What can remove some light grime and a thin mist of chevy orange engine paint overspray on my aluminum intake?

Thanks, Charles

Some lacquer thinner, followed by a good soaking with some air conditioner coil cleaner. The thinner should take off the grime, but will leave a slight tint on the intake. The coil cleaner should lift that off. Or, remove it and glassbead it. ;)

Glass beading, as opposed to sand blasting, gives a bit of a shine that is easy to clean and looks close to original.

Just glass beaded one, looks great.

I used to use that acid based aluminum wheel cleaner, or easy off oven cleaner.

i guess i like the cheaper approach or free things i can do....but then again if you dont have the things laying around the shop then it might cost more...lol i just use my assortment of wire wheels to clean an intake up....takes off gas stains, over spray and the such.....

I used paint remover, then blasted it with baking soda. Looks fresh cast. Just use a cheap siphon feed blasting gun and stick the hose in a box of Arm & Hammer (do it outdoors). I masked off all the machined surfaces first. Works great.

I painted mine clear before i installed it.

Daniel

Charles
Try Denatured alcohol. It is inexpensive, and available at any hardware store. It will make the alumium intake look like new. Just don't get it on painted surfaces. It's usually used to thin shellac.

come on guys wire wheels ? oven cleaner nothing like turning the intake dark grey .. just take it off do it the right way de grease it then have it sand or glass bead blasted . most shops will do it for 15-20 bucks and 15 for intake gaskets and you saved a nice part and it will look good to..

A caution about blasting with sand or glass beads. You have to make sure you get EVERY last grain of sand or glass bead off and out of there. If it gets into the engine internals the result ain't good. Baking soda dissolves in water.

I use Laquer thinner for the overspray and Simple green after that.
Simple green works very well on gas stains.

Rather than glass beading, have it blasted with walnut shells. In my experence, shell blasting will make it sparkle while glass will dull it ia bit. As Von said, what ever you do be sure to clean it completely or you be rebuilding the engine soon. Glass beads, in particular, will destroy rings.

I just used something called "aluminum acid" at my local parts store. It was clear.

I poured it over the intake and let it sit for maybe 30 min.? Washed it off with a garden hose and it looked SPARKLING new.

If I recall it was pretty cheap stuff too. Wish I could give you a brand name or some better info, but that was back in about '98-'99.

http://www.nugentec.com/TechDatasheets-PDF/Al-Brite%20Aluminum%20Acid%20Brightener.pdf


If you look at the spec sheet you'll note that this stuff is VERY acidic in its undiluted form ( <1.0 Ph). Obviously one would be well advised to wear rubber gloves to use it. That said I am betting that it would work very well.

No idea what its worth but you can get it by the gallon. By the time you dilute it to a 5% solution I imagine you could immerse your entire manifold in the stuff.

Note: Adobe Reader 6.0 worked fine to read the page.

Originally posted by charbilly2001:
http://www.nugentec.com/TechDatasheets-PDF/Al-Brite%20Aluminum%20Acid%20Brightener.pdf
Doh, you just jarred my memory. Try some Eagle 1 "B" formula wheel cleaner. It's for cast aluminum wheels, without the clear coat. Spray it on, let it turn white, then scrub it down with a stiff nylon brush. Works great. I used to use it on my old Centerlines, worked like nothing else to turn the wheels brite, almost white.

I second the Eagle one wheel cleaner, I have also used the baking soda methood the best thing about the baking soda is that a quick rinse in water cleans it right up.

Originally posted by Rapid Robert:
I used to use that acid based aluminum wheel cleaner Thats what I use to use with excellent results on anything ruff aluminum. Can't find it anymore, was just looking again this week.

I use a ultra sonic heated cleaning system we have at work, all it does is remove grease and grime and does not change the natural finish of the aluminum, works great on muucie cases.

not trying to change the subject but how do you polish aluminum like the aftermarket does it?thinging bout a holley stealth ram but the price of satin vs polished finish is about $300 more dollars?anybody know? dre

Get an Eastwoods catalog. It's free. They give you the answer in pictures.

www/eastwoodco.com

But, I've done some polishing with a wheel and rouge. It isn't something you'll do in one afternoon and it's dirty as he)). Hence the price difference.