restore ?

[JOESGARAGE]

When you guys clean the parts and chassis, what cleaning solutions do you use to get that old grime off?

[madweazl]

I've been using dishwashing soap (Dawn) with good results for years. If the parts are white, I toss them in peroxide after that and let 'em sit in the sun for a while (almost 2 full days on the last batch but direct sun was scarce.

[littleVETTE]

it depends what you're cleaning, and what's stuck to it. for cleaning the chassis i use rubbing alcohol. for the supension, bulkheads, and shock towers if they're dirty i'll just toss them into a tub of HOT water and oxy clean. let them soak for about 30 minutes and hit them with a tooth brush. don't forget all the little corners. rinse the parts off with water.

if i get a car that had a shock explode and leaked oil everywhere, i'll put them in a tub of HOT water and dawn. let them soak for a while and hit them with the toothbrush. if they're still oily, i'll empty out the old water and soap and refill with fresh HOT water and dawn again. let them soak again. usually that'll be it. for extra piece of mind i'll put them in another tub of HOT water and oxy clean to get them nice and clean.

the shock towers don't really need a lot of attention most of the time. the first bath will do it for me. sometimes the outter edge of the shock towers will be a bit dirty. i'll either hit them with the dremel and a sand drum, or with a 100 or 200 grit sandpaper. that'll whiten the edges nicely again.

i'll have some pipe cleaners handy too. to clean out the dirty holes in all the suspension parts, and any other part.

for the supsension pins and shock shafts i'll give them a lite rub with the dremel and a scotch brite pad. wash them off with the cleaner.

the ball cups i'll do last. i use a q-tip and rubbing alcohol. works everytime.

the shocks i'll tear down completely and wash them down with carb cleaner. sometimes the inside of the body will need a q-tip and a squirt on the tip to take away any dirt inside that i missed. the caps will get the same treatment.

for the tranny i'll wash all the parts along with the suspension parts, in the HOT bath. i'll then go to work on cases with an exacto knife cutting away any burrs or any other crap that i don't want interupting the drive train. i'll soak the bearings in a small steel container that i got, of carb cleaner. i'll let them soak over night. if things feel gritty i'll take apart the bearing and take a look inside to see how bad it is. if it still needs the grime to be taken away i'll hit with carb cleaner til it's nice and clean. i'll reassemble the bearing and give it few drops of oil. i'll wash the rest of the tranny parts with carb cleaner. including the diff gear. use a pipe cleaner to clean out the ball diff holes. than i'll get to building the diff, and the rest of the car.

everyone has their own formulas to cleaning a car. it's all up to what works for you. instead of dawn i'll sometimes use simple green or other stuff. if you use oxy clean USE gloves. that stuff could be nasty to your hands, if you're in it for a while.

[JOESGARAGE]

Thank you Sirs!

[madweazl]

Havent tried carb cleaner but for degreasing I use motor spray; typically only the shocks and trans get this treatment. Havent tried the oxy, may give that a shot in the future. The toothbrush is my best friend. I've always been to impatient to let stuff soak, I hit the kitchen sink and go to work; I usually make a mess of small oily spots all over the counter and faucet but the wife puts up with me regardless

[littleVETTE]

i'll use the carb cleaner because it's cheaper than the motor spray. and because i use A LOT of it. the motor spray i'll save it for the motors. DON'T FORGET YOUR SAFTEY GOOGLES

[JOESGARAGE]

when you done with the motor spray, how do get it off so its nice and dry?

[madweazl]

Rinse under water and it's fine. The spray itself dries very quickly, some leave residue and some dont.

[littleVETTE]

yeah, i'll just let it sit for a while and the motor spray dries by itself. if i have something this is really oily or has a lot of lube on it i'll use a shop towel to help clean it off.

[jwscab]

no particular order:

simple green in a jar for plastic parts, throw them in for a day or so. will also work on bearings and anything steel, but NO aluminum. scrub with old toothbrush, and pipe cleaners for small spots, then rinse and let dry.

aluminum gets dish soap bath with toothbrush or larger brush, depending on size of parts.

removing gum/varnish/paint/glue, etc will be a combination of wd-40, acetone, alcohol, fingernail, etc, whatever it takes. one of those three solvents will take care of pretty much anything except urethane. silicone is all fingernail scratched or just rubbed off usually.

steel parts that are rusty that i want to save will either be scotchbrited while being spun, (shock shafts, etc) or possibly bead blasted for irregular shapes. I usually don't re-use too much garbage hardware since i have a stash of new stainless hardware or replace where necessary.

bearings after the simple green wash I will spin on a screwdriver or something while still soaked in simple green to move grit and grime around and flush. rinse with water, and then add a few drops of 3 in 1 oil while spinning, lay on paper towel and keep adding oil and allowing paper towel to wick away oil and grit. repeat until bearing runs smoothly, then pinch between two sheets of paper towel to wick away excess oil and the oil wicks away clean(not black).