Engine cleaning/ degreasing question

[beemsquar]

Hi all,

I was wondering what people are using to clean and degrease their engines and other metal parts with?
I have seen a product called simple green, but it's too expensive and hard to get hold of.

I want to clean all the engine parts once disassembled ready for painting and any other metal parts ready for painting/polishing and so on. Ideally without using a parts washer or spending a fortune.

I was looking at the gunk range, but not sure if they leave any residues on the metal?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006ZZ4AHS?redirect=true&ref_=s9_im_co_g263_i2

Any simple  suggestions?

Cheers


Andy

[Johnwebley]

I use Gunk to clean and de-grease,but only on assembled state,


 to remove excess chain lube ,and road dirt etc,

 if your cleaning internals,after a strip down,I would NOT reccomend it

[beemsquar]

Thats what I thought, I need something that won't melt rubber and is Ok to use on engine internals when I do the strip down.

There seems to be plenty of cleaners degreasers out there, it's just knowing what is safe and trusted.

Cheers for your reply.

Andy

[Green1]

I always use brake & clutch cleaner as it degreases everything and doesn't harm rubber.

Mick

[beemsquar]

Mick,
Do you just soak/ brush all your parts in brake and clutch cleaner when doing a rebuild then and is this strong enough to get it ready to paint?

I've found someone who can supply crystal simple green 10l for £66.75 delivered, this stuff is water based, environmentally friendly, strong enough to strip an engine, but kind enough to use in your kitchen.

Still seems a little pricey compared with 10l of brake and clutch cleaner at £20 odd.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for parts prepping?

[Green1]

Soak and scrub works on small engines so I can't see why it wouldn't on something larger.If painting something bare I tend to run thinners over it first.
As long as you remember to re bottle the brake cleaner when finished you can reuse it. I'm not a tight wad honest.

I'v not delved into a 750 yet it's taken me three years to put it in the frame God knows how long it would take me to rebuild it. 

Mick

[royhall]

I use this stuff.

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Its £11.60 plus vat for 5 litres. It works like magic, easily the best degreaser I have ever used. And its water based. The address on the label is where I get it from as its close by me. Don't know if they mail order, but it really is that good its worth a phone call.

[beemsquar]

Cheers Royhall,

I've literally just got back from my local motor factors and bought some Jizer by swarfeger and 5l of clutch and brake cleaner.

Never mind, I'll give these a go and let you know how I get on.

I'm powder coating the block and some engine parts so it has to super super clean and free of oil!

[royhall]

Not sure powder coating the block is a good idea unless your using the nylon stuff. It can bubble up with repeated use. Never used the higher heat rated nylon stuff but wouldn't mind seeing the results.

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[Green1]

The yanks seem in favour of Powder they have just revived an old thread

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,101597.0.html

Mick

[beemsquar]

As far as I'm aware, (my dad's a powdercoat and stove enamel specialist), powder coating the engine block is fine as long as it's been sufficiently cleaned and prepared.

He said to me that the biggest problem is the quality of the aluminium being full of impurities in the casting process and out gassing,  which causes gas, and oil on used machines, to rise to the surface and stop the powder adhering to the metal. Not a problem on high grade aluminium or billet.

He has powdercoated hundreds of bikes and always warns his clients and me that it could be a possibility and that wet paint is an option.

The process I think they use is clean the engine, soda blast engine, clean again, heat in the oven to get oils to rise out of pores, place into a phoswash machine, which is like a giant cleaning and degreasing dishwasher that puts a phosphate coating to stop corrosion, then it's put in the oven to dry before being powdercoated and cured.
A long process,  but seems to give the most consistent results.

I was going to restore my bike back to original , but it is in a bad way, missing A LOT of parts and so I think it's not economical for me to restore to original spec,  hence powdercoating and modifying it instead.

I'm going for a textured dark grey/black block with a special satin black on the covers, hubs. Wheels and frame.

[royhall]

Neither of my 2 powder coaters would do the head or barrels due to the heat rating of the powder? Don't know much about it but apparently there's a high temperature nylon powder for that. Had the rocker box and side casings done on the 750F2 and there are minor bobbles on it already. Would love to see a powder coated engine though as it saves a lot of work painting.

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[beemsquar]

I agree, my dad said the same thing. The casings and head etc are being painted in a high temp satin black paint for that very reason.