Vapor Blasting of Aluminum Parts

steve murdoch icoa #5322 · Tue Dec 08, 2015 8:44 pm

That bare metal is very close in colour to the Antique Silver engine paint i have on the '79.
I like it as is.

NobleHops · Post by **NobleHops** » Sat Dec 26, 2015 12:31 pm

Did a pretty cool cross-section of work recently, fun before-and-afters to show

H2 cases:

CB750 cases:

Harley heads:

BMW hubs:

Miata intake:

Pretty cool, eh?

Thanks for checking it out and be in touch if I can be of service.

Nils Menten
nils@restocycle.com

Michael Vidovic · Post by **Michael Vidovic** » Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:36 pm

Once again, impressive!

NobleHops · Post by **NobleHops** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:55 am

Thank you Michael

Got a nice project in before Christmas. 6 nice CBX carbs!

These get TWO trips through the ultrasonic, before and after vapor blasting, which is done with the tops and bowls and accelerator pump covers on. So many passages on these things, they really are a work of industrial art.

This billed out at 3 hours, net $210 plus return shipping. But they have to be ALL the way apart to do this, down to itty bits.

NobleHops · Post by **NobleHops** » Wed Jan 20, 2016 11:59 pm

Had an interesting project finish up this week.

In my recent haul of motorcycles there was a hotrod K2 750. This bike has great bones, but it's getting some TLC to suit my own sensibilities before its off to find its 'forever home'. First up were these engine covers. Apologies in advance for the photos, the camera was freaking out over the chrome in these first few, but I think you'll get the idea. Someone along the way thought it would look swell to chrome plate the aluminum valve and side covers, and although it probably looked bitchin' for a while, the inevitable happened, the chrome started to lift and looked like crap.

But WE have Chemistry, and a local plater that doesn't mind switching the polarity on the anode and the cathode when asked to. So we de-plated them. And then they looked like pickled $h!t, truly gruesome and my dutiful plater was deeply dubious about what would happen next. But we have a vapor blaster, and a dry blast cabinet, and the desire to fix this, so we did.

After a hard trip through the dry blaster at higher than normal pressures to remove the heavy discoloration and pitting and oxide and chemistry staining, we got this. And it is not as smooth as it would have been if it were unmolested along its way, but it's looking much better.

Wanting to return these to something even closer to a factory finish, we spent less than an hour of quality time with the buffer for all 4 parts and quickly got to this:

...and I am pretty psyched. And I'd be happy to do this for you too if you find yourself in the same predicament.

[/quote]

cross · Post by **cross** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:36 am

Great work Nils!
Question for you, I have set of RC Engineering pipes for my CBX but they were ceramic coated and I do not like the look so I was thinking of stripping that and having them chrome plated.
Any ideas on how the ceramic coat can be stripped and not pit the pipes?

Thanks

NobleHops · Post by **NobleHops** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:44 am

cross wrote:Great work Nils!
Question for you, I have set of RC Engineering pipes for my CBX but they were ceramic coated and I do not like the look so I was thinking of stripping that and having them chrome plated.
Any ideas on how the ceramic coat can be stripped and not pit the pipes?

Thanks

Thank you Sasha!

It kind-of depends - some 'ceramic' coatings are simply special powdercoat finishes, others are applied more or less with a blowtorch - producing something that you might find on a rocket nozzle. If it's the powdercoat style then it would almost certainly give up if it were dipped in a methylene chloride stripping bath - that is the surefire way to strip paint and powdercoat and in 15 minutes: the stuff more or less falls off. Find a local company that strips furniture and it's likely that's what they use. If it's the blowtorch style, then my answer is "no clue". Seeing how that stuff is applied makes me think it would need a trip into a volcano to remove it. Call the company that did it and put the question to them.

I don't think the methylene chloride will do any harm to the metal if it's applied and removed as directed and not left to sit. Methylene chloride is the active ingredient in the mythical, "aircraft stripper' that is safe for aluminum - you will also find it listed as a primary ingredient in "Premium" strippers that you will find at Home Depot etc. Just read the label to be sure. If you're interested in DIY then buy a can and test a small spot under the header clamps or something. Clean the area of carbon or oil and apply a little blob of the stripper, wait 15 min and wipe it off (wear gloves). If the coating comes with it you're in luck and you can probably DIY with a gallon of the stripper. Those fumes are bad news - do it outside or in an open garage with a fan and wear a proper respirator.

Report back what you learn!

cross · Post by **cross** » Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:29 am

Pipes have never been installed post coating so I will try doing that on the baffles, hope it works as I don't really care as to how it looks. It's the chrome look finish, I'm guessi they buffed it after coating it.
Thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it goes

NobleHops · Post by **NobleHops** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 8:05 am

cross wrote:Pipes have never been installed post coating so I will try doing that on the baffles, hope it works as I don't really care as to how it looks. It's the chrome look finish, I'm guessi they buffed it after coating it.
Thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it goes

Please do share what you learn!

cross · Post by **cross** » Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am

I definitely will. I'm trying to locate guy I bought them from so I can find out who did the pipes. This way i can learn what type of ceramic coating was it done in.

NobleHops · Post by **NobleHops** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 9:46 am

A CBX!

Super psyched I got to do a CBX for one of our community. This is an engine from a 79 with a set of new-to-it cases from our friend Louis, and we had it bored while it was in our hands for a big-bore Cruzinimage piston set.

The first words out of my customer's mouth were, and I quote, "That's amazing! Wow!".

With no further ado, enjoy a little vapor blast eye candy:

Getting ready, plugging passages:

Numbering bearings before removal:

Small parts:

Valve cover, head, cylinders:

Into the pool!

...and out again.

Thanks for checking it out!

N.

FalldownPhil · Post by **FalldownPhil** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 11:47 am

WOW !! That's Amazing

Beautiful.

cross · Post by **cross** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 12:18 pm

Nils,
This doesn't pit aluminum at all? Is there anything else that needs to be done before paining it?
It looks very shiny!

NobleHops · Post by **NobleHops** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 12:45 pm

cross wrote:Nils,
This doesn't pit aluminum at all? Is there anything else that needs to be done before paining it?
It looks very shiny!

Thanks guys.

If you were to paint then I think a self etching primer would smooth out any pitting you see. No, vapor blasting won't pit the metal by itself, but it sure will make what's there shinier and easier to notice!

I am hoping this fellow opts NOT to paint it, I think this looks more like metal, but the painted finish looks perfect, done well, and is more correct for these engines, so he may go that way.

cross · Post by **cross** » Tue Jan 26, 2016 1:23 pm

Yes, this engine would look great just like that, i was just asking about painting vapor blasted parts in general

Thanks NIls

The International CBX Owners Association