Soda Blasting -- who's tried it?

So, I got my xj last year and it had a lot of grimy buildup from a leaky valve cover gasket. Ive replaced the gasket and sealed the leaks but still had a lot of oily, dirty build up on the head and in between the cooling fins.

I tried alcohol, degreaser, etc., with a brass brush, but it was intensely laborious and I made very little progress.

Started googling around and not sure if i saw the link here first, or elsewhere but got the idea to try "Soda blasting" I needed a 6' section of 1/2" vinyl tube, a 4$ air compressor nozzle from harbor freight and a few 54 cent boxes of baking soda.

Videos online showed remarkable results and I'm glad to report the same outcome for my greasy xj650 fins.

Here is the blasting nozzle I used. It was SUPER easy to fab.


Here's the before pic of my head, years of grimy build up:


And here is the after pic -- Bare Metal. I missed a few spots, but am super happy with the results for the effort involved.


Clean up was a snap. No residue, just dust that blows off and wipes down nicely.

Obviously, I'd want to pull and clean all parts individually for good measure, but for this tertiary / spot clean, I couldn't be happier with results. I will definitely use this process any time I clean anything from now on!

Interested to hear if anyone has used this process or has tips for refining my nozzel, etc.

Thanks & Enjoy!

 

I tried it once and I had total failure, my setup looked nothing like yours.
All I can offer is that you can get bags of soda at Wal-Mart in the pool isle, might be cheaper and I hear harbor freight has "blasting grade" soda in big bags, never saw it though,

 

This video has the best / simplest explaination of how to get good results for cheap. I copied this guy's nozzle and BAM!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KULVhW2tw4I

 

I have a "homeowner grade" cheapo portable sandblasting kit from Sears. http://www.sears.com/craftsman-50-lb-sa ... Redirect=y

I use Harbor Freight blasting soda ($22 a bag IIRC) in it and it works quite well.

Nothing like having a whole motor professionally done by an industrial blasting shop; but for small parts like petcocks, carbs, various cast covers, etc., it works nicely. I like the effect of "spraying cleanliness."

 

Wear a mask...
Breathing this stuff will make you uncomfortable

 

I have and I don't have the patience for it. NOT effective for the condition my stuff is in to get it to the level of surface prep I demand.

 

So, what kind of condition is your stuff in? What kind of surface prep do you demand? and how much does that cost?

My total investment here was 7$. Hard to argue.

No, its not a do-all solution, but given the amount of time and effort I've put in, (12 mins on the fab, and 20 mins to the store for more $0.50 soda boxes) i was pretty happy with the results.

Admittedly, any parts that have grime and that I didnt blast thoroughly had a little buildup of soda powder on them since the grimy surface is a bit tacky. No worse for ware though.. I just used a rag and wiped those areas down.. Either way, it was a big improvement from where I was.

 

I set up a soda blaster similar to yours based on a tip I received from an air cooled VW forum (which is odd since I have never owned an air cooled VW). I had little success, but given what I see in your photos, and my engine is just a little grungy and not really messed up, I may give it another shot.

 

Yeah, they do. I have a bag here in the shop.....how did you miss that?!?!?! lol

And, that write-up on the air-cooled VW page is a great article. I came across that a few years ago, and printed it off.

dave

 

Similar to yours, some better, some worse.

VERY!!!!! high,

How much do you want to include, and how many projects can I figure into it?

The compressor, $600: COUNTLESS useages in the past 10 years.

The booth,$200: Not too old, but I have blasted through the a large amount of the small parts on a Mustang, a few of the small parts on my sons SHO Taurus, a lawn mower, quite a few other small projects and now My Old Maxim.

Dust collector, FREE!!

The Aluminum Oxide, IIRC 30lbs for $40 ffrom Harbor Freight, twice:

Electricity, I have no clue.

Any which way you figure it, is it cost effective? HELL NO!!!!!!!

Is it worth it? A resounding HELL YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Most cheap tools are frustrating.

edit; I had to buy a new, real, blast gun recently, from TSC, $20. WORTH EVERY PENNY!

 

So I took another stab at this and had much better luck. Rather than invest too much effort in masking off the intake and exhaust ports on the XJ engine only to find out this didnt work, I dug into my unlimited pile of random motorcycle parts and pulled out the carb for my Aermacchi SX350, which has needed cleaning since the day I got it.
Before

After

Before

After


Ok so it's not the be all, end all but I think with a gravity fed tool, some fresh baking soda (mine has been sitting open on the shelf for months) and a bigger compressor (which I have but only used my nail gun compressor for this) I can achieve better results.

 

Sorry, double post.

 

You need blasting soda, not the soda "dust" from the box in the kitchen cupboard. And an air compressor capable of producing spray-painting level CFM.

Here's a pic from my petcock rebuild piece; I soda-blasted most of those parts with my DIY rig:

 

Granted, as I said the material I was using was not ideal, although it did run by my local HF and they did not have the blasting soda. There was a spot on the shelf for it, just no product. However I did get a gravity-fed gun and I have a 25 gallon compressor which can put out a heck of a lot more pressure than my pancake one, so once I get them all together I'll be in good shape.

Fact is, with the multiple washes with degreaser/cleaner, Dremel cleaning with various attachments, working over the fins and flat areas with synthetic steel wool and following it all up with some aluminum polish and NevRDull, it looks pretty darn good right now. Not showroom finish, but a vast improvement from where it was when it was delivered. Other than refinishing the valve cover when I do the valves (I think you wrote the how-to on that Fitz?) I may be happy with the cleanliness. This isn't intended to be a show bike, after all.

 

Nice!

 

Got some blasting soda at HF, gave it a few test shots with my nail gun compressor on my Del Orto carb, the right material definitely made a difference. Next up, hook up the big air compressor and try the XJ engine. And when it is all said and done, I will be the proud owner of one clean as hell engine, and about 47 remaining pounds of blasting soda.