DeGunking: Looking for a LIFT, Boise

[Perdiem]

Picked up a pretty decent 1985 60 a week or so ago. I'm looking to get underneath it to locate a few seeps but first I need to get rid of the grease and grime. It's pretty caked in some areas from mm's to a centimeter or two thick in some places.

I took it to a high pressure wash with some Gunk for an exercise in futility.
Jack stands in the garage is an option but the Boise River is just down slope and I'd prefer to keep that **** out of my fishing hole.

Ideally I'd like to get it on a lift and have at it with a brush and hose. Anyone know of a place that rents lifts by the hour? Any mechanics looking for some weekend coin? I'd also like to use one to treat the rust on the undercarriage. As a last resort I guess I could pay (grrrr) someone to steam that junk off. It's that bad.
Any suggestions?

 

[gregnash]

Many use the foaming engine cleaners and then go to the $1 car wash, some have had good results with Simple Green. I am in the same boat and really wish there was a 4x4 shop around here that had a ramp you could pull up on and then spray the underside.

For frame coating take a look at the Chassis Saver from Monstaliner (no affiliation), that is what I am looking at for mine.

 

[orbittron]

Back in the day I would use Easy Off oven cleaner with great results. Foams up and stays in place until I hit it with the power washer... I think it is pretty caustic though and I was always careful not to get it on wires, etc..

Recently bought some purple liquid spray from autozone and went the car wash (just far enough drive to warm up the engine - not hot) and removed thick greasy crud with good results. Had to get on my hands and knees and I was soaked from head to toe.

 

[tclark]

Tough to beat a good steam cleaning.

 

[Perdiem]

Thanks for the suggestions.
I went to the car wash with some Gunk. It worked well for the top of the engine (just grime) but was no good on the block and undercarriage. It's just too much on there.
I may try another product or just crawl under there with a case of paper towels.
I'm just weighing the time/cost ratio of doing it myself. It would seem that the amount of quarters and degreasers and time spent may rival what it would be to have the whole thing steamed. And I'd still have my weekend to do other things like cutting rust or working on the garage.

 

[NYNick]

Went through this myself a year or so ago. Jack stands, wire brushes, goggles, disposable jumpsuit, simple green etc.
Nothing beats elbow grease. Took me days and days....

 

[tclark]

I paid a local shop like $20-25 to do my engine bay, it just about takes the elbow grease out of it. For a shop to do a real good job it'll likely cost a fair bit more but will beat the hell out of a brush and degreaser. I washed log trucks for a few summers for a local trucker that had a diesel fired hot water washer---it's amazing what that thing would clean. If it'll strip pine sap from a log trailer rest assured it'll get the grease off your truck!

 

[mtnphilosopher]

Hey Perdiem,

I'm in Boise too and in the same proverbial boat:












And that's not even the half of it.

I was going to do the same exercise in futility this weekend, but if you have a line on a steam cleaning place, I'd like to know. I too don't want to run this stuff into the trout stream, even if downstream from the South Fork.

 

[Perdiem]

Philosopher,
That looks similar to what I'm up against. I'm gonna call around today to see if anyone handles this sort of thing. If I find a source I'll post back here.

 

[Elbert]

nothing comes close to a real steam cleaner.....you have the be real careful what you get close to with one of those and for nasty stuff its the way to go.

 

[Michael Hanson]

Now you remove all the grease and oil there goes the rust proofing ! Mike

 

[Sethro60]

Just to throw a thought out there: After getting my rig really muddy, I put one of those lawn sprinklers with a fan pattern that move in a 180 degree arc underneath and let it do all the work to get the mud off. Maybe spray it down with simple green and hook one of those up to a hot water supply?

 

[CarterTheFarter]

I was thinking about renting a hot water pressure washer for mine but ill wait until I leave Washington. It's my rust protection

 

[mtnphilosopher]

I got underneath today and can scrape away to metal/paint with a stick, so I'm thinking I should just bite the bullet and get comfortable spending the weekend underneath brushing and wiping and scraping away. I'm kinda hesitant to wash all that **** into the drain of a car wash, as I don't want it going into the river. Maybe just get some old sheets, drive my rig over them and get to work?

 

[Perdiem]

Still looking..Asked around town but so far I can't find any recommendations. No one wants that junk in their drains either. It took the auto guys a while to find all the leaks because of the grunge.

Front and Rear seal, Oil Pan, Transmission and Transfer case drip, drip, drip.

I won't even be able to afford the coin wash for awhile. I'll just suck it up and crawl under there with some towels and degreaser. Start in one spot and go from there. It should make for some good meditation a la Mr. Miyagi.

 

[mtnphilosopher]

Hey man,

From what I've read on here, the tcase seals are often blamed for oils leaks that are actually from the oil pan gasket. I've heard several folks say that they replaced (or had replaced for them) the main seals (way expensive), only to find out it was actually the oil pan gasket (cheap and doable, from what I've read).
Also, and somewhat relatedly, which shop are you using? I've heard they're aren't many good cruiser mechanics in Boise, and if you found one, I'd appreciate knowing.

Brad

 

[Perdiem]

Right now it's sittin' at AutoTranz down on State street. I spent about a half hour with them Friday with the 60 on the lift. They seem pretty legit.
At eye level you can see so much better than crawling around in the dirt. The trail of filth is quite impressive. Several different colors and viscositys of oil. If it was just an oil pan gasket or something that simple I could handle that. This is a lot more and is out of my realm as far as tools and space are concerned.
I really wish I had a lift.