What do y'all guys recommend to use for cleaning this ol intake ? I don't want to blast it so I have to use another method. It has rust down inside all the ports, although I still think it is useable. Any suggestions are appreciated! Troy
If you know the safety rules for using acid, dilute Muriatic acid is the best. Other options are Lime Away, Naval Jelly, straight Vinegar, Molasses (livestock grade). Block off the runners going from these ports, fill with solution and let soak a while. Shoving a plastic bristle bottle brush through the thing and scrubbing will speed up the process. The acid method will clean this up in an hour or less, depending on dilution rate. Neutralize with baking soda solution and rinse well using hot water. To protect from the flash rust that will appear when done, dry well with compressed air and immediately spay with WD40. Simple procedure.
You can use electrolysis, but substitute powdered Lye for electrolyte . The lye will soften paint and cause it to slough, the the little electrons can go after rust. Lye is perfectly safe as long as you use common sense. If not, it will leave a mark. This may not get into ports well. Just another thought; Rust 911 will work, $70 for a gallon, but diluted per instructions nets you 16 gallons. Used it in water passages in a bare block. Cleaned rust off, bare cast iron was the result. Non acidic, so no worries about neutralizing.
Degrease it 1st. Molasses is great for this job. Soak it and forget it for 5-7 days, when it comes out rubber gloves are in order. It'll be carbon black and that***** doesn't wash away very well. A hard garden hose works but a pressure wash takes it to new looking. Watch your corners and spray back. After a good wash anything to prevent flash is good til paint and install. If no pressure washer clean it with a liberal dose of Dawn and hot water, but the blackness, so don't forget the gloves. Dry it with a leaf blower or compressed air and it should look NOS.
Strip it down to a bare manifold. Degrease it top and bottom with Easy-Off oven cleaner and pressure wash it good. Blow or air dry. Soak it in tub in a citric acid solution (1/2 cup to 2 1/2 gallons of water) and monitor it everyday until you can brush all the rust away (two days ought to do it). Use a brush inside and out. Pressure wash (watch out for flying black sludge) and scrub with a stiff brush. Soak it in a baking soda (1 1/2 cup to 201/2 gallons of water) to neutralize the acid. Wash with Dawn dish soap and brushes (inside and out). Blow dry (or use the wife's oven) Coat it with Gibbs Oil or equivalent until you are ready to paint. I prefer citric acid because it doesn't smell like vinegar, doesn't produce a gut-wrenching smelly sludge like molasses, and is safer than muriatic acid to handle (it's actually food grade, used in canning), and easily neutralized. Good luck!
I agree with all the steps above, compare the time spent to what the machine shop will charge to run it thru hot tank. Simple green, powerwash, phosphoric acid, bristle brush ports, dish soap wash, paint.
Of all the methods listed above, for jobs like this I like vinegar. It works well, not acidic enough to harm you or the part, is easy to neutralize and dispose of, and it's cheap. That manifold may take a few days, but will come out good as new.
364 4 barrel intake. That is a good find. I prefer citric acid and a bottle brush. Removing the brass vacuum fitting will require a little heat or it will snap off.
I have a 30 gallon plastic garbage can full of rust 911 in my basement, I keep the lid on to prevent deterioration of the solution. I’ve done 16 inch 35 Ford wheels that were rusted real bad had them powder coated and run them on my 28 Tudor for 4 years with no rust. the key as mentioned above is getting it cleaned so what ever you use to remove the rust can do it’s job
That is really not all that bad ,,,,,a good cleaning will go a long way . Go to the Dollar Store and buy a cheap can of oven cleaner,,,,,,then ,,,after it sits and soaks ,,,hose it off good . Then,,,,,,,go the other cleaning route with vinegar for a while . It should be very nice after that . Tommy
Does this one have that little stamped steel pan riveted to the underside? A friend of mine who was really into Buick engines would always pull those rivets out and inspect the underside of the intake under that pan, he said they would sometimes crack there, and also that pan was a trap for grease and dirt that was hard to clean off otherwise. It was a pain to get those rivets out, apparently you can buy new replacement rivets to put it back together with afterward. Not sure if that's really necessary, but I remember welding on the heads of a lot of those rivets to give something for a slide hammer to grab.
You guys have been so helpful. I really appreciate y'all's time and expertise in helping me out. Troy
Electrolysis is largely line-of-sight. It may not give good results in ports. White vinegar is easiest, as you can just roll on down to the grocery store. Citric acid is a little stronger, and more effort to obtain. Depending on what is around you, you might need to order it. Those last two will do the rust removal job, and for cheap.
Growing up we used a rose bud torch to clean iron intakes and blocks. Sometimes using oven cleaner first then heating after a through rinse. quick and easy. Burnt off the oil and carbon Looked great
A little finesse and a sharp chisel and those rivets that hold the heat shields on usually pop right out when woring from all sides. Dont recall ever breaking one.
Walmart has citric acid in 1 pound containers for about $10. That's about 3 cups (my guess). The good thing about powdered citric acid is you can mix as strong as you like..... vinegar is 5-7% acid. Citric acid has no smell, which I prefer, but vinegar WILL remove rust pretty effectively. Don't forget to neutralize both the part and the solution after use (they are not strong acids, but will attack concrete). IIRC those rivets are called "drive screws".... look on the McMaster-Carr site
I bought 3 or 5 pounds (can’t recall) off Amazon for 20 bucks as I recall. Let my stuff sit in a laundry soap bucket. The dunked in and out with baking soda mix, then rinsed in the shop basin sink. The CA left a little blackish residue but for the parts I did I didn’t care about getting it off. Just needed to get some****emblies freed up. I liked the “No smell, dump it in the grapevine patch” and forget about it.
There is no Walmart in my city. The closest one is about 20-miles out, across The Bay. The closest place that I can buy vinegar is just under one-block.
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