cleaning aluminum intakes

[Belair62]

There is a process that machine shops use where they tumble the piece in something very mild...can't remember what the hell it is though.

[hvychev]

This is a good question for me too. I am going to do mine in the spring on my Deuce along with adding the correct valve covers, water pump, and other cosmetic corrections that need to be made.

Belair, do you know a good place around here that I can take mine to be done at?

[Belair62]

I'm pretty sure it was Fast Times in Morton Grove who I had mine done by...but it's been so long I can't remmber...try calling a machine shop and see if they know the process.

[musclcar]

so your saying a competant machine shop could clean the intake.the tunnel ram also has grease pen or paint pen swap meet prices on it.

[68l30]

I use this "tumble" process at work.It is in a vibratory machine that uses a media as a deburring/polishing agent when mixed with a H20 and oil as a lubricant.It does a good job but will leave a pattern type finish on your part and may also remove any grain on a intake.I use it mostly on hot rolled steel and stainless.It will work very well on aluminum depending on media type and duration of the cycle.I don't care for the finish on aluminum though.Very dull..


Steve

[Belair62]

There ya go Frank...maybe it's not for you....

[CamarosRus]

...I had my 70 LT-1 manifold STEEL shot blasted(just like when they were mfg at the foundry) at a place that rebuilds Aluminum mostly japanese cylinder heads......not positive but a "Wheelabrator" brand or similar type of machine that they used to run heads thru on a conveyor belt like idea was used....They steel shot is only used on aluminum parts and wasnt contaminated with ferous metal or grease to get into or on intake or my Muncie case.....I'll attach several pics to show you examples of my intake, muncie case, AND muncie DIE-CAST PIECES which I had vibratory/tumbled in ceramic stones with a detergent/chemical cleaner.
I should probably retake these pics in higher resolution, but this all takes TIME......hope you get the idea.

Chuck Sharin Seattle

THE FOLLOWING IS A STATEMENT FROM JEFF BETZ WHO CURRENTLY IS AN ENGINEER WITH DAIMLER-CHRYSLER.....previously with G.M. Jeff supervises in the plant where misc Jeep engines are built.

"Guys, I'm a design engineer that has worked with many cast iron and aluminum parts, and sand cast parts DO NOT have any type of skin on them from the foundry. Chuck is exactly correct when he states a "Wheelabrator" brand cleaning process (or similar version) is used to clean the sand off of a cast aluminum part when it goes thru "shakeout" which is the process of removing the core sand and green sand from the casting process. The type of media used may vary among foundrys, but they are all cleaned using an abrasive. To duplicate the "as cast" aluminum intakes may be a trick, because we need to correctly match that intake as it came out of the shakeout line of the foundry. It's anybody's guess today as to what media was used, and I'm sure that varied from month to month and foundry to foundry.
DIE CAST aluminum parts are a different story. A die cast aluminum part gets it strength from the outer skin that forms against a permanent cooled mold, very different from the sand used in a sand casting that is recycled/trashed after each part. Transmission tail shafts and distributor housings are typical die cast parts. Today, some parts are a mix of a permanent external mold with internal sand cast cores."


[IMG]

[Salvatore]

Very nice stuff!

[SS427]

Something that works very well for me is I use glass media and then use a green Scotchbrite pad afterwards and put a very slight polish on in. Only the high points of the casting pimples get shined up. This has worked very well and resembles virgin castngs very closely.
Rick

[Salvatore]

Good idea Rick. I have a Z/28 intake that I will try it on. I feel alot of people mess their intakes and especially their valve covers up! Sam