My valve covers and oil pan suffer from years of neglect and bad oil. The coating both inside and out is extensive. How should I best clean them so I can get them back on the clean engine once it's done? I don't want to bead blast them and risk a stray glass bead ruining the motor (a friend back east taught me that lesson). I don't own a parts cleaning tank. Would a trans shop tank them?

 

You need:

--newspapers, lots of them
--metal and plastic putty knives.
--engine cleaner like Gunk or other fine brand
--rags and paper towels.
--chemical proof rubber gloves
--a couple spare hours
--good ventilation

or

As for the hot tank, I would think a machine shop that deals with mung-covered engines would be the better bet, but if the trans shop is closer, it would cost nothing to ask.

Good luck.

 

good old unleaded is what i use , i keep a 2 gallon can of dirty gas .
if you have a cat those plastic buckets the litter comes in works great let the parts soak then rotate the 40 year old muck falls right off , you will have to repaint every thing

 

I 2nd what Mike says. Best oily gunk cleaner is gasoline. Just be careful and use in well ventilated area. My grandfather used this trick around the farm decades ago as well.

 

Gas has a lot of stuff in it that you don't want to breathe or get on your skin. Cheap, fast and effective, but you may pay a much higher price later in life for that practice. My dad used gas to clean parts. He died of leukemia. Benzene has a known link to that, and gas has benzene in it.

Was my dad's leukemia caused by washing parts in gas? Don't know.

Do you feel lucky?

 

i have heavy rubber gloves , also i soak the parts in the gas then just use a horse hair paint brush to clean off . i very rarely get gas on me .

 

I actually am just after visiting a machine shop here in town. The gentleman said to bring him everything I wanted cleaned up and he would vat ALL of it.

Best solution for me I think. Stuff should come out gunk free.....!