We use "Oil-Eater" from Costco.  Works great and only costs about $10 a
gallon.  Spray it on, let it soak, spray some more on, let it soak, wash it
off.

DO NOT spray it on a hot engine.  It will react with the aluminum and
discolor it for life.

Cheers,

Jeff
www.vanagonparts.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Rob Campbell
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2005 11:41 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Shine aluminum!

The Griot's Garage engine cleaning kit, while not cheap, really does work
miracles.  Its a citrus-based (I think...) cleaner, you spray it on, brush
(included different brushes for different areas/materials) and rinse off.
Really really fantastic stuff.

griotsgarage.com

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005, Zoltan wrote:

> The block is ugly, the heads are ugly.  It was so nice when new.  How
could I make them shine like new again?  I don't want to use glass bead
blasting.  That is blowing glass all over and gets into everything within a
mile.
> I am thinking of some chemical  that I can rinse off.
> Is there one who knows?
> Zoltan
>
>