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harbor freight... Lots of throw away brushes: They sell 6 for 2.99 or something like that..
Nitrile gloves at harbor freight too...
Kerosene: A gallon of it.
Lots of rags
a large catch pan; i use an industrial baking pan about 18"x20"
scotch brite pads..
Scrub, and wipe down with kerosene soaked rag..
Scrub wipe down
scrub wipe down.
Back when i did this, i lucked out: Home depot had a box of 4 wd-40 cans for 10$, so it was easy to clear away the excess grime by spraying it and letting it drip off the engine.
The airhead engine cases are not painted. Some of the timing case covers, valve covers and starter covers are painted black, but Type 247 engines all came from the factory in as-cast aluminum. I don't believe BMW started painting engine cases until the oilheads in '93 -- maybe the K-bike cases in '83, but I don't believe so.B - it will clean your engine but also eat away whatever surface BMW leaves on their case... leaving exposed aluminum that will either need to be re-painted or cleaned often.
Re-painting the case isn't as bad as you'd think. There are plenty of high heat paints that work great on these old machines.
What do you folks recommend for cleaning the engine?
what I think is a clear anodized finish (later models...my 1990 GS for example)
.
Are you sure about this?
Anodizing is not a surface "plating" process.
On aluminum it usually provides a shiny surface.
For cleaning oil and grease, I like plain Gunk GP mixed with kerosene.