Carburetor Soak:

What are you guys using to soak carburetors that have been setting and gummed, or varnished up? I've always used a paint spray gun cleaner which is NLA due to the methylene chloride component.

This is from my R-190 IH crane truck w/RD-406 engine and it is progressing well. This effn ethanol gasoline we are blessed with has everything plugged up internally.....

After an hour soak as a first go round:

I need to run to the tool store and get a pail of fine glass beads as don't want to plug anything. All jets are now clear with air blast but the cast iron castings are rusted from the moisture this fuel draws. I will blast it all clean and need to order a master kit for the rebuild. Throttle plates are tight in their bores as I bushed them many years ago. I last rebuilt this carburetor in April, 1992 and have owned the truck since August, 1985.

Rough, but still serviceable for me:

 

Soda does do a nice job on cleanup of soft materials without surface damage but really doesn't touch rust at all. It does very well at paint and coating stripping when there is grease and oil present, and where many other medias fail. I've never tried the soda blasting process with a suction style blast setup, but use the media often in both 600#, and 100# pressure fed Clemco blast pots. The only real difference in a conventional blast pot and one designed for either plastic, or soda blasting is the cone shaped bottom of the pot/vessel, and an additional pressure regulator for the vessel. One can run soda through a conventional blaster with some very basic modifications, but the rounded bottom of the conventional blast pot will require some agitation for consistent media flow. You do need absolutely clean, cool, and dry air when soda blasting for any length of time to avoid "caking" of the material. I used to paint strip a lot of automobiles and industrial equipment using soda, but never anything as small as a carburetor and have always used glass bead in the suction fed tumble blast cabinets.

I have two very small blast cabinets formerly used in the dental/denture manufacturing process I will try soda in. These utilize a pencil type affair for very intricate blasting and may be the ticket for this application if there is room. Have had these things for years but never really have found a use for them.

He cleaned up a few airplane carbs, Johnny Popper carbs and some others.  Looks like it does a good job.  

I would like to get one for myself but will have to wait until priorates are taken care of first.

Glass beads at the tool store were too coarse for my needs in this application so I mixed up another concoction of the banned chemical and gave the carburetor a good soak again in the fresh mix. As in days gone by it is now very clean.

I had submerged the old gaskets in gasoline laying flat in a shallow container so they were reusable. The carburetor went back together easily and with exception of two very small brass jets in the bottom of the dip basket after all parts and hardware were installed..... For the life of me I cannot remember where they came from but it had to be from this carburetor?

I spent almost an hour locating the box the carburetor kit came in from 1992 in the basement, (knew I had it still) and the instruction, or breakout sheet doesn't show these anyplace. An online search, along with visiting Holley's website offers no guidance. Playing the rebuild over and over between my ears yields nothing. Finally I remember a .pdf given me many years ago covering the series of the truck engine from IH and low and behold, these two jets are from the back side of the vacuum governor housing; but I sure don't remember pulling them out. Obviously I did but certainly don't remember it. You can see these little air jets in figure 62 here:

Ultrasonic cleaners are great for small parts in my limited experience. I have one and it does a good job on what will fit in it. They however are quite expensive for heated, larger ones. Many times what I get involved with during a rebuild or modification uses heat to emulsify the oils and grease that are present. It is why I tend to stick with proven methods rather than biting on the newer environmentally safe garbage.

Of course I don't have the EPA breathing down my neck either like a big city atmosphere provides.

Pulled the dipstick and way overfull on oil. Drained oil as suspected water and sure enough the crankcase was loaded. Drained out almost 20 quarts of sludge so the oil cooler has a leaking seal. Removed oil filter housing and the sealing gasket/ring is bad. Will replace later today and pick up a new oil filter. Hoping the stuck rings have freed up in the overnight hours but they are once again covered in the acetone/atf mixture to soak.

I had wondered why the starter motor started laboring to crank the engine over when it didn't have spark plugs installed. Seeing the drain oil answers that question.

Oil was checked before I started doing anything with it. Never has been an oil burner and both coolant and oil were in their respective full levels when I started. The short time running filled the crankcase pretty quick.

Older and smarter now !!    ........... but yes... sometimes CHIT HAPPENS , even when you start with a decent plan.

Running again with good compression in all six cylinders. Took a lot of cranking and over fueling to clear the penetrating oil which saturated the spark plugs, but with the new ignition parts and a good hot spark, he started and runs well. 

Moved him from in front of the shop door so I can install a new a/c condenser into the car. My wife doesn't like to be hot and my ears burn when she is that way.

Can't win with a woman I swear..... 😋