to advance when full for recyle.... JT
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