Date:         Thu, 29 Jun 1995 16:16:17 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Schwarze <des@teleport.com>
Subject:      Re: The dirty work

Mitch Covington writes:
> 
> I've just stripped the engine from my '71 bus, thought I'd get a gallon 
> or two of solvent to put in the bug sprayer, and clean the daylights out 
> of everything.  The only place I've found solvent by the gallon was $20 
> bucks!!!  Ouch, and WalMart doesn't have it.  Perhaps there's something 
> cheaper and almost as 
> effective on grease, like Dawn dishwashing liquid?  This is probably OK 
> on the shrouding, but how about the inside of the crankcase?  What are 
> the tricks and tips on this type of cleaning job?  Also, is there a list 
> of Mustdos While the Engines Out? 

Cans of brake cleaner or carb cleaner will work much better than the
bug sprayer, which I would guess will not put out sufficient force.  
Buy a few cans of it and a large metal pan.  Set the parts in the pan
and spray them with the cleaner.  For the smaller parts, a one gallon
dip can of parts cleaner works well, and costs about 8 bucks.  Plus,
you can reuse it.  Don't leave the top off, though, as the stuff
evaporates *fast*.  Only take the top off when you are putting parts
in or taking them out.  I usually pour what's in the bottom of the
spray pan into the gallon can, to keep the level up (they are the
same brand, same stuff).  This makes it stronger and nastier at the
same time.

If you want a really good job done on your parts and don't want to get
dirty, take them all (tin especially) to a machine shop and have them
hot tanked for around $20.  Your parts will come back looking like
new and the tin will be ready to paint (black, please!).  IMO this
is the best way to do it, unless you will be needing to re-clean 
parts for some reason.

-David

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David Schwarze                     '73 VW Safare Custom Camper  (Da Boat)
San Diego, California, USA         '73 Capri GT 2800            (Da Beast)
e-mail: des@teleport.com           '87 Mustang Lx 5.0           (Da Sleeper)
http://www.teleport.com/~des       '93 Weber WG-50              (Da Piano)
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