Case halves going in for cleaning. What do I tell the shop?

[JonT]

The local shop has a parts washer and soda blaster. Do I have them do both? Can the soda blaster damage the mating surfaces? Should they be avoided and only hand scrubbed with scotch-brite pads? I want to leave him clear instructions thanks for the help.

[MetalDoc]

The inside of your case looks very clean to me. Not sure what the outside looks like. After running through the parts washer you may have to clean the inside again. The most important cleaning would be flushing the oil passages.

[boosted79]

Parts cleaner. Hot tanks used for cast iron can be a little too aggressive for aluminum depending on how much alkali it has in it, he should know that. He might have a hot tank just for aluminum. Then soda blast ONLY with a dedicated soda blaster, not one that is used for glass also. The soda will not hurt the mating surfaces, but yours look pretty good as is? No need to blast the insides. Then rinse well with hot soapy water, then rinse with hot water only. When you get it back put it in the tub and wash well again with a Tide/hot water mix. The rinse well with hot water. Check the oil galleries that you can with pipe cleaners to make sure they are clean. Blow all galleries with compressed air.

[JonT]

thanks guys I have done some scrubbing with scotchbrite and gasket remover on the mating surfaces and have wiped out the inside. Its the outside Im trying to pretty up as well. Thanks for the tips. I'll post some before and after pics.

[boosted79]

Shoot it with some Cerakote MC161 if you want to keep it looking pretty for a long time. All the fastener surfaces, mating surfaces etc need to be masked though and you don't want any inside.

[Tippy]

Soda will make the aluminum look brand new out of the casting molds and will not hurt the mating surfaces unless pure carelessness.

[gtc]

Mine was run through a parts washer to get the major crud off, then cleaned in an ultrasonic tank to get the halves super clean.

Started with this:


Wound up with this:

[JonT]

Wow very nice. Now I just need to find a ultrasonic tank that will fit them.