I spent most of yesterday trying to find someone to hot tank my crossmember in San Diego, but I struck out hard. There's one place in Anaheim (Ellsworth Truck) that said they'd do it for $250. That's a bit steep for me, so I went to the big box store and picked up some DIY materials:
Last night, I used the oven cleaner, 3M scuff pad and a screwdriver to dig out most of the gunk. It left behind the nastiest sludge I've ever seen. So I wrapped it in plastic, put it in the wife's car trunk and headed to the nearest self-serve car wash. The next part was a risk (chemically), but I figured it wouldn't be too bad: I covered the thing in Engine Brite, let it sit for 5 minutes, then started with the rinse. It did a pretty good job, but still has some thick stuff caked on. I'm going to hit it with the oven cleaner again and probably some kind of brush, I haven't figured out what brush yet. Should I stay away from metal? Stainless? On my angle grinder?
Also, this car wash had a "mat blaster" floor mat dryer. I used that to dry the thing, it was almost completely dry after just a couple minutes.
3M Scuff Pads: $2.70
Generic Oven Cleaner: $3.98
Car Wash: $5.66
Total Cost: $12.34
Not too bad.