OK, I had a little time today (thanks to an ice storm that closed my office...) to tinker with an old carb.
I found a suitable victim, some variety of TQ that wasn't too dirty - I didn't want to get out in to the sleet and 20-degree temps to clean the thing first, so this one is fresh out of the bin.
Carb_Restore_Baseline-01 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
Effort will focus on the driver side, and this is the general texture I'm hoping to keep. I need to verify that the AVS is about the same - I kind of remember it being a little more coarse than this TQ:
Carb_Restore_Baseline-02 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
The bottom side of the body is essentially as-cast and nice, bright, and fresh. This is the look that I suspect the whole carb used to look like, and what I remember my NOS TQ looked like when I took it out of the box:
Carb_Restore_Baseline-03 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
I'm using blue tape to mask the areas that will be treated:
Carb_Restore_Baseline-04 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
First up, Eagle One etching mag wheel cleaner - works great on my as-cast Vintage Wheel Works wheels, and I'm expecting it will work OK here. This bottle is almost empty and several years old, so it may be a little weak due to age.
Carb_Restore_Eagle1-05 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
Still foamed up as the aluminum reacted with the phosphoric acid. I finished everything with a worn-out toothbrush to scrub the nooks & crannies:
Carb_Restore_Eagle1-06 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
And done... not very dramatic from this view:
Carb_Restore_Eagle1-07 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
Up close, you can see that it's now clean, but it does have a darker tone as noted above. Texture appears to be 100% intact:
Carb_Restore_Eagle1-08 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
Here you can see that this anodized plug does get slightly discolored, but you could probably mask this off to avoid any damage:
Carb_Restore_Eagle1-09 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
Overall, I was pretty happy with how the Eagle One etching wheel cleaner worked. The resulting finish had the right texture, but it was a little dull, and not as bright as I would like.
Next up, crushed walnut shells in the blasting cabinet...
Clair
