I'm in the process of restoring ten Briggs & Stratton motors for my Fox Campus restorations. Besides removing a fifty plus years accumulation of mud, grease, weeds, grass, insects, and gunk; I am also faced with the problem of removing massive amounts of carbon deposits from the cylinder heads and valve assemblies. I'm familiar with all the commonly accepted methods for removing carbon like grinding, scraping, gouging, wire brushing etc. And because they damage the finish; I reject them all. Even the $30.00 a gallon chemical dip was a waste of money. So I decided to experiment a bit. I had a gallon of House of Kolor RU310 reducer sitting on the shelf and figured "what the hell I'll give it a try". The results blew me away. Using a tooth brush, popsicle stick, and q-tips; I was able with a bit of scrubbing to obtain the results below. Pic one below shows the reducer that I used. Pic two shows the same head after ten minutes of scrubbing. Pic three shows the head as it was removed from the motor. Pic four shows the head after it had been cleaned and lightly glass bead blasted. The area where the gasket fits has not been blasted. The last pic shows the head ready for primer and paint. This is not a miracle process where you can dip the part overnight and it will come out shiny clean but it sure makes the job easier and doesn't scratch the hell out of the aluminum part. Ogy
Removing Carbon Deposits The OGY Way
Tom, I can't imagine that a paint reducer has any effect on the composition of the metal whatsoever. After trying Chem-Dip, acetone, and several other products with less than satisfactory results I spotted this House of Kolor on the shelf. On thin deposits it just melts the carbon away with a little tooth brush scrubbing. On the real thick deposits I wet them down with the reducer and then scrape them a bit with a popsicle stick cut square on the end. It turns the carbon into a paste and you can wipe it away with a paper towel. I haven't tried any other brands of reducer but it's quite possible that they would work also. It probably wouldn't have hurt to bead blast the area where the gasket lies but I feel better keeping that surface as smooth as possible. I've done one pair of valve seats so far and they came out perfect. No gouges, scrapes, or nicks. And yes I'm back at it; feeling good; and looking forward to Windber. Ogy
Itype, I know you're only joking but seriously you may be onto something there. I know that in taxidermy they use beetles to eat the flesh off the bones and they pick them absolutely clean. Somewhere out there may be lurking a form of bacteria or something similar that lives on carbon. I'm going to look into that. Move over Bill Gates. Here comes Ogy.
I was going to mention your thread on using PB blaster. I use it for cleaning guns and knives too, it works well to break up many types of deposits it seems. The only down side is you smell like the stuff for days if you get it on you, it's survivable though and my girlfriend is not as offended by it as I am. Nothing else I've tried has gotten stuff unstuck as well either, you can even heat the item without starting a huge fire but spray first and then when the volatiles have flashed out get the torch on it. Bonanza wheels have been my greatest success with the product, prior to discovering it I broke the bolts and drilled the remainder of the fastener out which often buggered the threads. I swear by the stuff.
You are correct Dave. HOK paints and products are out of this world with regard to cost. Originally I was going to use the HOK system to paint the Fox Campus bikes that I am restoring. I initially ordered some paints and reducers to experiment with matching the color of the original Foxes. However, when I found out that it was going to cost me a fortune to use the HOK system on each bike I decided to go with my local professional automotive paint shop instead. The HOK reducer went up on the shelf and that's where it's been up until now. At least using it to clean carbon is better that my original idea which was to use it light my charcoal grill. Ogy
