Im was wanting to apply a finish to a carburetor body that will help keep it looking some what nice looking. I have used KG gun kote ( http://www.kgcoatings.com/products/motorcycle-and-automotive/2400-metallics ) on another project and it turned out nice. To apply the koting, after sand blasting, you pre heat the part to 100 degrees then spray on the koting. The final cure is one hour at 325 degrees. My question is: Will the hour at 325 warp the carburetor?
You would gut the carb first, yes? I wonder hot hot it was when they cast the carb back when it was made?
Do you know what material the carburetor body is made of? Most were zinc or aluminum. Then maybe you could do a little research on the melting point of these metals? Zinc carb bodies tend to warp from stress....aluminum carb bodies don't seem to have this problem.
just curious...were you planing on baking at 325 degrees with the carb fully assembled with gaskets and needle/seat/floats/throttle shafts etc or or just the body disassembled in pieces?
I like this idea and hope it works. I have looked at a lot of things (Alodyne, Eastwood stuff, etc.) and have not yet found anything satisfactory. I see that they have a good color selection; which color did you decide to use? I have a bunch of old carbs and a powder coating oven, so I could do a bunch of experimenting. I think there might be a color that would work. I see they have : Titanium, Pale Gold, Silver, Brushed Stainless, Gun-Metal Gray, Black Chrome, and a bunch of others. It would seem with that selection, a guy could find something that looked good.
The idea of sand blasting a carburetor kind of gets my attention. Carbs tend to be full of little teeny tiny passages and screw holes and emulsion tubes and air bleeds and other orifices. In other words, lots of hidden places for sand blasting dust and debris to accumulate. I guess I've never thought of a carburetor as being one of those "chrome-goodie-go -faster" kind of parts. It just needs to work properly and not leak fuel. Beyond that, if it sits there and wants to look like a carburetor, I'm good with that.
The answer depends on the carburetor in question. Sand blasting is maybe not as user friendly as plastic beads or crushed walnut shells; or even glass beads. What ever media is used tends to develop static electricity, and the castings should be washed, dried, and rewashed to make certain all of the media is out of the threaded holes. Inserting screws into a hole with coated junk in the threads can be, at best, interesting! As to metals: Cast iron melts way above your 325, as does brass or aluminum. ZINC ALLOY (POT METAL, WHITE METAL) CAN BE A REAL NIGHTMARE! The mix of zinc, lead, tin, copper, and whatever else they put in the "pot" changed in the 1930's. Post-WWII, zinc alloy will withstand 400 degrees with no problems. BUT SOME EARLIER POT METAL CAN EXPLODE LIKE A HAND GRENADE AT 200! BE SAFE! I would offer an alternative suggestion. We have painted hundreds of castings with various colors of epoxy paint, and then "cooked" them for an hour at 125 degrees. The heat causes the epoxy to "set" (it doesn't "dry"), and once cured, is virtually impossible to remove with other than special paint removing chemicals. EDIT: if you should try the epoxy, USE AN ELECTRIC OVEN!!!!! I don't know about the stuff you asked about, but the epoxy gives off a gas when heated that can burn if it hits an open flame from a gas oven. Take a look at the 6x2 setup on my website treated in this fashion: http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/ Jon.
I don't think I'd sandblast a carb. Much too aggressive of a method. Go with soda blasting. cleans up with water, and doesn't really do anything to the base metal(s). Roger
Thank you all for your responses. I will be giving this a try this weekend and updating this thread with the results and some pictures.
I use "sugar sand" its a super fine, silky media that leaves a beautiful finish on the body. low pressure and baby it. clean up is easy, its super slick and blows out and cleans/rinses up nicely.
I have glass beaded a bunch of carbs with no problems. I keep using the same beads till they are almost dust, it leaves a super smooth clean finish. Sand is a little harsh, but suspect original poster was just talking in general terms about cleaning the bodies with a blaster type finish.
I've sandblasted carbs plenty of times to clean them, but I spend more time masking/plugging holes to keep the sand out of places it may be hard to get out of than I do blasting...
Where do you get this 'sugar sand'? I use glass beads and have a hard time getting it cleaned out, I suspect the liquids I wash the carb out with don't stick to the media. I use carb cleaner & blow out with air but always find more media beads as I assemble. Frustrating. For protection I use alodine.
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