Glass Beading
 

Well, project "stocker" will be going into full swing soon with the motor arriving next week, and the next step is polishing the intake, and other parts. My question is:

I know that most recommend sanding the casting to get to the bare aluminum, but I've got access to a glass bead blaster at work, and I'm wondering if this is safe for the intake. Don't want to compromise the integrity of the piece. I know it works great on golf putters! :p

Thanks,

JD

JD, I glass bead the lower intakes I port and it does a great job of cleaning up the intake without scratching it like sand might. The problem is the upper intake has a powder coat or epoxy paint that is REALLY tough. I tried bead blasting it and it just laughed at me. Try some good paint stripper on it first and then clean up with the bead blaster.

Thanks for the reply, should I just use a thicker type consistency stripper like "stryp-eze" I think it's orange with a pudding-like consistency... And how long should I leave it on there before hosing it off?

The glass beading works great, did most all of my brackets, tensioner, etc. and plan on finishing them with a good coat of black. Should look good when it's finished!

Thanks for your help!

JD

That should work - leave it on for a good while to let the solvents do their job - it might take more than a couple of applications depending on the quality of the solvent agent.

Thanks for your help, I'll probably be doing this over the weekend, so I'll try to document it for everyone...

JD