Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Triumph bulletin board Cleaning a head after bead blasting - T140V

I don’t like abrasive on any engine castings, but have never tried vapour blasting. The best results I have ever seen was using an industrial aircraft paint stripper. Not the Aircraft paint stripper available at the parts stores… especially the one which says “not for stripping aircraft”. The right stuff can be hard to find. I wouldn’t use anything with caustic soda. There is a local Vincent twin that used to be a matching numbers bike until a previous owner took the cases to a rad shop and they left the cases in over night.

All good points, folks. I have talked to a local fellow that does vapor blasting, he gave me a good education on the subject regarding the finish as you all have.

Luckily the head(s) will fit in the larger ultrasonic cleaner, I will treat that with the citric acid, blast the head, give it a good bath, blow it out, maybe a second bath and then take it over to have the vapor blasting done.

Thanks all, much appreciate the input.

Rob

The final rinse…..


0F0DEAB7-9C56-4BA4-A22C-8B9AB0984BD4 by First Last, on Flickr

Your either single or sneaky. I'm single. I use the oven to dry M/C parts.

Oddly enough I’m ( still) married to a wonderful women who I refer to as my human credential. I’m not sure what they are, but I must have some redeeming qualities if she married me.

I only put things in there for the final cleaning, but it does stink sometimes if I’ve used stripper at some point. They do get rinsed off with a pressure washer before they go in the dishwasher. I do try and keep it to a minimum. Usually only heads and cases.
When detergent is used, it can alter (darkens) the surface so use caution. I find that desirable sometimes….gives the aluminum an aged look, but it’s a bit of a crap shoot depending on the detergent you use.
She’s heading off this morning to visit her mother for 6 days….. I will be completely unsupervised.

Ps… I did buy a $10.00 oven off VerageSale for the garage in order to maintain the marital bliss.