NEED TO CLEAN MY ALUMINIUM INTAKE

[BJCHEV396]

THANKS FOR ALL THE TIPS GUYS.I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT THE INTAKE WAS CLEAR COATED 6 YEARS AGO.I'LL GIVE THE BRASS BRUSH AND WD-40 A SHOT FIRST AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.THANKS AGAIN,APPRECIATE THE HELP.I'M THINKING OF SELLING MY NOVA SO I'LL PROBABLY POST UP-DATED PICS IN THE SPRING.BILL.

[Chris_69_SS]

why are you yelling?

[firstgenaddict]

The clear coat has yellowed from the heat and time... never clear an aluminum intake...

[BJCHEV396]

I learned my lesson.

[The Body God]

The best solution is to take the intake off, if it's cleared, get that stripped off chemically. A blast cabinet using "Glass Bead" only NOT sand, and blast it. I have had a blast cab for many years, I always use Glass Bead because it cleans without pitting, which is what typical silica sand does. Glass bead is quite pricey, $5.00 bag of silica sand = $50.00 of Glass Bead, but it will give you that like new appearance.

[Jim Ferron]

I had a pair of COBRA valve covers on my Shelby...I bead blast the crap out of them buy every time I even TOUCHED them they would get discolored...even the moisture from the blast cab would leave a 'trail'

So I got them as perfect as i could...and I fogged Eastwood alumina blast on one of them...couldn't tell the difference except the painted one looked PERFECT.

I later found that when it got dirty..a quick mask job and squirt of just the nasty area made it look perfect at shows...

[The Body God]

Glass bead breaks down, and it can get contaminated with other things. Water in the air line can cause an issue, but if a Blast Cab has GLASS BEAD then it needs a bit of care to keep that glass bead clean or replace it, but I have used glass bead in mine for 10-15 yrs and done many aluminum intakes etc and they look great.

[Daves70SS]

I glass bead my aluminum parts and then I lightly buff them with #0000 steel wool.
Looks great and won't get dirty as fast as just plain glass beading them.
If you do get grease.oil or fuel stains on them it will clean up nicely using carb cleaner or brake clean as stated before.

[SuperNovaSS]

I agree with dave. I medium grit glass bead and 000 or 0000 steel wool pulls the shine and the oil in the wool helps rtect the aluminum. Speed bead by TP tools works well too. Way faster that glass bead. I usually finish with plastic media to tone the finish a bit.


Jason

[CamarosRus]

Almost everybody but Mr "M" misses the point. Not sure if any blasting is always neccessary, but the vibrating, tumbling action in a aluminum or ceramic media with a detergent solution, does all the work, whilst the "NEW SKIN" is being formed.

Members who live in larger metropolitan areas, may be able to find machine shops or deburring vendors who have this tumbling/vibrator.

Many parts rebuilders (any that are left in USA) have them to restore misc core parts...........

This isnt rocket science......if you make some phone calls & google some searches!!!!!!!