Media blasting a 13b rotor
03-22-17, 09:19 PM
#28
Old [Sch|F]ool
I glass-bead rotors all the time.
If you thoroughly degrease them (like, they flash rust from humidity BARE METAL) it is not difficult to blow all the blasting media out.
Never media blast "wet" parts. Thorough degreasing in hot/boiling chemical solution, rinse with similarly hot water, a quick blow dry to blow the majority of the water out and let the heat of 9 pounds of iron heated to 200+ degrees dry it the rest of the way, and it's ready to be blasted.
Or you can spend $130 or so for a bucket of Berryman's, which will remove the carbon from the rotors overnight. Anything remaining will fall off with gentle scrubbing with kerosene.
I have access to a well equipped machine shop, so I throw engine parts in the washer and bead blast them as necessary.
If you thoroughly degrease them (like, they flash rust from humidity BARE METAL) it is not difficult to blow all the blasting media out.
Never media blast "wet" parts. Thorough degreasing in hot/boiling chemical solution, rinse with similarly hot water, a quick blow dry to blow the majority of the water out and let the heat of 9 pounds of iron heated to 200+ degrees dry it the rest of the way, and it's ready to be blasted.
Or you can spend $130 or so for a bucket of Berryman's, which will remove the carbon from the rotors overnight. Anything remaining will fall off with gentle scrubbing with kerosene.
I have access to a well equipped machine shop, so I throw engine parts in the washer and bead blast them as necessary.
Last edited by peejay; 03-22-17 at 09:22 PM.
03-23-17, 11:23 AM
#30
Rotary Enthusiast
This!
I was looking into ultrasonic cleaners when I was just building 1 motor... I cant imagine building tens or hundreds of motors per year and scrubbing everything by hand.
Last edited by GoodfellaFD3S; 03-24-17 at 03:12 PM.
03-23-17, 01:02 PM
#33
I don't recommend any blasting of engine parts. Not only can you damage them, but you may not be able to get all the blasting media out. For rotors I use Zep industrial strength degreaser. Put it in a bucket full strength and let the rotor soak overnight. Takes everything off. Just don't use it on aluminum and always replace the bearings afterwards.
03-24-17, 08:50 AM
#35
Rotary Enthusiast
03-24-17, 09:23 AM
#37
not exactly because of choice though, i'd rather have a $10k sonic parts washer too but when you try to compete for the cheapest builds, you usually wind up with the cheapest builds which also means less income and less fancy equipment to work with.
i just cleaned my 36 spare rotors by hand without all that BS, media blasting or sonic parts blah blah. sure it took a couple of days but if your arms work, doing it for 1 engine seems less work than setting up a bunch of equipment to save a couple of hours of scrubbing.
arguing about the easiest way is counterproductive to just doing the damn job and being done with it.
Last edited by RotaryEvolution; 03-24-17 at 09:31 AM.
03-24-17, 09:53 AM
#38
The ultrasonic falls into the same category as lifts, paint booth, dyno, etc
We still have our old Aaladin washer, which was a step up from hand scrubbing, but not as efficient as the ultrasonic. We have not used it in years, if someone is looking for a parts washer.
03-24-17, 12:00 PM
#39
Old [Sch|F]ool
That's neither here nor there of course.
03-24-17, 12:34 PM
#41
Rotary Enthusiast
As shown above, a sonic cleaner has many other uses that internal engine parts.
The sand blast cabinet in my shop gets more use than a 10mm socket.
03-24-17, 03:08 PM
#42
^ Exactly
I can't stand putting greasy parts back on a fresh rebuild. The parts come out of the cleaner ready to paint. As far as the short block parts, the ultrasonic cleans the insides of all the coolant channels in the irons and other very difficult areas to get to. I feel it increased the quality of our rebuilds.
I even run my tools through it when they get too dirty, literally 1 minute and they are clean.
A lift is a specialized piece of equipment, it serves one purpose...lift a car. It is not completely necessary but it sure does make a clutch job easier. I still have creepers just to remind me of the old days.
I can't stand putting greasy parts back on a fresh rebuild. The parts come out of the cleaner ready to paint. As far as the short block parts, the ultrasonic cleans the insides of all the coolant channels in the irons and other very difficult areas to get to. I feel it increased the quality of our rebuilds.
I even run my tools through it when they get too dirty, literally 1 minute and they are clean.
A lift is a specialized piece of equipment, it serves one purpose...lift a car. It is not completely necessary but it sure does make a clutch job easier. I still have creepers just to remind me of the old days.
Last edited by Banzai-Racing; 03-24-17 at 03:13 PM.
03-24-17, 06:54 PM
#43
Old [Sch|F]ool
It's like any other tool... once you have it, you tend to use it, and then you wonder how you ever did without it. Probably half of an engine "build" is wasted on cleaning, if those are billable hours, you can instead charge $200-400 or whatever for "parts cleaning" instead of hourly rate for doing it the hard way. The customer doesn't see a different price and that sonic tank will pay for itself pretty quick. And after that, you're only in it for the cost of chemicals and electricity.
03-24-17, 07:15 PM
#44
How do you lose a sand blast cabinet, though?
It's like any other tool... once you have it, you tend to use it, and then you wonder how you ever did without it. Probably half of an engine "build" is wasted on cleaning, if those are billable hours, you can instead charge $200-400 or whatever for "parts cleaning" instead of hourly rate for doing it the hard way. The customer doesn't see a different price and that sonic tank will pay for itself pretty quick. And after that, you're only in it for the cost of chemicals and electricity.
It's like any other tool... once you have it, you tend to use it, and then you wonder how you ever did without it. Probably half of an engine "build" is wasted on cleaning, if those are billable hours, you can instead charge $200-400 or whatever for "parts cleaning" instead of hourly rate for doing it the hard way. The customer doesn't see a different price and that sonic tank will pay for itself pretty quick. And after that, you're only in it for the cost of chemicals and electricity.
someone who has more money than sense, or floppy little twig arms and would rather pay someone to install machines instead of pay a specialty shop to build their engine, perhaps just to say they did it?
i don't know why we are now arguing about how long it takes to clean parts for a single rebuild. or has this turned into an industrial business productivity thread?
i mean really, a person could buy BRAND NEW ROTORS and still be at 1/10th the cost of some of the equipment that has surfaced in this discussion.
Last edited by RotaryEvolution; 03-24-17 at 07:18 PM.
03-24-17, 09:14 PM
#46
Old [Sch|F]ool
I will sit there over a stationary basin full of the hottest water I can stand, and Sears laundry detergent (cheap!), scrubbing parts manually with brushes. Rotors get carb cleaner and wire brushes, if necessary, but to be honest a lot of the time I'll just leave the carbon that survives the hot laundry treatment. It's like free thermal coating.
It works, it's more labor intensive, and if/when I have better means available, I take them!
This thread reminds me, we have a "Batch" of washing to do next week. The warmer weather will make that nicer on the electricity bill. There's a 220v, 50 amp circuit dedicated just to the wash tank's heater.
Last edited by peejay; 03-24-17 at 09:20 PM.