Engine Restoration

[Maxx]

I am having difficulty finding someone to soda blast my engine. Everything I've read says that this is the way to go for restoring an engine to it's original, beautiful, good looks, and being that I have totally disassemled it, thought I'd do it right. Can anyone in the south-east (Atlanta is my home base) recommend someone? No one that I've emailed has returned my messages.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Honestly if you're keen on a beautiful finish I'd check out vapor blasting. I did soda and am very happy (leaving it raw aluminum) but if I could have done vapor I would have. Nobody doing it in Canada, but there is in the US for reasonable pricing.

Only shop I know of that does it in the US, but there are likely others. Worth shipping empty cases IMHO.

www.vaporblasting.biz

 

[Maxx]

I did a little research on vapor blasting and it sounds good, but very few companies are offering it. I'll just keep looking and hopefully someone shows up that can do soda or vapor in my area. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Near as I can tell Vaporblasting.biz would charge 4 x $35 for the crank cases, cylinders and head and $10 for the rocker cover, and would do the remaining small bits for free. So you'd be at $150 + shipping back and forth.

Soda is likely going to cost less and if you like the raw aluminum look, soda is great. I had mine done and like the look. If I was doing a shiny show bike I'd plunk down for vapor, but this is a purpose-built engine for performance, not show. I just wanted it clean.

 

[good2bsims]

Soda is likely going to cost less and if you like the raw aluminum look, soda is great. I had mine done and like the look. If I was doing a shiny show bike I'd plunk down for vapor, but this is a purpose-built engine for performance, not show. I just wanted it clean.

Did you do it yourself? If yes, what equipment/media did you use. DIY style with some tubing an air nozzle and some arm & hammer? Or did you use actual blasting equipment?

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

No I paid to have it done. Probably cost me $50 or so for the cases. The cylinders are painted from mikesxs - the 750cc kit. Head and rockers were bead blasted by the machine shop that did the porting and valve work.

 

[Maxx]

I've got to say that, based on the pictures, your engine looks great and it's exactly what I'm looking to do to my engine. Now, if I can just find a company to do it. The internet has not been a big help for this search, unfortunately. I'll just have to keep looking.

 

[FrkyMnky]

If you already have a compressor or a buddy of yours has one, pick up the soda blaster from HF and use that. It has a few quirks and needs to be shaken while using it unless you dry the soda before use, but it works great for the $100 I spent on it.

 

[hooktool]

Bead blasting works great-no need to avoid it and it looks great.

John

 

[5twins]

Yes, soda blasting is a very good cleaner but will not get the etched in stains out. Look at Tim's 1st few pics - clean but still the corrosion marks remain. Glass beading will remove those. I'm getting more and more into the cleaning aspect of this hobby. I've recently discovered the merits of 3M Roloc discs. Amazing results is all I can say.

 

[plowboy1]

I did my cases,cyl and cyl head myself with a sack of the formula xl soda from Harbor Freight and a siphon blaster I had from yrs. ago. Just poured some in a 5 gal. bucket hooked up air hose and worked great. Parts came out very clean. Only used about half the sack or so. Just got to thinking maybe you do not have a compressor so would have to rent or buy one. Everybody should have a compressor! Good luck. Mitch

 

[Maxx]

On other blasting methods, I read somewhere that there is a risk of getting abrassive material into oil passages and that you may not know it until you fire up the engine for the first time and seize the thing up. Where as with soda, it's water soluable, so you just wash everything with water when done and no more abrassive material. Did I read correctly?

 

[Maxx]

That's an idea Plowboy1. Do you have an inline dryer? I've read some bad reviews from people using air compressors directly to the blasting unit due to moisture in the air clogging up the unit badly.

 

[5twins]

Yes you'll want a water filter of some sort. What I discovered recently is that location is important. Putting the filter right next to the compressor does little if anything. You need to put it at the end of the hose by the tool.

 

[650performance]

If you are using any physical medium (glass beads, soda, walnut shells, etc.) to blast the engine cases and/or components you MUST clean the oil passages extremely carefully. Merely blowing compressed air or squirting gasoline or some solvent isn't enough. Use brushes, pipe cleaners, etc. and physically scrape the walls of the oil passages and THEN blow & flush them out with pressure. Residual blast material is a potential bearing and rubbing surfaces killer ... to say nothing about the damage it can do to your wallet.
Craig

 

[smokeeater495]

Google D.I.Y. soda blaster. Buy a 50# bag of soda from Harbor Freight. The soda goes everywhere. I wore coveralls, a hooded sweatshirt, a dust mask, and safety glasses and still had soda all over me. Having something to catch the soda is helpful, I reused what fell on the ground.

 

[Maxx]

Wow! Talk about soda blasting on a budget. I might actually have everything needed in the garage, except for the soda. Thanks for the info!

 

[Maxx]

One last thing about smokeeater495's suggestion on the DIY Soda blast rig. Here's a good link on all the parts needed. http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/ Thanks again!

 

[hooktool]

On other blasting methods, I read somewhere that there is a risk of getting abrassive material into oil passages and that you may not know it until you fire up the engine for the first time and seize the thing up. Where as with soda, it's water soluable, so you just wash everything with water when done and no more abrassive material. Did I read correctly?

It's the same cleaning you should give it if you didn't bead blast it. CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. Soap, water and compressed air. There could be all sorts of crap, dirt, metal in the passages, nooks and crannies when it's torn apart. Bead blasting is a routine and proven method used during rebuilding. It cleans up parts well, and doesn't change dimensions. If you've left soda residue, no telling what else you left.

John

 

[Maxx]

Point well taken! It will be given a thorough cleaning after the blasting. Anyone know of a diagram showing all of the oil passages that run through the engine? It sure would help to prevent forgetting one of those little bastards.