While finishing up the welding on my son's 72 1.7, the engine and trannie are out of the car. Engine is getting cleaned up with powdercoated tin and new hoses, vacuum lines etc.
Trannie has years and years of caked on, baked on grease-oil-dirt etc. We are not interested in cleaning it with a toothbrush and a dental pick. I was considering getting a plastic tub and soaking/spraying it several times over the course of a week with paint stripper, oven-off etc, and then off to the pressure washer at car wash to blast it. I realize that we will probably get some water into the trannie...but we are prepared to drain and refill with fresh TF. Any suggestions on de-greasing products to use? This baby is dirty and its all Brant's fault.

I've had good luck fogging with pb blaster, deep creep, or similar and scraping with a putty knife. Once all the muck is oil saturated, then wipe off what you can with a nasty rag. Don't power wash until the end. Having a beer or two during the process makes it more sustainable.

Take it to someone with a steam pressure washer. 5-10minutes and it’s clean.

I didn't make that grime.
I never drove the car
I only stored the grime for 5-8 years, until you received it.

Or if you have an equipment rental place near by.

Engine degreaser, Oven cleaner, and even Simple Green helped when I did mine. To scrape the baked on stuff, I used different sized chisels *upside down* so they didn't cut into the surface. Patience and Grip Strength

Or make a poor man steam cleaner by hooking up a pressure washer to your hot water tank and turning up the temp. The hot water melts off all the gunk without chemicals.

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Or make a poor man steam cleaner by hooking up a pressure washer to your hot water tank and turning up the temp. The hot water melts off all the gunk without chemicals.
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Smart idea! Whatever you do just make sure all of that nasty stuff is draining somewhere safe. Around here the storm drains go to the SF Bay and nobody would want that nasty stuff draining into the Bay.

Oven cleaner ………shit that is an issue ? why would you put a caustic acid on a mag gearbox housing has got me lost.

I've found that mineral spirits and a putty knife and a stiff brush work

Just did mine last week, dawn dish soap and power washer is all it took

Pressure washer hooked upto a Hot hot water tank works great.....

I would just make sure to seal up the vent and cover the nose and tail so water does not get inside. Aluminum foil works great for that kind of stuff and will stay on.

When I first dropped the grearbox a few years back after purchasing the teener, the entire case was covered with years of baked on oil and cv grease to where it was a hard shell in some places. The oven cleaner broke down the hard areas but I didn't leave it there sitting on the exposed areas of the case. Worked fine for me and didn't leave any discoloration on the case.

Local tool rental place will rent a hot pressure (2500 psi) washer for $40/day...maybe take it to a DIY car wash so it can drain and be recycled and kept out of the environment?
I'll cover up the breather but not too worried about getting water inside as we will drain and refresh the TF anyway.

If you rent one, have all the engine and trans cases you own ready to wash. It works well and a good opportunity to get everything clean. If you have a friend or two who needs something cleaned, call them up. It will only add an extra 5-10 minutes. When I had the chance, I would pre treat with whatever gunk removal was available. Also note, It will make a mess of whatever you are wearing when the spray kicks back at you so be prepared with old clothes and glasses.

Toothbrushers unite!

I would get a inexpensive pressure washer from home depot. I got a ryobi 2.1gpm unit for about $100.00. I did a couple HF ones and they didn't last long.

You'll always find a use for it later on.

I actually have a gas powered pressure washer (non heated) for stuff around the house...underside of the lawn mower, garage apron, sidewalks etc. I'm pretty sure the black stuff stuck to this trannie (while Brant "baked" it for 8 years ) will need very hot water or an act of God to be "exorcised".