carburettor cleaning

[als427]

Just an amateur would usually just use solvent outside dissemble and spray carb cleaner
maybe in a cheapo bench top parts washer tank?

any other recomendations for cleaning a carb inside and out - are the ultrasonics worth it ?- cheapo sub $100?

[HQM383]

Just an amateur would usually just use solvent outside dissemble and spray carb cleaner
maybe in a cheapo bench top parts washer tank?

any other recomendations for cleaning a carb inside and out - are the ultrasonics worth it ?- cheapo sub $100?

Ultrasonic definitely worth it.

Bonus is they have endless uses. Clean any car part that fits in it, wife will love you for cleaning her jewelry and Some people even buy them to wash their veggies for dinner! I dunk my glasses in mine every now and then to get the gunk off the little rubber nose rest. Good investment.

[Dragsinger]

Ultrasonic is an excellent tool. I have one that will accommodate 1/2 of a SBC cylinder head at one time, then turn it around for the other half. It is amazing how clean parts come out. Carbs come out looking great and one of the advantages is cleaning small nooks and crannies that are difficult to clean. Some parts look like new but if it has deep stains or rust it will not completely get it. The one I have was $600.00 and if I had it to do again, would buy larger.

[mag2555]

Berkable 2 + 2 brand carb spray is the best that you will find.
A can of two of that and a brass bristle brush will be the ticket!

[Wkillgs]

What cleaning solution are you guys using in the ultrasonic?
I used the purple Simple Green (Pro HD). Has a more neutral pH so it doesn't damage the alum/pot metal.
Ultrasonic is a 10 liter from Amazon, was $130 last year, now it's $160. 10 liter fits a 4bbl carb.
It works ok on carbs. Doesn't perform miracles but saves a lot of hand cleaning. Great for refreshing carbs but it's not going to restore it to new condition. Results will be better/worse depending on what chemistry you use.
If the carb linkages are rusty, I soak the carb in Evaporust to remove rust. Then clean in the U.S.

[BOOT]

Certain cleaners have lye in them and are not good for aluminum. Also read somewhere that USC's can damage anodizing? So it depends what your carb is made of.

I played with a cheap USC awhile back n made a vid

[BillK]

Ultrasonic is ok but not as good as I thought it would be. I have a pretty decent Crest unit that is $1300 new. I cant imagine a $100 unit having enough power to do much. I have tried a number of different soaps but have settled on Safety Kleens aqueous solution. The thing with ultrasonic is that it will not really remove any corrosion like you get in a lot of old carbs. I only do 4 or 5 carbs a year and mainly use it for other engine parts.

I would say if you are a diy and only doing one or two carbs then your present method is probably just as good.

Just my opinion,

[71vette]

The $160 6L ultra sonic cleaner from harbor freight has been working great for me. I just use simple green I buy at Sams club. I do disassemble the carbs first, thoughtfully spread parts in the basket, and in 3-4 "loads" everything is clean. Really dirty parts I may have do twice w/ a little stiff bristle brushing between the first and second rounds. I greatly prefer cleaning carbs this way as the old big buckets of chem dip aren't as strong as they used to be, tended to evaporate over time and have gotten quite expensive. I also use far fewer cans of carb cleaner doin it this way as well.

[stealth]

my harbor freight unit took the anodizing off AN fittings... cycle 3 ... I was like.. .OH CRAP....

[Tuner]

my harbor freight unit took the anodizing off AN fittings... cycle 3 ... I was like.. .OH CRAP....

An ultrasonic cleaner would not do that with plain water or water with the right cleaning agent. You must have used a strong alkaline, such as Castrol Super Clean, which is not aluminum safe because it contains sodium hydroxide. Sodium metasilicate is a good cleaner that is aluminum safe. Read labels.

[rgalajda]

A few years ago I worked in a shop that had a $5,000 dollar, about 90 gallon Ultrasonic machine . It used $200 worth of chemical every time you changed the solution. The tank had a circulation pump and large filter system that you ran when the ultrasonic was turned off. They had about four different chemicals to use depending what you were cleaning , all biodegradable . The ultrasonic waves were fully adjustable. You could run separate small tanks suspended within the large tank in order to not cross contaminate. You could also run a basket system. Most items were in the tank for 10 minutes to clean.
Usually the temperature was set between 100 to 130 degrees fahrenheit.
You could fit an engine block in this machine , although it was intended for that.

I cleaned a few carburetors with the suspended tank in this machine using a chemical called Evergreen A 44 which is a non etching formula. That meant it would not remove the chromate from the carburetor.
Another chemical I tried was an etching formula that would strip all the chromate and zinc coatings from the carburetor. This carb was getting a full restoration.
One day I turned the ultrasonic pattern up to clean a carb using the half hour setting. When I removed the carb it was very clean. Upon inspection the ultrasonic had vibrated a plug out of the carburetor.
That is how powerful or gentle this machine was depending on settings or the chemical used. You were suppose to take a training course to even use this machine.
My job there was to service and repair the equipment including the ultrasonic.

I rebuild and do complete restorations of mostly classic carbs in my shop at home. I have a 2.5 gallon, $450 ultrasonic that I bought for cleaning carbs. I only use it if the carb I am rebuilding is fairly clean, otherwise it is completely useless on a soiled dirty old carb. Pre cleaning sometimes is a must.
I still use the Evergreen A 44 formula along with other products even when I am pre cleaning by hand.
I also have a cabinet media blaster that I use with media ranging from crushed walnut to glass beads (not crushed glass ).

Last week I spent 10 hours cleaning an OEM 780 Holley carb from a Z28 Camaro . The chromate on this carb was still original, in fair condition, with the black rubber stamp markings on the fuel bowls. The baseplate, disassembled, was blasted with glass bead at about 20 pounds pressure. It looked original. Sometimes a carb this old needs complete restoration with new plating but we decided to keep it original looking

[stealth]

my harbor freight unit took the anodizing off AN fittings... cycle 3 ... I was like.. .OH CRAP....

An ultrasonic cleaner would not do that with plain water or water with the right cleaning agent. You must have used a strong alkaline, such as Castrol Super Clean, which is not aluminum safe because it contains sodium hydroxide. Sodium metasilicate is a good cleaner that is aluminum safe. Read labels.

I don't recall exactly what I used... Might have been watered down "totally awesome" cleaner....

[rebelrouser]

Buddy dropped off a carb for a Bronco he is restoring. So I use a cheap e-bay ultrasonic cleaner and fluid from dollar general I think it is $6 a gallon, mix it 50 50 with water warm the cleaner up and here is pictures of the results. does not clean corrosion, but does excellent on dirt and varnish. I thought it is a good example because the carb was really nasty.

[novadude]

Hard to tell from the pics.... did that dollar general cleaner hurt the chromate coating at all?

[rebelrouser]

I don't believe that ford autolite two barrels had a chromate coating. I have cleaned a lot of Edelbrock ARB style carbs in it and they come out nice and shiny. Providing corrosion has not attacked the metal. The solution does not remove corrosion only dirt and grime.