10 replies to this topic

[jonlad]

Hi All,

I've been given a bucketful (literally) of -mainly aluminium- carburettor parts which a friend of a friend had in the depths of their shed. They are filthy, and have furry white deposits (oxidation?).

 

I have precious little time to clean each one individually but had the thought that there might be something that I could soak them in to remove the worst of the crud?

 

Searching the web for an aluminium cleaner brings up all sorts of different things - so I wondered if anyone had successfully used a product that they could recommend? Anyone tried CLR or similar on Aluminium?

 

Many thanks in advance

Best regards

Jon

 

[Spider]

Soda Blasting and Vap-o-blast work well.

 

You can do either if you have a Sand Blasting Cabinet and a decent Air Compressor.

 

Soda is fairly self explanatory, just do it dry and then clean the parts after with ordinary de-greaser to remove the residual powder.

 

Vap-o-blast (that's a trade name) I have seen and is similar to Soda Blasting, only it's done wet and appears to use an ultra fine rounded glass bead.

 

Neither of these methods remove metallic material, only grease, grim, paint etc. Be mindful though, thy can be abrasive on some plastics.

[johnR]

The best results I've had if you want a factory finish on carb bodies is vapour blasting - very difficult to get into the nooks and crannies any other way. On larger smooth items like woks or dashpots you can use wet'n'dry or scouring pads and then a polishing mop on a drill or similar.

[Benoit_Dupont]

I just bought an ultrasonic cleaner. if you dismantle the parts and drop them in there, together with cleaner agent meant for mechanical parts, it just works brilliantly. it also will get into tiny corners.

 

Some cleaner agents will render a mat look to the aluminum, but that's ok at least for me. it's clean. not shiny but clean. 

[jonlad]

Thank you for the suggestions folks, I've looked into vapour blasting and found a local provider. It looks like doing a half decent job is going to cost some money either in services or equipment - so I think i'll try and work out if I can build a whole carb out of the parts - or if they are worth anything on their own as spares.

 

I hate throwing things away if they may still be useful - there is too much that is disposable today!

[KTS]

..in my experience it's generally only after throwing things out that i discover a use for them..

[gazza82]

Thank you for the suggestions folks, I've looked into vapour blasting and found a local provider. It looks like doing a half decent job is going to cost some money either in services or equipment - so I think i'll try and work out if I can build a whole carb out of the parts - or if they are worth anything on their own as spares.

 

I hate throwing things away if they may still be useful - there is too much that is disposable today!

Looked at Machine Mart's soda blasting compressor attachment and buckets of different blasting media .. ?? I have one but as yet can't comment on how good or bad it is as I'm not yet hooked it up!

[nev100]

Great topic for me.

I'm getting my aluminium gearbox casing vapour blasted this week.

Any suggestions/recommendations for a finish after vapour blasting.

Been recommended clear lacquer but your thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

[johnR]

Great topic for me.

I'm getting my aluminium gearbox casing vapour blasted this week.

Any suggestions/recommendations for a finish after vapour blasting.

Been recommended clear lacquer but your thoughts appreciated.

Thanks.

it doesn't need anything doing to it - I just leave mine - the occasional wash off with a bit of petrol will keep it looking nice.

[Floyd kraemer]

I clear coated a couple of aluminium parts during my rebuild, but I didn’t like the look of it. It looked like clear coated aluminium and not very natural!! I ended up stripping it off again.

In the end I went for a mix of bare metal and AluBlast paint... which I think looks pretty good and stops corrosion on the bits you can’t reach to keep clean.

[jonlad]

I'm getting my aluminium gearbox casing vapour blasted this week.
 

 

Let us know how it goes, and what it costs    before and after pics if possible!