Mark:
I would be very cautious about using any type of media blasting to clean
carb parts. It's too easy to mess up the fitting of the parts even
slightly, which could compromise the functioning of the carbs - I've seen it
happen!
Most 'shiny' SU's that I have seen have had their parts machine polished.
The problem is that without some sort of a clear coat on them, they will
start to lose the bright finish quickly, and any clear coating has to be
impervious to the normal cleaning fluids that we use in the engine bay for
obvious reasons.
One friend here had his BJ8 carbs highly polished and back on the car before
he decided to prepare the car for concours judging. We wound up very
carefully using an acid wash on the polished surfaces, quickly flooding them
with water from a garden hose so as not to do any damage. After a few
cycles of this, the parts looked perfect - that nice, clean satin aluminum
finish that they must have had when new - no loss of points when the car was
judged! That was almost 5 years ago, and the carbs still look good today,
and funtion perfectly.
Earl Kagna
Victoria, B.C.
BT7 tri-carb
BJ8
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark and Kathy" <mgtrcars@galaxyinternet.net>
To: <healeys@autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 12:08 PM
Subject: Carb Cleaning
I have always enjoyed dealing with SUs on my cars but have never really
been satisfied with the over all appearance or cleaning that I can do with
just using carb cleaners or paint thinner. I am amazed at the appearance
of
my carb bodies when I have used professionals to have my bodies cleaned and
rebushed. They look fantastic when I get them back.
What is the secret? Are these most likely media blasted? If so how
does
one go about setting them selves up to do this process?
I am presently looking at a $100.00 bench top blasting cabinet, 4HP
compressor, and vac system. I hope to use this for all areas of my
restoration and need to know if I can use this on the carb bodies as well.
Thanks, Mark
|