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MG Midget and Sprite General - Easy way to clean components
| Hi guys, hope you are all doing well. Firstly, I finally bought a MIG so I can start making an even bigger mess of my bodywork! Woo! Secondly, the reason for this thread, does anyone have an easy way of cleaning really old and crudded up components? I'm thinking something like a chemical bath that I can just chuck things in and come back in an hour and they will look like new! Or is this just wishful thinking... Anybody got any ideas or tips? Much appreciated as ever. Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| What MIG did you buy in the end. Regarding cleaning an old dishwasher can work wonders but be careful with aluminium as the detergent is quite caustic so can eat aluminium if left too long. The detergent solution itself can also be used to remove grease and oil but works better hot. |
| David Billington |
| Clarke Pro 90. £187 off of ebay. Pretty much the cheapest gas MIG I could find but I think still well recommended. Spent about about a month looking through small ads up hear hoping to find something suitable but nothing came up so took the plunge and bought new. No access to a dishwasher, other than my girlfriend... ha ha Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| I was given one of those a few years ago and it ran really sweet. I'm sure you'll have loads of fun with it. I didn't need it so checked it over sold it to a woman I know for the cost of my time and a new roll of wire. |
| David Billington |
| << an old dishwasher can work wonders >> why an old one? Got away with putting my wiring loom inside a pillow case to clean it in the washing machine! What they don't know about can't hurt them [and by default me!] |
| David Cox |
| David, SWMBO might take a differing view if she finds car parts in the dishwasher hence my reference to an old one at least meaning a spare one. |
| David Billington |
| Just put them in when she is away. Cylinderheads, blocks and hubs have all been in there. Just make sure you run a cleaning cycle afterwards |
| Onno Könemann |
| The washing machine or the dishwasher? As I said, I dont have a dishwasher! :-( Would soaking things in hot water with a dishwasher tablet work maybe? I put my carpets through the washing machine as they had got damp/mouldy in the garage. The ones with trimmed edges were ok, the ones without proper edges frayed and filled the washing machine with hundreds of black fluff balls. oops. Cheers, Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| the trick is to not let her find the parts anywhere near the kitchen... Mind you, had a narrow escape with the oven and the flywheel gear-ring. Not only did it not get it hot enough but the kitchen smelled "odd" for hours! She never DID find out what had caused the pong! |
| David Cox |
| What on earth were you doing with the flywheel gear ring IN the oven ...?????! Malcolm - this is why women are actually much better in both the kitchen and doing cars - we know WHAT you can and can't wash in the washing machine!!! Mine usually get trashed by horse rugs though .... ;) |
| rachmacb |
| I put something in the oven to... I can't remember what but a bolt was stuck so I baked it at 230 degrees for 10 mins and it freed it up nicely. Place stunk like death for a week. Girlfriend never said anything til I asked if she smelt anything funny in the kitchen? At which point I had to confess! None of this really answers the original question however! Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| Rach, That is one of the techniques frequently attempted to install the ring gear. It did not work for me, either. OTOH, removing the grates from my gas grill and setting the ring gear on the burner worked a treat. Got it nice and hot, dropped it into place with a pair of Channelock pliers and the job was done. David "the second time I had to do this was much easier as I didn't need to bother with the steps that hadn't worked the first time like putting the flywheel in the freezer overnight" Lieb |
| David Lieb |
| LOL - there are machines that get it that hot - and less hassle from the wife too ;)!!!!! I'm sure the freezer and oven are well recovered now David! Malcolm - surely you've noticed by now - the Midget and Sprite section of the BBS is very easily distracted from a topic, and, you're very lucky if it can get back again ... however - have you tried a wire brush :)!!!!! Welcome to sore fingers, bleeding hands, and lots of cursing - and yes, that probably causes as much mess in the kitchen as any other method!!!! |
| rachmacb |
| Rach, I know it gets easily distracted, I am quite often one of the distractions/distractors! A wire brush is effort, I'm looking for some sort of magic potion! Like on the cillet bang advert, dip stuff in, it comes out clean (I tried cillet bang, that did not seem to work either!) Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| << (I tried cillet bang, that did not seem to work either!) >> Did you shout at the parts before you used this product? |
| David Cox |
| LOL - that's why adverts work ... ;) Having said that, I did try cillet bang on my hallway wooden tiles, and it has worked - NOT that I intend to clean the whole hallway or two rooms with that .... coz there is a bigger and easier way for that!) What exactly are you trying to clean? |
| rachmacb |
| "What exactly are you trying to clean?" Dirty money? ;) |
| Arie de Best |
| Just bits and bobs, carb bits, manifold, water pump, thermostat housing, bits of suspension, pedals, master cylinders, all sorts. Just all those little bits and bobs that get badly crudded up (inside and/or out) and are funny shapes and difficult to clean via mechanical means. Or am I just being far too pedantic about everything?! Cheers, Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| talking of ovens, don't try and bake the minilites you've just painted in the oven. Unless you like pizza that smells and tastes a bit weird..... what about an ultrasound bath? got one at work for cleaning small stuff, don't know about bigger things. I often use a toothbrush and petrol.. |
| Rob Armstrong |
| for oily crud and road dirt, I use a paraffin bath and a variety of brushes; a final clean with a squirt of brake cleaner. For old paint, corrosion, rust etc I use a rotary wire brush on one end of the bench grinder. |
| David Smith |
| Obviusly the dishwasher is the best... get a used one and hook it up with some long hoses outside...5 gal bucket to catch the waste... when done stick it in the back of the garage. Other then that...5 gallon bucket with a strong mix of crud cutter and hot let parts sit over nite then power wash. There is what is called an " ultra sonic cleaner ".... it uses sound waves to break down debri.... we have discussed it here... and seems to do the job.... i have no expriance Prop |
| Prop |
| Ya know, Prop even SOUNDS single ;-) Rach, There are other machines to get ring gears hot, but I do not have access to them. I do have a gas grill, however, and it does the job just fine. The oven, however, was not adequate. Freezing the flywheel ahead of time made no detectable difference whatsoever. No foodstuffs were harmed or compromised in the attempts. How much of what kind of cleanser(s) are people using with the dishwashers? David "I generally use paraffin or diesel in a parts washer" Lieb |
| David Lieb |
| For rusty bits I use Bilt Hamber Deox C, make up a mix in a plastic pail with a lid - better if warm so keep mine in with the boiler. Plastic scub brush to help removal of rust. Wash off dry and paint - good results as I've found with all of their kit. No connection with company. R. |
| richard boobier |
| Ultrasonic cleaners are a nice thing to have and I bought a cheaper Chinese 6.5 litre one off ebay about 4 years ago for around £160 and it has proved very useful on many occasions. I was amazed the first time I saw one in action years ago as you placed your part in it, which might look clean, turn it on and watch the dirt fall off. They work by the action of cavitation creating microscopic bubbles which create pressure pulses on the object surface when the bubbles collapse, sort of like a mini depth charge, and can shift stuff you wouldn't normally see. For oily greasy items and detergent additive is useful to assist the cleaning action. |
| David Billington |
| Good grief - I am so glad that I'm not eating at any of your houses ........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To think, I was being teased last year for having horse stuff and car parts in my house - at least they don't go into the ovens or dishwashers ...... only the clothes washers :)! |
| rachmacb |
| in all seriousness I ended up taking boxes of rusty and generally cruddy bits to my local very friendly shot blaster. He'd look in the box and say: How about £15? I'd say "how about £5?" He'd say: "how about £40?" so we agreed that £15 was probably the best price in the world. I was amazed at what they could handle, with blasting medium that ranged from carborundum grit to soft plastic beads for the fine stuff. Brilliant. |
| David Cox |
| Oh dear.... im probably no longer marriage material... thank god... no honey do list for me....lol I just thought of another cleaner that might work really well.. something ive never considard before.... C-L-R / Lime away.... both the same thing.... its a "calsume, lime and rust remover... used mainly for hard water on kichen and bath devices. I know soaking a shower head over night in a bucket of CLR .. makes it look and act brand new....something to consider I bet that would work perfect on SU carb bodies and dash pots when they get that curroision build up on them... Ive got a.carb body with some minor build up... ill drop it in a bucket of C-L-R tonight and let you guys know what happens. Prop |
| Prop |
| Prop, Is it not basically just a caustic soloution (sodium hydroxide solution probably)? I did dunk some bits in a high concentration of oven cleaner (sodium hydroxide) but the alloy bits came out a bit of a cruddy colour and the fumes were a bit nasty (stunk out the kitchen with that to! ha ha). Was thinking about seeking out a shot blaster, but that is more effort than just dumping them in a bucket! Cheers guys! Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| Loading the washing machine up with cylinder heads, manifolds etc sounds a bit dangerous to me. What happens during the fast-spin cycle? Dave |
| D MATTHEWS |
| Shot blasters are great and work vary nice Ive got a soda blaster that really cleans up parts nice.... 2 big draw backs to this... 1. you need a compressor with alot of square cubic feer per minute ability....at high psi 2w. Expect around 2-3 hours of clean up time after 10 minutes cleaning parts.... soda does a nice job, but you wont have a flat ssurface anywhere in your shop that wont nee to have the soda wiped off . Not sure about media blast like walnut shells,and ciliaca Prop |
| Prop |
| Clr / lime away is not like toilet bowl cleaner...not sure what its made of... must not be to caustic....no smell and i handle with my hands Im guessing its more of a base then an acid... cause i remember it does make the hands really slipprey Prop |
| Prop |
| I'd be careful of using toilet cleaners before reading the ingredient list as some contain hydrochloric acid and that will do a number on parts with aluminium in it. |
| David Billington |
| Prop, if it makes your hands slippy then it is almost certainly alkaline maybe just a mild caustic solution. If I remember correctly caustic isn't too good for aluminium depending on just how strong it is and how long you leave it in soak. Dishwasher solution is another caustic solution and is great for cleaning stuff if you use it hot but it causes aluminium to stain, it goes brown. Just try washing aluminium saucepans in a dishwasher, I think it strips off aluminiums protective oxide surface. I'm going to try a steam cleaner (wallpaper stripper) and see how that works on my engine block. I'm in the middle of stripping and restoring my frog and getting really bored with using an angle grinder on the body!! |
| Graham P 1330 Frogeye |
| Sounds like you are in exactly the same situation as me Graham? Sick of chopping big holes in your bodywork and want to do something less destructive? Hopefully the welder will arrive this week and I can be constructive, before chopping out even more rust. One step forward, two steps back! Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
| You mean you're only getting two steps back Malcom,lucky b*ggar. When I first started I thought that there wasn't a lot of rust, I suppose compared to some there isn't, but it gets really wearing, forever finding new problems, never mind I'll get there eventually. Trouble is I had a number of mechanical problems as well, probably got a bent axle or hub as the half shafts never seal, the diff nose seal is leaking, the ford type 9 gearbox is leaking and the primary shaft bearing has gone (got another box), and the engine runs well but has a very slow oil pressure pick up (it takes a lot of winding of the starter to get the oil pressure to register) and of course that leaks as well!! I'm looking forward to working on the engine, should be more rewarding than getting covered in sh*t stripping the floor pan. If you want to see some pics this link should take you to them: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150163987561736.302298.583406735&l=f0e4f9204c Graham. |
| Graham P 1330 Frogeye |
| You mean you're only getting two steps back Malcom,lucky b*ggar. When I first started I thought that there wasn't a lot of rust, I suppose compared to some there isn't, but it gets really wearing, forever finding new problems, never mind I'll get there eventually. Trouble is I had a number of mechanical problems as well, probably got a bent axle or hub as the half shafts never seal, the diff nose seal is leaking, the ford type 9 gearbox is leaking and the primary shaft bearing has gone (got another box), and the engine runs well but has a very slow oil pressure pick up (it takes a lot of winding of the starter to get the oil pressure to register) and of course that leaks as well!! I'm looking forward to working on the engine, should be more rewarding than getting covered in sh*t stripping the floor pan. If you want to see some pics this link shouls take you to them: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150163987561736.302298.583406735&l=f0e4f9204c Graham. |
| Graham P 1330 Frogeye |
| Graham, <<When I first started I thought that there wasn't a lot of rust, I suppose compared to some there isn't, but it gets really wearing, forever finding new problems, never mind I'll get there eventually.>> We are deffinatly in the same situation. I couldn't agree more. Also, I am doing my floors at the moment as well! At least my mechanical bits are (apparently) OK. I can't wait to start on the engine and other bits. That said, the engine could be just as bad. I did try to get the cylinder head off once and it just wouldn't budge, whatever I did to it. Anyway, will take a look at your facebook thing later when I'm not at work! Malcolm |
| M Le Chevalier |
This thread was discussed between 11/05/2011 and 12/05/2011
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