Clean gearbox casings

[Dave c]

hi, can anyone advise me where or how to clean gearbox casings please

[Greybeard]

I guess you mean the exterior. I'd suggest scrubbing the cases with wire wool and wire brush dipped in Jizer, Gunk, or similar and then pressure wash, (making sure the cases cannot skid across the yard while blasting). When I got my bike sorted I didn't have a pressure washer so used paraffin and petrol, followed by a dry off with compressed air.

To polish the smooth surfaces I bought a buffing kit to fit onto my bench grinder: https://tinyurl.com/yy45ej8z

[Dave c]

thanks GB, i will give it a go tomorrow!

[RDfella]

Wash it down with petrol and then polish up with a paste compound. Wire wool is OK, but beware wire brushes - depending on stiffness they will kiss goodbye to a nice shiny aluminium by leaving scratches all over (assuming you want a polished finish). Pressure washing will inevitably mean water gets inside the box. That's OK provided you get it all out and use the box very soon after to drive off any remaining moisture.

[Swarfcut]

Try a Scotchbrite pad and a squidge of WD or brake cleaner, turps, paraffin, Kero, petrol. This will remove most oil based soiling without damaging the cast surface.  Even washing powder will act as a degreaser and mild abrasive. Wire wool, according to some professional polishers can impregnate the alloy...Urban Myth?

Swarfy.

[BSA_54A10]

I wash down with a solvent to remove the oily residue then soda blast.
You can make a soda blaster from a plastic soft drink bottle and an air duster.
A lot slower than vapour blasting but you can use every day soda ( Sodium -bicarb ) from an animal feed shop.
I paid $ 15 ( aus ) for a 20kg bag to use for a try out.
Blasting soda is the same stuff but bigger granules but in the past 3 years I am only about 1/3 the way through the trial bag.
After that it is either a water blast ( soda dissolves in water ) or an ultrasound or a boil depending upon what the parts are .

[Greybeard]

I wash down with a solvent to remove the oily residue then soda blast.
You can make a soda blaster from a plastic soft drink bottle and an air duster.

Do you happen to have any pictures of that?

[coater87]

 Or get your cases vapor blasted.

 Lee

[Bsareg]

I've found a scotch pad scrub in the degreaser followed by a spell in the blast cabinet with soda, then a hot wash the get rid of the soda.

[RoyC]

Depends how bad they are, a photo would help.

[lawnmowerman]

I am in the process of rebuilding my kitchen including changing the dishwasher so the old one, which still works ok, is going in the workshop for final cleaning of engine parts.

Jim

[berger]

I have not been to the pub, lawnmowerman as I got to the middle of your sentence I just had this thought that you were swapping the wife for a new one, and the old wife was going in the garage

[lawnmowerman]

I have not been to the pub, lawnmowerman as I got to the middle of your sentence I just had this thought that you were swapping the wife for a new one, and the old wife was going in the garage

Now there's a thought...... I wonder if I could get away with it!

Some superb ideas on this forum.

Jim

[BSA_54A10]

I wash down with a solvent to remove the oily residue then soda blast.
You can make a soda blaster from a plastic soft drink bottle and an air duster.

Do you happen to have any pictures of that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpkdaHxL7nA
This is as good as any other instruction video.
I make the hole in the bottle a little smaller than the air gun tube and warm the tube a bit before I force it through the bottle
After that I seal the area around the hole with some hot melt glue so the bottle is fixed above the gun as I found that it has a habit of rolling back down & it is a PIA to hold both the gun & the bottle in one hand.
Then when you want to let the trigger off turn it bottle side down because the bottle pressurizes a bit and you blow a lot of soda out when you turn the gun off.

The trick is finding a suitable bottle.

Again I run the hole a little different being just below the thread so I can do the cap up tight on the bottle and I drilled a round hole the same diameter as the hole in the tube.
Filing a square cornered hole is asking for the thing to split.
The gun I use is a bent one not strait as in the videos as I found it is easier to use if the nozel is pointing down while the bottle is dead vertical.
So look around for suitable bottles.
Long thick necked ones work better and keep them small , 500ml or less.
Keep the hole in the tube as close to the gun as you can because you get a stronger more concentrated blast that way.

Mostly i use it for cleaning small carbs inside & out before they go into the ultrasound.
The gunk comes off a lot faster that way & my cleaning solution lasts a lot longer.

Not real good on rust but excellent on zinc & aluminium.
With soda it is very important to have a good water trap on the air line or it will cake in the bottle.
The hardest thing is getting the soda in the bottle past the tube so again, having it pass through the bottle a bit further away from the end is a good idea.

Remind me in 11 days and I might take some pickies for you but right now I am packing the bags for the BSA national at Hahndorf SA.

[Greybeard]

That was interesting, thanks.