I'm sure I am not the only one who has cleaned a few pounds of grease off their transmission. Have new flywheel etc., just wondering if anyone has a relatively easy way to make the transmission look presentable, it doesn't have to gleam like it has been chromed but nicer than the dullness I have now would be good!

Ian Stott
Moncton

I kinda started mine because it's exposed. Just got a polishing wheel on a drill and went at it. Workes fairly fast. I'd say 2 hours and it should look real nice.

I only touched it slightly to see if it would work in this picture. Really only like 3 minutes.

I don't believe that it will hold a shine for long. The best looking trans in my opinion is a nice dull grey finish that is DRY and void of dirt.

just my $0.02

Well now, mine may be an extreme approach, but remember my transmission was painted, twice, first red and then black on top of the red. The paint and grime had to come off. I used brake parts cleaner, lots and lots of it and a cleaning wheel on drill. Then I kinda polished it ( really just cleaned better ) using lots and lots of steel wool, very coarse grade.

I used Easy-Off Oven cleaner. Worked good.

easy-off works great after you knock the chunks off

is this the ticket for magnesium then?
what about mag cases?

I used Simple Green and a scrubbing sponge and took a lot of grease and dirt off. Worked pretty well.

Well, if you want it to look nice, don't use the generic "degreaser" (e.g., Purple Power) that they sell at FLAPS. It will make your aluminum (mag ?) turn cloudy and look cracked. I like the spray can carb/choke cleaner, but not sure how it affects seals/gaskets. And one tip I recently learned that suprised me, is to use foaming tire cleaner. Spray it on, wipe it off. It's great at getting that last greasy film off, and leaves things looking really shiny.

Any degreaser works fine, easyoff is a cheap version but works well. The trick is

to remove any remaining chemicals and petrolium product. I have used rubbing

alcohol and clean rags the alcohol will evaporate and leave it clean. Don't smoke.

Oven cleaner does work, but be careful where you slosh it. Fact is, you're not going to get a shiney case for very long before it re-oxidizes - alum or mag.

I once spent 2 days with Simichrome & a Dremel on mine. Looked plated when finished. By the time 2 weeks had passed for reinstallation, it was back to gray. Thankful for that! Looked like some sort of Corvette part.

Brer,
Excellent quesiton! If the quest to debunk the myth of, "The Easy-Off will eat your case!" I did a little experiment. I took a junk intermediate plate and coated it with way more easy-off than anyone would use and kept it drenched for a whole day adn forgot about it so that it dried.

Verdict? It would have made boring TV. Yes, it will etch the mag under these conditions, BUT it only etched a little and this little bit would only matter on the mating surfaces.....the ones that are not exposed to the cleaner.


So, just follow the instructions on the can and leave it on there for like 15 min or so and rinse and repeat.

Fitsbain actually had great success with the purple stuff on his engine case. He said to submerse the case in warm water with the purple stuff and let it sit for like 30 min. Do a search for his post on it. The results are very convincing.

Ok so Mike busted that Myth so what with the "Do not paint the case"
FUD that Aaron was spewing?

Didya use search?

We did this same conversation about a week ago.

Having designed mag parts to survive, you treat it with oven cleaner, grinders, wire brushes and the like, you take the protective "mag pickle" off. The pickle is a protective treatmet used on mag like anodize is used on aluminum.

First off, Mag's high up the periodic table which means reactive.

Second off, you are in a high salt environment about 9 months a year....

No "coating" read below....

Environmental Factors
Atmospheres. A clean, unprotected magnesium alloy surface exposed to indoor or outdoor atmospheres free from salt spray will develop a gray film that protects the metal from corrosion while causing only negligible losses in mechanical properties.

Chlorides (Salt=sodium chloride) , sulfates and foreign materials that hold moisture on the surface can promote corrosion and pitting of some alloys unless the metal is protected by properly applied coatings. The surface film that ordinarily forms on magnesium alloys exposed to the atmosphere gives limited protection from further attack. Unprotected magnesium and magnesium alloy parts are resistant to rural atmospheres and moderately resistant to industrial and mild marine atmospheres provided they do not contain joints or recesses that entrap water in association with an active galvanic couple (that would be a mud or dirt) coating).

Corrosion of magnesium alloys increases with relative humidity. At 9,5% humidity, neither pure magnesium nor any of its alloys exhibit evidence of surface corrosion after 18 months. At 30% humidity, only minor corrosion may occur. At 80% humidity the surface may exhibit considerable corrosion. In marine atmospheres heavily loaded with salt spray, magnesium alloys require protection for prolonged survival.

So it might survive in AArons hermetically sealed garage in the Cali desert, but in real life, humidity and salt will kill it. Paint it with a self etching primer with a little zinc.

Hey, I been to Moncton, Usta live near Limestone Me.

Ken

I found this on Pelican.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread....+magnesium+case

The part about acids and such seeping into threaded holes and weakening the threads seemed relevant. None of this answer the question as it relates to a Magnesium engine case.

Except that bit about

"not removing the pickle".

The amount of exfoliating corrosion that I noticed in my test under rediculously egregious conditions would not result in such failures at the screw holes unless you washed your tranny with easy-off every day for years.

Realy the amount of exfoliation was negligable, not even photographable.

I am for painting the mag case. Not as a necessity, but if done right it will only help, IMHO.

I posted this about a week ago asking if anyone had tried it, no replies that I recall

http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/

I like the look it left on the magnesium case pictured.

FWIW, magnesium isn't considered a "brite" metal so you're not going to make it shine like aluminum or nickel.

Reading all these posts and takeing everything into consideration I've come to

the conclusion that it is better to just leave it Greasy

Hey Dr. E - after reading the sales pitch this Gibbs product might be the hot ticket for protecting a mag tranny case? Need to spray it down on another junk intermediate plate and hang it under your rear wheelwell this Winter. With the tonnage of road salt they load the streets down with here in MD/VA/PA - this would truly be the ultimate test!
I like the idea of not painting, but the mag needs some kind or protection here in the East. Otherwise, in short order it starts looking like
Jeff

I painted mine.

Looks good there. Wonder how it will hold up.

Sorry but the DO pit mag cases. I don't know about easy off but... I used an engine degreaser in my younger years and the case looked horrible. Sever pitting and pock marks on the case.

Walnut seems to be the best if you have access to it.

Can you say baking soda boys and girls?

Baking soda has the unique ability to convert acids to neutral and bases to neutral.

If you dump a strong base such as oven cleaner onto mag, wash with water and neutralize it with baking soda. You have your car acid dipped, same thing to stop acid from popping out of the seams.

Pour ospho on your hands, grab a box of baking soda. Ospho drips on the concrete and foams up, apply baking soda.

Pool outa balance? Add baking soda.....

Me, I have 4 boxes on the shelf just in case. Comes in really handy.

Kenthebakingsodapusher

Sure... Baking Soda.

I know I posted this somewhere, maybe on Pelican. The best degreaser on the planet is M.E.K ( Methyl ethyl ketone) or as we put it Methyl Ethyl Badshit. You can get it at Lowes and or Home Depot. I strongly suggest using chemical gloves folks as this shit can kill you. I also suggest not using it unless you are outside and in a good supply of air. Did I mention it can kill you?...

This will also clean up the most stubborn grease or oil on your concrete. Just pour and then "dab" with old cotton shirt. Stains magically go away once it evaporates.

Well thanks to all who chimed in, I am sure I can get it looking nice and clean now without damaging anything. That painted one looks real good in the picture what paint did you use? I think applying some kind of protective finish sounds like a good idea, I live in an area where you always have to be on the lookout for things that can can corrode your veh. I don't plan on driving my teener in the winter but sometimes you get a real nice day and you might want to go for a spin. Here in Moncton they use a lot of salt on the roads and I'm convinced it takes a few rainy days in the spring to get rid of it all.
Ken when was the last time you were in Moncton?
Dr. Evil if you are monitoring this thread thanks for the cool bolts, do you have the gaskets as well?

Ian Stott

Hey Ian,
Nope, I dont sell the gaskets because I would be getting them from the same place as you and thus they would cost more from me and be pointless. GPR, Pelican, local VW shop should cary them. OR, you could use RTV which seems the be all of the rage now a days. I am very glad you like the bolts

I used Gunk last week. Much cleaner but the smell...

I used Rust-oleum "Specialty" High Heat (1200 degrees) purchased at Home depot. The color was Heat Resistant Silver #7716.

The last few gearboxes I had rebuilt (by Brad Mayeur), we cleaned and de-greased, then blasted with walnut shells, cleaned with prepsol, and painted with high temp clear. They came out looking nice, with a even gray finish. Of course we did the clean up and media blasting prior to the rebuild, and then touched up as needed after we got it back.

I brought this one back up front cause I was looking for an easier way...there is none.

Up here in the Northeast the damn cases look and feel like corral...all bumpy.

So, did the purple...nope...brake clean...nope...wire brush..nope
Drill with many attachments...nope...still bumpy.

Brought it to the local car wash and power washed all the loose matter off...sand blasted the case..
It looks nice and clean again...
I guess I am getting old, but I am sick and tired of looking at a cruddy tranny with a clean motor...just started to get on my nerves.

I am building a new highway cruiser tranny for my car and I figured I might as well start off clean.

there is no question in my mind...its getting painted...I dont want to do that again...

BTW,,when using Easy off oven cleaner on aluminum or MAG...after you are done you wash it with BORAX...its in the laundy soap isle...use straight borax and it removes the gray/black that easy off can produce.

Rich

Just to add to this, a year or two ago I was semi running a podwer coating shop ( actually hired to start a collision/restoration shop ) and as an experiment I cleaned and coated a tranny case. There was a lot of debate about whether or not it would warp the case to the point it would be un-usable. I can say it was NOT an issue, as the good Doc re-assembled it when he came down a couple months ago and there were no issues.

The DOWN side to coating the case is it has to be COMPLETELY dissassembled. THOROUGHLY cleaned and pre baked before applying the powder. My initial thoughts were to offer the coated cases as an addition to Mikes re-builds. After doing one, it simply wouldn't be fianancially viable as it would be about 500.00 just to properly coat it BUT know that if you want to go that route you can, just be prepared $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$4

mine is total broken down...just the case.
I considered powder coating but the damn thing wont fit in my oven...I tried.
I have the previous kitchen oven out in the garage...I cant close the door...I was bummed.

I think that some high tem paint will be just fine..
I cant stand this bumpy corral feeling...its inside the case also..just on the inner top of the area the gear stack resides...
That will get cleaned also...no paint inside though.

I was really hoping to not have to blast the case...it also wont fit in my cabinet...but the cabinet may get a remodel before I am done...we shall see..might be time for an addition on the cabinet...

I did half of it last night..it only took a few hours but I had sand everywhere..
No work today...gotta stay clean and go to thanksgiving dinner...maybe friday..

Rich

Magnesium does corrode and pit and doesn't do well with salt.

But, magnesium can be protected with a coating of zinc.

Zinc chromate is on my tranny.... It's a paint used a lot by the aircraft industries on aluminum parts as a protectorant and as an anti-corrosion coating. Some versions can be fairly hard.

It's usually a funky green or a bright yellow and can add a little bling to the underside of your car. Or add a little silver paint to hide the protective coating

I really have to wonder why people want to have shiny trannys... Darned things can't bee seen from the top of the car, and usually involve lifting the car to see. Wanting bling is a lot less important to me than keeping the 30+ year old parts protected from corrosion.

It just makes me wonder if there are really people with shiney transmissions and mirrors on their shoes... I can envision one now using their mirrored shoes to look up under the car to admire their shiney transmissions.....

Me, I got a better use for mirrors on shoes...

KennyWonderingwhohasmirrorsontheirshoes

If ya want a shiny tranny, get one of these:





Click to view attachment


Had to be done.

My desire is to have the transmission easier to clean and thus keep the gear oil cooler.
It gets hot enough under there, it needs not help getting hot.
Every tranny I have removed or worked on has loads of grease and dirt on it.
ALSO lots of baked one grease...it takes alot of heat to bake grease one a tranny.

So, I would like to put a finish on that I can literally hose off..Im not nuts...and I am lazy...
I am happy to do this once so I can hose the tranny off once or twice a year and that is all I have to do...I DO NOT want to get under there with a brush....just a hose and maybe some simple green or other stuff.

With all the corrosion that will never happen. It needs a smooth finish..not as smooth as a top end paint job, but alot smoother than corroded mag...

I had mag wheels on a motorcycle once...did the clean up BS for one season...took them off and painted them the color of the bike....simple hose and sponge was all it took from that moment forward.

Rich