Restoration of surface appearance

john robert bould said:

By far the safest method of cleaning is DRY ICE blasting....I have seen a demo on the Internet....

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Dry ice is good for removing dirt, oily crust etc. It does not really take away this burnt-in oil surface residue. The guy who soda-blasted my engine parts also offers dry ice blasting as well but strongly recommended soda. Cheaper and better results.

Best regards,

Tim

The dry ice demo on the net is like the oven cleaner on the telly...spray it on...watch the foam lift off the years of thermo carbon...as if! I have had reasonable results cleaning cards etc with Nail Varnish remover and a electric tooth brush,,,The old girl kicked up a bit of fuss! :twisted:

marinatlas said:

Hi there , I had tried to wash my head with bourbon, got a strong head ache....................

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I would have tried a Scotch. Its personal if single malt or blend.
The headaches will vary...

If there are some chemical or detergent solutions (pun not intended!), short of any media blasting I still open to suggestion. I have tried applying full strength Simple Green and acetone, using a toothbrush to scrub the surface. Not both at the same time! Still a little short on results. I like the sparkling silver appearance of the new head but am not ready to go there yet. I haven't removed the rockers or valves although I do plan a through rinse and brushing of all internals prior to re-installation. It's cold here now (highs in the 10-20 F degree ranges) so nothing short of putting it in the sink or bathtub is going to work as of yet and I don't think the significant other will go for that!

If I do put it in my Chinese sandblasting cabinet I don't expect much in the way of results. Any kind of chemical treatments available from the automotive front? Some kind of mild chemical etching?

Thanks in advance and here are photos of what I'm facing.

I had great results using the cream cleanser for my ceramic stove top. It is a very mild abrasive and cuts baked on grease like a charm.
Less noxious then oven cleaner.

Acetone was recommended for in situ refurbishing.
If you have the head off by all means a clean and respray is in order.
My head had old oily stains from days gone by leaks from the rockers.
The motor did not need to come apart.
A Q-Tip, old tooth brush, and adequate ventilation and you will be pleasantly pleased w/ the results.
As for the bourbon, indulge in Old No. 7 upon completing afore mentioned task :wink:
Thee Marshal

My T140 head looked similar before the application of Mr. Muscle Oven Cleaner (UK) ...left for only a couple of minutes it did the trick with no issues.

However; to get between the fins properly...my Commando head got stripped and beadblasted - proper job

I will just mention this as no one else has. A homemade hot tank works wonders. When I was re doing a number of AC engines that were aluminum and very grimey and old, I got a 55 gal drum, dug a small hole in the dirt and lined the perimeter with bricks. I put the block and later the pan in the water with some pink cleaner I got at Graingers. I built a fire under the barrel and brought it to a boil for an hour or so. The stuff came out beautiful. I still have a block and sump that I did this to 25 yrs ago. Anybody need AC engines or parts? Try it on a small scale with a cylinder head. You will be amazed. Better than putting the stuff in a dishwasher.

I have a series of those plastic storage boxes, one with phosphoric acid 10%, one with a detergent and one with clean water. In each one I have an aquarium water heater set to max (about 32C), I leave the offending item in first the detergent for 10 mins and then the phosphoric acid for 10 mins and carry on repeating the sequence including using souring pads until I get a clean looking casting and then a final rinse in the clean water tank. The hot deteregent gets rid of the oil and grease and the phosphoric acid brightens the aluminium by eating the oxide.

Its important to only use the phosphoric acid in 10 min chunks, otherwise it starts to lay down phosphates on the casting which send it dark.

All the castings on this Victor were treated that way.



In the UK dishwasher detergent is high on phosphate content so will send the casting dark, not tried oven cleaner but is is resonable to accept that the US and UK oven cleaners are different products and the UK one will work but the US won't as the chemials could be different.

I boiled my cylinder head in biological washing powder, No black staines and no glass bead residue

Gives a new meaning to the phrase "Go boil your head" :wink:
Tend to use cream cleanser with a toothbrush in the kitchen sink myself, not that brilliant, but better than nothing.
Tried pressure washing a spare head the other day, waste of time.
I can't remember what firm it is, but there is somewhere in Britain that bead blasts, then blasts with small ball bearings afterwards to give a very good finish.