Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[troutrunner]

Can anyone help, I am using a water based solvent in a small cheapo parts washer, it is really struggling to move the 50+ year old grease and grime. if anyone can suggest a spirit based one they use or other folks they know uses, I would be extremely grateful.

It's about time I updated the Model Y thread but life is so hectic when you retire, to many holidays to go on and the good lady keeps booking more....
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Paul
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1937 Ford Model Y.
1939 Austin 10.
1955 Austin A30.
1958 Ford 300E van.
1961 Austin A40.
1964 Wolseley Hornet.
1965 Series2a Land Rover.
1968 Wolseley Hornet.
1994 Peugeot 405 Est. 2of.
Nil illegitimi Carborundum

[peter scott]

How about paraffin?

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[viteran]

Diesel?
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1937 Austin Seven Ruby
1935Wolseley hornet special
1953 Thwaites 3wheel Dumper
Petter TVO Stationary engine

[Rick]

I save old petrol and use that.

RJ
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Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
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[troutrunner]

Thanks for your replies, all of which are possible contenders but I really wanted something that was an off the shelf as it were in 20ltrs ready to go, all that I can find are water based. One springs to mind now I have my thinking cap on and that is Jizer is that still available ?
_________________
Paul
.
1937 Ford Model Y.
1939 Austin 10.
1955 Austin A30.
1958 Ford 300E van.
1961 Austin A40.
1964 Wolseley Hornet.
1965 Series2a Land Rover.
1968 Wolseley Hornet.
1994 Peugeot 405 Est. 2of.
Nil illegitimi Carborundum

[viteran]

Swarfega @screwfix, Carplan engine degreaser@ erocarparts, gunk @ frost
Ian
_________________
1937 Austin Seven Ruby
1935Wolseley hornet special
1953 Thwaites 3wheel Dumper
Petter TVO Stationary engine

[kevin2306]

From watching a renovation program a night or two back, they were using a 50/50 mix of atf and white spirit, seemed to work well.

Kevin

[Mog]

White spirit is better than paraffin , not so hard on the skin but is more expensive. I used Gunk when living in the U.K. Keep away from petrol only used as a last resort . Knew a guy that was cleaning the engine bay on his ute with petrol . Dropped a spanner on the battery and set it all on fire. Badly burnt his arms trying to put the fire out . He saved the ute and all the farm machinery that was also parked in the shed .

[Ashley]

Jizer is still available and expensive so most use Brake Cleaner which is very effective indeed.

Once the oil has been removed and if dirt remains, Bike or Wheel cleaner is powerful and effective, it even removes dirt and staining from motorcycle fins.

[Glenn Crawford]

Surely, the fire risk from a lot of what was suggested is really high? Petrol, paraffin or white spirit being sprayed from a cleaning brush above a tankful of the same sounds like an explosion waiting to happen. I can vouch for brake cleaner being powerful but it is so volatile I can imagine it disappearing from the parts cleaner overnight!

Purpose-made cleaning fluid should not have these disadvantages but I agree, my experience of water-based stuff is that it's weak, and steel items can go rusty as they dry off.

I don't mind paying a bit more for cleaning fluid if it actually cleans. I reckon to get 6 months to a year out of each refill of my bench-based parts washer. But not over £100 for 25 litres of Jizer! Any other ideas?

[MikeEdwards]

I've had good results with the Halfords own-brand engine cleaner, but I've had it a few years so I don't know if the current stuff (if they even do it) is as good. 1L bottles were on sale at an autojumble very cheap, so I bought a few.

[ukdave2002]

Jizer..its about £80 for 25L not the cheapest but is great for removing thick oil and tar and it lasts.

For light removal of oily residues I use carb cleaner in an aerosol, be careful because it can attack some plastics

Dave

[Penman]

Hi
My father used to work in machine tool engineering and he brought home some water soluble cutting oil which we brushed into the gunky bits and then rinsed off, some time more than one application was needed.
https://tinyurl.com/y3s2ymqu

The one we used was oil colour not emulsionised before use.
There are lots of different ones on that page.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[petelang]

I bought some "Lydian" degrease from Morris Oils. It was brilliant as a brush on degrease, shifted years of caked on hard oil and grease deposits.
So I put some in my small desktop parts washer I bought from Machine Mart.
Having not used it for some considerable time, when I did switch on the pump that feeds the hose and brush, nothing happened. Good job I unplugged before investigating as when I removed the trivet tray, the small pump motor had melted into a large blob in the base. I dread to think if a spark from the mains had ignited it.
Some cleaners are clearly far too aggressive for parts washers.
Peter

[Bitumen Boy]

Paraffin is effective but don't think it's cheap any more, it isn't! At current prices it's rather more expensive than pump diesel, often works out at somewhere north of £8/gallon.