solvents & metal cleaning

[roccit_53 at scirocco.cs.uoguelph.ca (C Boyko)]

On 1:51:11 pm 10/08/05 "Foxx (in a box)" <foxxinabox@wideopenwest.com> wrote:
>    now that fall is here and i'm not being outside as much, i've
> turned my attentiont to endeavours within the house. i went through
> and sorted what parts i have and am now in the process of cleaning
> them. i bought some heavy-duty degreaser from harbor freight and it
> seems to work well withthe normal stuff, but the grime that's been
> there for years is a little more difficult. i realize that i will
> probably have to use a wire brish here and there, but something
> things i would like to leave an soak. has anyone used a good soaking
> degreaser that they would recommend? i know that gasoline is a great
> solvent but i don't want to use that inside. brake cleaner is also
> good but it's more expensive than gas.
>    also, i know there was a thread a little while ago about removing
> rust from cast iron. will that also work on steel (like engine
> brackets, shift linkage components, etc)? also, i believe there was a
> link to using zinc to plate the metal once it was cleaned. are they
> any drawbacks to doing that to said parts? thanx.
>
I used diesel on my tranny casing, and it came out really nice. But I
imagine you want something more agressive than that?

cathy