Itinerant Air-Cooled

I filled a coffee can with water and drain cleaner (lye). Dropped a valve cover in and left it overnight. This batch I kept in the garage at near freezing temps...





Pulled it out, rinsed it off, and the paint, rust, etc, just fell off. A quick rubdown with oil for now since I failed to remember that I'd be dealing with bare steel. Need some "Prep N Prime" then I can paint it.

The lye works better when kept warm, so I made two cans full and put them on my electric burners yesterday (while the wife was gone, and daughter sick in bed). Took less than an hour to do the other half of that valve cover.

Now I'm scrounging a heat plate for the garage so I don't have to do it in the kitchen anymore. heh.

Can you believe they use this stuff for making soap, biodiesel, PEELING TOMATOES, exfoliating skin, etc? Scary. heh

Nice thing is that it gives off no fumes unlike most parts cleaners. It's still dangerous, but I'm not worried about the fumes getting in the house.

Found out by accident: spray carb cleaner removes paint like th' dickens. Spray on, wait a couple minutes, wipe off paint.

Westy78 wrote:Man that looks almost to easy. Did you actually use a specific drain cleaner or straight lye? I bet it would do great on a set of greasy tin.

Whatever was cheap at wallymart in the plumbing section. It's "Drain Out Crystal" clog remover. Has the magic words: "Best on Grease!"

It's actually a combination of sodium hydroxide and sodium nitrate. Probably not good stuff to chug on a saturday night... heh

Some of the cheaper "on sale!" carb cleaners strip paint with the best of them. I use GumOut because it is not so paint destructive and it is excellent for cleaning aluminum.

Valve cover restorations I usually clean the cork/oil/carbon out with GumOut, sand with 180/220 grit and then head straight to the sink for some dishwashing liquid and a heavy duty nylon scrubbing sponge. Then a new paint job.
Colin

Ya know I put some greasy tin in the dishwasher once.

Didn't do that great a job on the grease, but it took me hours to clean all the greasy crap from the inside of the dishwasher so I could but actual dishes in there.

As a soapmaker that has used this caustic material (red devil lye is my fav.)
do no underestimate the value of goggles. one little drop/splatter can cause serious damage and/or permanent blindness in that eye.

Can lye be used to clean a case or is it bad to use on aluminum?

I know if I put aluminum in the dishwasher it comes out dull and matted (an apparent chemical reaction. )
test it on a piece of scrap. Let us know. I like to find cleaning products that are the least harmful on the environs. I am not sure if lye is "unharmful" but it feels like it is less than other solvents.

Being a semi environmentalist ( I quit draining my engine oil on my dirt driveway at least =D> ) I prefer using the TSP substitute found a t Longs, Wal mart etc. You get the same results as above, just leave parts in a bucket with the TSP and water and it really cleans. Not to use on Aluminum or glass though.