Gotta wonder why that 3M is not approved for sale in Cali. The propane propellant? Citrus is one of our popular state crops, should be able to seel that stuff here.... But at over $1/oz it's just a little pricey. Wonder how it compares with the ZEP Orange Degreaser from H-D (which isn't that great...)

 

MSDS says it's the same stuff.

 

Jim Morton introduced me to this process of cleaning engine parts w/ Histoclear & Simple Green. THe stuff you're seeing at National Diagnostics that replaces xylene is what you're looking for.

It does take a little time & effort for the process to work. We apply the Histoclear w/ a horsehair paint brush and sort of work it into the surface of the part, clearing away any gunk until we can see metal. Then it goes into the Simple Green bath and again the surface is agitated w/ a paint brush. If you're patient, it can give great results. It just leeches the oil out of metal parts. It's particularly effective on the Reynolds 390 block material and the exposed silicon in the bores.

I created a page called "A Day in the Life of a Timing Belt Backing Plate" in my photo gallery to show the process of cleaning parts w/ Histoclear & Simple Green. You can see it here:
A Day in the Life of a Timing Belt Backing Plate

Also, here are some pics of an engine we just disassembled, cleaned, and rebuilt. This will give you some idea of what's possible. You can see how reflective the block becomes.

Before:











After:

 

Dennis, nice job of cleaning. I am getting ready to start a 16 valve rebuild (euro)

 

FYI the group, I spent some time yesterday with James Morrison's '85 Euro S, a half a gallon of ZEP orange clean citrus degreaser concentrate in 4 gallons of hot water, and went after the engine with that stuff in the garden sprayer. The ZEP is the same as Histoclear, plus it has an additional surfactant. With nothing beyond spraying it on and leting it work for a while, the ersults are very impressive. I'll post pics to a new thread specific to the car, where the never-been-cleaned motor in the car is now bright and clean. The pH of the diluted detergent is a very acceptable 6.8, so it shouldn't cause serious risk to electrical connections with a good rinsing. Lots more cleaning to do, but so far a thumbs-up to the citrus on the aluminum engine stuff.

 

DR Bob, I hope you got some before shots of the motor. I will keep looking for your new post.
Thanks

 

Still having too much FUN!

 

A couple "before" shots from the PPI walkaround. The car is in good original condition, and the engine bay and drivetrain are need of some cleaning before it's safe to work on it. The engine is dirty on top, and gets a little worse on the bottom due to road crud and a power steering system leak.

 

A couple "after" pics. The car gets a shroud over the non-target areas. Much easier than trying to clean overspray and crud off the paint later. Driveway gets the same treatment, with cheap Harbor Freight tarps layered to keep the runoff clear of the driveway surface. This is especially important if you have an asphalt driveway, since a good degreaser will go to work on the tar that holds it all together.

Anyway, hot water and the citrus concentrate at 8:1, in the garden sprayer. Apply, leave it for at least 5 mins. I gave it 10 then reapplied, waited another 10 mins, then the garden hose spray to rinse.

For those playing along in other parts of the country, it was almost 80º here on Sunday, just about perfect weather for this kind of duty.

The aluminum brightened up nicely and the grease and crud are gone from the top of the engine. I didn't realize until later that the oil filler/separator wasn't painted black, so it was cleaned by hand later. Plus I was a little worried that the chems might be tough on the engine bay paint so the fender walls and stuff didn't get any direct treatment this time. They will ge cleaned better in the next round, when the car will be up on stands for a better shot at the bottom, including some time with the pressure washer underneath.

 

Great work Dr. Bob! And thanks for the pics, really helps to see what you did and how.

Did you spray directly on the engine, including ignition parts and wiring/sensors, etc.? Or did you figure everything is sealed well enough and weren't using direct high pressure so you were OK?

 

dr bob - very nice work! Can't wait to see your pics from cleaning under the car. Do you dissolve the cosmoline or just rinse it off with high pressure hot water? Thanks for the pics. I need to do this on the Zyclamrot car.

 

I was on the fence about protecting the electrical connetcors and distributor caps. I bagged the caps atthe beginning, but changed my mind once I got going. Figuring that I'll be pulling the caps and rotors anyway, so if I need to dry them out no loss. So no protection. And no problems. Note that the engine was COLD, so there was no thermal aspiration of liquid into places it should not be. Whatever got wet was becuase it got sprayed. This is low-pressure gentle rinse with the garden hose. No direct stream spray. The chems did all the work, literally. There are a few connectors and connections that will be redone, like the temp-II connector boot in the picture, the 14-pin wiring, and the big wire from the alternator to the jump post where it's deteriorated and the insulation is trashed.

The underneath is a lot uglier, and will need more than a rinse with the cirus and a rain rinse.

 

Wow you guys rock. Dr. Bob you've got it down to the science. Dennis K... that is what I want my old girl to look like with her nickers off! So sexy! Thanks for all the input, Brian

 

Histoclear dissolves Cosmoline extremely well. Some light brushing and it comes right off.

 

Thanks for the tip on the cosmoline, Dennis.

I sprayed some up under the rear to get access to the diff cover for a fluid check/replace. With maybe ten mins of soaking but no brushing at all, it did a little bit of good. At least enough to get to the plugs. The gearbox looks a lot better, as you can see in the picture. This was done with the car sitting down on its wheels; the next session will have the car up on stands, wheels off, for a much more comprehensive undercar cleansing.

There was a discussion about a product called Royal Brown a month or so ago. I may get a gallon of that to use on the undercarriage surfaces. If I do, I'll report back on results. The ZEP website lists a soy-based product that may be similar to the Royal Brown. The product claims sound very similar. There's a lot of forgiveness when working on the bottom of a car.