I'm needing to clean an expensive (and rare) Holley carb for a vintage muscle car. I need to soak it in "something" that will not damage the exterior finish of the carb but will clean the varnish out of the fuel metering blocks and fuel bowl. Anyone have a suggestion on the safest way to achieve successful results? Afraid of using anything caustic for fear of destroying the pristine exterior finish of the Holley.
I use a mix of seafoam ( fuel and oil additive) and gasohol. I don't know if it will hurt the finish of the carb, maybe soak the metering blocks and just fill the bowls and not dunk them.
I had a question like that earlier, and didn't get much help. [emoji52] I remember something about cleaning carbs in a discwahersoap, and a pinch of salt and acetone. But never tried it. EDIT: i just went true my links. Found a guy that swears to half'n'half of alcohol and benzene. That's one I'm gonna try out. Also have a site claiming that destilled white vinegar in a large bucket for an undefined time and the flush with destilled water a backing powder till it stops making bobbles. That one I would be carefull about using.
Something else that works well, is the thick blue toilet bowl cleaner. This was reco'd to me by a bike shop that won't use berrymans & needed something that really works. & they weren't lying. Works extremely well, & doesn't stink like berrymans. Do use either safety gl***es, or a face shield, as you don't want the spatter in your eyes. Does remove the tarnish & gunk off of br*** real quick-like, so you have to watch it closely (only a min or three). I use a small fine-screened strainer (~3" dia) to hold the small stuff. I use ~ 2-3" of the TBTBC in a small gl*** bowl. Dip n swirl, then remove & wash in a larger bucket w/clean water. I also use a 2nd bucket of clear water for the 2nd rinse. Then I use alcohol to get any water, & then a really good chlorine-free brakeclean to get anything remaining, then compressed air to dry it. For the fine p***ageways in the carb body, I do the same thing, but after soaking the whole thing to get it clean (& an old toothbrush might come in handy here, 'cause it's still only gonna take a few min to clean the gunk off/out, & do not let sit overnight, or even an afternoon), I use an old hypo-needle ***embly - w/o the needle - to force the tbtbc thru the p***ageways. & follow that w/the same rinse sequence as I mentioned. Maybe a bit convoluted, but it worked unbelievably well on the four bike carbs I had to do, every couple of years. I got the hypo from when I had a diabetic cat. Wish I'd've saved all the hypos. But for any hypo, just use a pliers to pull the needle out. I'd think any vet, or doc office would have a hypo. You do want the smallest one available, & I'd pull the needle at the office. HTH. Marcus...
I've always used laquer thinner ,toothbrush , maybe some spray carb cleaner & a blowgun...works for me dave
Benzene goes in the tank mixed with a little nitric acid and methanol. LOL I'll tell you what Benzene will remove tar from a fender real quick but it will also take the lacquer off with it.
Nowdays , w/ our over-regulated society, med. offices are , buy law req'd to dispose of ALL medical waste[ & that includes hypo's] & be able to verify that all are accounted for..... better off going to a farm store. At least around here you can buy hypo's cheap & there's no red tape involved
LOL I just go to the free clinic in mid town and tell them I am a junky. Free spikes and no questions asked.
The best stuff if you can even buy it is no more than good old Methylene Chloride!! It's pretty-much been outlawed but it will take the, "Smile off Mr. Cleans face!".. I bought a spray can of CRC Carb. Cleaner, held my 750 cfm Holley up in the air and the damned stuff never even got my hand and arm dirty!! Oh, and btw, Berrymann's #12 Carb. Cleaner in the gallon can with the basket has M/C, Cresol and water in it so it will take your skin off if not careful. Been there done that!! pdq67
I'd just be damned sure that I tested some of the suggested solutions on a carb part with the same coating that was from a carb that I didn't give a rip about before sticking the special one in it. Some of those solutions no doubt clean a carb just as good as the best carb cleaner but may also discolor the coating. You have to remember that not everyone reads the complete question before throwing out and answer.
Brake cleaner and carb dip will hurt the finish. I used both and though the grease came off so did the anodizing.
Seems to me that the carb cleaner you can buy now doesn't work for ****. I'm using a consignment store ($20) crock pot and the blue PineSol with some water - put it on high for a while, it'll boil the mix after a couple hours and then you can put it on Low or warm overnight. Does a pretty good job, the blue stuff doesn't stink up the shop like regular PineSol. I just did the QJet on my '77 pickup but can't remember if it affected the coating or not, and the truck isn't here at the shop. I've actually used this "mini hot tank" for cleaning up a lot of stuff.
If you can find it, (thank you EPA), trichlorethylene will clean almost anything. I once ran a Model B block & crank through an industrial bath of the stuff. Not only did it completely remove dried on grease, but it also removed gasket material, rust, including the water jackets and the original factory engine paint. Work with the stuff outdoors & stay upwind of it. It's nasty stuff to breath in. It's slow drying, but can be speeded up with an alcohol dip. I couldn't find any info on anodized finishes, except that trichlorethelene is one of the cleaners used to prep metal for the anodizing process, so I'd use caution.
DONT use vinegar and a crockpot. I screwed up a good Holley that way. I think I would try the mild detergent and the ultrasonic tank, if you have one available. Good Luck!
this is the best non-toxic method you can find and it really works well use regular pinesol or the blue,would do it outside only because otherwise your work area will smell like if you had one of those little green tree car deodorizers glued to your nose.
Harbor Freight has a small ultrasonic parts cleaner that is inexpensive ($35!) and works very well. Try just a drop or two of Dawn dishwashing detergent in plenty of hot water, or as others have suggested, PineSol in a 50/50 mix with hot water.
The Berryman Chem-Dip that I use does not hurt the finish on the carbs that I have cleaned. Soak 20 min then flip the parts then another 20 min and rinse with water and blow dry. You can spray it down with brake clean if you want to kill some of the smell of the Chem-Dip.
I actually have a 5 gallon can of carbon-tet in the ba*****t that I use on things that have to be squeaky clean. Still legal in aerospace and electronics but not otherwise. I would be afraid that it would take the gold iridite off a carb though.
Any of the caustic chemicals will cause the ORIGINAL finish to dull. Use only mild soap and an ultrasonic cleaner ^(Rusty) (I use a rag in the bottom) to keep it shiny. Do not use any type of brush as it will scuff the finish. When I lose the shininess on an older carb, spraying it with wheel or engine clear will bring back the original shine. Then again, most of the carbs I work on are over 65 years old. I usually end up blasting them and re-dying the color.
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