I've got an old deep fryer with a basket that hangs on the rim to let the grease drip off. I'm going to do a small job of cleaning and then rebuilding a set of SUs I have had for years. After stripping them down what would be best to clean them, straight into the water/Simple Green HD solution at about 100F or using the basket to steam clean them without actually getting in the solution? Soaking in the solution hasn't done as well as I had read so I want to introduce some heat without buying an ultrasonic steamer. This is a one time deal to use up a lot of bits and pieces I have accumulated over the years. Thanks for any advice. Cliff

I'm sure no chemist, but I think almost all solvents work better when warmer. So warm solvent would pretty much always work better than cold solvent?

I'd be a little careful with stuff around aluminum though. Last time I cleaned up a set, I used hot water and Dawn dish soap in an ultrasonic and a stiff plastic bristle brush. I don't know how much the US brought to the party... Most of the cleaning effect may have come from the hot water and soap and the brush.

I would say use carburetor cleaner, what's good for the inside should be safe on the outside..

Carb cleaner spray can and a hard brush will do the job. Or use a cooking pan sponge on the outside dirty bits? later on you can polish the outside parts with special aluminum polish.

I'm going to cook them with 4 to 1 water and Simple Green HD purple, submerged completely at 100F or there about. Spray the linkage and springs with my electric pressure washer afterwards. Then spray them down with carb cleaner, then WD-40 and polish them with 320 wet/dry sandpaper. Once I get them together I'll use some Eagle? I think polish I have left over from the last time. If it hasn't hardened up.

I have 2 brand new Grose jets from Massachusetts that Phillip gave me, hopefully I can make the floats usable and I'll have to figure out drilling the ears to make them "short" like @madkaw . I used two rear carb float lids on my good pair that are in the car now making them like the early version 4 screw carbs. Now I have two long ear float lids.

I made the A.I generated conversation again. Shouldn't I be getting paid N.I.L type money for this?

1. Ear Length Differences

• Early Setup (1970-1971): Both the front and rear float bowl lids featured equal-length "short" ears, utilizing a short needle valve.

• Later Setup (1972+): The front carb was updated to have long ears to accommodate a longer needle valve (approximately 27mm), while the rear remained short.

• Community Modification: Enthusiasts frequently note that "long ear" lids can be finicky. Members like siteunseen have solved this by using two "short ear" lids, reverting the 1972 setup back to an early 4-screw/short-ear style.

Thirty minute soak then spinner tip in pressure washer. I'm happy. Can't wait until tomorrow when I can do it right. The test worked!

I'm done with the bodies, the results vs $$ and time I'm happy with.

Domes and float bowls are soaking now in heated solution. I'll have those done in a couple of hours. The lids have to have the ears drilled then I will clean them by hand. Need to read up on the ear drilling, can't break those I only have 2 rear lids.

Since you used water based cleaning, I suggest rinsing with denatured alcohol. That will help make sure you get rid of residual water.

I sprayed them, soaked, with WD-40. Guess what the WD stands for? Water displacement.

Those look good. Nice job!