Cleaning old carbies

[Tins]

I have unearthed a pair of Weber 40 IDFs from under the house, a relic of my FIAT days. These are showing corrosion of the bodies, but not too bad. I have seen a bazillion yt vids recommending numerous chemical solutions to clean them with, but who trusts yt vids? I want to clean these up and sell 'em, so obviously I want whatever I do to be non-destructive. Anyone got any suggestions? I will be getting kits to reassemble them with.

[Lionelgee]

Hello Tins,

I had a look online about different ways to clean old carburettors. I practiced on a Holden Stromberg off a HQ that was far from well maintained. I bought one of those really cheap Aldi jewelry sized ultronsonic cleaners. I used one of the products that an overseas ultrasonic cleaner manufacturer recommended. The reason I chose one particular recommended product over the other recommendations was that I could only find a supplier in Australia for one of the products. It was and still is available from Bunnings.

Simple Green 1L Green Concentrate All Purpose Cleaner Simple Green 1L Green Concentrate All Purpose Cleaner - Bunnings Australia (https://www.bunnings.com.au/simple-green-1l-green-concentrate-all-purpose-cleaner_p4470509)

Due to the small size of the ultrasonic cleaner I could only do half the carburettor at a time. After multiple rotations the carburettor came out really clean. I only had to use an old toothbrush to scrub off some tough debris. I just dipped the toothbrush into the ultrasonic cleaner. I followed the mix rates that are provided on the bottle. Yes - you have to read the label!

On other old Holden Strombergs I just used CRC Clean-R-Carb Heavy Duty Parts and Throttle Body Cleaner 400g (spray can) that I bought at Autopro. Allow one tin per carburettor. A mate of mine built and raced his own rally cars and the CRC product was his recommendation of the field of carburettor cleaners.

My next step, since the little Aldi ultrasonic cleaner provided me with proof of concept, is for me to buy a bigger capacity ultrasonic cleaner.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Tins]

Thanks, Lionel. That solution seems to be a popular one. I have been considering a Vevor 10L us cleaner. I might pull the trigger, as I could also use it for circuit boards etc.

Or, there's this:


https://youtu.be/RLgFSdSDE-8'si=DfpfAu7bzrEIlRg6

[gromit]

I just took delivery of a 10litre ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning carbies.

Spoke with a mate in the UK who has been doing motorcycle carbies with excellent results. The only proviso.....spray with a lubricant immediately afterwards or it'll be white with corrosion the next day.
He takes it out while still hot and lets it dry then lubricates.

Colin

[Tins]

The only proviso.....spray with a lubricant immediately afterwards or it'll be white with corrosion the next day.

Colin

Possibly why they are often coated with some sort of varnish or something. I wonder what it is.

[workingonit]

Possibly why they are often coated with some sort of varnish or something. I wonder what it is.

Probably automotive clear coat would do, but experiment on a small part first. You will find 'specially formulated' clear coat for bare metal ie door knocker, brass decorative pieces, automotive parts etc.

[Tins]

Probably automotive clear coat would do, but experiment on a small part first. You will find 'specially formulated' clear coat for bare metal ie door knocker, brass decorative pieces, automotive parts etc.

Good idea. There's an old copper jug here somewhere that had that done to it maybe 25 years ago. It still gleams. I have an old Holden style Stromberg I'll try it on first, cos that's for the 109 and doesn't matter so much. The Webers on a FIAT manifold might be worth a bob.

[V8Ian]

It always looked like a robust shellac, on Toyotas.

[gromit]

Probably automotive clear coat would do, but experiment on a small part first. You will find 'specially formulated' clear coat for bare metal ie door knocker, brass decorative pieces, automotive parts etc.

Need to check it's petrol proof !
I wouldn't clearcoat, just a spray with something like lanolin or WD 40. Gets into the pores of the aluminium.

Colin

[workingonit]

Need to check it's petrol proof !

I took some petrol to hardened clear coat applied via a rattle can. Petrol took it off easily.

Good I thought - I can remove the flaking clear coat on my Discovery 1 - but the petrol would not touch it!!

Obviously there is 'clear coat' and then there is clear coat.

I should have grabbed and tried out of those cans on the shelf that said suitable for auto parts as well as other things.

I wonder if two pack clear coat is more durable?

[workingonit]

Sounds interesting - transparent amber or red. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40067203/
(https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40067203/)

[Don 130]

Incralac. Albi Incralac - Albi Protective Coatings (https://albi.com/product/albi-incralac/#:~:text=Incralac%20was%20found%20to%20provide,eit her%20interior%20or%20exterior%20applications).

Wattyl also make incralac

Don.

[Old Farang]

I have unearthed a pair of Weber 40 IDFs from under the house, a relic of my FIAT days. These are showing corrosion of the bodies, but not too bad. I have seen a bazillion yt vids recommending numerous chemical solutions to clean them with, but who trusts yt vids? I want to clean these up and sell 'em, so obviously I want whatever I do to be non-destructive. Anyone got any suggestions? I will be getting kits to reassemble them with.
You need to ask Mike--5380 on the series 1 forum. He has done many of them and has several options.

[DoubleChevron]

The simple green will make the carby go a darker colour. I ordered in some simple green HD from bunnings as apparently it will not change the colour of the alloy. You can't argue with the results.


191212

I purchased a big ultrasonic cleaner through vevor last year. I'm quiet impressed with it. I do use water that is as hot as possible when I fill it. Then it can easily heat to its highest setting for cleaning.

To do anything about the visible look of the carbies, you will probably need to vapour or soda blast the carby bodies. Ultrasonic cleaning will not remove corrosion.

seeya
Shane L.