The Neverending Tale of a '65 Superhawk Restoration

[Gunner_CAF]

Overkill?

More like perfection :) It looks nice. I like the finish.

Gunner

[cfloren]

Thanks Gunner. I was very satisfied with it myself. It took a bit of experimentation to decide on using brass wire brushes, but it was the cheapest way to go - certainly not the fastest!

Steel wire would have damaged the aluminum, and I didn't have a bead blaster at the time. Even now, I probably wouldn't throw a carb into a blaster for fear of getting glass beads lodged in the passages. So I think the brass brushes were a good compromise.

Also I forgot to mention that I used regular white vinegar to dissolve the oxidation inside the bowls. I tried it out on one of the threaded caps from my old carbs, and it worked a little too well. It dissolved the part! This was over the course of a few days. When I did the bowls I kept a close eye on them and rinsed out the vinegar as soon as the oxidation was gone. Another cheap restoration method in the arsenal.

[LOUD MOUSE]

I have 3 blast cabinets.
One with sharp to remove paint and rust.
One with round for the aluminum parts.
One with round beads fine as flour that I use on the inside of aluminum engine covers and other aluminum frame parts.
I also use it for carb bodies and parts at 40 PSI.
No problems as I make sure the bodies are dry and the beads will not stick plus I blow all passages with 120 PSI pressure.
I once used vinegar but now blast the calcium away after the carb cleaner dip and ultra sonic hot water/soap bath for 2 hours.
And to think at one time I didn't have tools! ...............lm

Thanks Gunner. I was very satisfied with it myself. It took a bit of experimentation to decide on using brass wire brushes, but it was the cheapest way to go - certainly not the fastest!

Steel wire would have damaged the aluminum, and I didn't have a bead blaster at the time. Even now, I probably wouldn't throw a carb into a blaster for fear of getting glass beads lodged in the passages. So I think the brass brushes were a good compromise.

Also I forgot to mention that I used regular white vinegar to dissolve the oxidation inside the bowls. I tried it out on one of the threaded caps from my old carbs, and it worked a little too well. It dissolved the part! This was over the course of a few days. When I did the bowls I kept a close eye on them and rinsed out the vinegar as soon as the oxidation was gone. Another cheap restoration method in the arsenal.

[cfloren]

Sounds like you have the hot setup! I used round glass beads on my engine case halves, head and cylinders, and they came out great. Using super fine beads and low pressures for carbs is a good idea; thanks for sharing your experience on this.

I'm still building my tool library, but then again, so is everyone else. There's always a reason for a new tool. I'm sure someday in the distant future when I can consider myself a veteran wrench, I'll look back on my wire brushes and vinegar with a hearty laugh.

I have 3 blast cabinets.
One with sharp to remove paint and rust.
One with round for the aluminum parts.
One with round beads fine as flour that I use on the inside of aluminum engine covers and other aluminum frame parts.
I also use it for carb bodies and parts at 40 PSI.
No problems as I make sure the bodies are dry and the beads will not stick plus I blow all passages with 120 PSI pressure.
I once used vinegar but now blast the calcium away after the carb cleaner dip and ultra sonic hot water/soap bath for 2 hours.
And to think at one time I didn't have tools! ...............lm

[banksc1970]

Just wanted to give out a compliment and a thank you to cfloren and LM. I am getting ready to restore my carbs and found your pics to be very helpful. I hadn't thought about working the flange! I have a 74 XL100 that I am has an air leak at the carb that I haven't been able to figure out (mostly due to lack of time). I bet flattening the flange will fix it!

LM, a blast cabinet was the first tool I bought after I got my 305 a couple of weeks ago. I am still trying to find some round abrasive (do you use glass?) here locally as it is expensive to ship. I stole some of my kids sand out of the sand box to play with in the mean time. Seems to work pretty good and it's cheap, too.

[LOUD MOUSE]

I use Glass media and ya can order some from<www.tptools.com>.
I use the middle number media both sharp and round.
The super fine is round also. ..........lm

Just wanted to give out a compliment and a thank you to cfloren and LM. I am getting ready to restore my carbs and found your pics to be very helpful. I hadn't thought about working the flange! I have a 74 XL100 that I am has an air leak at the carb that I haven't been able to figure out (mostly due to lack of time). I bet flattening the flange will fix it!

LM, a blast cabinet was the first tool I bought after I got my 305 a couple of weeks ago. I am still trying to find some round abrasive (do you use glass?) here locally as it is expensive to ship. I stole some of my kids sand out of the sand box to play with in the mean time. Seems to work pretty good and it's cheap, too.

[banksc1970]

Thanks LM! I appreciate the good info as usual!