Cleaning Aluminum..

I use Simply Green Extreme aircraft cleaner. It's not very strong but with some scrubbing and sometimes multiple applications it works without the worry of stronger cleaners causing damage. Regular Simple Green could damage aluminum if left sitting in high enough concentrations, so I stick to the aircraft formula. I haven't found anything magical, cleaning strength is generally directly proportional to potential damage.

 

Other than Simple Green Extreme, a lot of aircraft guys use Gojo. Depending on what you are cleaning can use w/ or w/o the pumice (abrasive).

 

There are some other terrific aircraft products. For my Piper Archer, I use Arrow Magnolia products. The degreaser is excellent for cleaning the gunk off the underside of the plane without harming the aluminum. I cannot say for sure because I have not tried it, but I suspect it would work well in the engine bay of a 308.

http://www.sportys.com/PilotShop/product/12022

Other pilots I know have had good luck with the Simple Green product.

 

Depends on the surface, and the strength of the aluminum - I have used a brass brush on my Dremel to scrub-away the corrosion and tarnish on certain aluminum surfaces. You might not want to use such a brush on areas where a gasket is to be used for sealing air/liquid. Exterior surfaces are fine. For the real tough stuff, I've used a blasting cabinet loaded with Walnut shells.

 

With Common sense implied, has anyone used steam to clean the engine bay? I had a steam cleaner back when and I used it on engines out for a rebuild but everything was iron then. I can't imagine it hurting the metal. Lost

 

I use alcohol and a rag, takes more time works real well
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For exterior surfaces a Scotchbrite pad soaked in WD40

Mating surfaces Acetone.

 

+1....Scotch Brite is my go-to (blue pads). They remain terrific.

 

Surprisingly WD40 does work really well ! Found that out by accident after using SG Aircraft among others.

 

This old dog will have to try something new! Imagine that. Lost

 

If I am not mistaken WD40 is mostly stoddard solvent. I have used it to mainly clean. Every nut and bolt I take off the car goes into a small metal tim I then take each piece and clean with a rag. This is a good thread to post this as many think WD40 is a lubricant which it is not and actually strips lubricant off parts. Thats how I cleaned all these parts with the exception of a few.
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I agree with this...mild solvent, rag, and work.

 

Over here I have a guy that does the best alloy cleaning.
Wayne Jacobson at Specialized Blasting. Non abrasive, excellent finish.
Seals the alloy.
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Wow!!!

 

Nice shine Murray - makes me want to pull my engine and send it half way around the globe.... BTW the euro grill is finally on the car - looks great

 

Thats fantastic, but he is over there! HA Do yo know what media he uses?

 

I have been trying to clean some pistons and apart from using methelated spirits,cellulose thinners,and dettol(sold in uk),have also used Vulpex liquid soap, its a safe cleaner for practically everything from paper to stone. (Potassium Methyl Cyclohexyl Oleate). Non-acid ... non-foaming ... non-corrosive
... non-hazardous ... germicidal.

 

There is a guy here in the UK who does this and his process is explained:

http://www.aloh.co.uk/process/

 

An ultrasonic cleaner works amazingly well on smaller engine parts like pistons, carbs, etc. they are also surprisingly cheap:
http://www.google.co.uk/shopping/product/216282442036924760?q=ultrasonic+cleaner&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&ei=QHybUK-bIeqP0AWZwIHADQ&ved=0CC4QrRI#hsecverview

Here's one in action:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk5JEgPHo9c&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]