Cleaning and storing engines

I happened to acquire several old Foxes and McCoys from my next door neighbor whose husband died years ago. He was a control line pilot also. Problem is the engines are totally caked with castor oil varnish. They barely turn over after sitting for years. I've tried solvents to remove the gunk without much luck. What do you use to restore the original looks and operation of these old engines?

Crock pot em, repaint the heads on the McCoys, there's a post here somewhere that'll tell you what color and what paint to get for them, but I believe Johns handle is JRflyer.

You can get them engines brand spanky, shiney new, run em some on 29% castor to build up the good varnish again and then lube em good with risolone/ATF and store em proper indefinately.

LAST EDITED ON Dec-09-04 AT 06:33 AM (CST)
 
Hi Willaim,
The safest way (for the engine) to really clean it is to use a crock pot and anti freeze. Of course, the crock pot should never be used to cook in again!
Simply put it on low and let it sit, emerged in the a/f.
It will remove paint from the McCoy heads, but some Ford red engine paint will make it look as good as new.
I take them out, dry them off (let them cool ), take apart, clean again, and reassemble with air tool oil. Make sure the wrist pins are free. They can stick and mess things up. Zip lock sandwich bags for storage.
I really like to boil engines in dishwasher (not dishwashing) liquid, but some others have reported that it changes the color of the crankcases. This has not been reported using the CP/AF. I have done both, and they work.
Bill <><

EDIT: Mr. Crane and I were typing at the same time! He's faster.

Anti-Freeze? Who would have thought you could use it for cleaning airplane engines. I'll go to Wal-Mart and get me a cheap Crock pot and try this out. Thanks for the feedback guys, this board is the coolest!

William,

Is the castor caked on or baked on?

You might first try some alcohol (or fuel) and a toothbrush to see if you can wash it off. Take off the backplate and the glow plug so you can get the alcohol in those areas. Should free up fairly easily.

If that doesn't work to your satisfaction, try the antifreeze.

Oh, and you probably wouldn't want to use the toothbrush again either.

The varnish is baked on, almost black in color. I've tried several solvents with little luck. I'm dying to try the anti-freeze method. It sounds so far out I bet it works...lol

Anti freeze is mostly alcohol, ethylene-gylcol, so it will dissolve oils. The glycerine helps keep it from boiling at 212 F, and pressure keeps it from boiling at all. Glycerine is also used in making candy, is very sweet, and cats and dogs and one coyote I knew, love the taste. But the alcohol ruins their livers, and human ones too, and they die very shortly after ingesting the stuff.
When I lived in St. Louis, there was an RN that had gone through five husbands. The last was diagnosed with antifreeze poisoning! She would add two drops to his beer each night. It is so subtle a taste that he never knew. She is now in jail, for life. She lived in St. Charles, I wonder how many of you in St Louis area remember this case? It was on the Discover Channel a few months ago and my wife and I remembered it.

So, that crock pot stays in the garage, never in the kitchen, never is used for food ever again. This is not an exageration, but fact. It will kill you. Engines, no problem.

>Anti freeze is mostly alcohol, ethylene-gylcol, so it will
>dissolve oils. The glycerine helps keep it from boiling at
>212 F, and pressure keeps it from boiling at all. >

Ron B.
F4Fguy

Nice urban legend,Ty,but ethylene glycol was developed to eliminate alcohol in antifreeze. Alcohol antifreezes boiled well below 212deg.F and evaporated rapidly.Glycol antifreeze raised the boiling point to (depending on concentration) to 240+deg.F,with NO evaporation(except water).

More to the point, hot ethylene glycol will dissolve most organic materials making it an almost universal cleaner. The down side ,as you've already noted is, it's really nasty stuff inside a living organism.

Conclusion:(1) The crock pot/ethylene glycol method is a very effective cleaning method.(2)Be extremely careful when using it.

I,personally prefer dishwasher detergent for safety and disposal reasons.most of my cleaning is for practical, not "restoration" reasons. Slight discoloration is a small price to pay for complete safety.

Hi Ron
I was deemed politically incorrect for the dishwasher clearner a while back.
I have found it works faster, is environmentally safe (for god's sakes you wash DISHES with it), and never hurt one of my engines. But I still live under the blind squirrel/finds an acorn adage.
I have a crock pot safely stored full of antifreeze. Used it once. It did work. Took way longer.

Thanks for the "surprise" I got today! When's a good time to call?

Thanks again,
Bill <><

Ron B.
F4Fguy

Bill:

You're welcome! Anytime from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM.(remember the 3 hr. time difference).

>Hi Willaim,
>The safest way (for the engine) to really clean it is to use
>a crock pot and anti freeze. (snip)
>I take them out, dry them off (let them cool ), take
>apart, clean again, and reassemble with air tool oil. Make
>sure the wrist pins are free. They can stick and mess
>things up. Zip lock sandwich bags for storage.
>I really like to boil engines in dishwasher (not
>dishwashing) liquid, but some others have reported that it
>changes the color of the crankcases. This has not been
>reported using the CP/AF. I have done both, and they work.
>Bill <><

What you suggest with the crock pot is good, but you do need to make sure that you clean off all the parts afterwards and do not leave a film of anti-freeze behind. Else it will discolor the case as well.

If you do the anti-freeze thing over night, then rinse it, clean it with soap and water, and oil it before assembly, it will be shiny new. (Or dull matt finish if that is what you started with.)

>>Hi Willaim,
>>The safest way (for the engine) to really clean it is to use
>>a crock pot and anti freeze. (snip)
>>I take them out, dry them off (let them cool ), take
>>apart, clean again, and reassemble with air tool oil. Make
>>sure the wrist pins are free. They can stick and mess
>>things up. Zip lock sandwich bags for storage.
>>I really like to boil engines in dishwasher (not
>>dishwashing) liquid, but some others have reported that it
>>changes the color of the crankcases. This has not been
>>reported using the CP/AF. I have done both, and they work.
>>Bill <><
>
>What you suggest with the crock pot is good, but you do need
>to make sure that you clean off all the parts afterwards and
>do not leave a film of anti-freeze behind. Else it will
>discolor the case as well.
>
>If you do the anti-freeze thing over night, then rinse it,
>clean it with soap and water, and oil it before assembly, it
>will be shiny new. (Or dull matt finish if that is what you
>started with.)

Hi Leonard,
Do you mean the part I wrote above isn't going to work?

>>I take them out, dry them off (let them cool ), take
>>apart, clean again, and reassemble with air tool oil.
(My edit for emphasis this time)

I believe I meant to clean the parts after taking them out of the crock pot and taking them apart, no? My bad if it was confusing.

Thanks
Bill <><

>>If you do the anti-freeze thing over night, then rinse it,
>>clean it with soap and water, and oil it before assembly, it
>>will be shiny new. (Or dull matt finish if that is what you
>>started with.)
>
>Hi Leonard,
>Do you mean the part I wrote above isn't going to work?

No, it will work fine. I was just emphasizing the rinsing/cleaning part. If dishwasher soap will discolor the aluminum, so will anti-freeze if a film is left on. What you suggested is fine. Just adding emphasis.

Hi Leonard,
No problem..... had me worried there!
Thanks!
Bill <><

a question comes to mind. I always wanted to paint my engine heads but
was afraid the heat and the fuel will peel off the paint. What paint to use???

Hi fernando,
Any of the spray cans of high temp engine paints at the local car parts store will work just fine. At least as good as the original paint. A can will do close to a life time of engines. Ford red works for McCoys. There is also a green match for the old K&Bs, but I can't remember what the actual name is. One of the brands has a ceramic element in it that seems to hold up best.
Bill <><

Does anyone remember which green paint this is? Especially with the ceramic content.

If I can make it by the parts store this afternoon, I'll find out.
It matches one of the newer K&Bs I have (I took a "sample" of the K&B and McCoy to the store). Didn't get any, but I need to. Only got the red I needed for the McCoys.
Bill <><

>Does anyone remember which green paint this is? Especially
>with the ceramic content.

The info is in this thread:

http://www.clstunt.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=5926&forum=DCForumID1

Here's the paint info. from the above thread:

"Duplicolor Engine Enamel "Detroit Diesel Alpine-DE1618" is a very close match to the K&B Torpedo Green. I got it at the local auto parts store. Also, "Ford Red-DE1605" is a good match for the McCoys. I've used the red on several runners and it changes to a slight orange tint after it gets hot, but so the did the original McCoy Red."

I use the Duplicolor Engine Primer under the colors for added durability.

If you search on Crock + Pot + Antifreeze, you will bring up at least a dozen previous threads on this topic if you include the archives in your search.

Andy

I am going to add my two cents here as well. The crock pot is a great way but a friend gave me a small sonic cleaner and I use 3 to 1 water and SIMPLE GREEN......... unbelieveable results and it's organic so you don't have to fool around with antifreeze. I wonder is the simple green would work in the crock pot.

Dave

Hi Dave,
By all means, a sonic cleaner would be a great way to go! Wish I had one.
Don't know if the Simple Green would work as good in the crock. It might be the action of the sonic clearner that is really the key.
Just heating the SG might not do it. (??)
Bill <><