How to clean a old dirty gyro!

[GyroRon]

Okay here it is. First make sure the engine is not hot. Also make sure the gyro is in the shade if possible, if not don't do it in the middle of the day when it is real hot.

Go to Pep Boys or any auto parts store and get a jug of purple power cleaner. They sell it under many different brand names but if you ask for purple power they will know what you want. Get a big jug of it cause this stuff works on everything.

Go next to Home Depot and buy a real cheap pump up garden sprayer. One of the 1-2 gallon hand held ones are perfect.

Now take the purple stuff and pour it into the sprayer till the sprayer is 1/3 full of purple stuff. Then slowly fill it the rest of the way up with water.

then it is just a matter of pumping up the sprayer and spraying the gyro down with purple stuff. Spray just enough to totally wet down the area your cleaning. Make sure you don't let it dry off before you rinse. You want the purple power to be on there for 5-10 minutes before rinsing on real nasty areas like the motor and gearbox, a little less time on other less dirty areas. If the area starts to dry up before it has sat on there for the 5 minutes or so, then spray more purple power on that area to keep it wet.

Then simply use a pressure washer to blast off all the crud. If you don't have a pressure washer that is no problem because even if you just got a hose with a nozzle that puts out decent pressure that will do fine.

Some tips..... once you rinse off the areas or get others areas not yet cleaned wet with water rinsing, if you don't wait till the water drys off all together or at least mostly, when you spray the next batch of purple power the rinse water further dilutes it and it won't clean nearly as good.

Tip #2..... If the area if real darn nasty and the mixed purple power won't do it, try putting straight purple power in a old windex bottle and spraying it straight onto the areas to be cleaned. IF that still doesn't cut it then I find that diluted Driveway and deck cleaner - which is ACID!!! - can cut through stains and or the normal corrision on Rotax and other engines - But be careful it is Acid and will do more damage than good if you spray in on certain stuff... use this stuff wisely and maybe test a small bit of it on stuff before spraying a ton of it on everything. The purple power itself has some acids on it so it too can be harsh, but diluted as it comes from the store and with the further diluting you do before spraying it I find that it doesn't hurt a thing... almost see next hint

Tip#3....... The purple power will leave streaks in some un painted bare aluminum parts. Do NOT spray it onto polished rotorblades to clean them, it will not be pretty!!! On real dirty nasty areas full strength purple power won't hurt a thing, but on areas where it isn't too dirty like the rotorhead, dilute the mixture down even further to not leave streaks on the aluminum. It doesn't seem to hurt painted parts, plastic parts, rubber parts, coated parts etc.... Only polished or Anodized aluminum or some bare aluminum. I suggest trying it only on the engine first and if you like the results go to other areas of the gyro.

tip#4..... make sure you rinse it all off, and then rinse some more. If you leave it onto dry that is where you get streaks. If you rinse it all off it will be clean and spot free.

tip#5..... Greased lighting, Simple Green, Fanstastic, Formula 409, all the other cleaners are no match for purple power. none of them come even close to the cleaning power so don't waste your money with those.

tip#6..... After it is all dry and pretty another trick I use to shine up the parts and protect them is to wax all the painted and polished parts - like frame rails, pod, blades, etc... - but all the bare aluminum parts like the whole engine itself spray either WD-40 or any of the tire shine products on it. Soak it down and don't be afraid to get it really wet, it will soak in and leave the engine looking just like it did the day it came out of the box. the wd or tire shine stuff will attract dust more quickly but it looks so good!!!! and it also helps keep the gunk from sticking to the engine so the next time you wash it it will be much easier and use a lot less purple power.

I clean everything like this. I clean the fourwheeler, dirt bike, gyros airplanes, the engines and tires and wheelwells on my trucks, my lawn equipment etc... I don't use it on aluminum rims on my truck or the outside finish on my trucks or planes etc... those areas can be easily cleaned with good ole soap and water and a wash rag. I do use it on the engine and underbelly of the airplanes to get rid of the grime and oil build up.

the Red Dominator I used to have, before I had bought it had been trailered over roads that had road salt on them. Some of the road salt got kicked up onto the gyro by the tow vehicle. The guy I got it from rinsed and washed all the painted bits but didn't get the salt off the engine real good. So by the time I came to look at it a year later, the engine with only 30 hours since new and always hangared looked 100 years old. When I got home with it, I did the purple power cleaning on it and used a pressure washer to blast it off and when it dried the engine looked good again. Sprayed it down with WD-40 and it looked brand spanking new.

[ToddP]

I'll have to go pick up some purple power. I've always used simple green or one of the other degreasers you mentioned, but it sounds like thats the stuff. Thanks Ron.

[Chuck Irby]

Me too Ron. You make it sound real good. Thanx for that info.