i was hoping someone knew a trick to getting this crap off of the aluminum. nothing is more annoying than having what you consider to be a clean engine bay, just to have people point this crap out. i've tried a lot of cleaners...purple power, gunk engine bright, black magic engine detailer...nothing short of sanding seems to work. a scotch brite pad did a decent job, but seriously...who wants to scrub their whole engine bay every spring? you people out in cali got it made. god damn seasons.

 

The ammount of work it's going to be to get that calcification off isn't even worth it, considering it's just gonna happen again next winter.

If you want to get the stuff off at least the valve cover and heat shield/header, clean them up the best you can (get off all oil and dirt, especially inside the valve cover), and then take them to a brake shop or powdercoater that sandblasts.