[Maximumwarp]

Hey folks, I tried searching the forums for this and came up empty handed, so I apologize in advance if this has been covered elsewhere.

I'm in the process of doing heads, and as I'm taking things apart on the motor, I'm finding quite a bit of dried white crud and general corrosion that I presume came from spilled/leaked coolant (PO was a dingus who let his TB heater plate leak for a while, then bypassed it...poorly...). I think that's the source since a lot of this mess seems to come from the top down, but if it wasn't I should rectify that since I'm replacing all the gaskets and seals with this job.

Anyways, I'm looking for a reliable and safe way to clean all this garbage up. My plan was to shop vac out what I could, then wipe with a degreaser soaked rag (White Lightnin'), follow with a wet rag to rinse, and then maybe a wipe with WD40? My concerns are damaging the aluminum surfaces with something too aggressive, and I don't want to go spraying/hosing degreaser all over the place because I'm fairly freaked out about getting fluids into parts of the engine where they shouldn't be, as well as just general crud.

Any suggestions or best practices would be appreciated! Thanks in advance

 

[Maximumwarp]

I was thinking of gingerly trying battery terminal cleaner too to see if that did anything, but regardless I'm going to be very careful. Good idea with the Scotch Brite pads. Thanks!