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carburetors not pretty, cleaning suggestions neede

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TomMull

TomMull

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I'm rebuilding the H6 SUs carburetors for my TR3. In the past I would have been pleased with the progress but after looking at all the shiny carbs at the shows, these look a bit shabby. In particular, the alloy housings have become stained and dark. here what I tried: Two day soak in "Gunk " carburetor cleaner, hot soak and brush scrub in simple Green, white vinegar soak, "Mothers" aluminum polish and finally a buffing with abrasive. Still blotchy and dark. I know sodablasting will probably work but I'm looking for a DIY solution. Thanks in advance. Tom
carbs.jpg
 
Sweet. I'll post a pic in a day or two. Tom
 
Looks like those carbs have been put in some sort of water based degreaser, you have to be careful when using most water based chemicals like Purple Power, Simple Green, Orange solvent cleaners, that all have the same checmical in them that will discolor aluminum, leaving it with a darker greyish stain on them, if thats the case, media cleaning is al that will remove that checmical staining. I would recommend for home DIYer, getting a bucket of Berryhil carburator cleaner, and letting the disassembled carb parts soak in that. As for the dashpots I would polish them with a white rouge on a buffing wheel. Here's a set of my carbs, after degreasing, I use fine glass at low air pressure for the carbs bodies, float bowls and float bowl lid, then plastic media on the dashpots, and pistons. I clean the pistons by mounting them in a drill press chuck and using 3M 7447 scotchbrite, and then also use the 7447 for cleaning the inside of the dashpots.
 

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Soda blasting isn't going to leave you happy if you want a polished look. Been there, done that.

Polishing can be done as Hap describes above, or some rebuilders have special blasting techniques.
 
Thanks. Don't need the polished look although Hap's look great, just aluminum color as original. I did use simple green and that made them darker but they were quite dark when they came out of the "Gunk" brand carburetor cleaner. (I did use the white rouge on the buffer but that just made the dark metal shiny). Just need to get rid of stain. Thanks all. Tom
 
As a footnote to what has already been posted I add the following suggestions.

I understand you want a DIY solution. Note that Hap used glass media (at low pressure) on the bodies. That gives excellent results. If you can locate a local media blaster, it will be worth your while to discuss having your carb bodies done by them. However, make sure they understand you want glass bead blasting, not a traditional abrasive media.

On the vacuum chambers, almost any metal polish can be made to work but don't start immediately with it. Treat this like paint. Start by hand sanding with 400 grit wet/dry paper (outside only). Then progress to 600, 1000, and 1500 grit, rinsing with soapy water between each paper change. If you have 2000 grit paper, use that also. After finishing your finer and finer sanding, use the metal polish. I have always had good results with Simichrome. The white rubbing compound Hap mentioned will work well also.

Though it may not sound like it... sanding with progressively finer media before the metal polish will actually be quicker than starting immediately with metal polish.
 
Thanks Ray. Randall has resurrected the topic. My search didn't include the proper key words. This is all very interesting and I hope to follow your lead and post results. Tom
 
final polish on aluminum, for a mirror finish should be green compound.
 
TomMull said:
Randall has resurrected the topic.
Click to expand...
But that is also thanks to Ray, I just followed the link and left a comment.
 
Hi Folks,

I guess I do / did mine the Olde Fashioned Way. A 3/4HP Baldor Buffer with a "Floppy" buffing wheel. 2 Rouges; One to "Rough" & I use a "White" (Jewelers Compound) to finish. I`ll try to post a pic here but I hate to shrink my pics down to nothing cause I can`t seem to get them back to size.

Have Fun,

Russ
 
Russ,

Post your pictures on Photobucket and insert the link here so you don't have to shrink them.

Scott
 
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