Baked on oil removal.

Does anyone have a recipe or idea how to remove burnt on oil residue ?
I am waiting for some Norton parts so put the Sunbeam up on the table.
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The bike has what is called patina but on closer inspection a lot of it is oil because the engine vents through the front of the rocker cover,that mist then blows back and bakes onto the engine.
I have come to the conclusion based on the progress so far that kerosene and a brush is going to take forever,maybe even longer.
There must be something that dissolves oil crud without harming the alloy,I want to avoid the water blaster even with the detergent attachment but it might be the only way.
The 850 Norton head was fairly easy,it had the same sort of baked on build up in between the front fins but being bare was able to soak it in wax and grease remover in a 20 litre plastic container for a week with great results.

If you are careful, and test it FIRST, it is possible to use old-already-well-scrubbed-in stainless steel wool to scrub on oil stains.
If you use brand new steel wool, it may scratch into the alloy, and be difficult to then remove any scratching.

I've also blasted alloy with fine sawdust - even on fully assembled bikes.
Cover or block off all carbs and electrical stuff nearby, fuel tanks etc.
This cleans alloy quite well, without altering the surface finish at all.
A large sheet under etc will also collect all the residue.
May produce dust, test first...

Vapour basting, with plastic beads in water can also do this, but you will have to find a commercial operator.
They likely won't do it on assembled bikes either.
Gearbox rebuilding shops usually have them, without advertising it.

Hopethishelps.

The strongest solvent I've encountered was a graffiti remover called Yuk-Off, comes on an aerosol can . It will dissolve most organic polymers. If you use it, don't breath the vapours or allow skin contact. It contains glycol ethers which can cause sterility. Also it will unlock the stresses in most plastics, so keep it away from your taillights, even the vapour can make a plastic tail light fall apart. If that product does not work, you are stuck with hydro-blast.

On cast surfaces I use a brass wire wheel on a dremmel or a cordless drill.
On smooth finished pieces, it's a solvent. carb or brake cleaner, depends on what's handy at the time.

Could try acetone..

Acetone will dissolve most things, however Yuk-Off is something else. At least acetone is relatively safe.

Broiling in anti freeze , is the go on model aircraft engines , which can be baked on rather severly . 24 hrs or so . sparkly clean they say .

Be aware that sniffing ethylene glycol in quantity will do nothing for your health,
and can be toxic....

A google search had led to RC engines also.

I would have posted a picture of the Norton cases.
I use paint stripper to remove any internal oil deposits (worked very average on the Sunbeam)
I then use a fine brass wire brush also and they come up like new.

The problem with the Sunbeam is it is over 60 years old and looks it to a certain (cool) degree,I only want to clean the cases but not add any shine.
It is definitely a prime bike for a restoration being so complete but I think an injustice to do so,I don't want oily rag more of your Grandad in a work worn but clean flannel shirt type thing.
I will try some acetone for starters,there was some under the kitchen sink cupboard.................

Most paint stripper has methylene chloride and sodium hydroxide in it. If you don't neutralize the alkali, it can keep going and come out the other side. It might be OK if there are no pores in the aluminium, however I wouldn't use it. I'd give those cases you've just cleaned a wash in vinegar, after you read the label on the can of stripper to see what it is.

The cases were water blasted with detergent afterward then soaked in degreaser/kerosene mix.
I checked and they are still there.


I gave up on the Sunbeam,will buy some degrease r tomorrow and mask the engine off and water blast it.
A steam cleaner might be a better bet.
I am three weeks into my two month break so time is of the essence (to a certain degree) still need to check why the fork action is hard then back on to Commando's by Tuesday.

Time Warp said:

A google search had led to RC engines also.

I would have posted a picture of the Norton cases.
I use paint stripper to remove any internal oil deposits (worked very average on the Sunbeam)
I then use a fine brass wire brush also and they come up like new.

The problem with the Sunbeam is it is over 60 years old and looks it to a certain (cool) degree,I only want to clean the cases but not add any shine.
It is definitely a prime bike for a restoration being so complete but I think an injustice to do so,I don't want oily rag more of your Grandad in a work worn but clean flannel shirt type thing.
I will try some acetone for starters,there was some under the kitchen sink cupboard.................

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IMO if you only want to clean the cases and are not worried about shine, use caustic, eg Mr Muscle or similar.. Bake on oil and grease in the kitchen or the BBQ oven is not much more different than engine oil and grease..

Just a foot note: in my youth with no money and projects/ideas aplenty, i would pinch 2 cups of mums laundry detergent (Surf/Rinso) and mix it with 2-3 cups of kero, turps, petrol or whatever i could find and it work a treat as a degreaser. Even now if you mix up a slurry of laundry detergent powder and put your hand in it is an extremely good hand cleaner....... Note to the note, dont do this at home with out PPE...

Baked on oil!? How uncouth of you sir :shock:

That is the application of the 'automatic external corrosion prevention system' that was perfected by British engineers and is a skill long since lost. 8)

Today, there is not a single modern motorcycle manufacturer with this excellent system in place. none of their engineers are able to do what those old boys did. But that's progress I guess :mrgreen:

Good old oven cleaner,ask your mother,she will point you in the right direction.
It cleaned up crank cases,that were covered in castrol R.

peter james owen said:

Good old oven cleaner,ask your mother,she will point you in the right direction.
It cleaned up crank cases,that were covered in castrol R.

Click to expand...

+1

Slick

Watch that many oven cleaners are caustic soda based, and will EAT alloy in no time flat. !!!

Note that baked on old type oils with lotsa carbon may be tougher than the alloy surrounding it,
and the caustic will eat the alloy before the cooked-on oil too !

I've found that blasting with finer grades of sawdust will remove most baked on stuff on alloy,
and leave the surface finish intact.
This is hard to achieve with any other process.
(Some commercial places offer this with walnut shell blasting).

Don't rush things either - you have the rest of your life to work on this.
Its waited 60+ years, a few more days weeks months or years will not hurt.
Rather than damaging it in the rush....

Beat me to the oven cleaner that's exactly what we get cooked into surfaces. Still keep an eye on it like Alan says. methylene chloride and sodium hydroxide in it. If you don't neutralize the alkali. Then again the very best stuff was developed by Dr. Willard to decoke locomotive engine pistons with 3x catalysis water which is a type of witches brew of a homeopathic remedy dilution potentiation heating stirring process to make. Turns oil polymer ceramic layer into grey dust that just wipes or blows off. Can also boil in water, the universal solvent catalysis for about same thing but takes longer.

Yep. You don't want to put caustic soda ( or lye, I think, to the Americans) anywhere near aluminium. It will turn it black and powdery and eat it for breakfast. Don't want that on the old girl do we now.
Good paint stripper on steel though.

I don't think anyone would put oven cleaner on cast alloy.
I tried a couple of degreasers but they had little effect so have continued with my usual techniques,a lot of it was carbonated oil from years of neglect,that goes for a good deal of the chrome,all avoidable,it even had a green tinge to it.
The problem these days perhaps in part to some of the television shows is the patina thing which is mostly BS.
Patina seems to have taken on a whole new meaning,the seat on this bike shows patina from being used over 64 years.
White oxidation on the alloy was from neglect,it had to be removed (soft brass brush)
I founds traces of Mist Green on the forks where the black had lifted away so never thought this bike was original.perhaps the tinware was painted black at some stage but will try and find some history on it.
It is coming along but is a slow process to revive it (alloy) but am very happy with the bike in general.
I havn't got to checking the bronze worm wheel yet.

Right click - View Image depending on screen size.
Notice the rubber snubber block at the front lower of the engine,there is one each side and are adjustable inwards to minimise sideways movement,they only touch the crankcase to do their job.
One rubber mount at the top front,one at the bottom rear and a form of head steady at the rear of the rocker cover.
Two days to get the engine and gearbox to this stage,75 % done.

olChris said:

Time Warp said:

A google search had led to RC engines also



Just a foot note: in my youth with no money and projects/ideas aplenty, i would pinch 2 cups of mums laundry detergent (Surf/Rinso) and mix it with 2-3 cups of kero, turps, petrol or whatever i could find and it work a treat as a degreaser. Even now if you mix up a slurry of laundry detergent powder and put your hand in it is an extremely good hand cleaner....... Note to the note, dont do this at home with out PPE...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

So, you was the person that they based that TV advert on showing a biker cleaning the engine parts in washing powder :!: :mrgreen: