Best way to clean Aluminum intake???
 

Hey guys, I am making great progress correcting incorrect items on my real 4K '67 L78 Camaro. Ordered correct valve covers from Crane, correct carb, clamps, etc.

Question is, what is the best way to clean the intake manifold without removing it from the engine? I don't want to remove it as there are no leaks and it isn't that bad, just wondering if an SOS pad or some other technique would help me clean it while still on engine???

This is a "before" picture. Thanks!

I did the bay in my buddy’s 70 Z, LT1, I heard walnut shells, but he didn’t want to remove it, I used Eastwood bare alum paint, it looked great.
Thermo, carb and dist were off. His thermo was orange.

On the engine?..Paint thinner and a WHITE scotchbrite pad.Avoid any other color.
Wear rubber gloves,soft towel/pad over both fenders,and be prepared to lean forward for about an hour.

I actually use the blue scotchbrite pads and Meguiars aluminum wheel cleaner. Seems to work for me to this point. As always do a test before diving into any cleaning project.

Looks excellent Darrell and I have an old intake spare I could play with lol. The surprise was how you were able to get in the crevices.

Brake cleaner to get the dirt and grease off and then some oooo steel wool very lightly, if you rub too hard it will get shiny, less is more.

Since covid, I have found that the water thin hand sanitizer works great for cutting grease and best of all, removes the gas smell from your hands better than soap

Oven cleaner is one of the best things for removing oils and cooked on greases from iron or aluminum...
To get into the pores of the aluminum use a round stiff bristled brush and wrap tape around the bristles so that they stick out about 1" that way they don't jump all around and you can work it around and get into the pores.

Here is the intake before and after on my survivor LT1.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

I use carburetor cleaner on a rag to remove gas stains. Be careful about what you get it on. It can damage some plastics and may soften paint.

And oven cleaner will make aluminum turn blackish if left on too long. Timing is everything.

I have used oven cleaner to take off plating before black oxid, that stuff will melt an alluminum cigar tube in under 30 minutes, be careful