Sandblasting?

[Amoeba]

Wasn't sure where to post this...

Would there be any reasons not to use a sandblaster to clean very dirty external engine/metal parts? Nothing where tolerances would be affected of course, thinking more for the nooks & crannies where a wire brush or toothbrush just isn't cutting it for removing gunk & minor oxidation on some older motors I have.

 

[marauder]

If you use the right media, tolerances would not be an issue. The biggest problem I face when blasting things is that I use silica and that stuff gets into EVERYTHING, and running an engine without getting rid of every last tiny tiny bead of silica could result in a short lived engine. This was something I tried to tell a friend who sandblasted his valve cover from his car in my cabinet, two weeks later it was blowing smoke out like a freight train. That stuff ruined his cylinder walls.

 

[jerry7007]

maybe

the only parts I've put in the sandblaster is my header because the stuff gets baked on, and i put my rrp spur and bell in and painted em flat black because they where getting rusty. i use gumout carb cleaner to clean things. i also will fill a oil pan with enough alcohol or paint thinner (depending on what I'm doing) to clean things. I love my sand blaster, lol! a few times I've put my dads old tinker toys in and repainted them.