Make your glow engine look like new – by David Foster

All glow plug engines start to look grotty after a while, mainly due to baked-on oil from the fuel.

But there’s a simple way to bring your engine up to as-new appearance – in minutes.

All you need is a spray can of oven cleaner and an old toothbrush.

It’s important to use a brand of oven cleaner that doesn’t contain caustic soda, because this attacks aluminium. I use ”Mr Muscle” which I get at my local IGA supermarket, but no doubt there are other brands of the same thing.

I spray “Mr Muscle” all over the engine (some eye protection is a good idea but it doesn’t irritate bare skin) and scrub it in to all the nooks and crannies like cylinder fins with the toothbrush. Plug any orifices such as the carb air intake and the exhaust port if you’ve taken the muffler off with tissues or paper towel. Soon you’ll see the baked-on oil coming off and bright aluminium showing through.

Rinse the oven cleaner off in hot water, using your toothbrush again, and let it dry.

See – your engine looks like new again!