engine rebuild and more... - Page 5 - Honda Shadow Forums : Shadow Motorcycle Forum

xsive · 02-05-2012, 03:10 PM

Congratulations on your new baby. That has got to be exciting.

mattyo · 02-07-2012, 02:03 AM

Thanks xsive! 3rd time seems more like a routine, but it is still exciting!

So I finally tested out the sand blaster tonight. Being a n00b on blasting, at first I didn't realize I could control the sand flow with the valve on the blaster and had it wide open and was getting giant steams of sand. It was more of a sand fountain than sand blaster. So after becoming less n00bish I tweaked the sand flow rate until I had something that seemed reasonable. Hard to explain empirically but looked like maybe 90% air and 10% sand, at least compared to the sand fountain I had earlier. I'm still not sure how to tell when you have the "optimal" sand/air ratio but I bet it's one of those things you get a feel for after a while and probably depends on personal preference as well? But any suggestions are definitely welcome. I did a test run on the water pump head and was very pleased with the result. The compressor was able to keep up with the air flow demands except I'm skeptical on one thing. My air tank will compress up to 140psi just fine and I have the regulator at 100psi because at that setting the blasting tank reads 90psi. I assume there's a pressure drop across the air filters the same way you get a voltage drop across a resistor but a 10 psi drop just seems high to me. I do have 3 filters in line so maybe that's reasonable after all? Anyway, it still makes aluminum look nice and clean again.

Yes, I know I missed a couple spots.

xsive · 02-12-2012, 02:46 AM

Looks great. That blaster will pay itself off ten fold before your done. I would think even 80 psi would be more than enough.

mattyo · 02-12-2012, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xsive

Looks great. That blaster will pay itself off ten fold before your done. I would think even 80 psi would be more than enough.

I can turn the regulator on the compressor to 100psi so the blasting tank reads 90psi, I'm just curious why there's a 10psi drop across the air filter. It seems high to me but maybe that's just standard for air filters? It's not a big deal, just curious.

Also, I'm not even sure I should be blasting at 90psi. I should probably look into that.

mattyo · 03-13-2012, 01:46 AM

Well finally a little update. Still cleaning and blasting but I'm getting there. Had to a take a little tangent and do a more thorough job of sealing up the seams and bolt holes on the blasting cabinet because #8 silica was flooding the basement and my lungs. But these little deals worked great for the gasket surfaces and piston heads:
Pack of 5 2" Fine Grade Fiber Grinding Discs
And it seems my mad blasting skills (yeah right) were good enough to avoid hitting the gasket surfaces with the blasting, at least to the naked eye. I still have to give the gasket surfaces a wet sand and polish them up.

I still haven't decided if I want to just clear coat the bare aluminum (because I like the look of raw metal) or go for some metallic dark red to accent the engine. In my mind it would look awesome to flat black everything else and have the metallic red engine as the focal point. A man can dream can't he?

Oh yeah, and if you live near a Harbor Freight, these come in very handy. Sometimes they say, "original coupon must be presented" but I have not had any troubles using a printed copy of them yet. http://slickdeals.net/forums/attachm...2&d=1328131775

still_bluenoser · 03-13-2012, 07:06 AM

The clear coated bare aluminum would look great, the only other option

is gloss black with the fins sanded bare.

jpr1968 · 03-13-2012, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattyo

I can turn the regulator on the compressor to 100psi so the blasting tank reads 90psi, I'm just curious why there's a 10psi drop across the air filter. It seems high to me but maybe that's just standard for air filters? It's not a big deal, just curious.

Also, I'm not even sure I should be blasting at 90psi. I should probably look into that.

Couldd just be a matter of the 2 guages not reading the same. It's not uncommon to be 10% off depending on the accuracy of the gauges.

mattyo · 03-13-2012, 09:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by still_bluenoser

The clear coated bare aluminum would look great, the only other option

is gloss black with the fins sanded bare.

LOL! Of course that's the only other option.

I had thought about trying to paint the bike so it looked like it was made of LEGOs (gloss black LEGOs?) but sounded like too much work.

mattyo · 03-13-2012, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpr1968

Couldd just be a matter of the 2 guages not reading the same. It's not uncommon to be 10% off depending on the accuracy of the gauges.

10%? Good grief, who calibrates these things? I can probably guess the pressure to 15% by giving the air gun a few blasts and listening to the pitch of the air out the nozzle. Okay, maybe not.

mattyo · 03-14-2012, 12:43 AM

Tonight I got the rear cylinder parts blasted, pulled the rings off the pistons and cleaned them up with the abrasive disks. Man this is time consuming! Still have to clean up the rocker cavities and rocket heads, pull the bearings, clean the main case and install the new bearings. I have a lot of gaskets and O-rings to buy. Oh well, I'm learning and that's what counts right? And hopefully I have a working engine after this!

Maybe if I spent less time taking pictures...

02-05-2012, 03:10 PM	#41 (permalink)
xsive Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Boise Idaho Posts: 90	Congratulations on your new baby. That has got to be exciting. __________________ 1984 Honda Shadow VT700

02-12-2012, 02:46 AM	#43 (permalink)
xsive Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Boise Idaho Posts: 90	Looks great. That blaster will pay itself off ten fold before your done. I would think even 80 psi would be more than enough. __________________ 1984 Honda Shadow VT700

03-13-2012, 01:46 AM	#45 (permalink)
mattyo Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 1,310	Well finally a little update. Still cleaning and blasting but I'm getting there. Had to a take a little tangent and do a more thorough job of sealing up the seams and bolt holes on the blasting cabinet because #8 silica was flooding the basement and my lungs. But these little deals worked great for the gasket surfaces and piston heads: Pack of 5 2" Fine Grade Fiber Grinding Discs And it seems my mad blasting skills (yeah right) were good enough to avoid hitting the gasket surfaces with the blasting, at least to the naked eye. I still have to give the gasket surfaces a wet sand and polish them up. I still haven't decided if I want to just clear coat the bare aluminum (because I like the look of raw metal) or go for some metallic dark red to accent the engine. In my mind it would look awesome to flat black everything else and have the metallic red engine as the focal point. A man can dream can't he? Oh yeah, and if you live near a Harbor Freight, these come in very handy. Sometimes they say, "original coupon must be presented" but I have not had any troubles using a printed copy of them yet. http://slickdeals.net/forums/attachm...2&d=1328131775 __________________ 1983 vt750 - "Fra-Hankenstein" (restoration in progress, click for the full story) Last edited by mattyo; 03-13-2012 at 01:55 AM.

03-13-2012, 07:06 AM	#46 (permalink)
still_bluenoser Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Nova Scotia Canada Posts: 3,476	The clear coated bare aluminum would look great, the only other option is gloss black with the fins sanded bare. __________________ 1981 cb750c with 900f forks, cams, oil cooler. 1983 vt500c 1979 cbx

03-14-2012, 12:43 AM	#50 (permalink)
mattyo Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 1,310	Tonight I got the rear cylinder parts blasted, pulled the rings off the pistons and cleaned them up with the abrasive disks. Man this is time consuming! Still have to clean up the rocker cavities and rocket heads, pull the bearings, clean the main case and install the new bearings. I have a lot of gaskets and O-rings to buy. Oh well, I'm learning and that's what counts right? And hopefully I have a working engine after this! Maybe if I spent less time taking pictures... __________________ 1983 vt750 - "Fra-Hankenstein" (restoration in progress, click for the full story)

02-07-2012, 02:03 AM	#42 (permalink)
mattyo Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 1,310	Thanks xsive! 3rd time seems more like a routine, but it is still exciting! So I finally tested out the sand blaster tonight. Being a n00b on blasting, at first I didn't realize I could control the sand flow with the valve on the blaster and had it wide open and was getting giant steams of sand. It was more of a sand fountain than sand blaster. So after becoming less n00bish I tweaked the sand flow rate until I had something that seemed reasonable. Hard to explain empirically but looked like maybe 90% air and 10% sand, at least compared to the sand fountain I had earlier. I'm still not sure how to tell when you have the "optimal" sand/air ratio but I bet it's one of those things you get a feel for after a while and probably depends on personal preference as well? But any suggestions are definitely welcome. I did a test run on the water pump head and was very pleased with the result. The compressor was able to keep up with the air flow demands except I'm skeptical on one thing. My air tank will compress up to 140psi just fine and I have the regulator at 100psi because at that setting the blasting tank reads 90psi. I assume there's a pressure drop across the air filters the same way you get a voltage drop across a resistor but a 10 psi drop just seems high to me. I do have 3 filters in line so maybe that's reasonable after all? Anyway, it still makes aluminum look nice and clean again. Yes, I know I missed a couple spots.

Remove Advertisements Sponsored Links
HondaShadow.net Advertisement