I work in a machine shop and clean parts daily. All of the above will work, but nothing works better than elbow grease. We use a wire wheel or wire end brush to bust up the dirt and grease. It allows the chemicals to penetrate and break through.
I work in a machine shop and clean parts daily. All of the above will work, but nothing works better than elbow grease. We use a wire wheel or wire end brush to bust up the dirt and grease. It allows the chemicals to penetrate and break through.
I will add one thing... Don't use purple power straight. I had a really grungy aluminum intake and I went after it with a hose, straight PP concentrate, and a scrub brush. It worked, but it seriously "chalked" the aluminum. Since I was trying to sell it, I ended up soda blasting it to get it back looking decent.
If you're painting, no worries, but don't use it undiluted on aluminum that you want to leave natural.
I bought some very cheap No-name brand cleaner from Big Lots to give this a try. When I sprayed it on, it just remained as a liquid instead of the foaming effect I've seen from the Great Value and Easy off brands. It really didn't do anything and honestly, the stuffed seemed about as harmful as purple power.
I'm going to Walmart today to snag a few cans of Great Value. We'll see how that works.
f6sk wrote: I work in a machine shop and clean parts daily. All of the above will work, but nothing works better than elbow grease. We use a wire wheel or wire end brush to bust up the dirt and grease. It allows the chemicals to penetrate and break through.
This man speaks the truf. Oven cleaner alone does nothing without some degree of scrubage. I had some brackets on my Focus that were caked (oil sprayed, I believe) with oil/dirt/grime. Sprayed with oven cleaner and used a bristled brush. The piece came out looking line brand new.
It really helps to use elbow grease and apply in the sun or warm weather. I bought a face shield to combat the fumes.
Wire brush then kerosene works for me.
We use products like citri-solv. If it gets bitumen off of stuff, it'll clean anything.
Or SOLV-ESSO. That stuff is NASTY but it sure does clean well. 
Okay, so riddle me this. I have Super Stock IIIs with surface rust and heavy grease. What would you recommend as a degreaser?
I'm getting ready to invest in a heated pressure washer/steamer.....those things really cut down the cleaning time.
Oil Eater is my go to cleaner.
ScreaminE wrote: I just want the gunk off. Car has had a leaking upper oil pan (windage tray) for so long, that it's gunked in oil. As long as it's clean, I don't care about dull vs. shiny.
that's called inexpensive rust prevention
In reply to wbjones:
Lolz. Pretty sure the car was oil sprayed at one point. It has caked on grease on every part of the engine bay. It done it's job, but I'm slowly stripping all that crap off.
I really wish I could have taken some before/after pictures of the brackets and bolts I cleaned with oven cleaner. The before and after is astonishing.
Okay, finally some before vs. after. This is the waterpump housing from my Focus. I had a horrible waterpump leak when I got the car, and I assumed this housing was the culprit. I was right. While I had it off I cleaned it up. The third picture is the motor mount bracket. I don't have a before, but trust me it was caked with black, thick, oil/grease that Purple Power didn't budge. 20 minutes with oven cleaner and a scrub and it's about as clean as you can get without media blasting.
I took these photos with a potato.
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