Burnt71

I have the rear out of my 80 , Figure this is the best time to clean , I want it spotless. What will be the best way to clean the aluminum housing ? It's pretty greasy !

Antz81

I used brake cleaner followed by a wire brush on my 81.

540 vette

On my 80 mI power washed it clean of grease and then used etching wheel cleaner to get the aluminum to look new. Came out great.

Burnt71

Did wire brush scratch it at all ?

Burnt71

What kind of etching wheel ?

7T1vette

wheel cleaner that etches the surface, preparing it for paint.

You can make it purty and shiny today; but next week it will be a dull finish again. Aluminum oxidizes quickly to a dull finish. If you want to keep the surface looking the same as when you cleaned it, you will have to coat it with something (and continue to do that every so often ) or paint it. Because the diffy can get pretty warm with extended use, I would suggest using VHT 'cast aluminum' paint. It will look like freshly cast aluminum for many, many years.

Reaper19

Try as suggested brake cleaner, scraping grease off with a putty knife, stiff nylon brush, Simple Green works great on keeping things clean too. You should be able to get it pretty clean down to the bare aluminum. If the Aluminum is stained, pick up some good high temperature with ceramic Aluminum paint to paint the whole rear end.

Here is mine before and after pictures.







Good Luck!

Antz81

No, but i only used it on the bat wing. My diff wasn't going back in. When I say wire brush, i started with one, but then swapped to a wire wheel in a drill.

tysonsbeak

varsol