Has anyone tried Vapor Blasting to clean or restore their aluminum valve covers and aluminum intake manifold.

 

I have used vapor blasting for car and motorcycle parts for years and it is the best aluminum cleaning tool available. The problem is the shop that does it. All vapor blasting is not the same. There are a lot of variables involved. You have to get the right mixture if blast media and pressure settings. If you use too fine of a media, you get a shiny surface that looks like spray paint. If the media is too coarse, you get a rough surface. I was part of a restoration shop that had a vapor blaster and I used it quite a bit. We did a lot of experimenting before we got the perfect finish. If you find a shop that will do your parts, I suggest that you look at other parts that they have done or give them a test piece. I had an intake manifold done a few years ago and it turned out way to glossy and I have not been able to fix it no matter what I try. On the other hand, I have a lot of Triumph motorcycle engine parts that I had done years ago that still look like new. I assume that you know that regular bead blasting can destroy an engine. There are several problems, one of which is getting blast media in the aluminum. When the engine heats up, the media comes out and gets into the oil. I had this happen to me and it was an expensive lesson. Vapor blasting does not have this problem because the water cools the surface and you actually seal the surface of the aluminum. When done correctly, a vapor blasted intake will look perfect and it will not stain if you have a fuel leak etc. You can just wipe it off and it looks new again. It is a great process when done correctly.
Doc

 

Doc, so are you saying to use a medium blast media. What pressure are you using when vapor blasting?

 

Dumb question - what is the vapor? Water? Solvent? What if anything else is
mixed in? Is this perhaps somewhat analogous to pressure washing?

 

Not a dumb question if you are not familiar with it. With vapor blasting / honing, you can use almost anything you would use for dry blasting but high water is used with the media. It is a game changer for anyone restoring just about anything. The difference between dry and wet blasting is that the surface is cleaned and honed without destroying the surface. You can even use it on plastic and rubber.

For the OP, I have tried several grades of glass bead and ended up using the finest I could find (I think its 320-400) at 70-75 psi. Excellent results with a bit of trial and error. I found that the distance from the gun to the piece you are blasting can change the shine in aluminum pieces. What I really like is that the surface once blasted is very easy to clean. Here a pieces I did.

 

How does this surface respond to the elements over time? I had considered just painting aluminum engine drivetrain parts. Now you got me thinking differently.

 

In the photo are manifolds off of a 70"s motorcycle. After 8-9 months of use, no change at all. I would suspect the aluminum will oxidize in time but so far it has not changed.

 

Very cool. Never heard of it before.

 

I vapor blast every thing - you can do steel also !!!!
I love it
here are some of my blasted items

 

We found that a mixture of 80% fine glass beads and 20% aluminum oxide worked best in our cabinet. Doc

 

Would you happen to know the brand name the vapor blasting equipment is?

 

Mine is from http://vaporhoningtechnologies.com

 

Same source for us. I suggest that you call them and talk about what you plan to do. There are some options when you buy and we found these folks to be very helpful. Doc