I was wondering what people have used to clean up the bare aluminium finish on their engines? I have tried using a stiff brush and degreaser and while it took off the surface gunge it didn't do much to the ground in stuff. I was thinking of trying a nylon rotary brush on a dremel and plenty of elbow grease? Anyone had any luck with this? I know that if I want a really great finish I would be better off stripping the engine and having it shotblasted and painted but that is a lot of work for me as I dont have a garage or a bench to work on. The external pieces will be stripped off, cleaned up and painted but I don't really want to have to split the engine. Any help or advice would be gratefully recieved.
thats an option i hadn't considered! its got to be worth a go if i remove the anciliaries and waterproof the sensors.
How about alloy wheel cleaner and plenty of clean water? i will be replacing the external rubber seals as a matter of course anyway.
I'd not heard of pickling paste before so I have just googled it. It certainly looks like it would clean it up nicely! My only concern is that it seems to be pretty horrendous stuff to work with and might damage other bits of the engine if I'm not careful. I will keep that on the back burner for if I really start to struggle.
If it's got any painted parts any acid type solution could damage the paint. You really want a soapy or non acidic cleaner that does not attack paint. If it's bare metal then a good alloy cleaner which has a mild acid will work. I use citrus based degreaser for bicycles and that works well for me. You can get it in Halfords.
