Cleaning junkyard carburetors.........

Something beginners need to be aware of: Carb crud consists of at least regular grease/ decayed gasoline, dirt/mineral stuff, alluvial deposits from water entry, and corroded zinc components from the water...all of these things need different attacks, and what removes one will leave others behind. AS 97 points out...after all the regular attacks, powdery justplaindirt often remains in p***ages, stll adhering a bit after the chemicals have sluiced out all the petro crud that once glued it in place. I blew out a Stromberg's pump tubes with Uncle Max's air pump attachment and got quite a shower of very fine dust. I have discovered small holes like 94 air bleeds plugged with this after attack by every toxic chemical I own...it is easy to remove, just a pile of dust, but only with mechanical attack or the disturbance caused by lots of air.

 

"What? That carb. was spotless! It was rebuilt and ready to bolt on."
Maybe by YOUR standards, but the family of mice living in the bowl were complaining about the plumbing...

 

At least they were old Ford lovin' hot rodding mieces! Talk to you soon.

 

Do not use the environmentally safe, Home Depot, purple degreaser/cleaner. It ate the carb.

 

I believe the purple stuff is lye based...

 

Many of the more violent chemicals are useful on carb cleaning but only in short sessions.
I find many Q-jets with really hard, nasty white deposits in the bowl and presumably in the unfathomable p***ages below. I destroy the stuff with HCL-warning toilet bowl cleaner...pour it in, let it bubble, pour it out and blast with lots of hot water. Repeat as needed...but never soak, never leave the room as any lengthy distraction or memory failure will for sure get the casting eaten.

 

so anyone use the eastwood carb paint? i bought some carbs on ebay for my 2x2 and they are fresh, but different colors. ones green and ones gold.

 

HATE that paint...it is of the highest quality, really damn hard to get off, but I think appearance is horrible. Looks like your carb was sprayed gold as a craft project to turn it into a Christmas tree ornament...getting it off takes serious expensive carb cleaner, and leaves it permanently polluted with floating tinsel. Aaaaaargh. Prefer well scrubbed in vinegar bare carb...
BUT...who here is willing to reveal the secrets of surface treatment?? I bought both clear and yellow-tinted Alodine fron Aircraft spruce...it certainly does something to surface of potmetal (it is sold as treatment for aluminum), but gives a dull surface not like a fresh carb in either the clear or yellow format. Clearly, my experiments were done wrong or this isn't the stuff to use.

 

They outlawed some of the solvents that used to be in spray can carb cleaners (CFCs that were wrecking the ozone layer), so the carburetor cleaner sprays they have now don't work as well as they did 10 or 20 years ago. But I found that a combination of carb cleaner and scrubbing with Q-tips and an old toothbrush and rinsing with more carb cleaner does a pretty good job. Without scrubbing, it won't really come clean in carb cleaner alone.

This was with spray can carb cleaner and a lot of a toothbrush and Q-tip scrubbing.

 

It's acetic acid.

Pretty much any kind of acid attacks zinc. Hydrochloric, Nitric, Phosphoric, Acetic... So, yeah, don't leave it sitting in anything acidic for too long. I bet tomato juice or Pepsi or orange juice would etch it a little too.

 

Vinegar and zinc trick I heard about...think I'll try it tonight!
Take a recent copper-plated zinc penny...they look a bit different than real copper ones, and most or all in recent years are this sort. Pick a new,perfect one and nick the edge slightly. Drop into a jar of vinegar and forgetabou***. Next time you wonder what that jar is, you will have a hollow penny.
I understand you can do the same trick with a Stromberg...jar will contain a shiny pair of pump squirt tubes when you are done!

 

Now...whatinhell is Oxy clean and where would it live?? Are there types, and what was it made for??

 

Bruce, you obviously don't watch much TV. That commercial by a squeeky voice dude has aired for years as "the best" all around cleaner on the market. It is in the cleaning supply isle at the grocery and discount stores. Never used it but it can't be better than Castrol's Super Clean. That stuff will take the oil right out of yourskin. I use it faithfully as I can boil, soak, and scrub my carb pieces and after they look presentable I spray them down with Super Clean and the **** justs rolls off especially after a boiling water rerinse.