krukster86 said:
Yeah I used a scotch brite pad by hand for an hour or so and got fed up before resorting to using the drill. I am going to try wet sanding next. Someone also recommended that I use carb cleaner to take off the Honda varnish...I had some oven cleaner lying around the house but it read "DO NOT USE ON ALUMINUM!" so I ditched it obviously
Hey guys, I found two great products for cleaning up my engine and carbs.
First for the engine, I got the most soft brass wire wheel, to go on my drill, from my local Do It Right Hardware store
along with a couple hand wire brushes. If you can find a soft pipe cleaner brush, they are good for getting in the fins.
Now for getting off that darn clear coat on the engine I used a very effective stripper for Aluminum that I got at the auto parts store paint section. It's an
Aircraft Aluminum Stripper.
Now don't push too hard while using the drill and brush, you can cause the Aluminum to kinda melt and ripple on the surface. I did it with a low RPM on my drill.
Then get a flat piece of smooth metal, like a popsicle stick, round ends. Use it with a 3M thin cleaning pad to get deep in those fins and cracks. I use this technique for both cleaning and then with my favorite metal polish cream,
Blue Magic.
Then after completely cleaning i went to work with the Blue Magic
Now for the really cool find, I used this great stuff for cleaning my carbs called
Aluminum Jelly, same maker of Royal Jelly for rust. It's made to clean up oxidation and corrosion on Aluminum. It worked great on my carbs. They look brand new.
Take them off and get yourself a couple paint brushes so you can get the jelly in every crack all over the carbs.
If your carbs all greasy or have gas tarnish, you should try to get as much as you can off first. Follow the directions and then spray the carbs clean with a strong stream of water and use the brushes again to clean the jelly out. I then used soapy water for the final wash. Then blow them dry with an air nozzle or what ever you have. Make sure you open up the carbs and get what ever water out. I removed my CV boots and slides before applying the jelly.
You can see the results on my engine and carbs.
Good luck guys. Keep posting result images.