Carb Clean Up

[Fift4fe]

I recently noticed some scaling/corrosion on my edelbrock 4 barrel carb along with general fading of the metal. I need to pull it off and blast it.  What media would you recommend to clean it up and bring it back to a like new appearance?

[enjenjo]

What finish did the carb have to begin with?

If it was the "polished" finish, you can Vibratory polish it. If the satin finish, bead blasting will work. In both cases, you will have to coat it with something when you are done.

[Bruce Dorsi]

I have absolutely no experience in this, but my 1st choice would probably be soda-blasting.  ......Or, at least learn more about it before deciding.

The media should be gentle on the die-cast metal, and not leave a pock-marked surface.

Any residue of the baking soda is soluble, and should not cause a problem.

Of course, I may be F.o.S.  :oops:

[1800guy]

I'd go with soda - easy to clean up and no danger of grit getting jammed in where it's hard to remove without damage.  The finish looked about like what you might see on a six-month old carb, but that may depend on what finish there was to start with.  I glass-beaded one set of carbs - never again.  They looked really sharp but the stuff got past my masking and I spent way to much time getting things right again.  just my .02, of course.

[wayne petty]

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?category=&q=soda


just in case you did not see it...


and more aggressive solutions...


http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?category=&q=abrasives


if the coating is pealing..  

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive_new/mc/endurashine/intro.shtml