[coffeebean]

So, I brought "Louie" home last night (a junked 350 Chevy small block that a mechanic dug up for me from the back of his yard). The outside is filthy (but looks soooooooooo cool in my garage! Bear with me, I'm a girl.) and the inside must have colonies of black widows.

I need to clean it. Louie is a sacrificial engine for my learning purposes and probably won't ever be used again, but I want to learn how to do this.

1. Do I just go to Walmart and buy a few cans of degreaser? I've also seen kerosene, solvent, and Simple Green listed on this site.

2. Is it enough to lay plastic down to catch the drips? I have a one-car garage in a condo. I need to be able to clean up the mess.

3. How do I "neatly" and safely dispose of whatever comes off? Is this the same as dumping oil? What do I put it in?

4. Any warnings on what not to do?

Thanks!

Michelle

[302 Z28]

Simple Green will work, but you probably need something more aggressive. A cheap alternative would be spray on oven cleaner. I have removed some serious grease and sludge build up with it before.

Vince

[pmeisel]

1. Simple Green might work. I've always used Gunk engine cleaner (try an auto parts store).

2. Some sort of tray with sides, or a tarp with some sort of containment on the sides... it can make a mess. I have always done it in the driveway where the slope and drains take care of it... not ecologically sound but I live in hillbilly country where this is deemed acceptable. In a one car garage you need to contain it.

3. Most municipalities have a location where you can dump cleaning solvents. If yours does not, try a commercial garage or boatyard. If you can put it in jugs, some places, like our NAPA, have a place to return used oil.

4. Wear crappy clothes and get a lot of rags.... give the cleaner time to work, but don't let it dry.... I have used kerosene but I find it rather caustic, I would use something milder. Have fun....

[busterwivell]

I would just go to the 99 cent store and buy a few cans of oven cleaner. Let it soak for a while, then hose it off. As far as the mess, a plastic sheet, supported around the edges? then toss the whole piece of plastic? Good luck.

[techinspector1]

Get a putty knife from the hardware and scrape off as much of the grunge as you can before you start with the chemicals. Get a parts cleaning brush from Autozone or other "quik-trip" auto parts house to do the chemical part of the cleanup. It's about a foot long, wooden handle, black bristles about 2" long and about 1" in diameter. The bristles are very stiff and will allow you to stab them into hard-to-get-to crevices.

[DHMag]

personally, i prefer Purple Power over everything else. after the initial precleaning (scraping built up oil and grime), i douse the whole block in Purple Power, use a scraper and bristle brush again. rinse, let dry, douse again, let soak for 30 minutes, then do a once over with the brush then rinse.

of course, i also prefer to strip the block completely before i do anything to it.

btw, Welcome to the Forum and good luck with your endeavor. you will find lots of help here at hotrodders.com

[Hippie]

Originally Posted by techinspector1

Get a putty knife from the hardware and scrape off as much of the grunge as you can before you start with the chemicals. Get a parts cleaning brush from Autozone or other "quik-trip" auto parts house to do the chemical part of the cleanup. It's about a foot long, wooden handle, black bristles about 2" long and about 1" in diameter. The bristles are very stiff and will allow you to stab them into hard-to-get-to crevices.

Ditto that, I use "Super Cleaner", it used to be sold under the Castrol label but I noticed their name is no longer on the bottle. It comes in a purple spray bottle or gallon jug but can be ordered in larger containers up to a 55 Gal drum! Just get the jug and an industrial type sprayer like a pump up bug sprayer because the spray bottles only work about halfway through the bottle. The stuff is AGGRESSIVE but biodegradeable. Leave it in an aluminum pie pan for a few days and it will eat holes in it. Definitely use it in a well ventilated area! I bought a 2-1/2 Gal jug recently to soak really crusty parts in, 48 hours immersed in that stuff and they come out spotless. NAPA and Wal Mart both carry it.

[Jmark]

Hi Michelle, welcome to the HR board!

All the above recommendations will work well. Just a word of caution. WHATEVER you use, read the label. If it contains any kind of flammable solvent, make sure you have good ventilation AND if the hot water heater is in the garage, do the cleaning outside!!!! Not fun to see a house go boom!!!!

[lumberjacknooj]

Welcome, coffeebean!
I agree with the guys- You've GOTTA read the directions and make sure your space is well ventilated. The fumes from some cleaners can do some damage.

As far as catching your dripping mess- you might could use one of those plastic totes or something similar (that you don't mind getting filthy). It would be easier than rigging up plastic sheets. You might be able to just put a lid on it and take it to your disposal location without having to put it in smaller containers. Just make sure whatever you're using won't eat through it Also- you may want to put a drop cloth or plastic on the floor, in case of splatters or drips that miss your container.

Good luck- and have fun with "Louie"!

Nooj

[coffeebean]

Thanks so much, everyone! Gosh, when I get my truck one day, I'm just going to want to have you all over for beers and a barbeque! :^)

So, I scraped a bunch of junk off of Louie and it occurred to me that he'd be easier to clean if he were disassembled already. Any input on that? My little suburban condo lifestyle isn't conducive to hosing down an entire engine. And, I can barely push him around on my make-shift furniture dolly engine mount.

Got the Purple Power, got the Liquid Wrench super penetrant blah-blah-blah, got the orange hand cleaner. SHOPPING! I love it!


-Michelle

[home brew]

Looks like you have a good handle on the engine cleaning part.

I checked out your project journal and noticed that you are labeling everything from the flywheel side. Usually when you see directions, etc. in automotive manuals they are given from the water pump/crankshaft pulley (front) of the engine. eg. the numbering of the cylinders and the firing order of the engine.

"Gosh, when I get my truck one day, I'm just going to want to have you all over for beers and a barbeque!"

You will have a lot of members show up we all like food or beer or both.

[Hippie]

Something I have used in the past to catch tear down debris is a large plastic tray made for placing under washing machine's to catch leaks. Most home improvement stores carry them. They are about 42" X 42" with a 1/2" lip all the way around and only cost a few bucks. You can cover it with oil dry and then scoop or dump the oil dry into a contractor bag for disposal. Makes clean up a lot easier. Also great as a drip tray under a leaky trans to keep the garage clean until you can fix the leak.

[pmeisel]

Originally Posted by Hippie

Ditto that, I use "Super Cleaner", it used to be sold under the Castrol label but I noticed their name is no longer on the bottle. It comes in a purple spray bottle or gallon jug but can be ordered in larger containers up to a 55 Gal drum! Just get the jug and an industrial type sprayer like a pump up bug sprayer because the spray bottles only work about halfway through the bottle. The stuff is AGGRESSIVE but biodegradeable. Leave it in an aluminum pie pan for a few days and it will eat holes in it. Definitely use it in a well ventilated area! I bought a 2-1/2 Gal jug recently to soak really crusty parts in, 48 hours immersed in that stuff and they come out spotless. NAPA and Wal Mart both carry it.

yeah, I have used that too in the industrial drums, it will take care of almost anything.

[DoubleVision]

I follow Vince. I`ve always used oven cleaner. get it from the dollar tree, or big lots. The power house brand works well. If you get the untilmate cheapy stuff like from dollar general it don`t work to well. before you spray it, here`s some tips. Where a mask, breathing that lemon scented stuff will kill your lungs. Let the engine sit out in the heat as long as you can before you spray it, the heat makes it work better. Spray it on, let it soak in, recoat if needed, rinse. let dry, do over until it`s clean to your satisfaction. I usually go in the dollar tree and get about 30 cans, the woman at the counter will look at me like I`m crazy, and I`ll tell her I`m a mechanic and this is my cleaner, then they understand. This stuff will also strip paint. couple more tips, let the cans sit out in the sun in a shady spot, but not in direct sunlight, the warmer cleaner works better as mentioned. Lastly, shake it up good, when it fans out of the can it works better. best part is, clean up is easy, since the acid in oven cleaner dissolved with water. I`ve used this stuff from cleaning everthing from engines, under carriages and rears, don`t use it on aluminum though. I`ll take the barbeque, long as it`s hickory smoked, but the beer I`ll pass on, just gimme a Dr. Pepper.

[Steve Brown]

I had my 350 boiled in a parts cleaner. this works great and leaves nothing behind in the block. you can have it done likely at your local machine shop.

Steve