C3s4me

Iaa

68/70Vette

I have some BB aluminum manifolds. Some have been sandblasted and some not. If you don't want to sandblast a manifold to clean it, how can you get it cleaner...than a hounds tooth..without blasting?

C3s4me

aaa

69Vett

you can clean very well on the car,
first degrease, and dry completely then use a Air Needle Scaler.
available @ Harbor Freight, use low pressure on Alumin. manifold.

Easy Mike

Do not have the manifold sandblasted. Sandblasting can change the stock finish. Original manifolds have no clear coats.

BFI

I believe that you can have it glass beaded at low pressure and not affect the finish.

spikebot 81

I just bought a used rpm intake that was fairly clean but had some stains on it. Picked up some Eagle One etching mag wheel cleaner at the local auto parts store. WOW really turned out nice. Looks factory clean. Spray solution on and let set 20 min. and hose off with hot water. Was not too thrilled with the results until the water dried up but afterwards it looks great

Jeff_Keryk

Aluminum wheel cleaner or oven cleaner.

C3s4me

aaa

exposingtime

I used a brass brush and wd40 on mine.

spray wd40, scrub with a brush, wipe with a cloth and keep repeating.

Took about 2 hours, but intake looks great. I didnt want to repaint or sandblast or lose that original look.

Gary

Stingray Wes

I agree with exposingtime....I did the same process on an old aluminum intake that I bought....works well and doesn't harm the stock finish.

3JsVette

Might want to try Busch Aluminum Wash. It's an acid bath but I've seen it clean some nasty stains on raw aluminum and it leaves an as cast new finish. For less than $10.00 it's worth a try.

68/70Vette

Good reply. I have some manifolds that I plan to sell. Would like to clean them up for presentation. Sand blasting clean's up really well but it destroys surface original finish/definition. A chemical/solvent wash that's effective would be really great.

CanadaGrant

I used Easyoff Oven Cleaner, let it sit then blew it off with a powerwasher. Did it twice.

Hideki

Now I feel like a total redneck, I just wire wheel aluminum manifolds



This Team-G had maybe five coats of paint - green, grey, orange, etc. took it off in a few minutes

gdh

I've used Easy Off as well. When I built my current engine in '01 we sprayed the intake and Iron Eagle heads with a clearcoat just to see how long it would last. Just removed them 13 yrs later and almost like new. I am going to spray clearcoat on the intake on the new engine before dropping it on. As Mike said it's not how they did it at the factory but it now will have a GM crate in it and I'm leaving it black vs painting correct chevy orange.

AdamMeh

Sand blasting aluminum is not the way to go. Bead blasting works very well though, and when done correctly, leaves a very nice cast aluminum finish.

Before:



After:

QIK59

NO !! You don't sandblast aluminum - it is not a very smart thing to do.
Ruins the surface finish/ texture and imbeds in the alumuinum.

Even bead blasting can be a bit (too) agressive but is sometimes the only way for corroded parts.

n.g.hayes

Product I have used for thirty plus years is WELD-O Preweld Aluminum Cleaner. Brush it on with a small acid brush and it bubbles away all stains with absolutely no damage to the aluminum. A small bottle has lasted me for years. Today was a good example, had gas stains from a leaky carb on my show car manifold and this cleaner had it looking like new in just a couple of minutes. Brush it on, wipe it off. Cleaned a T-10 transmission case for an NCRS vehicle and the judges loved it.
Norm

MrJlr

Chevy orange paint