How can I clean many internal hard parts like new again?

[centralcoaster33]

I'm gonna rebuild my transmission. Someday I may do the engine. Anyway, is there a magical liquid I could drop gears and screws and shafts into that will melt away any cooked on grease, oil, glazing, rust and other deposits? Preferably something that requires no scrubbing as there are many irregular surfaces and small parts and I don't want to do scrubbing. One person suggested carb cleaner, but I've only seen that is spray cans and that sounds tedious. Another guy at work suggested lacquer thinner, warned that it's highly flammable, but should take gunk off of parts quick. Anyway, I just want to fill a five gallon bucket with a magic liquid, drop in dirty parts and let soak for a day or two and then pull out new looking clean parts. Please help me. I searched and found a bunch of clean your IACV, and I'm cleaning my garage stuff, but nothing about internal hard parts.

[spddemon]

I read a thread somewhere that someone soaked a pully in gas and then wire brushed it to remove the glazeing. not shure if it would work on gears but its an idea

[Warped161]

how about a steam cleaner?

[centralcoaster33]

Someone else mentioned gasoline to me the other day. No smoking during that job! Anyway, I talked to the guy who mentioned the laquer thinner again and he said he's tried gas before. Said it works well to remove oil and grease stuff, but still requires some scrubbing. He went on to say the thinner will work way better, it's just super volatile. He still thinks I should use that, but outside, well ventilated, with gloves... being real careful. So I'm gonna try it. The steam idea is a neat one and I happen to have a hand held steamer by Bissel so I'll see if it can be useful. Thanks for the responses guys. I really hope this thing works when I'm done assembling it.

[AZhitman]

Best thing I've found? Get a gallon jug of Purple Power, dump it in a rubbermaid container and let the parts soak overnight... Stuff works amazingly, and no real fume issues.

Be more cautious with aluminum parts, as it can start etching the surface after too long. Use a bristle brush and scrub the aluminum parts in the solution to get them spotless.

Skip the steamer, skip the thinner. Neither are the best tool for the job.

[centralcoaster33]

OMG, a reply from "The Man"! Hey thanks for this site!

I went to the Clean-Rite site and read about it a bit. They have a bunch of products and some testimonials. I suppose you are refering to the "Clean-Rite Purple Power, Purple Power Cleaner" as listed in the industrial cleaners section? I just saw car wash and wheel stuff in the automotive section. Since I haven't actually bought the laquer thinner yet, and this stuff seems much less volatile, I think I'll try it first. Plus I'm taking my time with this rebuild so overnight soaking is do-able. Thanks for the heads up on alluminum parts. I'll just dip the case parts a few times and scrub a bit. Those won't need to soak so much as they aren't that dirty and don't have so many irregular surfaces anyway.