I'd like to clean the intake manifold on my GTA. I have whole TPI apart except for the base and I'd to clean it up real nice before I put everything back together again.

I used a brass wire brush on the plenum and that turned out pretty good. Unfortunately, the base has alot of hard to reach areas which are difficult to get a wire brush into.

Anybody know of a good product that'd clean rough-cast aluminum like the intake manifold?

 

Well if the manifold was off bead blasting would be the way to go.
But i am gussing a lot of elbow grease if not.

 

a little brass wheel on a dremel Or you can use some acid based wheel cleaner.

This is what I used on my old wheels.
NO. 851/852/853 ALUMINUM CLEANER & BRIGHTENER
https://www.duragloss.com/new/products/wh-cleaners.htm
I use to use this on my old wheels it is acid based and will clean anything off the wheel including the clear coat. Just don't get it on the gasket surfaces. It leaves a matt simi gloss finish, but you will need to clear coat it afterwards cause it leaves little pits that will trap the grease.

muric acid (aka driveway cleaner) duluted will also do it, just don't get it on anything painted/rubber/plastic/polished. I say say about 1 part acid to 5 parts water.

I also second the bead blasting though, I say its worth the cost of the gaskets to take it off the car.

 

DO NOT BEAD BLAST!!!! unless you use a coarse one (either glass or sand) or it will turn out dull.... I used Eagle one mag wheel cleaner... it will give it the bright sparkle it had from the factory

 

That dull finish from sand blasting is a perfect match for the factory finish on the plenum & base, but the f-body runners are a smooth tubular steel and sand blasting them won't give the appropriate appearance. For those, I've found the acidic aluminum cleaners to be best, although sometimes you still may need to sand blast the cast portions of the runners (the end pieces that mount to the plenum/base).

Like somebody else mentioned, bare cast or sand-blasted aluminum will be a bitch to keep clean. I've had the best luck by cleaning with carb cleaner on a regular basis to prevent grease and oil from staining the aluminum.

 

honestly, after they've been blasted, ive had the best luck with VHTs cast alum paint.

it looks exactly the same... matter of fact, its hard to tell where you painted, it matches very well...

but the paint doesnt corrode and fade, and if its scratched, nothing happens.... it looks the same.

good stuff.

 

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions! If anyone has any more ideas, please keep them coming.

It seems bead-blasting/sandblasting is probably the best way to go, but I really don't want to take off that darn base again. LOL!

I just like to get rid of those brown stained areas on the intake manifold before I put the TPI back on.

 

just use some Simple Green to clean the grease away and find a brass bristle brush to scrub if needed... let everything dry then spray Eagle One Mage wheel cleaner on it, then rinse

 

If you do it at home, use non-caustic oven cleaner. The one I used said it was safe for use on aluminum. It worked GREAT!

 

I used tal strip 2 paint stripper for alumnium surfaces. My tpi set up looked like new.