I have been doing two things with case, cylinder (outer) and head prep. I use a company in Rhode Island that does "Vapor Blasting", Ink Solutions (they do T shirts as well). This is a liquid based process, but it also has some media. The results are good. I will try to post a few photos. The other which I just tried is Dry Ice blasting. This is starting to become popular, and the only thing left is residue from whatever comes off of the case. It cleans well, but does not give that "over restored" look. I will try to post some photos of the next piece I have done that way.


Erik Madsen
Riva Ridge Motorsport

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When I was a kid I used to "operate" a vapor blaster. Instead of air/glass beads it's water/glass beads.
I'm with the engine builders. Don't blast engine parts with abrasive material that doesn't evaporate or disolve thoroughly in water or other solvents. Just one glass bead can do a lot of damage to an engine's lubricated moving parts.
But, if you must, clean, clean, clean and clean some more.

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The marina used baking soda to remove the anti fouling paint on my Riva w/o any pitting or other suface perforation. I highly recommend using baking soda as the medium for cleaning. Plus environmentaly friendly

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Recently I have talked with Ashley regarding a Soda Blaster. It is close to 12 thousand dollars to have an industrial machine installed if you have enough air to make it run (we do). We also have a glass bead blaster a large parts washer and two large tumblers. Our experience has been NEVER to glass bead any engine case unless you are able to pull all the oil plugs and clean the oil galleys. I would also advise you to NEVER use a tumbler on the engine (or transmission) case since it distorts the mating on the edges.A good aluminum tumbler will make things really shine but will probably cause leaks at the surface unless a great deal of time is spent making things (flat) correct.
It seems to me that there are a lot of people doing cleaning that do not know how to follow through to make the parts correct. It is hour hope that by the last quarter of the year we will have the Soda Blaster operational and perfected cleaning the oil passages in the case. To do this work will probably be in the three hundred to four hundred dollars. al zim

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Once the original surface is lost, it will stain very easily and a little dificult to clean off compared to the OEM surface. You can prevent surface staining using a clear-coat lacquer spray.
The same for brake drums.

Dick

Would someone comment on what the "original" factory block finish looked like? I have seen several cases, all used, and am wondering how they looked "fresh." In each situation, the cases had different levels of a surface discoloration, a sort of oxidation that dulled the metal slightly.

To get that, I have cleaned my cases in mineral spirits. That seems to do the trick for me.

Jus'Sayin'

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I have soda blasted my case. It is not abrasive enough to get a uniform look but does clean the surface. If you want to build your own try this

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-t ... a_blaster/

I have used it and it really does work.

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