Carburetor cleaners?
 

How do you guys clean older carbs these days? Helping a friend rebuild a carburetor and the carb cleaners from years gone by are....gone. Alot claim to be that but compared to the originals they are completely ineffective. Lacquer thinner is nothing but denatured alcohol anymore, nothing like the originals with MEK etc. Back in the day, the original Gunk Hydroseal was amazing stuff, the new soaking replacements kinda look the same but nothing like the original. I suspect a combination of available solvents can be made to work but ??

Barryman Chem-Dip is still available, although I don't know if they've changed the formulation in recent years. https://www.berrymanproducts.com/pro...parts-cleaner/ If you're cleaning carbs on a regular basis, an ultrasonic cleaner would be a good investment.

Hi Stuart,
Thanks for replying. the Berryman dip is what I bought and didn't touch the Qjet body I'm working on; I wish it did. I think the lack of chlorinated solvents is why it's a such a struggle.

Ultrasonic would be my first choice now. The dip cleaners are so weak due to changes in formulas, I haven't found any of them to be very effective. If Berryman's did nothing, it's the best I have used recently. I have found the spray cleaners to work better than the dip tanks now days. I use, Berrymans spray, Gumout spray, and 3M spray and a brush, followed by solvent and then hot soapy water. Let us know if you find something better.

If you really want it clean and have time to wait I’d send it to someone who specializes in carb rebuilding. They sometimes bead blast the carb body and then send it out for coating.

I’m pretty sure Dick Boneske does this with the Tri-Power carbs he restores as well as some other carbs from what I remember him telling me.

I just did a couple and used straight vinagar.
Still had to do a little hand work but does work.
It was more aggressive on the dicast main body than the aluminum.
It does take off the factory finish.

I just used some Berryman to clean off some carboned piston tops. I had on old can I've had for a long time but never used and bought a new one too. Old one worked better for the tough stuff on them.. New one held carbon in suspension also whereas the old one did not.

Spray Choke cleaner is the best for gummy deposits on carbs.

You can use toilet bowl cleaner, but it will take the finish off. I have found CRC Heavy Duty Degreaser MUO better than most of the spray stuff. No cheap though.

When I rebuilt my carb, I dunked it in a bucket of Pine-Sol. Worked great and striped it completely bare. It removes the cad plating, but I knew it would beforehand.

I have had a commercial "Bead Blast" cabinet for 40+ years.
I have used sand, glass beads, walnut shells, and a variety of other mixtures
to clean the carbs outer and inner surfaces.

I have a Holley Employee friend who has a smaller Bead Blast cabinet designed specifically for removing oxidation on the inner and outer surfaces.

We never use the Chemicals to try to remove the surface damage.
We do use the proper carb coloring chemicals to put the correct finish on
the clean castings. The coloring must happen with-in 2 days after a proper cleaning.

I would just send the carbs to Dick B and send him a check when the job is done.

Anything else is half/a$$ed, in my carb experience.

Tom V.

X2 on the Pine-Sol, I just did a quadrajet and it worked well. I used a 50/50 mix with water and soaked it about 4 hours.

I agree with Tom V. I have not used liquid carb cleaner for many years. I have a blast cabinet and I use glass beads on carb bodies. This results in a shiny finish ready for dichromate finish just as the factory used.

Sometimes, if the carbs are extremely greasy or oily, I submerse them in mineral spirits to get the oil & grease off. This is not often necessary with carbs people send to me for restoration. Typically, they look like the last picture in this post when I receive them.

Our small engine shop uses Jungle Jake and an ultra-sonic cleaner. They swear by that stuff and have been using it for years!

https://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Jake-3...20477117&psc=1

When we were still restoring carbs, we used the beading cabinet and then replaced the original finish.

BE CAREFUL WITH CHEMICALS IF YOU ARE NOT A CHEMIST!!!!! Some chemicals can react with different metals, especially aluminum, and emit LETHAL fumes!

If the carb is for a show car, then total agreement with Tom V. and Dick B. post. Since Dick does this, would send it to him.

If not a show car, ultrasonic cleaner, and that magic cleaner, Dawn dishwater soap, and patience!

Repeating: be careful using chemicals on materials not shown as compatible by the manufacturer!

Jon

Ive been playing around with a sonic cleaner I just bought specifically for carbs. It works, but its not a magic panacea. I started a thread over on the HAMB about what to use since there is a lot of opinion on the subject.

I started with Pinesol and water mix. Wasnt impressed. Then I switched to simple green, dawn, and water. Worked better, but it did remove some of the finish. These carbs were pretty beat anyway so it's not like the finish was perfect to start.

The biggest thing I got from my experiments and the HAMB thread was to change to .
1. Once the solution becomes cloudy you really need to change it. It loses a lot of its effectiveness. So better to use something cheap enough to change constantly.
2. Try to get the big chunks of dirt off first to make the solution last a tick longer.
3. Normal carb cleaner works better for softening up the gaskets to scrape off.

Citranox ultrasonic cleaner
 

Works well, got some at work. But, you want to separate different types of metals. Place copper in a baggy with some cleaner. Brass in one. Aluminum, in one. Your aluminum will get coated with the copper or brass and be very hard to get off. Hope this helps you fellows. I use to do alot of su and Harley.

Do you remember which version of the Pine-Sol you used? They sell it in a few different formulations, and the version with the green label (original) supposedly has the same active ingredient as Chem-Dip, but in a different concentration. I'm wondering if perhaps you used the yellow label Pine-Sol since your experience wasn't as good as mine when using the green label version, which worked fantastic.

Honestly it was offbrand. So who knows. I grabbed it just because it was handy where I was at the time. I used it in a 50/50 mix.

When I was trying to research what to use it seemed like for everyone who said "This works great!" There was another person who said it was junk. So I dont know what to think. Ill try the other label stuff for sure though. Im far from married to anything.

I had the best result with breaking for a Holley into multiple parts, and using my normal parts cleaner setup to knock off the big chunks of crud. It basically has what I think is diesel fuel in it. Its the high flash point cleaner Tractor Supply sells.

Then I used about 10:1 Simple Green, Water, and a little Dawn. Changing the solution once I saw it get cloudy. Heated up to about 70*C.

I will say I bought the 10L tank and i wish I would have bought the 15L. A 4 barrel throttle plate is just barely too wide to fit all the way in.

Im kicking around the idea of starting a hobby business putting kits in old holleys I can buy at swap meets and putting them back in circulation cheaply. I bought a few in the last few months and Im doing some test runs. My general plan is to call it "Catfish Carburetors: Ugly but Functional" lol. Obviously not looking to get rich, but maybe I can write off a couple things, and living in Indiana it would be nice to have a car related business to get me into PRI every year.

FWIW. This is the result with vinegar. About a 3-4 hour soak and some hand work with a soft bristle brass brush.
This was pre cleaned in some Castrol MP Flex that I mixed 10-1.
This is a test carb I am going to try some
Alodine M-CR 1201 conversion coating on.
Instead of plating.

Hello again, sorry for the omission on my post earlier. I use Citronox cleaner. Saw it on Amazon at 60$ a gallon. It worked great for me. But, as I said it was free too.