Does anyone have a good process/cleaner for cleaning an aluminum intake? Want to get it fresh while I'm rebuilding the engine...thanks

 

I HAVE USED WHEEL ACID FOR CLEANING WHEELS AND SPRAYED IT ON A DRY ALUMINUM INTAKE AND LET IT SIT FOR 5 MINUTES AND THEN SPRAYED IT OFF...ITS REMARKABLE...IF YOU DO IT WHEN THE INTAKE IS WET IT WILL THIN OUT THE ACID AND IT WILL NOT WORK AS WELL

 

Make sure the manifold is COLD...

 

Take it to a media blast shop and have it blasted with either plastic media or crushed walnut shells (I'm not kidding about the walnut shells).
It will look like new afterwards and won't affect the as-cast finish like glass beads or sand will. Then spray it with clear engine enamel to keep it from getting grungy again.

 

wheel acid? What about the acid you can get at local hardware stores in the gallon jug? Full strength? Or thin it a bit? I used this to clean my concrete (existing) drive when I added on to the drive...

 

It better be cold! Hasn't been run in 2 weeks!

 

It's an aftermearket Performer so the original casting isn't a big concern. Want to know what the best thing I can do to it to improve the looks! Walnut shells...I have heard of that

 

Walnut shells is the ticket. I am a refinery inspector and we also use walnut shells to blast the inside of pressure vessels that have alloy over-lay applied to them. Also the clean-up with walnut shells is a lot easier.

 

Yes another comment as regards to walnut shell pieces for cleanup. One of the standard treatments for removing carbon deposits on jet engine turbine blades is to spray them with walnut shell pieces!!

 

back in1949 when the olds "rocket 88" engine came out with "hi compression" the dealers had to buy a machine to clean the combustion chambers so they would not build up with carbon and rise the compression ratio. these were walnut blast machine that went in thru the spark plug hole.

 

Concrete cleaner (muriatic acid) might work, you might want to dilute it in water and usa a spray bottle, but be careful you can give your skin a nasty burn and wear eye protection and have some clean water close by. I have used play sand (sifted) from Home Depot to blast several manifolds and they have always came out great and not pitted by this sand....and it's alot cheaper than the shells......

 

Clean off the grease with Castrol Super Clean or Simple Green. Then use Eagle-1 rough cast aluminum mag wheel cleaner. It is formulated for use on bare rough cast wheels that do not have a clear coat. It has diluted Phosphoric acid I believe and it works great on cast aluminum pieces.

The only methods I try to avoid are the ones that use a potentialy destructive blast media like glass beads or sand. Some people like glass beads but you have to be careful to get them all out of the ports and out from under the heat shield on factory manifolds. Those glass beads can do a lot of damage if left inside and they end up floating around in the oiling system.

-Mark.

 

I blast them with normal glass shot #6 which is very common and then for the final pass use new glass shot and it will put a like new shine on the aluminum.
Any machine shop should be able to do this for you.
It will look like new.

 

Paint stripper works pretty good, removes dirt and grease as well as old paint... Brake parts cleaner is good, too...

Haven't tried the concrete cleaner yet but I have a gallon in my garage... good idea....

 

I've been using sand for nearly 40 years to clean aluminum intakes and heads (and carburetors on occasion). Never had a single problem. I cannot figure out where the "wives tales" come from regarding sand as a blasting media. True, it is difficult to remove sand (relative to walnut shells) but sand does not do any "damage" as the wives would say. The heat shield under the intake needs to be removed regardless of which media is used.

I have actually picked up sand off a Jersey beach, sifted it, and used it for blasting. Worked fine.

I even use sand to blast engine blocks... amazing results. But... removing the sand from a block is pretty time consuming. There can't be even one single grain of sand (or walnut shell) when done.

The trick, which applies to all media not just sand, is to regulate the pressure and grit based on the intended target. For example, don't use coarse grit media if the item will be polished. Use taps or thread chasers & air pressure to remove media from bolt holes.

2nd point.... concrete cleaner is muriatic acid.... not phosphoric. Check your apples & oranges before using acid on aluminum.

I have tried chemical cleaners, and they pale in comparison to media blasting. Chemical cleaners do not "even out" the surfrace by removing stains or discoloration. After media blasting, you have a perfectly flawless surface, ready for polishing, painting, coating or whatever.

The intakes that I blast look like they are brand new, fresh out of the box. Chemicals simply don't perform as well. The appearance depends upon which grit is used. When I sandblast a factory TriPower intake, it is indistinguishable from a factory finish. I currently have two of these and when I sandblasted the first one, it looked the same as the other, except clean. No mysterious damage. I suspect the rumors came from people using an extremely course grit sand.... which will definitely leave a "non-factory" appearance.

Bottom line.... after many years of experience, my opinion is that if you really want the manifold to look good (and be clean) you need to media blast it... and sand works just fine.

Any doubts? Chemical clean your intake, and send it to me. I'll blast half of it and send it back. Night & day.

 

the "reskinning of aluminum" you see advertised is nothing but putting glass beads in water in a large ultasonic tank and turning it on