Cleaning cam covers (pre-paint) & what paint to use - update: blasted

Dishwasher is good. Did mine but still need to use some gunk and a green scourer to get the rest off. Gonna be doing mine without the blasting, will also post up my results. Not decided on colour yet.

 

I sanded, primed and painted my gf's cam cover with some standard black spray paint, not high temp or anything and I'm still surprised that there has been no flaking over a year later. That was on a metal cover though, not ally.

 

A mate of mine`s went from this...





...to this...



...with nothing more than Autoglym degreaser/TFR and a stiff brush.

 

mines dk grey/ anthricite??

halfords high temp met black paint was used but looked dk grey on the lid and was when it cam out. great for me as i didn't want black


you might want it slighly darker though

 

another vote for dishwasher. when i did my engine i put about 3 loads of car parts through it while everyone was out

just make sure theres no salt in there (or the solid tablets as they contain salt) as that will make steel or iron parts come out with a layer of surface rust on and ally bits come out with a layer of white powder on. found that out the hard way lol

 

Ah, it's got some of that Finish Rinse Aid in it, in but I can leave the tablet out.



Or do I need to lose the Rinse Aid too?

Planning on putting it through the [STRIKETHROUGH]dish[/STRIKETHROUGH] parts washer in the next hour.

 

We need pics of the process.

If it`s good, I may invest in a small counter-top dishwasher...so much easier than the bath...

 

Well it's in atm, but so far, average results.

Initially:





A lazy wire brushing and a bottle of brake cleaner later:





Currently drying, so as good as it gets?



More parts washer news, as it happens

 

The 'finished' article.





So clean-ish and grease free, but hardly presentable - hard baked stuff still inside, so definitely blasting it

 

Did you put it on highest heat setting? Luckily my one was spottless on the inside and needed a bit extra scrubbing on the outside.

 

celly thinners should loosen the inside grunge up

the outside will need a tickle with a scotch pad and some alloy wheel cleaner /brick acid

 

Yes, the dishwasher was on the full heat setting.

Thinners - cheers, will try

What's brick acid?

 

Agressive stuff for cleaning paint/marks etc off bricks

 

any caustic wash will do a treat, though for this make sure its weak solution, the fumes will kill you

 

Thanks - where to buy? B&Q, or more industrial?

 

grease free, wire brush in drill should bring it up great.
needs to be gentle flat stuff on top

done all sorts of engine stuff, brings it back to better than factory finish, dare i say detailed!

 

B&Q will have something man enough for you Chris.

 

More industrial I think. May get something similar in B&Q but likely not as strong/good.

http://www.originaltouch.co.uk/acatalog/Brick_and_Stone_Cleaner.html

8.00 for 5 liters, that'll do a few

 

Great, many thanks.

 

send it to TSC for a bath