homebrew carb soak suggestions

Looking for a cheaper alternative to the $$$ paint can type cleaner. Laquer thinner or naphta maybe? The 1 gal ready made was 53.99 today at napa and I passed on it. What home brew recipies are you guys using?

Thanks

Seriously???

Do you have a Murray's 'round your neck of the way?

I remember getting the Berryman's carb cleaner in a paint can for around $13
I don't know if it gets cheaper than that...

It really worked well but smelled to high heaven...

It kinda had that nauseating band-aid smell that lingered for days n days.... n days... n more days...

Berrymans chemtool works great,comes in a spray can with a straw for the small spots

A one-gallon can of Berryman carb dip shouldn't be any more than $25.

I find a old metal bowl so with a gallon I can submerge the big carb pieces.

yep I get 2 cans of the parts cleaner at the discount/advanced auto store,less than 20$ a can

got a big metal cooking pan that will hold the whole carb body

then soak it 20-30 mins and blow it out with 90 psi of air

install new float and a jiffy kit and test & tune it

the best is the 5 gallon pail from napa...but it is corossive to the skin,was about 80$ lasted me a couple yrs and cleand carbs,heads,vc,intakes,pistons,rods,ect.ect.

about 5 whole engines and plus some before it was to dirty and lost its bite

what carb you rebuilding?

I am going out today to check somewhere else. I was sticker shocked at NAPA though they are the best parts store around here. My AFB that has been giving me fits is going in the dunk. Just when I feel like working on the car again, work gets busy.(thank God). I'll find something that will work and keep the wallet happy.

Thanks

I have done a couple cans of the brake clean and blow with air with good results also

I like the brake clean over the carb cleaner though

brake clean air drys fast and the carb clean is kinda oily to me and does not dry as fast or as good IMO

thats a good cheap way

your carb most likly is not that dirty if your running it...could just need a float and a gasket set with a good blowing of the air beeds and such if you on a budget

I have taken a few Q-jets apart and just used 90psi of air and have gotten the dirt out in a pinch

good luck

I have rebuilt 3 BBDs in the last year, getting ready to do a 4th. Bought the stuff at Advanced. I forgot the name. It sure does stink! I pour it through paper towels in a funnel to filter the large stuff out. Some of the carbs I have done are full of crystlized oxidized junk the requires a Dremel with a plastic brush to finish cleaning. I wonder if buying more cleaner and getting a plastic 5 gallon bucket would work for the 4 barrels I want to rebuild? Or would it eat the paint buckets?

BTW I let them soak for a week.

What's wrong with lacquer thinner? If you get the cheap stuff (we call it Gun Wash over here - for cleaning paint guns ) it is dirt cheap (even here in rip-off Britain I can get a gallon for about $12, I would think you would pay less - assuming you can still buy the stuff in your state! ).
I use this for cleaning everything - any reason this wouldn't be effective on a carb?

Howcome Scott at Harms hasn't weighed in on this yet. He would certainly be the best one to ask.

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Looking for a cheaper alternative to the $$$ paint can type cleaner. Laquer thinner or naphta maybe? The 1 gal ready made was 53.99 today at napa and I passed on it. What home brew recipies are you guys using?

Thanks

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$53.99? Find another parts store...Advance or AutoZone ought to have it for less than $20 per gallon. You will definitely not fit a 4 barrel carb in a 1 gallon pail. Putting the stuff in a larger pail helps, but DON'T use plastic, as it may eat right through it.
Back in my Safety Kleen days we sold the heavy duty stuff. The formula has been toned down some due to pressure from the EPA, but it still works pretty good, and still stinks, but not as bad as in the bad old days. Back then it was water, rosin soap, creosoles and cresylic acid. It definitely gets into your skin and stays there for a few days, no matter how hard you scrub, so wear gloves, and don't even think of using it if the fumes will get into the house, like from a garage attached to a house.

I let 'em soak for a couple days, then wash it off with hot water, then follow up with a dunk in lacquer thinner.

Don't pitch the stuff in the drain - take the dead pail to your local landfill for recycling. They usually accept it, so long as you are not running a business, at the same place they take used oil, paints, old pesticides, etc.