Parts Cleaning

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: Parts Cleaning

probably not... since both of those are approved to go to ground water...

Although, he is in california - so, since he mixed it with water and poured it down the drain, he'll be in trouble.

[milner351]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Let me get this straight -
this solution is basically drain cleaner - on steroids - and you can't pour it down a drain in california?

[dulcich]

Re: Parts Cleaning

damn, you gotta have at least a grand in that motor, if you had to pay for the parts and machine work.

And it's a 318. Damn.


Nice tip on the cleaning stuff. We don't have a storm drain on our 4 acres in the country, would proper disposal consist of dumping it somewhere we don't want plants to grow ever again?

Mostly stuff I have already laying around, and I already had the short assembled as a dyno engine. I like the 318, should do good on gas with a Thermoquad and A518 overdrive. It will have more than enough power to spank a typical 327 or 350 Chevy. I just don't want to build a bigger motor than that, since this will be a driver.

About twenty five years ago I had that TQ20 in a near-stock 318 in a 78 3/4 ton, Dana 4.11's and it would flat smoke any stock 454 truck. ;)
-dulcich

[joe_rocket45]

Re: Parts Cleaning

if it's mixed with muratic acid the end result is water and salt. (or "no-salt" {low sodium salt} depending on what type of lye was used).

NaOH + HCl = NaCl + H2O
or
KOH + HCl = KCL + H2O

[Matt Cramer]

Re: Parts Cleaning

if it's mixed with muratic acid the end result is water and salt. (or "no-salt" {low sodium salt} depending on what type of lye was used).

NaOH + HCl = NaCl + H2O
or
KOH + HCl = KCL + H2O

You could also use vinegar if you wanted to turn it into something safe for disposal.

[Schtauffer]

Re: Parts Cleaning

ZEP - great stuff if you can get - but where can you get it over the counter?

Our local John Deere dealer keeps Zep 2000 on the shelf. Very much against Zep policy, but...

We have a Zep account where I work. Their products are the best.

[jacek]

I guess this is a zombie but it inspired me to make a test experiment to clarify the (more) definite cleaning guide. I gathered the following cleaning components: Zep concrete cleaner, simple green concentrate, Lye crystals, Pot Ash flakes, Citric acid, raw aluminum wheel cleaner (acid based), Awesome brand grill cleaner in a spray bottle from nearby 99c store (soda ash alkaline?). Pot Ash and Lye are similar strong alkalines but pot ash is believed to cut grease better because of having smaller molecules? whatever...
For my experiment i had a set of old hydraulic lifters from a C351 I built. The engine internals had caked on oil deposits dating back to 1970 when it was built. The lifters were no exception. I wanted to try every possible combo of household cleaners and chemical and see what cuts best. for this steel portion of cleaning solution guide for carbon deposits i limited the cleaners to the first four. I will test the acid based for aluminum and rust treatment later.
ok so 10 test samples: for chemicals I saturated the solutions so there are no potency issues- in clear cups Lye only, pot ash only, Zep CC only, Simple green only, zep/pot ash, zep/lye, Simple green/pot ash, Simple green/Lye, zep/pot ash/Lye, Simple green/pot ash/Lye. Room temperature, 12hrs period.
The re are two clear winners : Zep and simple green/pot ash combo. Zep worked the quickest - it started dissolving the caked on mud right away. However I feel that it leaves sort of a film of that on the metal the surfaces had a golden hue after light rinsing with water. Simple green/pot ash combo took longer but it cleaned the metal completely. All the others softened the carbon but did not remove it completely from the surfaces. I hope sharing my experience helps the group ;-)
BTW For parts I wanted to reuse in the built like rockers and pushrods I used the awesome grill cleaner /water mixture in my ultrasonic cleaner. Heated up it cleaned the parts spotless. Just FYI

[oletrux4evr]

Man, this thread has revived some memories of guys who used to live here. Times have certainly changed.

[DanStokes]

Pretty amazing what you can train bots to do.

[jacek]

Pretty amazing what you can train bots to do.

sometimes I wish I was a bot ;-)

[Monster]

Welcome to the forum !

[jacek]

Thank you. I was looking for an easy way to clean my oven door and remembered Freiburger mention Steve Dulcich "secret engine parts cleaning sauce" on one of the roadkilll garage episodes. Googled "Dulcich parts cleaning" and voila!!! here I am...

[Loren]

Interesting stuff, worth bringing up again.

I just had a bunch of rusty steel parts to clean, and went out to buy anything I could find to do it. The youngster at the automotive paint store where we used to get metal-prep actually did not seem to know what I was talking about. After five minutes of searching his stockroom shelves he came up with a $55 gallon of paint thinner. Migawd people have become idiots, it's hard to be polite. The Home Depot had Zep driveway cleaner (I bought four gallons) and the hardware store had this stuff I've never seen, RustOleum rust remover which is phosporic acid, the stuff metal-prep used to have, and I bought two gallons of that. There's always swimming pool (muriatic acid) and toilet bowl cleaner (hydrochloric acid I think) too but I was wanting to try something new. The Zep wins hands-down, but like muriatic acid leaves the metal subject to fast re-corrosion and being worse than it was, you have to get it cleaned, rinsed and apply oil which if you're going to be painting is counter-productive. Phosphoric acid is better that way, I wound up leaving a basket of parts in the Zep driveway cleaner for six hours, then rinsing, then dipping in the RustOleum, then drying and that worked the best.

The Zep seemed to have less of a problem with fumes than muriatic acid which if you leave an open tub of in your garage you'll find every metal thing in your garage has corrosion on it the next day.

BTW if you're using this stuff on car bodies, rubbing by hand, it seems to take forever. The process speeds up if you use Scotch-Brite pads but they dull and clog...pouring a little silica sand onto your work, then going at it with the pads, seems to work best.

[2020 mustang]

Interesting stuff, worth bringing up again.

I just had a bunch of rusty steel parts to clean, and went out to buy anything I could find to do it. The youngster at the automotive paint store where we used to get metal-prep actually did not seem to know what I was talking about. After five minutes of searching his stockroom shelves he came up with a $55 gallon of paint thinner. Migawd people have become idiots, it's hard to be polite. The Home Depot had Zep driveway cleaner (I bought four gallons) and the hardware store had this stuff I've never seen, RustOleum rust remover which is phosporic acid, the stuff metal-prep used to have, and I bought two gallons of that. There's always swimming pool (muriatic acid) and toilet bowl cleaner (hydrochloric acid I think) too but I was wanting to try something new. The Zep wins hands-down, but like muriatic acid leaves the metal subject to fast re-corrosion and being worse than it was, you have to get it cleaned, rinsed and apply oil which if you're going to be painting is counter-productive. Phosphoric acid is better that way, I wound up leaving a basket of parts in the Zep driveway cleaner for six hours, then rinsing, then dipping in the RustOleum, then drying and that worked the best.

The Zep seemed to have less of a problem with fumes than muriatic acid which if you leave an open tub of in your garage you'll find every metal thing in your garage has corrosion on it the next day.

BTW if you're using this stuff on car bodies, rubbing by hand, it seems to take forever. The process speeds up if you use Scotch-Brite pads but they dull and clog...pouring a little silica sand onto your work, then going at it with the pads, seems to work best.

There was a time when you did not know what you know now, sad most forget this when they get older.

[Dan Barlow]

Welcome to the forum !