Parts Cleaning

[Canton_Model_A's]

Hello all, I am about to do a tear-down of the front spindles, etc... on my A. How good is concentrated Simple Green to get rid of the years of grease, grime, oil on the parts. Also since I am getting new backing plates and brakes, it comes with new bearings. Can those also be cleaned in the Simple Green solution?

Thanks!

[1930artdeco]

It is a great cleaner, just remove it when you go to assemble the assembly. Use something like KROIL to remove it. There is no reason to clean the new bearings as you are just going to pack them with grease,

Mike

[gdmn852]

Usually kerosene is used to clean bearings, being a light oil will help break down grease and help keep down rusting. I usually clean things well with kerosene then if painting like backing plates,clean them before paint with soap and water and prep sol .Remember of course kerosene is flammable.

[mcgarrett]

Mineral spirits (paint thinner) is a perfect solvent for grease and dries without leaving a residue to clean up.

[Rob Doe]

We've been driving our coupe a lot. Packing wheel bearings is only a few weeks apart and it takes me a few hours to do each wheel. (The cleanup is a filthy job and takes the most time)

I've been using non flammable brake cleaner for hub, drum and brake parts, but a small amount of gasoline in a small container not much bigger than a single bearing. I rinse the bearing with mineral spirits. The bearings are immediately air dried and repacked for corrosion protection. Use caution.

[Merc Cruzer]

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[JKY]

Spray oven cleaner seems to work well too.

[Oldbluoval]

JKY……agreed
Scrap pretty well then Easy Off works fine for me.
Wash it off with hard stream or pressure wash

[GeneBob]

I like penetrating oil like PB Blaster to get into the grime and make it easier to remove.

[katy]

Originally Posted by Rob Doe

Packing wheel bearings is only a few weeks apart

Why so often? Properly packed wheel bearings will go for years w/out re-packing. The Ford manual says every 5000 miles, but that was w/the grease of the times, also Ford wanted owners to bring their cars in for servicing so that provided more profits for the dealers.

[john in illinois]

I grease my Tudor front and rear at 5,000.




John

[Rob Doe]

Originally Posted by katy

Why so often? Properly packed wheel bearings will go for years w/out re-packing. The Ford manual says every 5000 miles, but that was w/the grease of the times, also Ford wanted owners to bring their cars in for servicing so that provided more profits for the dealers.

Katy, John in Ill, we've put 11000 miles on our coupe in 16 months. I installed a pair of repro bearings in the rears at about 3000 and checked them at 2500 after. I found metal flakes floating in the darkened grease (red jv6 high temp). The flakes came from the ends of the rollers on the repro bearings; I believe. So, I've been being careful not to wait too long. I went back to a set of Ford scripted bearings that I had and have been checking them at 1200-1500 so as not to ruin an axle housing race.

I just pulled the service bulletins out and checked the lubrication chart on page 216, upper left corner. The rear bearings are category A - 500 miles. The arrow points to the zerk on the backing plate, which is not to be trusted to get the grease to the bearing. The inner seal is known to fail and let the grease enter the axle housing instead of the bearing area???

It's a pain, but I'll keep checking the rears at 12-1500 as their grease is thinned out and getting dark by then, although I don't feel any grit or see any metal. Thanks for your posts, guyz. And you are right on the fronts being 5000.