There recently was a segment on "The Mythbusters" program on cable (Discovery Channel??) about pouring soft drinks on rusted metal to derust them. Did not seem to work on rusty bolts, but surface rust seemed to be reduced with it. The key was the phosphoric acid in the drinks (which all soft drinks to not have, but most do in varying and unspecified amounts, from reading the labels) did a number on the rust. "Sugar Free" or "Diet" or regular drinks were not mentioned, but seems like the sugar content might be an issue. Seems like pouring some good penetrating oil (that usually will help remove the rust too) might be a better plan of action, but probably not so novel or relatively inexpensive.
I'd be willing to bet that should he drop the pan on his "no change" engines, there might well be a good layer of gook down there, with something of a channel going to the pickup screen. Maybe similar with the pushrod holes? Maybe he's just lucky?
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