Suggestions for cleaning exterior of 4spd

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Johnny Dart said:
Your welcome.
Yep that's an engine stand. Comes in handy.
Take the mounting bracket out of the stand.
Bolt it to the trans.
Lift it up, and slide it in the stand.
Click to expand...
And when you get bored you can go out and bang gears with it on the engine stand.....
 
Well i must say i cant believe no one mentiond doing it the way i did. i sealed it up good and used kerosine and putty knife for heavy grease and wiped wiped wiped then when fully degreased i used a wire cup brush and drill and put the shine on. finshed up with a coat of oil wiped it down good and still looks as shiny as the day i did it 4 years ago. just my 2 cents.
 
a little trick i learned, (first plug the speedo hole)Soak it in oven cleaner then wrap it in cheap dollar store saran wrap - completely airtight, let it sit 24 hours, then just cut it open and hose it off. With the oven cleaner unable to dry out it completely dissolves the grime and makes a messy black slime that just falls off the part. make sure you wash thoroughly and get the film off before paint.

you can also do this as a way to strip paint.
 
Oven cleaner is good, but crystal Draino is better. It is the same stuff that the machine shop uses to hot tank ferrous metal. You will need to remove any aluminum because it will react with it. It is sodium hydroxide......lye. It is nasty stuff, so if you use it, be careful. Wear eye protection and gloves. You also do not want to inhale the fumes, and keep your face AWAY when you are handling it. Even the dust can cause you problems if you accidentally inhale it. You simply mix it with water to the strength you want. Oven cleaner has the same basic active ingredient, but nowhere near as concentrated, and the drain cleaner is way cheaper. Cheaper still is powdered lye from a feed and seed store for instance. But, you will probably have to buy a larger quantity from there than what you need to clean the transmission. You'd have more left over for future projects. Just mix it up and brush it on with a paint brush and let it sit. You may need to do it a few times. Course, you could disassemble it and soak the case, but it does not sound like you wanna go all that far. I remember when I worked in a machine shop when I was younger. The boss hired a new guy and he put a set of pistons and rods in the hot tank overnight. The pistons were about 3/4 gone the next morning. Lye does NOT like aluminum. Mixing it with the hottest water you can also ativates it even more. But again, I warn you, it is dangerous stuff. If you get any on you, stop what you are doing and wash it off NOW. I have used it for years with great results. It works better if you have an immersion tank, but if you keep painting it on a few times, it will do the same job. Since it is water based, it rinses right off with water and becomes inert once it is diluted enough.
 
i dont know if water will get in or not. but if you live near a blue beacon truck wash place they have a acid wash for alum,,doesnt hurt alum at all..will dull polished alum..go there on a rainy day and they can take there time..no one washes there big truck in the rain...its best to take all ur alum there at once..ie intakes old alum wheels. brackets etc..its gonna cost the same..ur probley looking at 30-40 bucks maybe less..or if you dont mind the mess theres always driveway cleaner..muratic acid. its a mild acid..good luck
 
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