TOPIC:

I am going to be cleaning up or rebuilding my carbs here really quickly, the outside of them are ugly ugly.
Is there anything besides tearing them completely down and dunking them overnight to clean up the outsides?
I dont want to tear into them if I dont have to and make things more expensive on me.

goodnight vinnie,dont forget to turn off the light!

i use this stuff called *awesome* for cleaning up the darndest things...

had some old gas munge on the outsides of some carb bowls. for grins, i sprayed some on to see what it would do... well, i let it sit for a couple minutes, then took a toothbrush and some warm water to it.

no more munge. cheap stuff too, buy it for a buck at the dollar store around here. it's a fantastic de-greaser too. i generally use it straight, but can be diluted.

easy on the hands, haven't found anything that it will damage yet.

--r

I rebuild and sell carburetors for a living. I disassemble every set and clean each part by hand using a variety of tools. When I retire, I will consider writing a "how-to" to show folks how to achieve the type of results that I achieve but its mostly just hard work.

Silver spray paint = fast&cheap
Careful hand disassmebly and cleaning = good&cheap
Fed Ex to WG = good&fast

Kerosene(AKA parafin in other former colonies) and an old toothbrush does a pretty good job.

-Duck

Post edited by: Duck, at: 2006/03/01 09:16

I have used a steamer (those little portable types)with the small jet attachment to clean the bodies and clogged jets. Besides disolving the oil/grease/dirt, it blasts away the calcified crud really good.

Yarfo

Duck, My personal opinion is that anyone who paints a carburetor should be drawn and quartered. It just creates a tremendous MESS! Get some gas on that paint and watch it dissolve and run all over your engine! And once you go to clean it, the paint just FOULS a batch of Berrymans! I have given a lot of thought to powdercoating carb bodies and when I build a new shop, will very likely be investing in an oven. The powdercoat will hold up better than rattlecan with gas in the mix.

Yarfo:
As far as steaming carbs clean... Hmmmmm what is a steamer? The only steamer I know is a carpet steamer. Can you provide more details?

I have some experience with sonic cleaning and the results are such that I will not use it for cleaning in my business. It does a fair job but hand cleaning is still necessary to bring the parts up to snuff for my purposes. It is probably a decent alternative to places that just want to do a more or less superficial cleaning. It works fine on newer carburetors or those in fairly clean condition to begin with but the parts I work with are not much phased by sonic cleaning.

Painting carbs with a high temp paint works fine. The painted parts should be baked (to harden the paint) before installation. This cures the paint before gas has a chance to mess with it. Rebuilt carbs shouldnt leak gas.
I swear by my ultrasonic cleaner. I still squirt some carb cleaner through the orifices to make sure they are clean. When I pull carbs out of the cleaner, they need to be squirted off with clean water. This cleans off the remaining crud that the cleaner loosened up.
With the ultrasonic, you need to experiment with different cleaning agents to find the best one for cleaning that particular dirt, and you need to experiment with water to soap ratios.
With my ultrasonic cleaner I can usually rebuild a set of carbs in about 2-3 hours. Usually 1 hr clean cycle and then hand cleaning and rebuilding. Hand cleaning is needed no matter what method of cleaning is used.
Fish

new user to the site..but have already found it very helpful...anyway..have a '78 ltd1000..k&n pods...mac 4-1..no baffle..accel coils and dyna-s ign..have a stage three dyna jet kit..are the 140 mains to big for that application..


thanx..

brianrae33... The question you posed is a good one but has nothing to do with this thread. Please repost your question in a NEW THREAD. It is considered good form to NOT change subjects because anyone searching for an answer to carb cleaning questions will not want to see a thread go in different directions; like covering Dynajet jetting or anything else. Many thanks for your cooperation. I also removed the double post. Once you hit the submit button, it sometimes takes a few minutes for the post to be submitted due to how heavily the KZRider server is being beaten up. Hitting the button twice, unfortunately allows for double posting (I do it all the time myself)! Thanks for your cooperation and welcome.

my experience with paint and gas, well I dont do it.

I guess there isnt a wonder cleaner then. Scrubbing it is. darnit!

Always remember, carbs paint and teflon tape dont go together.

I just cleaned a set of old crusty float bowls. the spray carb cleaner i used did part of the job. What really cleaned them up both inside and out was a toothbrush and "Bar Keeper's Friend" which can be purchased for a buck or two from any grocery store. Its essentially powered oxalic acid and mild abrasives. It comes in a can like comet but is different in composition. It does not mention for use on aluminum but i think it works great with minimal effort. You should probably be sure that none of the abrasives get in to your internal parts. i gave it an intense soak and blast with hot water afterwards to make sure that this did not happen. Good luck.