sandblasting engine/ harbor freight question

xscorex

Knives, Bats, New Tats
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Atlanta, GA
I was thinking about spring for a harbor freight sandblaster but I really have never blasted anything before. My motor and wheels are crummy as hell and it would make clean up so much easier. What kind of media should I use and any special precautions I should take? They have a big 40# portable, do you need a big compressor to run these or can you use a smaller compressor? Im guessing the smaller one is not gonna work
 
They say to be very careful about sandblasting your engine cases/components. The problem is that the engine has a lot of aluminum components (the cases are all aluminum) and that the sand media could get imbedded into the aluminum only to be released later when you fire the engine up for the first time and it heats up.

The bet route is to get your engine soda blasted. This was the method I went with and it worked great.


Kent
 
They say to be very careful about sandblasting your engine cases/components. The problem is that the engine has a lot of aluminum components (the cases are all aluminum) and that the sand media could get imbedded into the aluminum only to be released later when you fire the engine up for the first time and it heats up.

The bet route is to get your engine soda blasted. This was the method I went with and it worked great.


Kent

sorry if buttin in,but new too all this game,what is "soda" blasting,can it be done in house? :doh:
 
soda blasting is just like any other blasting method, but the media is basically a special formulation of baking soda. I got mine done by a professional (and it was quite cheap I might add), but you can do it at home with some investment. Do a search on youtube for soda blasting and you will see some stuff.
 
I used the Harbor Freight Soda blasting, its easy and relatively cheap, just need a good mask and you will be fine, It will get all over the place where ever you do it. Just make sure you have a decent size air compressor or you will be doing it for ages. There is alot of posts on the forum in regards to Soda blasting, just look them up.
 
I have the large "bench top" HF blasting cabinet. I use glass beads in it (also from HF). It's rather large for a bench top so I put it on an angle iron frame on wheels. Added a handle to the side so I can drag it outside my shed to use .....

CabinetLeft.jpg


Like most HF items, it needed some tweaks to work well. I had to re-caulk all the seams and I added another support brace for the screen "floor" inside .....

CabinetRight.jpg


I think it does a wonderful job. Here's a "Before" and "After" of a cylinder head I did. It had been spray bombed black, they even got half the plug .....

MattBeforeHead3.jpg


MattsHeadAfter2.jpg


I also have a small soda blasting set-up, basically big enough to do carbs. I just use agricultural grade baking soda, available for about $15 for a 50 lb. bag from the local farm and feed store.
 
I dont think mine is HF, but it is about 40# and portable. I just finished my XS top end with it. Tried the soda blast thing first. Didnt do the job as well as I wanted. I have a pretty good sized upright compressor so I am not sure if a small one will keep up. I think it takes a fair amount of CFM to move the sand. Make sure to bundle up and cover every bit of skin, because it all blows back at you.
 
The thing about using a sand media type blaster is the sand, it gets into everything. Unless your doing a total dis-assembly, use the soda blaster media, it is water soluable. Like 5Twins stated, they work all very well.
 
I've got both of the HF cabinet and portable soda blaster. Both have worked great so far.
5Twins thanks for the tip on ag type soda. Thats a lot cheaper than HF.:thumbsup:
 
I used the HF 40# soda blaster on my engine, worked great to clean it up. You need a compressor with a high enough CFM rating to do the job right. The only thing I changed on the soda blaster was to add another filter to help get all the moisture out of the air.
 
We have a shop in town that lets anyone do their own blasting. Sand, Glass Bead and Walnut. Ive used all 3 (and soda) and my personal preference is glass bead hands down.

Walnut is great for removing paint etc but the chunks can get stuck in tighter areas. Bonus is, it wont damage surfaces. However, you need good pressure to make it effective.

Glass Bead is better, easier to clean up than walnut or sand or soda but if you hang out in one area it will start to blow away aluminum. If you have the right pressure though I think personally it turns out the best.

Sand is super aggressive and can damage surfaces more than glass bead. I had some rims blasted with sand (mags) and they had to be filled in (very small amounts) because the pitting was made more obvious by the media.

Soda is the safest by far and the 2nd easiest to clean up after. (glass turns to powder which can be blown off by air). I found that with the cabinet I was using the pressure wouldnt remove surface corrosion very easily. Perhaps more pressure fixes that.

The triple clamp above was done with glass bead. It had the original factory paint only before being blasted. The two carb holder supports (XS) were soda blasted.
 

Attachments

  • 100_0789 (Medium).JPG
    100_0789 (Medium).JPG
    61 KB · Views: 186
  • 100_0996 (Medium).JPG
    100_0996 (Medium).JPG
    179 KB · Views: 214
Back
Top