Sand blasting chain housings - a good idea??

[Speed Buggy]

I think I remember in the book that the chain housings are one of the parts that can be blasted. Is there any passages that need to be taped up before blasting or cleaned out afterward?? Thanks, Mike.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by Speed Buggy

I think I remember in the book that the chain housings are one of the parts that can be blasted. Is there any passages that need to be taped up before blasting or cleaned out afterward?? Thanks, Mike.

I specialize in the M96/97 engines so I don't know about your engine, But if you can find someone that has a DRY ICE Blaster it works on anything, anywhere! Search Internet thats how I found a shop 80 miles from me for my engines.

[billjam]

SAND-blasting is fine. GRIT-blasting is too coarse. Then there are all the other forms of media blasting that are less abrasive than sand.
There aren't any oil passages to worry about on early housings; even the passages on 3.6 hosuings don't need to be blocked off - just wash and blow to clean.

[Speed Buggy]

Thank you both. Never heard of dry ice blasting. Interesting concept. Cheers, Mike

[E Sully]

There are many different types of media you can use in abrasive blasting. Sand is not used any more due to silicosis from breathing in the dust. Glass bead, walnut shells, plastic abrasive, soda blasting, dry ice are some of the gentler ones. They all have their good and bad qualities. Do a search on the internet and you will find a lot of information. The air pressure and media you use is important depending on what you are cleaning. Some will etch the surface or cause warping of the material.

[AlfonsoR]

Also be aware that for most media, there are probably several different particle sizes. For example walnut shells, you can get anything from super-fine powder to booger size chunks, maybe even bigger. I found this out the hard way.

[Speed Buggy]

Thank you some more. I am going to use the blaster I have access to. I used to change out the media, but I don't remember what it is off hand. Cheers.

[Spenny_b]

I've had my chain boxes (and other parts) vapour blasted. It's a very fine powder, finer than castor sugar, mixed with water and blasted - check out my rebuild thread in the link below for pics of items I've had done.....I'm very impressed with it, not as harsh as using harder materials like walnut shells and leaves the surface mildly peened, meaning that unlike grit blasted surfaces, it doesn't stain when you pick it up with greasy hands. It's about as close to a factory finish as you're likely to get - in fact probably shinier than factory, but IMO looks cracking. I have heard comments about my components looking "over restored"....wotta load of bollocks.

Not as common to find people offering this as a service, and certainly in my area, it's more expensive per item than grit blasting (about £10/$15 per item).

HTH,
Spencer.

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by Speed Buggy

Thank you both. Never heard of dry ice blasting. Interesting concept. Cheers, Mike

The nice thing is it evaporates on impact leaving zero residue to clean out of the parts. It is used to clean old books by varying the airpressure.