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Date:         Mon, 13 Feb 1995 20:02:55 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@townshend.Corp.Megatest.COM (William Abbott)
Subject:      Degreasing, ECI rebuilt, Red Rock

Well I wasn't sick (finally) and it wasn't raining (finally) so I did my degreasing experiment Saturday. I used the cross-memeber that holds the back of the engine (pulley end- front is front) since it was big and really gunky. I sprayed an 8-inch wide stripe of Simple Green on the left edge, buttered an 8 inch stripe of Orange hand-cleaner on the next 8 inches and sprayed Permatex hydrocarbon degreaser aerisol on the last 8 inches of the gunk. Oh yeah, each strip went around both sides of the crossmember.

(this was on at least 1/16 inch gunk (2mm) composed of oil, dirt, grease, dirt, exhaust soot, etc.)

I thought I had some Westley's Clear Magic but I must have used all of it.

Then Ian and I went off to Bugformance to buy bits and pieces (including a new fuel hose, Sami- thanks for the warning!).

2 hours later, we came back, and I took my scrubber brush to the presumably softened gunge. On the stripe done with hand cleaner, I got right down to the metal immediately. On the other two stripes, I got a lot of awful stuff loosened, but didn't get down to the metal.

After a thorough scrub and rinse, I used a bit more orange hand cleaner and the brush to take off the rest of the gunge down to metal. And I caught the rinse water in a trash-can so I can let the hazardous stuff settle to the bottom. I'll decant the water off the top next time there's a big rain storm.

So my conclusion is that orange hand cleaner is the best for degreasing really nasty stuff. Plus its not toxic, it has a long working life since its a gel and any residue will make your car smell like oranges! My friend Kevin got a gallon of it at the car parts club on Sunday!

Now I've got to finish cleaning the small number of tin bits I'm re-using and paint them with the beloved Rustoleum.

The ECI rebuilt engine arrived Wednesday, just like they said it would, and it looks BEAUTIFUL. It came all put together, smelling slightly of gasoline. Its timed, its been run, it has the clutch mounted, tin installed, NEW generator, new-looking carb, a nice printed warantee (3 years/ 100,000 miles). All this for $1731, tax and frieght included. I'm impressed. It looks like a new engine. Truth is, the only visible used parts are the case and the intake manifold- and maybe the distributor.

Bob Kenyon said he'd seen my name on the list of Red Rock attendees- I'm not sure I can make it- I've lost track of everything in the last two weeks and work has slipped badly. I'll look at back digests to see when Red Rock is and etc, but please don't anyone count on my being there! Sorry!!

Bill Abbott

VWs: 70 Single Cab Pickup, 93 Corrado Cats: Moustache and Georgi Zhukov Best Fish Recipe: Pan Blackened Catfish Favorite Flannel Pattern: McNab (natch!)

/\_/\ //o o\\ <<==Y==>> "growing whiskers and a tail!" mm,\C/,mm


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