Engine Restoration

[Keyxs]

My son and I were messing about...
A 20 year old, stock Mercedes Front 4 piston caliper off a 400E, that we were cleaning up for transplanting onto his 260E.
I know its a crappy video, but shows how good simple Soda Blasting can be... stripper 20 years of black crap off... right thru to the OEM plated finish.
A HF spot blaster with a box of soda...

 

[5twins]

I picked up one of these recently from HF, about $16 with the 20% off coupon. It works terrific with soda .....

http://www.harborfreight.com/21-oz-hopper-gravity-feed-spot-blaster-gun-95793.html

What I like about it is you can put anything in it. I plan to use it with sand on the welds, nooks, and crannies of a frame I'm going to paint, areas I can't easily sand.

I get my soda at the local farm and feed store, about $15 for a 50 pound bag. Seems to work well.

 

[Keyxs]

I will get one of those too if you say it worked good!

This is the one I had...
http://www.harborfreight.com/abrasive-blast-gun-with-bag-96972.html

 

[uebe]

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.

5twins........Do you get the Roloc discs online, or do you know if they are available in stores?

 

[5twins]

I bought my first ones at the auto parts store, expensive. Now I get them off eBay, big savings.

 

[Maxx]

Hey 5twins. Great find. I built the poor mans soda balster and it works fine for the small stuff but I like the HF blaster setup for being able to use other media. I finally got an email from a local company that soda blasts, and due to the slow speed of the homemade rig, I might let them do the engine cases, cylinders and head, depending on the cost. I'll take care of the smaller items.

 

[gyraffoclops]

Does soda blasting take off paint? Would it be possible to take off the paint of an entire frame with this method?

 

[Adrenaline-Junkie]

Soda wouldnt be a very effective way to remove paint, especially not from an entire frame.

 

[da evil one]

Hey Maxx-You should hit me up some time. I dont know any other XS guys in Atlanta. I live in Marietta and Im finishing my first build. My dad runs a powdercoating plant by the way and Ive got the hookup on powder, especially black!