Carbon clean with DIY walnut shell blaster

[TonyHayers]

So, this weekend is/was my decoke weekend. I finished porting new manifold and organised compressor for weekend.

I've done 5 ports, but I'm a bit stuck now as I can't seem to be able to turn engine over to close the remaining 3 ports! Turning over crankshaft is a no no since there's no access, I looked at activating starter motor momentarily (ignition off!) to rotate cams enough to close valves but again no access. I've heard of putting it in gear and rolling car but I'm on my own and I can't for the life of me get it to budge. What am I doing wrong?

If anyone else is interested in doing this, here's the process I found works best for cleaning...

(1) on each closed valve, fill with Wynns carb/tb cleaner and leave to soak for an hour (if it drains away, you know the valve is open
(2) after soaking, use wooden picks (I bought a set of wooden pottery tools from ebay) to go round the valve seat area. 2 minutes.
(3) soak up the dirty carb cleaner with bits of sponge and/or rags - doesn't have to be completely dry - I just left the gloopy stuff at the bottom. 1 minute.
(4) place blaster/vacuum plate* on port and blast each valve, moving head around, a minute or so is enough to get rid of nearly everything. 2 minutes.
(5) I then got a little bit of red scotch brite with carb cleaner on and went round the walls of the port to get rid of any patches. 2 minutes.
(6) second quick blast to get rid of any bits cleaned off in step 5. 1 minute
(7) final wipe off with rag and carb cleaner to get rid of any remaining marks. 1 minute.
(8) tape off completed valve with gaffer tape.

* I hacked together a little plate to fit over one port at a time, which I attached a small appliance plumbing hose and then made a whole to fit the blaster head through. Once I've given one valve in a port a blast, just flip it round and do the other one.



I'm really pleased with the results. The valves look like new once it's done.

[Rick_RS4]

stick it in 5 th and rock it, they will close doesnt need to be moved much either, looks good, what did you do to the inlet? ive done mine at christmas, going to take it off and see what buildup ive got in a couple of months

[ArthurPE]

stick it in 5 th and rock it, they will close doesnt need to be moved much either, looks good, what did you do to the inlet? ive done mine at christmas, going to take it off and see what buildup ive got in a couple of months

this

[jaysrs4]

Top work buddy! Fancy doing mine?!!

[TonyHayers]

stick it in 5 th and rock it, they will close doesnt need to be moved much either, looks good, what did you do to the inlet? ive done mine at christmas, going to take it off and see what buildup ive got in a couple of months

Cheers Rick - I tried 4th and 6th and could get it to rock a few inches forward and back but no more. Could see valves move slightly up and down as it rocked but not enough to close.

Do I need to do it for a bit longer you think?

[guffy]

stick it in 5 th and rock it, they will close doesnt need to be moved much either, looks good, what did you do to the inlet? ive done mine at christmas, going to take it off and see what buildup ive got in a couple of months

Cheers Rick - I tried 4th and 6th and could get it to rock a few inches forward and back but no more. Could see valves move slightly up and down as it rocked but not enough to close.

Do I need to do it for a bit longer you think?

Take it you're not a big guy then Sounds like you need another body!

Great job there, doing mine next week too, although it's gonna take me hours longer without a blaster, can feel my back already

[barryrs]

Nice work TH, good to see someone go down the route I have been pondering.

[Rick_RS4]

Do I need to do it for a bit longer you think?

yes, where it stops easily rolling is where its engaging the engine, i rocked mine by holding the slam panel

[TonyHayers]

Do I need to do it for a bit longer you think?

yes, where it stops easily rolling is where its engaging the engine, i rocked mine by holding the slam panel

Ok, I'll give it another go this afternoon.cheers.

[TonyHayers]

stick it in 5 th and rock it, they will close doesnt need to be moved much either, looks good, what did you do to the inlet? ive done mine at christmas, going to take it off and see what buildup ive got in a couple of months

Cheers Rick - I tried 4th and 6th and could get it to rock a few inches forward and back but no more. Could see valves move slightly up and down as it rocked but not enough to close.

Do I need to do it for a bit longer you think?

Take it you're not a big guy then Sounds like you need another body!

Great job there, doing mine next week too, although it's gonna take me hours longer without a blaster, can feel my back already

I'm not exactly skinny that's for sure

The blaster gun was only £12 off eBay and the media was something like £20 (and can be reused).

[Youngben]

Looking good! Something I want to do myself so thanks for sharing. I would suggest taking out the spark plugs to turn the engine over as its probably reaching the peak of its compression making it hard for you! By taking out the plugs it will not compress the air therefore making it easier for you to turn over!

Any chance of sharing links to the blaster and media you used please?

[guffy]

Any chance of sharing links to the blaster and media you used please?

would be well handy

[TonyHayers]

Looking good! Something I want to do myself so thanks for sharing. I would suggest taking out the spark plugs to turn the engine over as its probably reaching the peak of its compression making it hard for you! By taking out the plugs it will not compress the air therefore making it easier for you to turn over!

Any chance of sharing links to the blaster and media you used please?

Good call Ben, that made the world of difference! - pretty easy once plugs were out. Pretty obvious I suppose, doh. That's all 8 ports done now, just small matter of putting everything back together.

Yeah, I'll get the list of stuff I bought to do the clean...

[TonyHayers]

Here's a list of stuff that I bought to do this job...

1) Blaster gun. £12.35
eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130748361220

2) 10 litres Walnut shell media. £22.50
eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121136981945
They seem to have sent me a lot more than 10 litres tbh. You can reuse the media by taking it out the vacuum, sieving it and putting it back in the "hopper" (old 10 litre water container cleaned out).

3) Appliance outlet hose. £5
I got it from Wilkinsons, the larger rubber end fits perfectly over the dyson vacuum handle and the smaller end I cut down to fit the little piece of pipe on the port "plate" I hacked together.



The compressor I hired was an electric 9cfm one and cost me £45 for the weekend.

[guffy]

Thanks for those links

Just so i'm clear, the apliance hose is for the hoover to collect the walnut chippings once they've been blasted around the port, and the other hole in you plate is where you position the blaster nozzle?

I assume that the fittings you get with the blaster are standard and will easily fit a hired compressor?

I do like labour saving devices