Soda blasting is the ticket

[shinyribs]

I've seen what Tools has cleaned with soda blasting so I decided to give it a go.


Cleaning carburetors with solvents and scrubbing and tooth brushes,etc is messy and expensive. I bought a little blow gun from Harbor Freight ( think it was $4) and pushed it in to a piece of 3/8'' vinyl tubing. I stuck a 10-32 nut in the end of the live to restrict flow so as not to waste soda. I think even a smaller hole would work fine. I used two 1lb boxes of baking soda ( $0.69 each) to clean all four carbs. I should have done this a long time ago!




The way it cleans linkages without harming the corrosion resistant coatings( zinc or whatnot) is just amazing.



And you know the black streaks you always see inside your carb throats, but you wouldn't dare get aggressive because you don't want to wreck your carbs? Well...



Just a quick blast. A few more moments had it looking like brand new.



Takes about 1 min to blast a carb. Then a wash down in break cleaner ( maybe used 1/3 of a can). Then blow dry with an air nozzle. Of course, you'll want to do all this outside. And either cover your face or hold your breath while blowing soda. It's not toxic, of course, but it will have you sneezing like mad.

Go spend $7 and get set up! Sooo much cheaper, easier,faster and cleaner than solvents.

[TOOLS1]

If you think that is impressive, you should try one of Harbor Freights big soda blasters, and their course grit soda.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

I've used blasting soda in my cabinet before. I'm not sure how many different types there are, but I know it has some sort of abrasive media added to the soda. For something like a carburetor, with tiny sensitive passages, I'm not sure I want anything more aggressive than just typical baking soda.

When I used blasting soda from HF in the cabinet for some bright metal trim on the Impala it left little pot marks. Not as severe as what sand or typical blasting media would leave,but definitely didn't lave a smooth surface.

[TOOLS1]

That's odd. I have never had it mar anything. It is just baking just larger granules of baking soda. Does not seem to dust up as bad. However as dusty as it gets, how did you use it in a blasting cabinet? You can barley see what you are doing in one of those things with glass beads, and a heavy duty shop vac working itself to death trying to suck that dust out. I would hate to imagine the dust cloud with baking soda.
TOOLS

[shinyribs]

Oh, it was a disaster in the cabinet. Total soda blizzard in there. That's why I've put off ever using soda again until now. I'm just doing this outside in the gravel. A few kicks and it all just sifted away.

[maybe73]

Great, cheap idea What PSI did you use?

[shinyribs]

My whole airline stays at 100psi. But when you work the trigger of the blowgun you can control the pressure somewhat,so I can't really say precisely. Doesn't cloud up as bad when you're not throttling it hard.

[surfish95747]

That is pretty cool! I'll have to do that. Did you just pour the baking sooda into the vinyl tube as you went?

[shinyribs]

No, I just stuck the end of the hose in to the box of soda.

[surfish95747]

Man that was freaking awesome. Made my own little soda blaster and blasted my rear wheels hub clean. Really cool. Way better than using solvents etc.

Before


After

[shinyribs]

That's awesome. But you're not done yet.  It's nice not having to worry about solvents getting on to sensitive areas, or sand getting in to things. I never thought about hubs before, but that's a great idea. Blast it, rinse with a waterhose and ride away....