I've been following the many posts concerning the cleaning or the re-skinning of aluminum valve covers and manifolds and also the cleaning of transmission cases. Has anyone tried soda blasting- dry or wet on these items? Though messy, I have to believe that it would be a lot milder than glass-beading as far as the as-cast appearence/finish. With regards to reskinning-some time ago I stopped by a local powder coater and interestingly, he showed me an exhaust header which was being chrome powder coated. The powder coated header's finish was White but as his employee continuously dipped the the header into a swirling slurry bath of water? and ceramic beads, it came out shining like Chrome. Jack J.
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Re: Baking soda blasting
It's been nearly 24 hours since I posted and I can't believe that no one has considered or tried this method. The reason I posted in the first place, a former boss who restores motor bikes/cycles as a hobby, claimed he had excellent results on carburators/aluminum parts but extremely dusty. Jack J. -
Re: Baking soda blasting
Jack, try Jimmy Blakelywho is on the TDB or PM him. As far as the "chrome" like look on the headers I had a set of Heddman prototype long tubes done inside and out in '97.
SteveComment
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Re: Baking soda blasting
Thanks Steve for your reply but my point I was trying to convey was if any one on this forum has tried it, that is, the cleaning/restoring of these aluminum parts in their own blast cabinet or out of the cabinet using baking soda as a media, dry or wet. The reason I mentioned the powder coat item was because of the link about the secret reskinning process using ceramic beads/balls in a tumbler. Again, Jack J.Comment
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Re: Baking soda blasting
Jack, I had a local guy soda blast a set of VCs for me some time back and they cleaned up nicely but the finish was not as shiny as what I've seen of reskinned VCs (which may or may not be correct anyway). Of course it could be the technique of the guy I used or any other number of variables. The soda did not in any way seem to alter the texture, etc of the casting.Comment
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Re: Baking soda blasting
Joe, that's what I want to hear! Someone who either farmed the job out, or who attempted/accomplished it themseves using their own blast cabinet,compressor along with baking soda, dry or wet. It would seem to me that it would be very similar to a dental hygienist who uses a baking soda/blast to clean teeth, but on a much larger scale. Thanks, Jack J.Comment
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Re: Baking soda blasting
I just ran across info in the tech archives, where I probably should have started first, before I posted. I'll continue to search and learn from other's experiences or suggestions whether good or bad. Any others out there? Thanks, Jack J.Comment
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Re: Baking soda blasting
Jack,
I don't have any experience with media blasting, but if I were looking into this option, I might look deeper into dry ice blasting. Since most forum search features do not allow three letter words in a search, you may be out of luck here.
Elsewhere on the web, dry ice blasting is considered non-abrasive, safe, and doesn't have that residual mess of other types of traditional media blasting...it mostly evaporates. It would be nice if someone had some experience or insight to assist you.
Something to possibly research and consider,
JackComment
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