Hi Cosullivan,
HAve to agree with blumbly. electrolysis is great for removing the rust, and won't hurt the steel either. Lifts the rust that canbe under paint. Also, I use a small -about 2 inch - slightly conical shaped wire brush in the drill press to shift the dirt and paint and rust from parts. Works a treat, but need to be careful using the brush on flat mating surfaces in case you score the alloy.
Recently took the engine and flywheel to the carwash and used their engine cleaning soaker stuff. Let it sit for a couplel of minutes and then used the high pressure soap. Got the majority of gunk off, but I still needed to scrape a bit when I got it home. I found a piece of hard plastic was handy for scraping without scratching. The final stages a needed fine emery to clean the fins on the flywheel.
Hope this helps. Oh, I have also just painted my finished bits with spray on primer/undercoat as used for car painting, and will be using VHT brand heat resistant enamel for finish coats. Seems to be a bit tougher than normal enamel. And I will finish everything with a couple of coats of VHT spray clear enamel.
Jeff49
