2 quick questions about soda blasting & condition of my engine cover

[BoJordan]

G'day,

I pulled apart my engine ready for soda blasting sometime in the near future. everything has been degreased so it shouldnt be too big of a task. My main question is should I mask off the bottom end for soda blasting or just leave it as is or just not get it soda blasted and do it myself with wire blushes etc? i am just worried about things getting into the bottom end and having to open it all up to clean and risk not being able to put it back together again. here is a photo:

2nd question. this is the condition of my stator side engine cover, dont know what it is, maybe solder? should I keep the part or bin it and source a new one?

any help much appreciated, cheers

 

[Nebr_Rex]

You should blast bare cases. Remove all removable parts.
As for your stator cover, if it's not broke don't fix it.

 

[BoJordan]

You should blast bare cases. Remove all removable parts.
As for your stator cover, if it's not broke don't fix it.

I hadn't really planned on pulling the bottom end apart much further just incase I get in over my head. I was just going to change out the piston and change cam chain. As for the stator cover, nah its fine I guess then. Cheers

 

[ILoveThumpers]

You could tape off the areas you don't want blasted and cross your fingers that none of the media gets behind it... That stuff gets everywhere, though so I wouldn't risk it.

Generally if blasting of cases is going to be done without dis-assembly, the motor is kept completely assembled. Then you only have to worry about plugging a few holes. (Crank case breather, intake and exhaust)

The advantage to soda blasting is that you can soak the part in warm water after blasting and the media will dissolve and rinse away... but you're not going to be dunking your assembled motor in water, are you?

If you're worried you're getting over your head by dis-assembling your cases further, then put it back together and blast it all as one piece.

-Deek

 

[AlphaDogChoppers]

The soda media can be rinsed out with water, so do worry about media getting into anything.

Still, reassemble the engine, and have it blasted as a whole. Then take it back apart and flush it out with hot water. Drain well, blow out with compressed air, and spray down with WD40 so that none of your parts rust.

That cover looks like it was adequately repaired.

 

[BoJordan]

You could tape off the areas you don't want blasted and cross your fingers that none of the media gets behind it... That stuff gets everywhere, though so I wouldn't risk it.

Generally if blasting of cases is going to be done without dis-assembly, the motor is kept completely assembled. Then you only have to worry about plugging a few holes. (Crank case breather, intake and exhaust)

The advantage to soda blasting is that you can soak the part in warm water after blasting and the media will dissolve and rinse away... but you're not going to be dunking your assembled motor in water, are you?

If you're worried you're getting over your head by dis-assembling your cases further, then put it back together and blast it all as one piece.

-Deek

I might put it back together in that case then, or just maybe get the top end soda blasted as this is the most difficult part and the bottom cases seem easier to clean. No not dipping the motor in water, but was thinking about maybe a tub full of diesel? I read Sonrier gave this advise to someone else with an older xl250 engine who didnt want to disassemble the bottom end, but needed to clean out residue and dirt that fell in after cleaning it.

Yeah, was just checking what other people thought of the repair on the engine cover as it looked a bit sketchy to me.

Cheers Deek (ILoveThumpers), Cheers AlphaDogChoppers, much appreciated

 

[damiansd]

Post some pics after it is blasted up so we can see your handywork!

Cheers,
D.

 

[AlphaDogChoppers]

The key with soda blasting is that it is water soluble. Other media is a SERIOUS problem because it is extremely difficult to get every last particle of abrasive out of the nooks and crannies of the engine. Soda is easy. It dissolves.

 

[BoJordan]

The key with soda blasting is that it is water soluble. Other media is a SERIOUS problem because it is extremely difficult to get every last particle of abrasive out of the nooks and crannies of the engine. Soda is easy. It dissolves.

Yeah the fella on the phone said that too, sounds like good stuff. So just to confirm your opinion, put it back together, get it blasted as one unit, pull it back apart and soak in warm soapy water, then dry and get a good covering of wd40 all over it? Do this with the bottom end as well with everything still inside?

Cheers

 

[AlphaDogChoppers]

Don't do WD40 on the outside of the cases. You want to paint, I assume. You don't want to contaminate the surface unnecessarily. The idea is to use the WD40 to displace water in the moving parts inside that will rust. You don't want your bearings and gears to rust. Wash off the outside of the cases afterward with acetone to clean off any oil contamination from the WD40.

 

[BoJordan]

Don't do WD40 on the outside of the cases. You want to paint, I assume. You don't want to contaminate the surface unnecessarily. The idea is to use the WD40 to displace water in the moving parts inside that will rust. You don't want your bearings and gears to rust. Wash off the outside of the cases afterward with acetone to clean off any oil contamination from the WD40.

yeah cheers for that mate. I've got plenty of wax and grease remover that i was going to use before painting.