Re: Pietenpol-List: Corvair engine cleaning

matronics · Post by **matronics** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 3:27 pm

Original Posted By: Ken Rickards
Ken,When I first got my heads they were VERY dirty. The man who sold it tome told me it had been sitting for almost 20 years in a barn somwhere inthe Pacific Northwest. It was caked on with crud, oil, and even founda couple rodent nests under the baffling.The first step in getting it clean was to pressure wahs it at the localcar wash. That got the big chunks off. Then I bought about 4 cans ofEasy Off oven cleaner. This stuff is awesome! Youhave to be verycareful when you use it as it will attack aluminum. What I did wasspray it on fairly generously and then let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then pressure wash it off. Do that about 4 or 5 times and the case andheads look silver almost like new.The next step in getting them really really clean is walnut shell blastthem. Using my blasting cabinet and medium AD6B walnut shell media(which I got locally for $25 for a 50lb bag) I blasted them in everynook and cranny. Took me about 2 hours of blasting to get themperfectly clean.I did the same with the case. Under NO circumstance will you use glassbead or sand media. You will ruin the case and heads. Walnuts are verysafe on aluminum.... althought you still must stay away from machinedand/or gasket areas.The final step was a 1" wire brush in my hand drill. I went over theentire case and heads with it which gave them a slightly polished look.As you can see my heads are modified a la Pat Panzera & Mark Langfordwith the carb flange routed off and then polished and then a 90 degreeintake pipe welded on.It pays to take the extra time to make your parts REALLY clean. DJ----- Original Message -----

matronics · Post by **matronics** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 8:21 am

Original Posted By: "DJ Vegh"
Thanks DJ. Most helpful.I feel inspired enough to make a start on my engine this weekend.KenGN1 2992Canada----- Original Message -----