Engine parts cleaning?
 

my friend just pulled his intake off and the thing is caked with carbon, oil, and crap! what do you guys recomend for cleaning the ports out and such? anything good to soak it in?
Thanks, Craig

Get some stuff called Simple Green. That stuff is amazing! It's also good to used (diluted) to spray on a driveway after spilling oil, etc. It has dilution amounts on the bottle for all sorts of things. If you use that and like a wire brush you should be able to easily get out all the carbon and stuff from the intake. Then get some "brake Cleaner" as it's called (ask for it in any auto store) and use that to clean it when you're done. The brake cleaner dries REALLY fast and cuts through any grime or residual substances that are left on anything.
This is my method i'm sure there is 100's of others.