[SEL] Best method for cleaning engine crud?

[Curt]

Guys,
The 5HP Alamo is all stripped down to just its' base. For now I intend 
to just leave this engine "as is" in its work clothes, which is 85% 
brown rust colored, no rust scale. The rest is a hard black material 
that I guess was a filler to slick the castings when it was built. You 
can strike it with a putty knife and it breaks up, so I am guessing 
filler instead of years old accumulations of oil/dirt.....dunno.
I am planning on the boiled linseed oil treatment.  However, there are 
some areas that are still darned grimy.  I've scraped off a lot of this 
crud, but would like to clean it even more before starting on the 
linseed oil treatment. The area under the cylinder and in the valley 
under the conn rod are especially nasty.
The other complication is the built in cast fuel tank. From what I can 
tell inside it looks fairly rusty.
So I am looking for cleaning methods for both the outside and the inside.
What about those large vats for cleaning engine blocks? Do they remove 
the crud only, leaving the desirable rust patina?
Or how about putting a large round wire brush on a side grinder?
Seems like someone mentioned oven cleaner (Tommy?) for getting rid of 
stubborn crud on the outside.
This base is roughly 4' in length and HEAVY so it won't be easy 
maneuvering around.
Here is a picture of just the base.  
<http://www.oldengine.org/members/holland/images/Alamo/AlamoBase.JPG>
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Curt Holland
Gastonia, NC
P.S. Devin had a blast melting the babbitt out on Sunday. Here he is:
<http://www.oldengine.org/members/holland/images/Alamo/P1010044.jpg>