NEW 10 Gallon Pot Bead Shot Sand Blast Blaster Blasting
I set the whole lot up with my compressor and took it outside for the fun. Initially it felt like I was spewing powder out and getting no cleaning, but after 10 mins fiddling I suddenly hit white and it started cleaning at a rate somewhat better than it just puking out 1kg per minute with no cleaning. I managed to find a compromise between airflow (about 7cfm) and soda (soda feed valve nearly closed). Rather than having to chuck a few kilos in every other minute, I found it wasn't running out instantly anymore. It seems that about 4" to 6" away.
Other things to bear in mind is that soda absorbs water quite easily, so I didn't want to waste the soda i didn't use (the valve or nozzle would clog). This is when my missus reminded me that asda's chav-tat counter (the JML people) sold those vacuum bags for storing your amazing amount of clothes you want to vacuum seal in the loft and forget about. The bags are great for putting the powder in and the they have a one-way valve to expel the remaining air. So, it now looks like I'm smuggling kilos of strange white powder in the garage.
Here are the pics, and I must say I'm thrilled. It's going to mean I'll have a squeaky clean engine, inside and out. This will be great for the rebuild. I'd hate to think there was grime or muck that screwed over £1500 of new internals.
Here is the inside of the head, the right side has been cleaned. Not completely - I was just experimenting in the spare hour I had. When it comes to rebuilding the engine proper, I'll be meticulous, and the head, rocker cover, etc. will go through the dishwasher to be sure all the powder is out.
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Here's the head again, showing the cam bearing carrier. You can also see how it's also cleaned out the tract in which the rubber gasket solution sits.
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This is the other side of the head, but illustrates what the above part of the head was like before I had at it.
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Here's a pair of carbs I want to sell - left and right. It also nicely started lifting the hammerite off the inlet manifold. I'll take the manifold off and clean it back to the alloy.
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same carbs, other side
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Here's my cam belt cover - it's worth pointing out that I'd already had a go at cleaning this using other far more arsey, elbow-grease requiring techniques that can now bugger off.
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That doesn't matter - what matters is the totally easy job it made of cleaning the lacquer off the inside:
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Here's the head - it looks great from the piston side - the valves all seem to have the right colour as well.
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However, it's not all roses - when the aluminum has completely oxidised black the soda doesn't seem to be shifting it. I think this because this isn't grime, but a different chemical composition of the metal (Al2O3 rather than Al). I might send it off to someone locally who has far more powerful kit than me - I'm now determined the engine will look factory-fresh when it goes into the fully restored fury.
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So, I'm thrilled i've bought the gear, but I need to find a cheaper supplier of high-quality soda.
[Edited on 12/10/12 by FuryRebuild]