[bherder]

OK guys...

I bought 75 Powerwagon's old Edelbrock intake.. (Good deal Joel, THANKS!)

Anyway, it was used, of course, and dirty and crudy... And I've got it cleaned up pretty nice. (This an 'Inside the shop where it's warm' project )

So, all the gunk is cleaned off, the mating surfaces have been cleaned and made like new... The question is:

I could go one of two ways on this... I could paint it. But I like the look of aluminum....

So, to really clean it up to look like new (Or as close as it's gonna get) I've had two ideas thrown at me....

One is the old stand-by of glass-bead blasting it. (I have a small abrasive blaster cabinet) The other, is (New to me) of blasting it with ground-up walnut shells. (I'm told this is great for aluminum and brass)
I've done the bead blasting before and it's pretty good on aluminum. Never tried the walnut shell.

Any thoughts on this? Or any other suggestions?

Part II:

The intake ports (Where they mate to the head) are fairly uniform, but some are a little more 'square' than others. Should I 'square' them out, or just leave em' alone?

Any clues? Thanks in adavance!!

 

[Speed Dragon]

Try out the walnuts, they're supposed to do real good on aluminum. As for the ports, gasket match them. The heads too, if you're feeling froggy enough

 

[bherder]

Try out the walnuts, they're supposed to do real good on aluminum.

Yeah, I'll give that a shot. I'll post a pic when it's done so y'all can see what it looks like.


As for the ports, gasket match them.

Yeah, I was thinking along the same line. I just didn't want to turn this into a major project... Ehh, but what else do I have to do this time of year?

The heads too, if you're feeling froggy enough

I'll save that for when I drop a new engine in it..

 

[77Utiline]

Walnut shells are FAA approved for cleaning aluminum surfaces and believe me it does an amazing job!

 

[Mopower79]

Heard of this........(yes)
Seen it..........(no)
I'm curious to see the results.. Take before & after pics,, Please!
Also what "prep" work has to be done??? Do you just tape over the Carb & head surfaces??? & then "GO-TO-TOWN" with the media blasting?? or is there more to it??

 

[77Utiline]

Actually there shouldn't be any taping off needed because the shells actually come clean very easy with just air from a compressor they don't stick very well which is a good thing arty:

 

[bherder]

I'm curious to see the results.. Take before & after pics,, Please!

Will do... I'm pretty curious too

 

[bherder]

Well, the results are in...

I blasted the manifold with #24 grit walnut shells...
Did it clean aluminum very good? I'd say so... Did it remove the stains an discoloration? Yup, not too bad... Did I get the results I was hoping for?
Nope, not at all...
While it cleaned the scrud off the metal pretty good, it left the metal this dark grey dull color. No shine whatsoever.
While this may have been OK for some, it wasn't what I wanted. So then I thought, 'Well, I could shine it up the old fashion way.. Sanding, sanding and more sanding, but there are so many little tight spots and crevices and such... and I'd of have to gone and bought little bitty sanding discs/drums and all the other stuff.
Soooo.... Thinking that I didn't want to spend all weekend sanding some hunk of aluminum, and being as I didn't want to spend a lot of $$ on this, I just painted it. But I did gussy it up as much as possible.

(I'd show you pics of the part I walnut blasted, but I had a brain-fart and forgot. Doesn't really matter anyway, it was really nothing to look at...)

But I do have 'before' and 'after' pics. Keep in mind the 'before' pics were after several baths of 'Take-the-skin-right-off-your-fingers-paint-stripper' and degreaser... All in all, it didn't turn out half bad

 

[B-300]

I guess you decided to paint it.
I have an Edlbrock manifold, and ported just a bit smaller than the 360 gaskets. These manifolds are made for 318 and 360. They are sized for 318 heads, but have plenty of material to be ported to fit 360 heads... at least mine did.
--B-300--

 

[Mopower79]

Ya know what???
It don't look to bad "Painted"....
You really took your time & did a good job... & the Brass fittings really "TOP" it off!!!
Sorry the "walnut shells" didn't give you what you were after...
But the finished result looks "Bad-A$$"

 

[75 Power Wagon]

wow, that does look pretty good... nothing like i remember it haha

here it is at the ultimate before picture... lol

 

[bherder]

Ya know what???
It don't look to bad "Painted"....
You really took your time & did a good job... & the Brass fittings really "TOP" it off!!!
Sorry the "walnut shells" didn't give you what you were after...
But the finished result looks "Bad-A$$"

Thanks, there bud..
Yeah, I did spend more time on it than 'normal', but it's cold out right now, so I have time to piss away on 'In-the-shop-where-it's-warm' stuff
I also thought the brass stuff gave it a certain sparkle...
Of course, when it's on an actual engine, after a year, it's gonna look like crap, but you know how it goes, eh?

wow, that does look pretty good... nothing like i remember it haha

Hey Joel, you wanna buy it back? Heh heh heh

here it is at the ultimate before picture... lol

A whole world apart!

Pretty soon I'll have the pics/procedure posted for my 'headlight-relay' project... I'm doing mine a little different than the 'standard norm' (I have time in a warm shop, for now.. And I want this to be more precise than NASA wiring ) I think y'all might enjoy it

 

[B-300]

I forgot to mention that I had problems sealing the thermostat housing to the dual bolt pattern that Edelbrock uses. It leaked thru the unused bolt holes, so I cleaned them out and filled them with silicone and allowed them to cure overnight. (I would of used threaded brass rod if I had some, with loctite.)
--B-300--

 

[Chump]

Manifold looks real good! I'm waiting to see your version of NASA wiring? :gr_patrio

 

[bherder]

I forgot to mention that I had problems sealing the thermostat housing to the dual bolt pattern that Edelbrock uses. It leaked thru the unused bolt holes, so I cleaned them out and filled them with silicone and allowed them to cure overnight. (I would of used threaded brass rod if I had some, with loctite.)

Thanks for the 'heads up'... I'll keep that one in mind