Soda blasting a carb

[Flingarrows]

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?

[randyscycle]

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.

[gonz]

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

[Kaiserjeeps]

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.

[randyscycle]

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.

[Flingarrows]

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.

Thanks Kaiser. I have used the regular por15, I'll have to give the aluminum coating a look

[kwai]

I second the HF 15lb soda blaster. Works really well. Which surprised me as it came from Harbor Freight.

[Kaiserjeeps]

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...

[Flingarrows]

ok, cool. It cant look worse than it does now

[gonz]

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 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.
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!