Parts Cleaning

[dulcich]

So, I'm putting together a mild 318 for my 1972 D100. I had some steel valvecovers for a Mopar Magnum I picked up yesterday off a 95 van. Completely coked with grease, and fully sludged inside. Sprayed them down with Super Clean, and that got some of the loose oil off. Two go arounds with oven cleaner got some more, but there was some hard baked crud on the outside, and inside, the sludge wouldn't budge, and these have full-lenght baffles inside, so I figured they needed to be submerged.

Went to the home despot, and got a plastic bin, one gallon of Zep driveway cleaner, and a big can of Zep drain cleaner crystals (sodium hydroxide), about 16oz. Put the valve covers in the bin, poured in the driveway cleaner, and then poured in the drano, and topped off with water. A couple of hours later, pulled them out and hosed off and they were spiffy clean inside and out, I'm talking spotless. Old fashioned "cold-tanking".
-dulcich

Don't try this with aluminum parts, and be careful, guys, the solution will burn your skin.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: Parts Cleaning

joe dirt don't do clean
mopar to ya !

[HillbillySailor]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Whatever happened to the M/T valve covers you powercoated? I remember you doing those for a mag article, but can't remember which mag it was.

[dulcich]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Whatever happened to the M/T valve covers you powercoated? I remember you doing those for a mag article, but can't remember which mag it was.

That was for PHR. Those were for a big block.

This engine is an LA-series 318, +.040 KB flat tops, .005-out. 1971 block, stock 360 rods, forged 273 crank, balanced. The heads are EQ iron 318LA, which are basically a Magnum head with LA engine intake bolt pattern. I'm running a ported Edelbrock Performer, only so that I can use the C171 axial A/C compressor with the OEM brackets. The heads have the 10-bolt Magnum pattern for the valve covers so I got these valve covers. Cam is an old Erson TQ-20H that I've had since the mid '80's. I wanted a mild cam that is an easy and slow profile, short and on a wide LSA. The TQ-20 is a 214 @ .050 single pattern on a 112, installed at 108. Running Comp Magnum ball-pivot roller tip Chevy rockers in 1.6:1 ratio, for about .480 lift.

[yellomalibu]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Went to the home despot, and got a plastic bin, one gallon of Zep driveway cleaner, and a big can of Zep drain cleaner crystals (sodium hydroxide), about 16oz. Put the valve covers in the bin, poured in the driveway cleaner, and then poured in the drano, and topped off with water. A couple of hours later, pulled them out and hosed off and they were spiffy clean inside and out, I'm talking spotless. Old fashioned "cold-tanking".
-dulcich

Don't try this with aluminum parts, and be careful, guys, the solution will burn your skin.

What was the cost of your parts cleaning kit?
What do you do with it when you're done?
- do noxious or toxic fumes or vapors come from it?
- will it keep?
- how do you dispose of it when it's "done".

[Barry Donovan]

Re: Parts Cleaning

sodium hydroxide.

you crazy chemist.

just add natures salts.. you'll know just how clean that is. ???

holy crap man, hide this crazy thread.

[nesabo]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Woo hoo, a dulcich post where he didnt commit a felony! :D

[Bamfster]

Re: Parts Cleaning

I think it'll be a felony when he pours it down the storm drain ....

[JOES66FURY]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Zep is amazing, We did a trial on it to see how it would clean out pump housings and prop hubs when we tore down props at work...it is like it ate the dirt and grime...

[milner351]

Re: Parts Cleaning

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

[HillbillySailor]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Whatever happened to the M/T valve covers you powercoated? I remember you doing those for a mag article, but can't remember which mag it was.

That was for PHR. Those were for a big block.

This engine is an LA-series 318, +.040 KB flat tops, .005-out. 1971 block, stock 360 rods, forged 273 crank, balanced. The heads are EQ iron 318LA, which are basically a Magnum head with LA engine intake bolt pattern. I'm running a ported Edelbrock Performer, only so that I can use the C171 axial A/C compressor with the OEM brackets. The heads have the 10-bolt Magnum pattern for the valve covers so I got these valve covers. Cam is an old Erson TQ-20H that I've had since the mid '80's. I wanted a mild cam that is an easy and slow profile, short and on a wide LSA. The TQ-20 is a 214 @ .050 single pattern on a 112, installed at 108. Running Comp Magnum ball-pivot roller tip Chevy rockers in 1.6:1 ratio, for about .480 lift.

Ah, I see. I didn't remember the particulars about the vavle covers, I just remember they looked really good when finished after you tried out a new at-home powdercoating system.

[Bamfster]

Re: Parts Cleaning

The old Erson TQ-20 .... I remember going to Super Shops to get my 1st one ..... ah the memories

[dulcich]

Re: Parts Cleaning

Woo hoo, a dulcich post where he didnt commit a felony! :D

Well, I was thinking about coming up with one about "Choking The Gardener" or maybe "Tackling And Hauling Off A Kid On Halloween" (Kids these days... :D), but the cleaning solution worked so good I thought I'd try posting a legitimate tip for a change.

I've used the various alkaline based cleaning solutions for parts dips on steel parts (the ZEP purple degreaser concentrate and their driveway cleaner have similar active ingredients), but to fully submerge a set of valve covers would take more than five gallons, unless you have a perfectly sized container. I used the driveway cleaner concentrate because it would add the surfactants to the mix, glycol ether, which makes it work way better than straight lye (the parts degreaser concentrate would be just as good).

These cleaner concentrates use sodium hydroxide as a main active ingredient already, along with 2-butoxyethanol (which BTW is also the primary active ingredient in Simple Green). The added sodium hydroxide is what really made it cook, especially when adding about six gallons of water so the valvecovers would be submerged. Sodium hydroxide is just Lye, commonly used as the main ingredient in caustic drain cleaners (as well as old-type oven cleaner). It's hard to find just the straight lye anymore, because I think it is used to make meth, and has been restricted for retail sale in CA, so you have to pay extra and buy the drain cleaner.

About 10 bucks for the one gallon of ZEP and about the same for the drain cleaner, and about six bucks for the plastic bin. Worth it to me, since it's hard to find a real immesion hot tank at a machine shop (let alone having to wait to get them done), and a jet clean wouldn't get the area behind the baffles clean, and probably would have left some gunk. I'm going to put a bunch of greasy stock rockers in there today.

By the way, make SURE if you want to try to make your own brew not to use an acid based cleaner in the mix. Lots of masonry cleaners are acid based, and you can't use the Lye with those. Look for a base cleaner stock with sodium hydroxide already in it as an active ingredient.
-dulcich

[squirrel]

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?

[BBR]

Re: Parts Cleaning

I think it'll be a felony when he pours it down the storm drain ....

haha that's exactly what I was thinking!