Topic: How to get the carb bodies silvery again?

[Magpie]

I've soaked carb bodies in Simple Green and had to use paint stripper on another set which darkened the colour up a lot. Is there anything that can be used to get them that lovely stock colour again?
Thanks in advance.
Cliff.

[Bowswell]

try soda blaster.

[xsmooth69x]

i am wondering the same thing. everything is painted nice on the bike, the float bowl and tops are nice and shinny then BAM dull dark gray carbs 

[KingCustomCycles.com]

Brass wire brush and scotchbrite pads

[jessezm]

if you have a decent air compressor you can make your own soda blaster with an air nozzle and a piece of tubing.  I made one and it worked really well on the carbs, they look brand new.  Or you can go King's route and make them look better than new 

I've actually been kicking around the idea of anodizing, cause yeah, I really NEED to spend a bunch more money on my bike.  gah!

[xsmooth69x]

Brass wire brush and scotchbrite pads

dosnt that really scratch up the carbs though? how do you polish it after? there are so many little nooks and crannies

[bollingball]

I have had very good results with white diamond metal cleaner/polish . The only thing for those tight spots is a dremel tool buy lots and lots of scotch brite pad and finish with felt pads more time than it is worth to me. Maybe do 1 & 4.

[Nitsuj]

I soaked mine in a can of gunk carb cleaner from Autozone. They came out nice and silver. YMMV.

[CycleRanger]

try soda blaster.

+1 

[Bowswell]

check the difference

[dave500]

i blast soda like this.

[cookindaddy]

Magpie - Wow - are you ever organized! Good use of the parts box to store the components!

Try soda blasting. I was skeptical until I tried it. Works great. I bought a cheap blasting gun at Princess Auto and a big box of baking soda at the grocery store. Do it outside, the soda goes everywhere. But it works great and no serious abrasion of the parts, just cleans them up to the bare metal.

[Magpie]

Looks great and I like going to Princess Auto!  Thanks guys! Cliff.

[CycleRanger]

I soaked mine in a can of gunk carb cleaner from Autozone. They came out nice and silver. YMMV.

yeah, if you can't do soda blasting that would probably be my second choice.

There are several threads here about building a soda blasting rig on the cheap.
Assuming of course you have access to a decent compressor.

[Magpie]

I think the soda blasting will be better than another soak. The soaking caused the carbs to go darker, hopefully the soda blasting will remove the discolouration. Princess Auto's website shows a number of small gravity fed blasters, nothing specific for soda though. I've asked if a couple they have will work with soda but no answer yet.
Cliff.

[cookindaddy]

The blasters work with dry powder in a reservoir. Just put in baking soda instead of the harder stuff (sand) that they expect you to want to be using. You won't hurt the blaster or the parts. Easy. It works great.

[Johnny5]

Im looking into soda blasting. I have a 21 gallon 4.7 SCFM @ 90 PSI compressor. Will this be sufficient to blast soda?

[Magpie]

cookindaddy, which one did you buy? Cliff.

[cookindaddy]

Hopefully this picture will help you.

It was not expensive, I think $10-20.

I did have to keep shaking it when spraying to get a continuous flow with the soda.

[bollingball]

I get the soda at Sam's club or the pool supply store 50 or 100 pound bags a lot cheaper left overs go in the pool if my PH is off
Dave500 I like the plastic jar I'll try that for small parts I have been using a 5 gal. bucket.

[Magpie]

Thanks cookindaddy! The website shows this one with the hopper on top which may save some shaking to keep the flow going. http://www.princessauto.com/workshop/air/sandblasting/sandblasters/8140709-gravity-fed-sandblasting-gun  The closest store to me is across the water in Coquitlam, I'll have to get a friend to make the pilgrimage for me. There's one being being built here at last.
Cliff.

[rbmgf7]

Aluminum reacts with many chemicals. From personal experience, it will discolor from Simple Green and the Citrus Strip paint stripper. Using Simple Green will also create a white sediment growth which will become hard and crusty if you don't rinse your parts thoroughly. The Citrus Strip will just discolor similar to the Simple Green.

I polished one set of carbs using a Dremel with assorted buffing pads and brass brush with pretty decent results. Definitely time consuming.

[Silverback]

I have one of these from Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/21-oz-hopper-gravity-feed-spot-blaster-gun-95793.html
On sale now for $10. I have done several carbs and recently an entire motor with it. Worked great for me. It has a dial on it to regulate media flow which is good for using the finer soda media. HF also has medium and course grade soda($35 for a 50lb bag). Medium would work great for your needs and you'll have lot's left over for all jobs in the future.

Edit: Just noticed your in Canada. No Harbor Freights there. What a shame! The one you linked above is very similar, though.

[CycleRanger]

I'm looking into soda blasting. I have a 21 gallon 4.7 SCFM @ 90 PSI compressor. Will this be sufficient to blast soda?

For cleaning small stuff like carb parts that should work ok with the small hand-held blasters they're talking about here but for any bigger projects you're gonna want at least 7-8+ SCFM.

As I mentioned above, there's several good forum threads about soda blasting, compressors, building blasting cabinets, etc.

[Cevan]

Soda blasting is the way to go.  I tried it with my regular sand blaster and it worked ok.  But real soda blasters siphon the baking soda.  I then bought the $99 one from Harbor Freight and it works great.  Holds 20 lbs of baking soda.  I've used regular old Arm and Hammer bought at Walmart for something like $1.19 for a 2 lb box.