28 replies to this topic

[Gremlin]

Anyone got a pic of a carb thats been cleaned in boiling water and a dishwasher tablet, no more work than that?

[lawrie124]

Anyone got a pic of a carb thats been cleaned in boiling water and a dishwasher tablet, no more work than that?

 

will have a pic tonight, perhaps.

[Gremlin]

Anyone got a pic of a carb thats been cleaned in boiling water and a dishwasher tablet, no more work than that?

 
will have a pic tonight, perhaps.

Cheers

[lawrie124]

Sorry, no photo's last night.

 

The "scotchbrite and WD40" method was very boring, and after a 3 hour soak in a "dishwasher tab and boiling water" the 2nd carb housing seemed cleaner but very dull.

 

I can't (still) find any autosol, so I wouldn't want to do either method any injustice until I've given them a polish up with that (or similar).

 

Mike

[AndyR]

If you look for "Cream of Tartar" at your local Sainsbury's etc, round the flour section if i remember correctly.  Put a couple table spoons in a big pot of boiling water, then continue to boil for a couple minutes - make sure its covered.  Then wash off under luke warm water and some abrasive kitchen cleaner and a toothbrush.  Its similar to bicarb but wont harm the ally. 

 

Did a set of ally throttle bodies and they came up almost brand new.

 

You will need a big pot though for a carb!  And i did it when the missus was out so she did realise that i knew how to use the cooker!

[HarrysMini]

Have you tried Brasso?
I haven't used it myself but I can't imagine it wouldn't work. It's designed for cleaning and polishing metal.

[ANON]

just get them blasted, dishwasher tablets, solvol, brasso etc will just waste your time.

 

 

[Tamworthbay]

That's ok as long as you make sure to get ALL the media out after. The last thing you want is any of the common sandblasting grits etc going into your engine. It also leaves a dull finish in my experience that takes as long if not longer to get to a mirror finish than scotchbrite and wd40/ autosol so you end up saving no time at all. Also you need to budget for the cost a new gasket set for the inevitable strip to clean it out. Does work well though if you only want the clean look rather than polished and were planning a rebuild anyway.

[lawrie124]

ooooh that blasted carb DOES look nice.

 

My results aren't that impressive, BUT I'm very impatient and probably haven't spent the time yet doing them justice.

 

See photo below; left is WD40 and right is dishwasher tab, both had a rub with autosol-type polish after.

 

My money is on the WD40 method, but I need to put in some more effort!

Edited by lawrie124, 20 June 2013 - 07:17 PM.

[Carlos W]

I don't rate solvol at all!

 

Meguiars all metal polish is in my humble opinion far better

 

http://www.meguiars....l-Metal-Polish/

 

 

[ANON]

That's ok as long as you make sure to get ALL the media out after. The last thing you want is any of the common sandblasting grits etc going into your engine. It also leaves a dull finish in my experience that takes as long if not longer to get to a mirror finish than scotchbrite and wd40/ autosol so you end up saving no time at all. Also you need to budget for the cost a new gasket set for the inevitable strip to clean it out. Does work well though if you only want the clean look rather than polished and were planning a rebuild anyway.

 

it's not hard to get all the media out and seriously, scotch pad and autosol quicker to polish with??  i'll dig a dashpot out over the next couple of days and spend about 5 minutes polishing it and post a pic of it for you  

[Tamworthbay]

That's ok as long as you make sure to get ALL the media out after. The last thing you want is any of the common sandblasting grits etc going into your engine. It also leaves a dull finish in my experience that takes as long if not longer to get to a mirror finish than scotchbrite and wd40/ autosol so you end up saving no time at all. Also you need to budget for the cost a new gasket set for the inevitable strip to clean it out. Does work well though if you only want the clean look rather than polished and were planning a rebuild anyway.

 
it's not hard to get all the media out and seriously, scotch pad and autosol quicker to polish with??  i'll dig a dashpot out over the next couple of days and spend about 5 minutes polishing it and post a pic of it for you  

Sounds good, I am not sure if I have a spare dashpot lying about but if I can find one I will have a go and we can compare results. Out of interest what media do you use? I have tried the machine mart cheapy ones and a walnut husk one but not impressed with either when looking for a polished finish.

[ANON]

 

Sounds good, I am not sure if I have a spare dashpot lying about but if I can find one I will have a go and we can compare results. Out of interest what media do you use? I have tried the machine mart cheapy ones and a walnut husk one but not impressed with either when looking for a polished finish.

 

 

normally use either bead or garnet, just depends on what i'm using in what cabinet at the time.

 

generally blast then if there are no casting marks/rough spots etc use a 400 on an expander wheel, 600/800 paper then onto polishing. grey on a sisal, then light green on a stitched mop, blue on a coolair and then pink, white etc.

[Island Mini]

I used a wire brush on the end of a rotary tool to remove all dirt then a metal polish as suggested to get mirror finish