Cleaning components.

[Steve Webb]

What do people use for cleaning bits and pieces from the car these days. In the past I've used Gunk, petrol and paint thinners.
Going to be cleaning up quite a few bits in the near future so looking for any new ideas.

[AlfaJack]

I tend to use white spirit and an airline most of the time but in the past when we had a working parts washer I used to use 5L cans of degreaser but the tap (Clarke) kept breaking off (bad design). Doesn't half destroy the latex gloves though.

[Xti]

Petrol and/or degreaser.

[1NRO]

Paraffin was good enough for the old timers but likely it was more affordable than it is these days.
Depends what your cleaning?

[Steve Webb]

Well for a start It'll be for cleaning the outside of a gearbox before I pull it apart. I'll try and grab some Paraffin to start with.

[wrinx]

I use white spirit...but only because it's what I've got on the shelf.

Not ideal because it sometimes leaves a thin greasy residue...thinners is better I think.

wrinx

[1NRO]

After a wash with paraffin I'd attack the outer with a wirewheel and pointed wire brush in a drill to shift the oxidization before another wash off with paraffin. Don't lean too hard on the wire wheel, it's easy to get bright streaks that the rest doesn't match and it side loads the drill which it isn't really meant for.
All the carbon dust in the bell housing takes shifting, not an area to be whipping up a dust storm either. Leave it clean enough off the paraffin that you could work in with some red scotchbrite and rubber gloves. The scotchbrite puts a uniform (ish) colour to the outer casings too if you work the paraffin in with it. Flush off with clean.
Crap job but nice to see the results.

[Steve Webb]

Cheers for all that guys, but work on the gearbox has been put on hold at the moment as I've just opened up the diff and found it is an open type, so definitely not a 75 Turbo box.

From what I can work out this means its from either a 1.6/1.8 or a 2.5v6 ,manual. Not what it was sold as so I'm off for a chat with the seller tomorrow. :angry: