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Soda Blasting Cylinder Head

Nessism

Nessism

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Any need to plug up access to the oil galleys when soda blasting a cylinder head? Going to blast a head today and it would be nice to blast the combustion chamber and everything, but the media will likely get into the blind oil passages. I realize of course that the soda is water soluble, but try dissolving soda in water and watch how long it takes. Thinking it may be best to block the passages before blasting or maybe fully mask the head regardless but not sure.
 
Never hurts to do all possible to keep even the most sedate materials from getting in...in my opinion.
 
no need to block anything up. just wash it thoroughly with hot water afterwards and blow it dry. as you say, soda is disolvable (at quite low temperatures).
 
Agemax said:
no need to block anything up. just wash it thoroughly with hot water afterwards and blow it dry. as you say, soda is disolvable (at quite low temperatures).
Click to expand...

Takes a long time to dissolve though.
 
So put the head in the bathtub then for final wash down? I could do that! :cool:
 
Nessism said:
So put the head in the bathtub then for final wash down? I could do that! :cool:
Click to expand...
without being funny, yes. thats what i do. put it in the bath and blast it with a hot shower. thats how i do all my carbs to.
That is why soda is so good for cleaning things like heads and carbs, it washes away without a trace
 
Yes, the soda material does dissolve, but some the debris that was blasted away does not. I'd plug any critical oil passages with something that wont allow chunks of blasted off paint to enter. Just thinking that it could prevent potential problems and shouldn't take much time to do. I tend to lean toward a more cautious stance on things like this.
 
Gotter done. NOT as simple as just water rinsing after completion. I scrubbed this thing down and blew out the passages three times before being confident it was properly clean.

Glad it's done!:D



 
Nissan (where I used to work) used a fancy washing system that functioned much like a dishwasher, only the parts rotated through on a carousel system. This system was designed to remove dust and such though. What I noticed when cleaning this head is that there was a fair bit of grit and foreign material trapped down in the blind passages, such as down in threaded bolt holes and the like. You can feel the particles fly out and hit your hand when you aim the airgun nozzle to shoot into these nooks and crannies. I don't think a dishwasher will help root out this stuff. You need to follow through with the air and make sure the passages are properly clean.
 
Sounds like a large sonic cleaner would be more effective at removing the crud once you're done
 
Can you comment a little on your setup and the process? I have been learning about soda blasting and am thinking about trying it, not sure when or on what yet though.

Nessism said:
Gotter done. NOT as simple as just water rinsing after completion. I scrubbed this thing down and blew out the passages three times before being confident it was properly clean.

Glad it's done!:D



Click to expand...
 
Joe Garfield said:
Can you comment a little on your setup and the process? I have been learning about soda blasting and am thinking about trying it, not sure when or on what yet though.
Click to expand...

Used one of these cheesy Harbor Freight guns and a bag of soda from same. Used about 1/3 of the bag, now liberally spread all over my back yard. Tried to contain the media in the blast cabinet but couldn't see through the cloud. Blasting in the open air, with dust mask and eye protection of course, was much easier.

Put bolts in the various holes (something I didn't do, but recommend now) and plug the openings to any oil system passages. When done, scrub, scrub, and scrub some more. Any trapped grit will tear up your engine so clean knowing if you mess up, the engine will suffer. Fear is a good motivator on something like this (although the real fear with soda isn't super high).

image_13512.jpg
 
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A hot power shower, or even a pressure washer quickly blasts out any remaining dirt/soda that is left lurking in places it shouldn't be.
A hot ultrasonic bath would be even better if you have one big enough
 
The hotter the water, the better

Boil water in your tea kettle and rinse with that, or, if you have a big enough pan (turkey roaster) boil it on your grill in that
 
I thinking about DIY soda blasting the whole engine, too. I find a similar look gun, than you Nessim. I can borrow a compressor for the job. Can you tell me how long did it take to blast the cylinder head, and what pressure did You use? Thanks.
 
gabos666 said:
I thinking about DIY soda blasting the whole engine, too. I find a similar look gun, than you Nessim. I can borrow a compressor for the job. Can you tell me how long did it take to blast the cylinder head, and what pressure did You use? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I used something like 120 psi at the compressor, which after pressure drop through the air filter and 100' of hose was a fair bit lower at the gun. The head I did was quite corroded so it took a fair bit of time to clean as shown in the photos - 30 mins. or so. You might not need so much time though.
 
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