Best degreaser for aluminum engines?

I used zep for degreasing before i soda blasted. Zep ook all the grease and grime off. I washedem in my sink and at the self serve carwash (i donthave a power washer).then hosed em down in WD-40 after i got e dry. it cleaned up well. try ZEP orange/citrus it worksaround the house/ shop well too. homedepot

I hear ya on being poor buddy- I think we can all sympathize with you there. My parts were not only grime caked, but severely oxidized as well. They required much more than a good scrub. Yours are probably in much better shape

bpurnhamb: I can't answer your question yet becasue I don't know their exact process. The last time I asked, they told me it was a "3 to 4 step proprietary trade secret process" BUT, they still have my head, jugs and valve cover. I know bead blasting is involved as well as plastic media. When I pick them up I'll try to weasel it out of them

BSKZ650 wrote:

I get a kick out of all the " biodegradable" products, yes they are in the origonal formula, but the second you introduce any oils, solvents, fuel, or anything that you clean with it, the product is NOT "green" friendly anymore,

sorry,, had to vent,,,

True, but at least using bio chemicals, you're not adding more poisen to the run off....

Gunk and a disposible paint brush will get the grime off then you need to polish the covers to make them shine like chrome. Polishing can be done for not much money but lots of time. I have been polishing my stuff with a drill and a couple of buffs that you can get at Lowes or Home Depot.

Porchev! thanks...hold the money till they fold! im looking into getting a blasting setup so i can do this all on my own and to helf out some fellers on here as well! so far im leaning towards soda blasting, but want to weigh my options.

For us financially challenged guys beadblasting can be done at home for a minimal investment. I have a $30.00 sand blaster and a $10.00 soda blaster. A 50 pound bag of soda cost me $35.00 at Harbour Freight.

Here is my soda blaster and sandblaster


The bag of soda


Before


After

porchev914 wrote:

bpurnhamb: I can't answer your question yet becasue I don't know their exact process. The last time I asked, they told me it was a "3 to 4 step proprietary trade secret process" BUT, they still have my head, jugs and valve cover. I know bead blasting is involved as well as plastic media. When I pick them up I'll try to weasel it out of them

Sounds like I was out to lunch on the vapour blast guess. I have access to a bead blaster to go so far on my new engine cases but I'll look into the plastic media blasting to finish it.

Spray degreasers is what works best in such cases , Ii am using Rx spray degreaser and it is working best for me , I apply it on aluminium parts for not too long so that it does not damages it .

Max, am I right in guessing that you use a smart phone to access this forum? If so, then you cannot see the dates of the posts. The most recent post in this thread was posted March 2, 2010. Most of the posters have not been on the forum in quite some time.
While we all appreciate folks adding their experience here, it is unlikely that you will get a response from the folks in this thread.

I use brake cleaner. Reasonably cheap and it cuts through grime like a...grime cutty thing?

Bio -Diesel works great for me, and it´s reusable.