YUCK!

I bought this set of used carbs thinking I might be able to rebuild them then swap them out with the set on my bike. even though the slides move freely and the throttle shaft moves freely, I think these carbs are scrap. carbs 1 and 3 were full of gelled fuel and water, carb 2 was wet but had crystals forming in the float bowl and 4 was full of powdered gel and corrosion.


icky by bmonkey36, on Flickr

CN

 

As my good friend Miracle Max would say:

"Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your (carbs) here are only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do."

Aluminum.
Brass.
Bronze.

They'll clean-up. You just need the right tools, solvents and perseverance.

The "Bottom-ends" can be much worse than that and brought-back to their original cleanliness.

I have used Gunk, STP De-greaser, Lacquer Thinner and a Jewelery Store type Steam Cleaner.

This bad, ... its a Main Jet:

 

Don't break the float towers when you try to slide the pins out !!
Tap only so hard, and if they fight you - you sacrifice the pin by cutting it with a Dremel.

 

Those aren't "scrap." Those are "typical." Have at it.

 

If you want to scrap them....I'll take them!

Dave Fox

 

I will have to find my can of carb dip and see what happens. I was thinking of trying to soda blast them to get the outsides looking pretty. I just wish I hadn't paid so much for them.

CN

 

Since these are your backup carbs, take your time and be patient. The carbs will come clean with TLC. Be careful not to break the float pillars. Use fine tools and you can restore the carbs to brand new. Once you have spent the winter on this project you will have some really nice carbs for the bike in the spring.

 

DO NOT SUBMERGE unless fully disassembled including butterflies, throttle shafts and shaft seals.

 

duly noted. in fact that would be the only way they will fit in my 1 gallon can of carb dip. one at a time. but it may take me all winter just to find my carb dip.

CN

 

I can recommend soda blasting them. I did that with mine myself. On a low setting it's fairly gentle and can be directed at the insides too. I completely dismantled them first then meticulously cleaned out any residual blast media. They needed no more polishing afterwards because they looked absolutely brand new.

 

This is all good info, thanks guys as I have just received a set of 4 "New to me" XJ750R carbs that are bound to be in the same condition. I'll get started on them now and have them on a low simmer till February !

 

Pardon the ignorance . . .
What is soda blasting?

 

You fire coca cola at them at high pressure... :lol:

Sorry, it's really pretty similar to other media blasting processes, except instead of firing sand/lead shot or glass mixed with air at high velocity they use baking soda instead. It's a much gentler form of blasting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soda_blasting

 

Inconceivable!

 

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

 

It means he watches the right movies to know what Rick was talking about

 

he's a WITCH!

 

As you wish

 

Why won't my arms move?

 

You've been mostly dead all day.

:lol: Hahaha!!! Now that we have completely derailed this thread!!!

 

Five yard penalty for illegal procedure... Wrong movie

 

Penalty declined............It's the right movie. The only slight change is the substitution of the word "he's" instead of "you're"......

dave

 

ok boys, back on topic. had one float pin that didn't want to budge. a lot of soaking with penetrating oil and some finessing, and it finally gave way.


floats out by bmonkey36, on Flickr

I also discovered today that the original pilot screw plugs are still in place. I hadn't really looked before.


pilot screws by bmonkey36, on Flickr

CN

 

Carb #2 looks AWESOME!!!!! LOL

What in the world did that get filled up with!?!?!?!

dave

 

actually, that is number 3 that looks so good. 1 and 3 were full of gelled fuel..

CN

 

That can't be number 3. If you turn that up into the boots, it lines up with number two. I'm talking about the one with all the red stuff in it.....that's #2.....unless I'm looking at the rack completely wrong-----

dave

 

got it! I didn't catch the sarcasm in your earlier post. 1 and 3 are actually really great looking. I thought you were being serious.

CN

 

It wasn't criticism..........it was irony.

I've seen some pretty good ones, that one takes the cake. Glad you got it separated......I've broken towers on ones that were nicer than that. LOL

dave

 

I meant to say sarcasm not criticism. but anyway carb #4 was the hardest one to get the float pin out of. it took a couple days of soaking in penetrating oil and some finessing to get it out.

CN

 

I'm planning to start sodablasting my carbs once things slow down a bit and I get the time.

I came across a supply of carbs back during the summer......I now have a stack of about a dozen and a half racks of carbs to rebuild. Once I get them all labeled and cataloged, I'll take a pic. It's cool just to look at the stack of them, though, too.! LOL

dave f

 

well I wasn't sure If I was going to get this emulsion tube out of the number 2 carb.


number 2 emulsion tube by bmonkey36, on Flickr

CN

 

I've been doing a lot of research on ultrasonic cleaning, might be worth looking in to for this kind of job.

Like a carb dip but without the harsh chemicals, safe on plastic parts and takes a fraction of the time.

 

are you saying there are services that do that? or are you suggesting I get an ultrasonic cleaner? I am very familiar with them, as I used them when I worked in the jewelry fabrication and repair industry. they are quite expensive to buy.

CN

 

that'll buff right out
you could clean that up with a little wire brush and some guitar strings but the corrosion might have changed the size of the holes enough to effect it's function. you read all the posts on here about guys having carb tuning problems, you don't want to get into that and have a needle jet that isn't right or might not be right. you could be chasing your tail for a long time. cut your losses and find some better ones

 

these carbs came off a xj650. the only parts I am interested in are the carb bodies. all the jets are junk anyway.

CN

 

I did some searching on the subject ultrasonic parts cleaning services and found this cool video of engines parts being cleaned. pretty cool stuff to watch, but you might want to turn the volume down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5Ec7dCZSto

CN

 

so I went out and bought harbor freight's large ultrasonic cleaner. it is just big enough to hold 2 carb bodies at the same time. just using some laundry detergent has cleaned them up nicely, but they need something a little more caustic. does anyone have any home recipes for carb cleaning solution?

CN

 

Did you buy this on:

Harbor Freight 2.5l

I'd like to know how it works out. It has good reviews but I've seen questionable quality out of HF.

Two thumbs up for this thread for a great balance of sound motorcycle advice and pithy humor.

 

yup! I got 20% off and paid $12 for a lifetime replacement warranty. the total price came out to less than the original price. it will hold 2 carb bodies at once. I used laundry detergent at first. it did a great job of degreasing them, but did not remove rust scale or corrosion. I had to boil the carb bodies in a crock pot of krud kutter (phosphoric acid) to remove the rust and corrosion. it was also necessary to open up the cold start wells and some other passages in a couple of the carb bodies. the krud kutter turned the aluminum black but I am planning to soda blast them and that should make them look like new.

CN

 

I went to my local materials supplier for a bag of soda and as it turned out I got the bag for free. I surmise that they just wrote it off as a broken bag because they didn't want to mess with the paperwork for only one bag of soda.


soda by bmonkey36, on Flickr

now I gotta get my blaster out and blast those carbs.

CN

 

I finished up blasting today just before it started raining. it is amazing what a difference soda blasting makes.

here are some before and after shots. the carb on the right was already blasted...

before;


CARBS 1 by bmonkey36, on Flickr


CARBS 1.2 by bmonkey36, on Flickr

after;


CARBS 1.4 by bmonkey36, on Flickr


CARBS 1.3 by bmonkey36, on Flickr

before;


FLOT BOWLS BEFORE by bmonkey36, on Flickr

after;


FLOAT BOWLS 2 by bmonkey36, on Flickr

CN

 

after a finial trip through the ultrasonic cleaner with some dish soap and a good blowing out with shop air, they are ready for rebuilding. now to pool the funds for the necessary rebuild parts.


ZESTFULLY CLEAN 1 by bmonkey36, on Flickr


ZESTFULLY CLEAN 2 by bmonkey36, on Flickr


ZESTFULLY CLEAN 3 by bmonkey36, on Flickr

number 4 carb has a lot of pitting from the corrosion. good thing this set is a spare set. I will likely use my other number 4 carb when I get that set apart. although that particular carb is the troublesome one on the bike. its' cold start circuit is clogged up.

CN

 

This is what I use.
http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/

 

this is the setup I have. it is a cheap harbor freight sand blaster with some mods. most notably the air pinch valve with foot control. the turbine in the top right corner of the pic is for my fresh air hood.


soda blaster by bmonkey36, on Flickr

CN

 

I'm thinking of getting this airgun do you think it will be ok with soda?

They've come up great Cycle, asking because mine will need to be done to.

 

it will work, just not as well as a pressure system like the one I have. if you do get that one or make the one that bigshankhank posted, you will want to make a diy blast cabinet similar to this one...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemad ... g-Cabinet/

I use a fresh air hood like this one...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Supplied-fresh- ... 5894617ca9

and I was covered from head to toe with soda. the baking soda you get from the grocery store will work, but not as well as actual blasting soda. here are some faqs' on the subject...

http://www.armex.com/faqs.aspx

CN

 

Now would be the time to put Gunkote on those carbs
http://www.kgcoatings.com/gun-kote-finish.php

 

That homemade blasting cabinet it genius, I can see me recycling some of my little 'uns Ikea toyboxes for this, they're clear stacking boxes so won't even need to cut the top and add plexi

 

that would be a great idea if the fuel would not wash it away. the float bowls and the bottoms of some of the carb bodies have a lot of pitting from corrosion.

CN

 

the other item that is crucial to blasting, is a large air compressor. I have a 60 gallon compressor that does a fair job of keeping up with my blasting demands.

CN