How do you clean dirty Carbs?

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Palmetto

Palmetto

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I have 2 Carters carbs that I want to clean up and wanted to know what I should soak them in to get all the soot and gunk off of them? I have cleaned a coffee pot with a peroxide and baking soda mixture that does a great job, but I wanted to know what guys with a lot of experience rebuilding carbs were using to clean them up. I want something safe, no gasoline...
 
My uncle has an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and he puts some kind of carburater cleaner in it, but it works really well
 
also after you get it soaked you can use an old toothbrush to scrub areas that are still gunky, and use a can of spray carb cleaner to spray out the small orifices. (wear safety glasses for this part ... that stuff will burn the sh** out of your eyes)
 
"Chem-dip" is another brand for the pail shown above. I just did my Carter BBD with it.
 
Idk if anyone has posted about it before but reverse electrolysis is an easy way to clean anything but beware it will strip it completely. You need a tub, battery, some tinfoil and a couple wires. Lay the tinfoil across the bottom of the tub connect the negative wire from the battery to the tinfoil. Run another wire from the positive to the part fill the tub with enough water to cover the part let it sit over night. This will even strip off metal plating so be careful.
 
mwls73duster360 said:
Idk if anyone has posted about it before but reverse electrolysis is an easy way to clean anything but beware it will strip it completely. You need a tub, battery, some tinfoil and a couple wires. Lay the tinfoil across the bottom of the tub connect the negative wire from the battery to the tinfoil. Run another wire from the positive to the part fill the tub with enough water to cover the part let it sit over night. This will even strip off metal plating so be careful.
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Will that not cause porosity in aluminum?
 
Oklacarcollecto said:
Will that not cause porosity in aluminum?
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I've never had a problem but i always only used 9v batteries so Idk what would happen if you upped to a 12v lol. I've done this with a few eddelbrocks and aluminum intakes with no problem though. Some times you get a little discoloration but it easily comes off by hand.
 
mwls73duster360 said:
I've never had a problem but i always only used 9v batteries so Idk what would happen if you upped to a 12v lol. I've done this with a few eddelbrocks and aluminum intakes with no problem though. Some times you get a little discoloration but it easily comes off by hand.
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We had a horrible time with electrolysis causing porosity in the newer intake manifolds but it was caused while they were in the car so the voltages and amps would have been way different than a 9V battery.
 
mwls73duster360 said:
Idk if anyone has posted about it before but reverse electrolysis is an easy way to clean anything but beware it will strip it completely. You need a tub, battery, some tinfoil and a couple wires. Lay the tinfoil across the bottom of the tub connect the negative wire from the battery to the tinfoil. Run another wire from the positive to the part fill the tub with enough water to cover the part let it sit over night. This will even strip off metal plating so be careful.
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Does the part sit on the tin foil? I would guess it needs to be separated.

What kind of battery. Do you mean just a little 9V transistor radio battery?
 
It uses the tin foil up its really weird lol but you won't have much foil left by morning. In some cases it only took an hour or two you can watch it work its pretty cool. It will bubble and foam the impurities right off.
 
Also if you didn't have enough foil it will leave it a little dirty still so I always make sure I use a sheet that covers the bottom of the tub
 
Are you saying that's bad? Idk they always came out good when I did it. I'm sure you know more. Could it hurt the part? I haven't had it happen but would like to avoid if if possible lol
 
mwls73duster360 said:
Are you saying that's bad? Idk they always came out good when I did it. I'm sure you know more. Could it hurt the part? I haven't had it happen but would like to avoid if if possible lol
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On most parts it wouldn't hurt but I wouldn't do it on a caburator. Some of the castings on them were affected with porosity when they were made so it might open it up to where you would have leaks. There is a lot of thin areas on a carburator.
 
Ah got ya! Thanks wouldn't want to give advice that hurt someone's part. I'll just make sure I take a good look at the part before I do it to make sure it's solid enough
 
They couldn't even control the porisity in the aluminum heads in the early days.

"On February 17, 1960, the Forge and Foundry Division requested that the aluminum head be cancelled from production consideration due to an inability to obtain castings free of porosity and that only the cast-iron heads be produced," Weertman said. "As such, the aluminum head never reached dealer showrooms, and it is especially ironic that the relatively few 1961 and '62 aluminum-block production engines were equipped with comparatively mundane iron heads."

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=228652&highlight=porosity
 
It does work magic though lol if your chrome I isn't platted it cleans up nice but the pitting sticks out like a site thumb at first lol
 
I've used a Berryman's Chem vat for years.
I used to rebuild carbs as a side thing when I was in the auto parts buisness.
Put the carb in for 24 hours & hose it off, blow it out.
I use fine wire to clean passasages & wire brushes to clean away the calcium deposits.
 
I used electrolysis alot when I was restoring my Willys CJ, it will clean parts up but it is a real slow process.

I told a guy about it at work he had a crankshaft from a Lotus he is restoring that had been out of the motor for over 20 years mild surface rust on the entire part.
He let the crank sit in the mixture for almost two weeks, the crank came out really clean, that it only needed a slight polishing.
 
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