We had a thread about soda blasting a carb before rebuilding it. Anyone know who's thread that was or has a link? TIA.
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We had a thread about soda blasting a carb before rebuilding it. Anyone know who's thread that was or has a link? TIA.
This might be what you are looking for???
http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-o.../soda_blaster/
From link
http://www.m715zone.com/vb/showthrea...t=soda+blaster
Vacca Rabite was the poster of the thread. It was about his Porsche carbs he'd blasted if I remember correctly.
try to avoid hitting the areas where the gaskets seat.
Zach? Any help? I looked through all the threads you started and couldn't find it.
Chris,
Kwai started soda blasting stuff and loves how they turned out. Contact him if you can't find the thread.
Yes, it works. its cheap and it works better then any carb cleaner I have ever seen.
I'll have to look for the thread.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2797/...b272dea9c3.jpg
Zach
I just went through every thread that I started on this BBS, and I can't find it. I also tried searching for "carb" "soda" "blasting" and other search terms and can't find it. I know it was here though.
Anyway, I'll just post my rave here.
I tore down the carbs, except the butterfly mechanism due to it having a roll pin that is known to get stuck and destroy that butterfly arm.
the carbs I cleaned are a pair of 20 year old Weber IDF carbs. they had varnish, gunk, and trash inside and out. I had read the article that was posted by Kyken, and decided to give it a shot. If it did not work, into the berrymans they would go.
I already had a siphon blaster (one of those blast from a bucket jobs). If you don't have one, they cost about $15 at HomeDespot. They look like this:
http://images.drillspot.com/pimages/2462/246249_300.jpg
I went and picked up 6 pounds of the cheapest baking soda I could find. IIRC, it was more or less a dollar a pound, and I went through 1.5 pounds of it.
At this point, I ran air through the blaster to make sure it was TOTALLY free of the aluminum oxide that I had last used. Once I felt sure about that, I just jammed the siphon into the box of baking soda and went to town.
I THINK it took me ~30 minutes per body to get them spotless clean inside and out. After blasting away all the junk, each carb got rinsed off in the hottest water I could stand to put my hands under, steel joints were sprayed with WD40 to remove the water, and the bodies were dried with an air hose. Each cavity and passage got rinsed, a quick shot of carb cleaner and then shot with 90PSI of air (the same setting that I had my compressor set to for the blasting).
To the poster that said not to blast the gasket surface - I blasted the ever living heck out of the gasket surface. There was zero damage done to the soft aluminum body. The etching you can see in the pic from the post above was due to two decades of corrosion under the gasket.
Here is another picture. To this day I kick myself for not taking before shots.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2630/...c901792d_z.jpg
I did take a picture of the jet stacks before cleaning them, though. You can see what they look like compared to the brass on the butterflies and plugs above.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/...9b0d7c6e_z.jpg
That said, there is a NEW new fangled, even cheaper process that some of the guys I know have been experimenting with. Dipping the carb bodies in straight Pin Sol. Read all about it here on my other little home on the web:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.p...=PineSol++carb
Zach
I have started soda blasting. Picked up the 15lb soda blaster from harbor freight. It works great. The soda blasting is much more gentle than sand blasting. It doesn't etch the metal. It will take off the anodizing on the carb body if you overdo it. I have cleaned the carbs, fuel pumps and painted data plates. Nothing works better on painted data plates than soda blasting. 30 seconds and your done. I have done several now on a siren and a couple of trailers.
Here before/after on a dataplate:
Before (it started out completely covered and this is after a couple of swipes):
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/5...1017133900.jpg
After 30 seconds:
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/1...1017134244.jpg
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/7...1017134250.jpg
Seing those Weber jet stacks brings back nightmares. I have two complete zip log bags full of 45DCOE jet parts. I need to clean them all. Thanks for bringing this back up Chris.
I've found a lot of uses for Soda blasting here too.
It leaves the correct finish on engine cases.
You can blast a complete part or unit without fear of the abrasive doing any damage. A rinse of water and it dissolves.
It will remove grease unlike other media blasting.
It won't hurt chrome or glass.
It is also good for rubber parts too.
On a side note, Kwai, gimme a ring when you are free. I might be headed to TX with an empty trailer. Want one of your trucks brought down?
This has got me wondering how well it would work on some slightly corroded gun parts.
Certainly worth a try.
I tried the soda blaster from that article today. I had cleaned and scrubbed the carb with a toothbrush and degreaser and then carb cleaner and it still looked like crap.
I ran to the hardware store to grab a barbed nozzle that will fit my existing air nozzle. $4.00 later, all I can say is WOW! I don't know why I wasted an time with the tooth brush.
I only did one side because I robbed all of the baking soda that my wife had in the house (1/2 of a small box). I will grab a few boxes in the tomorrow and post up some before and after pics.
Gimpy, I hope that you dont mind me jumping on your thread, I searched and yours came up. I may help another zoner :D
Head over to your local Harbor Freight and you can buy 50 lb bags of blasting soda. Lots cheaper than buying little boxes and one bag will last a long time doing small stuff.
No problem. Posting in this thread saves looking through multiple threads when someone searches later on. Keeping all info in one thread is a time saver.
I have soda blasted carbs and fuel pumps. Both turn out looking like new. Just be careful on the carbs that you don't work it so hard you take the anodizing off.
The soda blasting works to clean data plates. This example took all of 30 seconds to clean.
Before:
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/9...1017133850.jpg
After:
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/1...1017134244.jpg
Thanks Randy and Robb. I ran out to the store last night and grabbed six 1 lb boxes for just under $3.00. here is what i started with:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/PICT1147.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/PICT1148.jpg
Her is after scrubbing with carb cleaner:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/PICT1151.jpg
Here is the finished product:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...s/PICT1153.jpg
Nice!
Iam a big fan of the soda blasting for delecate surfaces. I am glad that you tried is and it worked for you. Remember to give it a good hot water rinse and then some WD40 or a little carb cleaner to clear the soda film before putting it back on the truck.
Zach
I second Zach's comment. I wish I'd discovered it ten years ago. It really does a very nice job and I've tried it on so many different things with excellent results.
One place I've also found it works very well is when someone has painted rubber parts and you need to strip off the paint. With motorcycles, there are a lot of plastic body parts on newer bikes, and soda blasting is pretty kind to the plastic but removes the paint too.
Thanks Zach, good info. I went right for the carb cleaner, but I'll go back and hit it with some soapy water, blow it out with air, the do some carb cleaner again.
Randy, does it take the paint off of rubber easily?
i have an aluminum intake that is as dirty as the carb. That will be my next project with the soda blaster.
On a side note, has anyone clear coated an aluminum intake after stripping, What works for that?
Depends on the type of paint, but yest it does work fairly easily, and unless you really concentrate on an area for a long time, it won't damage the rubber. That's assuming the rubber isn't dry rotted, or sun damaged though.
Aluminum can be clearcoated, and we do it for some of our customers, but, I do find that on engine parts because of the temperatures, the clear will yellow over time, and it doesn't seem to matter what type/brand clearcoat you use. I've tried cheap spray can stuff and expensive urethane types.
Cool how this comes up right when I'm going to pull the carbs on my CB750 and I was DREADING cleaning them. Pinesol and soda blasting. Thanks for the link vacca!!
I'm going to drop by the Freight on the way home- gonz
This is great stuff. I need to get set up with a soda blast set up. My work I am doing in the shop could really benefit from this. I have a blasting cabinet thanks to my ex-wife and I have been using coarse blasting sand. It is hard on stuff and will warp metal if you stay on a spot long. Soda will open up a new realm. I saved a small box designed for this a while back. It has a nozzle and spray hose and everything. I forget where I grabbed it from. I wish I had paid attention sooner. This will save a bunch of time and the outcome is better.
Flingarrows, I used a POR 15 product on a friends 258 I-6 intake. I blasted the aluminum and painted it with the aluminum coating and it was hard to tell it was not raw metal. I will ask him to look and see if it has yellowed. The I-6 intake has a little more air flow around it than a V-8 one though.
Al, the only issue you will find with using Soda in a cabinet is that you won't be able to see a thing, and it will only last one cycle. I tried it in an old blasting cabinet I have here.
Baking Soda pulverizes after impacting the surface of whatever it is you decide to blast and it turns into a very fine powder. Recycle it and use it in a cabinet, and its like spraying powder everywhere and it has little abrasive effect the second time around.
I bought one of those Harbor Freight 15 lb blasters and it works really well. Cheap enough and simple too. I don't use it so often that the cost of soda is a real issue, so it does what I ask of it well.
Thanks Kaiser. I have used the regular por15, I'll have to give the aluminum coating a lookQuote:
Originally Posted by Kaiserjeeps
I second the HF 15lb soda blaster. Works really well. Which surprised me as it came from Harbor Freight.
I talked to my friend I put the jeep together for. He said the POR 15 aluminum coating looks as new as the day I applied it. It has been three years and about 600 miles. He just got it going a few months ago. A V-8 manifold may not respond as well since it may see more heat. He has the I-6.
FYI...
ok, cool. It cant look worse than it does now
I tried both Pinesol and the walmart pine-something-or-other. Pinesol worked great, but my carbs were WAY varnished so even an overnight soaking really helped but I had to scrub and soak again. I still have some varnish in the carbs after a second soaking- it was a pretty serious case of old rotted gas.Quote:
Originally Posted by vacca rabite
The walmart brand also removed a lot of the gunk BUT it also anodized parts of the carb- specifically the carb bowl. I was able to lightly dremel it off with a brass wheel, and it made it look like a dark nickle. Be aware of the color change. I think it's a pretty cool effect but now I have mismatched carb bowls on my bike. I'll just hide it on the inside. Thanks for the advice, Vaca!