I just got myself a Honda VFR750 engine [for a bike I'm building, not my car]. Before putting it back together, I want to give everything a good clean. I have tried Gunk with little success. Below is a picture of the front cover after attacking it with Gunk - as you can see it doesn't look very good! Any ideas what would get rid the crap? Thanks.

Hi,
Is it muck or corrosion on the pic??? In the past I've used a Trike tank to dip engine components, blocks, etc. This approach requires everything stripped and is dangerous stuff if not treated with great care, but will remove the most stubborn crud!!

Much safer and readily available is good old hot water fairy liquid!! If you can submerge mucky bits in a bucket of hot water for a few mins, it will do a good job of softening and loosening caked on crud making removal with a stiff brush(you cant beat a stiff toothbrush for the tricky bits) much easier


Paul

CTCS commercial cleaning services

A rotary wire brush in a drill, type thing. Or bead blasting.

right, two real ways to tackle that one.

1) if you want it bright and shiny, get it glass bead blasted

2) if you just want it clean, but don't mind it being dull, take it to an engine machine shop and get them to put it in their hot chemical wash (rotary jetwash)

Hot water, Fiery Liquid and a scourer... how tight can you get... makes your hands lovely and soft to - NOT!

Boil it up with Rhubarb leaves --

If it is corrosion thats the problem and not simply crud then a bead blaster is just the job, most decent engineering companies have them, be sure to thoroughly remove the beads though as they will cause engine self destruction!!

Paul

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I tried hot water + washing up liquid, oven cleaner and some other under the sink stuff.. This certainly removed any grime there was, but didn't do much else. It was hard to tell before what was corrosion and what was dirt, now I can say 98% is corrosion..

As far as bead blasting goes.. what sort of price range is it in? Also, as mentioned, I am aware that it can destroy an engine if beads are left over.. is it particuarly hard to be sure they are all gone?

Hi unix,
I couldnt say how expensive it is to bead blast components are as I have access to a blaster for free at my ex employers. Regarding the cleaning of the components, it can be tricky but not impossible! By rinsing the cases thoroughly with the hose in the blaster tank then force drying with a high pressure air line and a clean duster you can be fairly sure of 100% removal.

Paul

if it's made of steel, have a look at electrolytic rust removal. it does wonderful things. not suitable for use with stainless though, very nasty byproducts.

Looks like that could be corrosion under a layer of laquer. Paint stripper will probably shift it but you will have to re-laquer or polish if you want a bright finish

Without question, get it aqua blasted, glass beads suspended in water, it will bring it up like absolute brand new, Ive had lots of ali bits done and even my sump. A place literally round the corner from where I work does it for next to nothing, like £5 for an inlet manifold. Do it while you wait, its not worth the effort using elbow grease to clean aluminium bits IMO. Check out the pic in my archive, this part was totally covered in crud and grime, it now looks like it came straight out of a Nissan parts bin. Got this bit and the plenum done for something like £5.

James

Looks like bead blasting is the way to do it then. Can anyone recommend any places in Edinbrugh? Also, what about sand blasting?

no, you want beads for ally, sand will give a nasty finish.

No idea about places in Edinburgh unfortunately.