2101

Great buy --
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C.
 
this morning i spoke with a fellow at a local company that specializes in disaster clean up and restoration. they have an ultrasonic cleaning unit that is a good size for an intake manifold. i told him what my plans were for cleaning up the 2101 and although they had never done auto parts he said to bring it in when i am ready. i will de-grease it first in the parts washer so that the ultra sonic can work it's magic on the aluminum. i have access to a small ultra sonic cleaner that i will try to get the quadrajet pieces in a bit at a time for it's rebuild. when we first started using the ultrasonic we were amazed by the results. grimey, varnished up carbs come out looking like new and clean as a whistle. you could soak a carb in chemical solutions for a month and never come close. the solution used is nothing more than water and a squirt of dish soap. :D
 
i tried a little simple green as a test on the manifold and it de-greases quite nicely. it is a little cold here to play around with the pressure washer so i will take it to the coin wash and do a thorough de-greasing before it goes in the ultrasonic tank. :seeya:
 
Back in '98 I had the aluminum factory intake on our Chevelle glass beaded as opposed to sand blasted. It stayed excellent all these years and some brake cleaner on a rag cleaned up any mess that got on the aluminum. None of the white chalking ever showed up on the surface and the car was in unheated storage in the winter. I've seen all too many clear coated intakes turn yellow after a while especially around the heat crossover. Despite all that I have heard about good products, I wouldn't waste my money on paint. Personal preference of course.
 
i have heard that about the discolouring keith. i think the glass bead is probably the way to go. i understand that the results are better than walnut shells and not messy like soda. i'm kind of betwixt and between on the bead blasting or the ultrasonic. speaking of ultrasonic cleaners i bought one from ebay today, should be here in about 10 days time. it is a 6.5 lt unit 11" x 6" x 6" deep so it should take any of the popular carburetors no problem. i may start collecting quadrajets to refurb :rofl: those ultrasonics do such a slick job.
 
The glass bead, at 80-90 psi, gives a slight shine to the intake just like the L78 intakes did when new. Some claim it is all different. All I can say is that it looks pretty close to me and I didn't once have anyone come along and question the appearance of the intake. I have a theory that perhaps the glass bead closes up the pores in the aluminum surface and perhaps even work hardens it a little so that you don't get the corrosion. Whatever, mine stayed great for 14 years and was still looking good when we sold the car.
If I didn't have the garage torn apart, I could do your intake and you could see for yourself. As it is, the compressor is one corner, the blast cabinet in another and the dust vacuum is in another. Hopefully this time next month, the place should be going back together. What a mess you get into to get out of one. :(
 
i wonder if the glass bead works like shot peening and puts a microscopic dimpling in the aluminum. any blasting i ever did was back in the jurassic era when all we had was sand. when the sand had broken down some was the best time to do aluminum. but you still had an awful lot of polishing to do. having been out of the game for so long all the new techniques and things have me like a kid in a candy store. things change very dramatically, i remember when my G.T.O. broke into the 10's with what's available today at reasonable prices that car would start to be looking at the 8's !!! :D
 
well i now have an ultrasonic cleaner, q-jet rebuild kit, electric choke conversion, just one drawback. can't get the carb till the first week of april :( i will also be able to bead blast the manifold and accompanying parts as i have a blast cabinet on the way. but that is some thing that will have to wait until warmer weather as setting up all the equipment in the house aint' gonna fly. sheesh -women !!!
 
well yesterday i picked up my new bench top sand blast cabinet. it looks to be large enough to do my intake, i'll do a test fit today. it's still way too cold to be bothered setting it up in the garage. i'll have to do a search around peterborough for some glass and walnut for it. the tsc store here only carries sand and silica. i will likely have to make a trip to princess auto in whitby. they keep threatening to put a store in peterborough but nothing ever comes of it. it seems like there is a new shoppers drug mart opening every week but no princess auto !!! :swear: doug.
 
I was going to do some glass beading for a friend and he was picking up the bag of bead. What the clown sold him was finely broken up glass which is essentially the same as sand but definitely isn't the little round glass beads. Make sure they don't sell you the wrong stuff. I'm thinking he got it from Princess Auto in Whitby south of 401.
 
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