How do I make carbs shiny/clean?

I've stripped my GS550 carbs and would like to clean them up before painting them, or even better, get them shiny enough not to nee paint.

I've already tried a few things without much luck.

Oven cleaner - turned them grey and caused them to fur up.

Dishwasher - see above

Brick acid - turned them black but got rid of the furring. The black comes off on your hands.

Now trying water/vinegar/orange oil mix - no progress after 30 minutes.

I don't want to sit polishing, so, any ideas?

you could try this

http://www.frost.co.uk/frost-ali-clean-1-litre.html

Animal, only one way in my opinion. Get em vapour blasted, not as cheap to do as the dish washer. but will give you the finish your after!

Mig wrote:

Animal, only one way in my opinion. Get em vapour blasted, not as cheap to do as the dish washer. but will give you the finish your after!

DO you have pictures of your engine yet?

Mig wrote:

Animal, only one way in my opinion. Get em vapour blasted, not as cheap to do as the dish washer. but will give you the finish your after!

I concur

vapor blasting is the best, was trying to think of something for the budget minded

Carb cleaner, old tooth brush and plenty of patience

I'm going to give this a go.

http://www.frost.co.uk/car-care-tools/frost-ali-clean-1-litre.html

Followed by this

http://www.craftyarts.co.uk/acatalog/info_7965.html

I can vapour blast them for you then give them a good soak in the ultrasonic cleaner. I have a web site with my phone number on it if you are interested and want to contact me.

iancarter7 wrote:

I can vapour blast them for you then give them a good soak in the ultrasonic cleaner. I have a web site with my phone number on it if you are interested and want to contact me.

That would be xcellent, thank you. I'm in Warrington quite often with work.

The Ali-Clean did nothing at all. I called Frost products today and they're sending me a fresh bottle, doubt it'll be any different though. :frown:

It's official, the carb bodies are shagged. Pitted to death.

Luckily, they were my spare ones, looks like I'll have to strip the known good ones. All is not lost.

Tried the Rub n Buff on one of the old carb bodies, JESUS, that is amazing stuff.

So, as far as I know, I won't be needing any form of blasting.

I've got some wrinkle paint to do the top and bottom covers of the carbs too.

thanks for the info on the ali clean consumer reports like this will save other builders time and money so if any one else has a product they have bought and used lately how about a report.

soda blasting
make your own its easy
bag of baking soda and make one of these other end of the pipe goes in the bag of soda and turn your compressor up high around 100 psi



baking soda dissolves in water so after you have cleaned them just wash the residue away

miffa wrote:

soda blasting
make your own its easy
bag of baking soda and make one of these other end of the pipe goes in the bag of soda and turn your compressor up high around 100 psi



baking soda dissolves in water so after you have cleaned them just wash the residue away

Seen similar on the Honda SOHC forum and it looks ace, only issue is if you don't have a compressor it's way cheaper to find a local vapour blasting shop!

Animal_Mother wrote:

It's official, the carb bodies are shagged. Pitted to death.

Luckily, they were my spare ones, looks like I'll have to strip the known good ones. All is not lost.

Tried the Rub n Buff on one of the old carb bodies, JESUS, that is amazing stuff.

So, as far as I know, I won't be needing any form of blasting.

I've got some wrinkle paint to do the top and bottom covers of the carbs too.

-Do you have any pics of the Carb bodies before/after?

What is vapour blasting?

Bit of a mis-nomer, it's actually a process where a slurry of abrasive and water is jetted at high pressure through a nozzle to remove scale and oxidisation from surfaces. Less intense and abrasive than sand, grit or bead blasting it is ideal for cleaning up softer metals such as aluminium.

soda blasting is a gentle process and gives a fresh good finish and doesn't damage gasket faces and seals