What is best to use in cleaning an old aluminum intake?? I tried GUNK and it worked a little but its far from being clean. Thanks, Max

Try Eagle brand of cast aluminum wheel cleaner
Follow the instructions, especially when warm outside. Do not leave it on there very long before thoroughly rinsing it off
Let us know how you like it and how it cleans

I tape off the carb and intake mounting surfaces
and sand blast them.. it leaves a sort gray color
but not bad.. this intake was blasted and I polished
the tops of the intake runners then had it clear coated
this pic was about 4 years of running... gas on the
clear coat turns it a yellowish color

There are several versions of aluminum cleaner. This is one I've used. There are more aggressive versions for trailers. There is some acid in all of these products. They do work nice on cast and finished surfaces.

We painted mine with cast aluminum colored engine spray paint, then top coated it with engine clear coat. After two years it still looks fresh:

Have it hot tanked at a machine shop. You'll probably break even by the time you buy chemicals and time.

Some hot tank chemical cleaners are not good for aluminum.

Any worthwhile cleaner is bad for aluminum, that's why they work. The first phase of the cleaning process is to strip off the aluminum oxide with some type of acid or blast media. You can anodize at home, just do a web search for "diy anodizing" and start reading. Anodizing is just putting the part in an electrolytic fluid and applying a charge, making the part the anode (negative). Adding some dye to the electrolyte traps in the color if you're into that sort of thing.

I soda blasted mine once works very well ..few boxes of baking soda plastic piping with air nozzle in the side of it by the end of the plastic hose the other end in the soda cleans pretty good..look it up on YouTube I'm sure there's a video..

I've been cleaning this sort of junk for years. First step is a good detergent wash to get any oil and grease off. Then I use an acid made for cleaning alumninum. Years ago it was sold as "steam iron cleaner" but nowadays you can buy stuff at auto body supply places called "Alumiprep". I imagine the "wheel cleaner" is just a watered down and more expensive product. You DO NOT want to let this stuff dry on the surface. Spray it and keep it wet and scrub it then rinse. Repeat if necessary.

But the bottom line is it probably still won't come back to your expectations. AND aluminum corrodes almost instantly so it ain't gonna stay nice. I paint ALL my aluminum stuff.

Blasting is a good option but its still going to start corroding again.

Did I mention I paint all my stuff. Cast water pump - painted. Cast timing cover - painted. Oil pump parts - painted. Etc, etc.

Yep, I paint all my aluminum parts engine color. Bare aluminum never stay nice in an engine compartment.

Block off the ports and then drop it in a tumbler. I tumble a lot of aluminum parts. They come out clean and satin. The tumble finish is super smooth but not polished, satin is a good description.

Can we borrow your tumbler Andy ?!?!?