My latest find was a wallpaper steamer. This device is designed to remove wallpaper from old plaster walls. I've decided to take the plaster and lath out, so the steamer has new duties. It's now a steam cleaner! My first use was to steam out a crankcase ventilator full of sludge. I removed the flat wallpaper steamer and threaded the hose into a 1/4" pipe x 3/8 compression tube adapter with a piece of copper tube attached. This worked pretty good at piping the steam inside the vent tube and the heat cooked the gunk out real well. Occasionally I would dunk it in my crockpot full of tsp solution, then go back to steaming. The end result was all the gunk removed, and most of the paint, ready for ospho treatment (phosphoric acid solution) rinse and new paint.
The next target will be a number of engines still in the truck. I plan to put down plywood with a 2x4 curb around the edge, and then at least one layer of visqueen to catch the sludge as it falls off. I'll probably baste the motors with citri-solve to help loosen the stuff before applying the steam wand. You gotta use caution with this it does get hot. I used a couple pairs of welding gloves the first time, and this time I'll add a handle to avoid contact with the hot pipe. I see the biggest concern as capturing all the gunk so it does not go into the ground and create future problems. The containment system should help with that. Also, you need to do this outside, the fumes are really something else!
