I know there are many techniques people use when refinishing their alloy parts . I have experimented with a few. So far I like the look of bead blasted and Alodyne treated parts, as I find it looks natural. Not sure how it holds up in use though. I see vapour blasting seems very popular as well in motorcycle restoration circles. I have also done a few parts in clear powder after bead blasting, but durability with my DIY powder coating has been hit and miss. I guess other options are tumbling the parts in an abrasive vibrator, etc. What would the BMW museum do for things like valve covers, intake manifolds, etc? Is there a new technique that has impressed you as being superior in looks and durability?
Aluminum parts finishing techniques.
- Thread starter Nicad
- Start date
The BMW museum would not do it correctly just cheaply. I now love vapor honing (blasting) followed by clear matte ceramic from Cerakote. In the past I would have them tumbled but cleaning out residual media is a pain and vapor process is cheaper as well.
vapor blasting still has media to clean, important with things like a valve cover
It can be cleaned more easily I think, I still use a flexible brush in the oil separator area.
just saying, it uses (I believe) glass beads also, so important to get them out where they might get into the oil
I have not had any parts vapor blasted, but have tried just about everything else
I have not had any parts vapor blasted, but have tried just about everything else
I have had really good luck with vapor blasting aluminum bits. Agreed that media
is left behind. Crushed bead.
I’m having my dogleg and LSD dry ice blasted this summer (see vid). Dry ice because I don’t want media inside the case. Even then I am worried about driving scale or debris intothe seals. I intend to protect with moldable plastic (see vid).
My only complaint is they are all mobile units. I want to do the undercarriage but I don’t want a bunch of gunk in my driveway.
Dry ice blasting:
Protect seals with moldable plastic:
is left behind. Crushed bead.
I’m having my dogleg and LSD dry ice blasted this summer (see vid). Dry ice because I don’t want media inside the case. Even then I am worried about driving scale or debris intothe seals. I intend to protect with moldable plastic (see vid).
My only complaint is they are all mobile units. I want to do the undercarriage but I don’t want a bunch of gunk in my driveway.
Dry ice blasting:
Protect seals with moldable plastic:
Never use media on a tranny, bad things can happen.
I might have to order some of that Polydoh to play with!
I know the use case which you speak of, and also discussed with said expert on this subject.
Dry ice isn’t media. It is frozen carbon dioxide and it evaporates on impact. They use dry ice blasting to clean food manufacturing equipment and smoke damage from fragile books.
When I was considered getting my rocker cover / valve cover media blasted the guy said that we needed to make a strong jig to bolt it to with a large rubber gasket seal. This was really a piece of 3/4 inch ply, with a rubber membrane, then the rocker cover bolted to it. The aim, keep out of the media from inside. An alternative was to drill out the rivets that hold on the internal breather cover, thereby allowing it to be cleaned afterwards.
I decided to against doing anything, think it is one of those things where everything or nothing needs the great finish.
I decided to against doing anything, think it is one of those things where everything or nothing needs the great finish.
If you have engine block work done, to clean it they put it in an industrial 'dishwasher' the idea is that there will be metal filings, and there is a method to cleaning
When I did my valve cover, I removed the little cover inside, after media blasting I had the machinist clean it in the industrial washer
I taped the holes where the rivets came out and put machine screws in with permanent Loctite
When I did my valve cover, I removed the little cover inside, after media blasting I had the machinist clean it in the industrial washer
I taped the holes where the rivets came out and put machine screws in with permanent Loctite
Well, watching the dry ice blasting of the underside is odly Satisfying…makes me want to do the same.
To see more about dry ice blasting/cleaning, click on this link from one of my other car forums: https://rennlist.com/forums/928-for...mple-that-didn-t-require-a-restoration-2.html
Some pictures of a Porsche 928 undercarriage after and before cleaning. BUT - scroll down to post #20 and click on the YouTube recording to see it in progress. Impressive. On the other hand, it reportedly took 20 hours to clean the underside and engine compartment (engine out). At $250 per hour, you gotta' really like seeing the underside of your car (in a mirror, or on a rotisserie) - OR have a reasonably large checking account!! - ha.
Some pictures of a Porsche 928 undercarriage after and before cleaning. BUT - scroll down to post #20 and click on the YouTube recording to see it in progress. Impressive. On the other hand, it reportedly took 20 hours to clean the underside and engine compartment (engine out). At $250 per hour, you gotta' really like seeing the underside of your car (in a mirror, or on a rotisserie) - OR have a reasonably large checking account!! - ha.
Pretty spectacular results. It would have to cost several grand to do this though....
www.carscoops.com
Dry Ice Cleaning And Detailing A BMW E30 318i Makes It Look As Good As New | Carscoops
The deep detailing took 60 hours, and the result is likely the cleanest E30 318iC you'll see around.
www.carscoops.com
OMG!
Talked to Griots in Tacoma. They want around $100 or $120 an hour. They said an undercarriage can take about 14 hours.
Talked to Griots in Tacoma. They want around $100 or $120 an hour. They said an undercarriage can take about 14 hours.
Last edited:
tmh
Well-Known Member
Wow, amazing. At $3000 it would worthwhile. There are some skill and abilities on display.
Very satisfying to watch.
That undercarriage still had original paint/undercoating in good condition. I wonder what the "after" pics look like on 50 year old cars.
That undercarriage still had original paint/undercoating in good condition. I wonder what the "after" pics look like on 50 year old cars.
Mindblowing, I'm hearing more and more about this, never seen it done. As Dick said, it would be great to see what an older car looks like. As an aside, I noticed they removed some spray paint, this may be the way to fix the black e9 that everyone is harping on - the one with all the spray paint in the engine bay and underbody.Very satisfying to watch.
That undercarriage still had original paint/undercoating in good condition. I wonder what the "after" pics look like on 50 year old cars.
It would take a lot of dry ice in this case, but probably just the thing.