Carb Cleaning

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take some pics for us please.
before and after bodies and of the used solution. I'm interested in the colour.
I don't think you can beat the mechanical cleaning per the Jim Bush routine but it is more involved and does not address the oxidation on the outside surfaces. One can also reach inside and clean the two small holes at the manifold end with appropriate pins.
There is something to be said for patina though. A decades old motorbike should maybe look the part, no?
BTW and I may be preaching to the choir, if all else fails, brand spanking new Amals are not prohibitively expensive right from Burlen in the UK. The usual replacements items can be had from them also.
 
Patina, eh. Mostly gas and dirt buildup. I polished the bowls on mine until they had a mirror finish about 2 years ago. Looked like chrome. Of course now they look like zinc with a shine. Since I'm using Avgas, they now have blue stains on them. I just cleaned mine with carb cleaner and an appropriate sized guitar string into the idle port which I can't remember which size at the moment, but they idle just fine under 1000 rpm and take off with great throttle response. But then they only had 13K miles on them. They seem just fine for now. Pulls like a train, scares me to death.

Dave
69S
 
The float needle sticks aways down its bore with the needle seat at bottom. Fuel must flow from the seat area up past the body of the valve to reach the bowel. The slot is made just above the seat area by about as much as the taper of the needle.
Then fuel reaches bowl by both paths. You can measure seat depth to mark slot. I used Dremel circle saw on a stalk ~1/4" OD x 1/16" thick, not the paper thin blade.
It will only get some of the slot started as there are passages on either side of the main fuel passage that prevents full OD of blade w/o nipping through, so must file out the rest of slot.

Here about best picture filled Amal Concentric manual there is.
http://www.amalcarb.co.uk/TechnicalDetail.aspx?id=11

I may try clear wheel paint next time I polish up an Amal turd so it lasts a season or so and maybe less adherence of road grim.
 
Normally I use 2/3 water and 1/2 vinegar (I use wine... But should be ok with any)..... What about using a tumbler (case cleaner type for ammunition ) filled with baking soda and then boiling after?
Philippe
 
Well, I boiled one carb in vineger/water, and soaked the other in a carb cleaner I bought. Right now the one carb is still soaking in the cleaner, and I have taken the other out of the vinegar/water solution. And when I took it out I was in disbelief. The pot I used had a layer of teflon or paint on it, and the vinegar must have ate it away, sure enough the paint stuck to the carbs, and as they dried, it ate away at the carbs. So now the entire throttle valve is pitted like no other, the float bowl is pitted and so is the main chamber!! I was quite shocked and kept looking around, to find that pretty much everything was deteriorated by the weird paint/teflon.

Here are the before and after pictures of my seemingly destroyed carbs.

Before Cleaning
Carb Cleaning


Float Bowl before cleaning
Carb Cleaning


After taking my eyes off the boiling solution for 10 min. this is what i came back to
Carb Cleaning


Pitting and deterioration on the throttle valve.
Carb Cleaning


Another view of the destroyed carb through a lens.
Carb Cleaning


Im sure that these are beyond repair, but if someone has any ideas Ill try them...anything to save these things.
If not, I would like to get some new Amals, but if there are some other carbs that are miles better ill consider them, I just like the look of the Amals more than most.

Matt
 
AW jeeze louise Matt ugh. But its an age old lesion some learned the hard way putting Amals or Al part in wife's dishwasher and deterent too long.
Just a few mins in boiling half/half water vinegar while jostling and watching they remove rinse and inspect.

I'd check with British Spares in NZ first then compare a few others + shipping to decide. Might just call a resleever and see what they got on have to trade.
 
I checked British Spares and they had Amals for $350, the Amal website has new ones for £85 so about $130. If I buy new ones I will probably buy right from Amal
 
Yes, I tried the vinegar and water bit once. Just a half an hour with no heat. It did remove the white stuff and etched the aluminum surfaces. When I tried to reuse them I found the idle jet that was made into the body was several sizes larger that it was before. Ended up scrapping the carbs.
If you ever want to increase the flow of brass jets just soak them in vinegar. The holes slowly grow bigger. Jim
 
Ok fair warning acetic acid is over active over time but would same thing apply to the strong chemical cleaners?

I lucked out on exchange rates a decade ago for similar price as current Amal site.
 
Well I have not found the modern chemical cleaners to be that powerful any more. I recall leaving a cylinder head from my kids Honda 100 in the Safety Kleen carb tank overnight back in the early 80's. When I remembered it the next day and pulled it out all that was left was the valve seats and a little bit of a skeleton of the aluminum. oops. Jim
 
Refreshing how we mostly out grow our dumb=assed=ness, but never completely, or so I'm told : )
 
suffering cats that's some damage there alright.
I have not tried the hot acid bath on anything. Wow.
The aluminum pot has acted as a part of the electrolytic circuit and accelerated the process. The zinc has been sacrificial.
The intent of this reply is to advise you of the part numbers stamped into the bodies. There will be 932 and some other characters that uniquely ID these Amal's for the intended application. The number will be different on the LH and RH body. If you go new please be sure to order these by complete number if available or at least understand what they mean. At the same time get yourself some other assortment of main jets and a few chamber gaskets so you can dial them in.
 
Yeah, I noticed that the left carb will be 932/19 and the right 932/20 I think. They may be switched around I can't quite remember
 
Since I just bought a dremel today I decided to try it's wire brush on my ruined carb.
It looks pretty good actually, looks like I buffed it up. Only a wire brush though.

Carb Cleaning
 
Man I sure missed this one. I thought you were looking to actually clean the internals of the carb so it worked right, not just make it look shiny.
 
That is what wanted to do, but when I boiled them in the vinegar solution, it pitted all of the metal inside and outside of the carb so bad that I deemed it was toast. So I just decided to test my new drumel on the ruined carb.
 
Access to the pilot screw drilling determines L or R.
Had my carb very shiny one but that don't last long on soft metal, may try clear coat and if that is yuky just soak in brake fluid to return to normal dull cleanness.
 
course you could just cut to the chase and replace it with something that works ...............

dare i say it a mikuni or even a new anal
:shock: :shock:
 
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