I removed the water pump from my '02 runner, 125k miles, and commenced the brutal task of removing the old gasket material. I got it down to the point where any traces of material you could feel to the touch were gone, but there was still an "impression" of the old gasket in a few spots that I couldn't remove. I used a red Scotch Brite pad with brake parts cleaner. I tried some gasket remover, but it was useless.

How have you guys gone about this?

 

use a razor blade or fire brush on a drill wire wheel i guess and it takes off the stuff u are talking about,

 

the wire wheel is bout the best you could use. beats scrubbin on it by hand anyday!

 

WD 40, and new razor blades all day long. really scrape that surface w/o digging into it.

 

razor blades and carb cleaner

 

Yeah, I use a razor(scraper for control) and PB. spray on the PB let it sit for a bout 5 min., then hit it with a scraper.

 

I used Acetone and a Brass Brillo, .....came right off in 2 minutes without risking scratching that aluminum timing cover.

 

I use a 90 degree die grinder with the 2'' pads for aluminum.

Works great The pads for aluminum won`t remove as much aluminum as the pads made for use on steel

 

Haha! Wow, I was reluctant to use a rotary method, so I did it all by hand. That's 3 hours completely wasted. DOH!