removing case studs yes / no?
 

Hi,

I recently bought a small spitgot 7R case in very good condition.
"only" problem is that it is vapour blasted so I am cleaning case(removing oil squirters and oil gallery plugs etc).
During the vapour blasting the studs lost there protective galvanizing layer and are / will be prone to rust.

What is your expert opinon?

1) Remove them and get them galvanized?
What is best procedure to remove them without damaging? What stud removing tool?
Are there complete sets for sale?

2) leave them as removing will be troublesome?

3) ....?

Thanks,
Bart

I would not remove them unless they are rusted badly. But some have had them removed and replated so the ends of the studs that show are gold colored. BTW they are not plated from the factory.

Hi Bart,

I recently bought a vaporblast cabinet, please take great care in cleaning your engine case, the media hides everywhere!
As for the studs, I'd leave them in and maybe use some gun blue on them to add a bit of corrosion protection.

The gun blue might react with magnesium, it's fine on aluminium though. I can do a test tonight on a spare mag part if you want.

Removing cae studs yes/no?
 

Thanks for the replies!

@Gordon:
They are not rusted at all, just wanted to protect them before they do.
Surprised that the factory does not plate them.

@Arlo:
Cleaning like crazy I know.
Removed all oil squirters(drilling, tapping and bolt + slide hammer) and most of the oil gallerie plugs(see pics. Then I used compressed air and water to start with. Now I will check on black paper if there is dome residual grid. If so I will repeat process and go to ultrasonic cleaning., etc. etc. ;-)
(We kunnen Nederlands praten denk ik.....)

Cheers,
Bart
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nice work.

Thanks!

Removing oil squirters seems scary but some good threads how to do it can be found on this forum.

+1 on this. A friend bought an freshly assembled engine that was vapor blasted, but not cleaned as we found out after less than 1000 miles when in sized up! Everything is junk in the engine except the heads...

Importance cleaning case after media / vapour blasting
 

@Arlo & Magnus

I am fully aware of the cleaning and removing blast media. I started removing oil gallery plugs (and oil squirters)

Just have a look and see the importance :eek:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600888797.JPG
Clearly one can see the what happened in the oil squirter after removing (drilling) the cap off.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1600888970.JPG
Picture of what came out of the main oil gallery. The others were the same story!

just a warnig for those who believe there case is clean(ed) after vapour / media blasting.

Cheers,
Bart

I can't believe they blasted the inside of the engine. Would be interesting to carefully measure the main journals, I bet they lost .0003" at the parting line of the case..... I soda blasted the outside of my case, but flushed it with hot water for about a half hour after, then compressed air and then a couple cans of carb cleaner.

Soda blasting seems pretty benign - didn't hurt my ungloved hands when they got in the way. Made a mess, doing it in my driveway without an enclosure. But I'd never consider doing it on the inside of an engine or transmission. Why? You can't see it. Stains don't matter. Other methods work fine and fairly efficiently to clean out whatever gunk is in there.

What exactly does "vapor blasting" mean? Typical blasting pressurized air and some kind of medium. Is air the vapor? Or is it something more exotic?

Hi Walt, it is water, air, and an abrasive medium. This can be glass bead, aluminium oxide, ceramic beads, or a mix thereof. Depends on the desired finish.

So just a fancy name for sand blasting or media blasting? Calling it vapor blasting sounds like something which just used the "vapor" for the medium, which sounds sort of harmless. Like specialized pressure washing, maybe with some soap added? Or water cutting, but not at those pressures/concentrations?

Just a slush of water and usually glas that you blast with compressed air. You can convert a blast cabinet for a DIY version. Look on youtube.
It doesn't embed the media in the material, to the same extent anyway. When you blast aluminum it closes the pores and leaves a polished finish. Aluminum looks really nice after a treatment.
But you still need to clean very well after.

A nice thing when using it is that there is no dust!

I plan on getting a few suspension parts blasted, I think that is ideal for getting the parts clean and keeping them clean. I think it would make a nice job of cleaning engine fans and housings.

I’ve vaporblast a bunch of parts. It doesn’t remove metal. You do have to clean thoroughly after blasting since it’s basically glass bead and water. The finish is a lot smoother than dry blasting and stays cleaner.

When I first tried it on my motorcycle parts, they were so corroded, I had nothing to loose. They ended up looking almost new.

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Thanks
Something else to consider. For instance, maybe could be used out in the driveway without a cabinet if you weren't concerned about reusing the media? Can you reuse the media anyway given they are all wet?

The shop where I used to work has a big vaporblast cabinet. It can hold a transmission or or 3 at one time. It uses a shop size compressor and LOTS of air. The blast media exits like a small firehose. If the cabinet wasn't completely waterproof from the inside, it would be everywhere. The media is pumped back through the machine and constantly recycled. The media doesn't seem to break down or wear out as fast as dry blasting. The final effect of the vapor blasting is much like a tumbled part. It almost looks painted.