Here are two good tips to help clean up crusty parts.

1) Dawn Power Desolver. This stuff can be found in stores by the dish soap department. It is different from the other dawn products.
It does an excellent job at removing baked on oils like those you often get on cylinder heads when the rocker cover gasket has leaked. Just spray the stuff on and let it sit a while. It does a fantastic job. No fumes. No solvents and no toxic chemicals.

For stubborn parts I have pre-treated the parts with the Power Disolver and then run them through the dish washer set for heavy clean or the pots & pans setting. Just be sure the spouse is out of the house when you do this. Not everyone understands priorities.
A word of warning. If you use the dish washer trick on aluminum parts the heat, water, and cleaner will clean up the part but will also leave a gray finish.

2) Pressure washer heavy duty degreaser. Go to the local home improvment store and buy a jug of heavy duty degreaser sold for use with pressure washers. I buy it on sale for around $3 US per gallon. Use it full strength on oil and grime covered parts. I pour it into a plastic tub and use a parts brush to clean up the part. I find it works just as well as solvent based cleaners and is every bit as good as Simple Green or other water based cleaners at a fraction of the price. Parts can be rinsed off in very hot water. The heat helps the water evaporate quickly. This stuff also does a good job at cleaning up brake calipers.

3) To get over the spouse dishwasher issue, take a cheap or free dishwasher at a garage sale. Then spend $20 bucks at the hardware store for fittings to hook it up to any normal spigot, and regular 12' power cord. Now you have your own cheap portable parts steam washer, and you don't have to hide from your wife! Semi-portable at least. Been using this setup for a couple years and no complaints so far. As a bonus, it works great for cleaning your garage hats without destroying the bills or the shape! lol

Thanks for the heads up on the Dawn. Cheap cleaners are always nice.

i heard of some stuff called Mark 5 mentioned by Chip Foose on a episode of overhaulin. if he uses it, its gotta be good. im impressed with his decisions and all that. so yea.

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First LX9 Fiero GT, 1987 | My Fiero Fuel Economy | MPG Display for OBD I
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If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem
Fiero's are people too. We pay just as much attention to them, if not more than our loved ones
screw paying those bastards. im not going to become rich by paying for things.....

[This message has been edited by americasfuture2k (edited 06-18-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Gravitic Anomaly: 1) Dawn Power Desolver ... no toxic chemicals.

Hardly. See the MSDS from Proctor & Gamble. pH: ~13 (on a scale of 0 to 14)! Contains 1% sodium hydroxide (a.k.a. lye). No wonder it discolors aluminum. Other than that, it does seem somewhat more benign than a lot of industrial cleaners.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 06-19-2009).]

Well obviously the cleaner is not straight lye. A dish cleaner that burnt the skin off of your hands would not sell very well. Remember the soap you wash your face with every day is also made with lye. One could say table salt is extremely deadly since it is made from sodium, a metal that spontaniously combusts in the the presence of air, and chlorine, a deadly gas.
All in all I would rather have a soap on my hands than aromatic hydrocarbons in my lungs. The warning lable on the bottle states the product is an eye and skin irritant. Not a toxin. The oil and grime you are cleaning off is worse for your health.

quote Originally posted by Gravitic Anomaly: Remember the soap you wash your face with every day is also made with lye.

Perhaps a hundred years ago, but very few (if any) commercial face soaps are made that way any more. Anyway, it's beside the point. I challenge you to find a modern commercial face soap with a pH of 13.

quote One could say table salt is extremely deadly since it is made from sodium, a metal that spontaniously combusts in the the presence of air, and chlorine, a deadly gas.

In that case, one would be wrong ... because the physical and chemical properties of NaCl are well known. Many substances are toxic in their elemental form but benign when bound into common compounds. FWIW, Sodium does not "spontaneously combust in the presence of air." However it will react spontaneously, and violently, with water at room temperature. Perhaps you were thinking of White Phosphorus?

quote The warning lable on the bottle states the product is an eye and skin irritant. Not a toxin.

I agree about the product labeling. I disagree that a 1% solution of NaOH is not at least mildly toxic. I don't know where you introduced toxins, which are only an organic subset of all toxic substances. Your original claim was, "No ... toxic chemicals," not, "No ... toxins."

Dawn Power Dissolver may indeed be a useful product for parts cleaning, but it's not helpful for you to falsely state "No ... toxic chemicals," and the presence of NaOH is important information for anybody planning to clean aluminum (or magnesium) parts with it.

I simply posted a link to the MSDS for Dawn Power Dissolver. Information is good, and intelligent people are free to use it as they choose.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 06-19-2009).]

marvin, thank you so much for reminding me why I rarely post anything on the forum. People trying to help get hit with negitivity for their efforts. I am sure my punctuation was also in error.

Fwiw, Lye & fatty acid based soap is still made and used every day. Buy the good stuff.

My only complaint with your original post was your assertion of "No ... toxic chemicals," which is contrary to the MSDS. Then you wanted to argue about it. The safety of the chemicals we use is just as important as their effectiveness. A pH of 13 is significant.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 06-19-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: My only complaint with your original post was your assertion of "No ... toxic chemicals," which is contrary to the MSDS. Then you wanted to argue about it. The safety of the chemicals we use is just as important as their effectiveness. A pH of 13 is significant.

With all due respect, and in defense of the OP, labels are deceiving. My wife actually sells chemicals, and P&G is one of her biggest clients. Even Simple Green which claims to be all natural and organic and non toxic and all that hoorah is just as bad as any other cleaner. It just happens to have a more balanced pH of around 9.5. Basically, there just IS no real "safe" cleaner. And just for the record, a pH of 13 is about the same as bleach. It's alkaline, although many people mistake a higher pH for acidity, it's not. Lye is 14.

quote Originally posted by Taijiguy: Basically, there just IS no real "safe" cleaner.

I agree completely. There's no reason to pretend otherwise. But some are less safe than others.

My most important point ... perhaps not very well made ... is that any time you use a product for a purpose other than originally intended, it's very important to understand how it works and how it may work differently in your application. Case in point: If a cleaner with a pH of 13 is used on anodized aluminum or passivated stainless steel it will probably remove oil and grease as expected, but it is also likely to soften and strip the protective oxide layer from the surface of the metal; this is probably not what you want.

quote ... although many people mistake a higher pH for acidity, it's not. Lye is 14.

The pH scale runs from 0 (highly acidic) to 14 (highly alkaline). A pH of 7 (e.g. de-ionized water) is neutral. The pH scale is logarithmic, and each number on the scale represents 10 times the acidity or alkalinity of the adjacent numbers. Thus a substance with a pH of 13 is 1000 times more alkaline than one with a pH of 10.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 06-19-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: ...any time you use a product for a purpose other than originally intended, it's very important to understand how it works and how it may work differently in your application. Case in point: If a cleaner with a pH of 13 is used on anodized aluminum or passivated stainless steel it will probably remove oil and grease as expected, but it is also likely to soften and strip the protective oxide layer from the surface of the metal; this is probably not what you want.

Those comments reminded me that since I've never seen anything labeled "Valve Cover Bolt Cleaner," I'd better ask what you folks recommend that I use to clean the valve cover bolts for my V6 Fiero, some of which have rust on the top of their hex heads.

For those who haven't looked closely at these things, each actually is a 3-piece assembly consisting of the metal bolt, a metal sleeve, and a non-magnetic washer. I've been soaking them all in vinegar, and that is enabling me to remove the sleeve and washer from some of the bolts (and probably all of them soon).

However, it looks like I'll need something stronger than just vinegar to remove the rust at the top of some of the hex head of some of the bolts.

What do you suggest for such a "Valve Cover Bolt Cleaner" ?

quote Originally posted by project34: What do you suggest for such a "Valve Cover Bolt Cleaner" ?

I haven't specifically done valve cover screws, but here are my thoughts anyway.

I have a bead-blast cabinet in my shop, and blasting steel parts with glass beads or walnut shells is effective for removing rust, paint, etc. The walnut shells are gentler and less likely to affect coatings like chrome or black oxide, but they take longer.

Chemical rust removers for steel, such as Naval Jelly, usually contain dilute phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid is effective at dissolving rust, and it will leave a protective film of iron phosphate on the surface of the part. Of course, always wear skin and eye protection when working with phosphoric acid products.

If your screws are badly rusted, you may find it easiest and cheapest to just buy new ones.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 06-20-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: Chemical rust removers for steel, such as Naval Jelly, usually contain dilute phosphoric acid. Phosphoric acid is effective at dissolving rust, and it will leave a protective film of iron phosphate on the surface of the part. Of course, always wear skin and eye protection when working with phosphoric acid products. If your screws are badly rusted, you may find it easiest and cheapest to just buy new ones.

Thanks for the tip re chemical rust removers with phosphoric acid.

As for buying new valve cover bolts for my V6, the only reason I have for not buying them is I've not found a source for them. Does anyone know of a source for new V6 valve cover bolts? (Contrary to what one might expect, The Fiero Store doesn't offer them.)

quote Originally posted by Gravitic Anomaly: Here are two good tips to help clean up crusty parts. 1) Dawn Power Desolver. 2) Pressure washer heavy duty degreaser.

Thanks for the tips! By sheer coincidence I was JUST getting ready to go to the store to pick up some cleaning supplies, and was not sure what to get. I just bought a new engine last night and unloaded it a few minutes ago (2.8 Crate engine with 3.000 miles on it). I need to clean it up before installing it. Its hot as He| | outisde, and figured I would check the forums and cool down a bit before heading out again. Cleaning the engine also makes it MUCH nicer to work on when I replace the coil, distributor, water pump, plugs, wires ect ect..... before I put it in the car.

I used to use oven cleaner, back in the day, but that eats the paint and is just nasty stuff!

[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-20-2009).]