Whats the best thing to use on a head to get the carbon off it.

I cant get hold of metasoak (some may know it as dragon spit: NASTY STUFF), and its far too dangerous anyway.

Petrol?? Gunk just doesn't shift it.

Cheers

Ed.

Best way I found was to wait until wife was out and put it in the dishwasher! With cast iron heads you do tend to get some flash rusting, but nothing to worry about.

if cast iron

solution of caustic soda

make sure no ali parts on the head


dishwasher works well but wife complains about oily residue for 3 washes after

cheers, Tim.

much appreciated.

I dont beleive there are any alloy parts on the head...


Ed.

Be very careful of the "missis is away and stick it in the wishdasher trick" . I did exactly that with my two alloy rocker covers and the bloody thing stank of oil afterwards. It was so bad that it made a glass of your best vino rosso d'italia taste like old chip fat. I had to put the thing on 5 or 6 times befor the smell was gone.....and use one of the wishdasher cleaners!!!

She didn't notice... phew

Check out gasket stripper , softens carbon after a few minutes so it can be wiped off .also strips paint. Not sure if paint stripper would work on carbon ?? may be worth a try , if not get out the old decoke brush and electric drill. rusty

Use a wire brush, or even the tip of a screwdriver - just be careful not to cause any damage.

That has to be the Locost way.

[Edited on 13/2/04 by andyps]

I agree with Andy, keep the carbon dry if possible and just scrape it off with a suitable implement. You have to be careful you don't scratch aluminium so make sure that you use something with rounded edges and just use it like you would use a razor blade on your face. Then use a little hoover to scoop up the bits of carbon.
Cheers,
Craig.

In my motorbike days I used to use (clean) lollipop sticks as scrapers. You can still buy them in bags of 50 or 100 in places like Boots or Lakeland.

Failing that, try Boots for tongue depressors (just wait 'til they ask what you want THEM for! )

The ones I'm talking about are made of some tough wood like beech - strong, but unlikely to scratch anything important.


David

In my motorbike days I used to use (clean) lollipop sticks as scrapers. You can still buy them in bags of 50 or 100 in places like Boots or Lakeland.

Failing that, try Boots for tongue depressors (just wait 'til they ask what you want THEM for! )

The ones I'm talking about are made of some tough wood like beech - strong, but unlikely to scratch anything important.


David