- Location
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I have been reading about dry ice blasting, and decided to give it a try on my 1982 1200 TS engine and trans. I found a local company with big industrial equipment, and arranged to meet them at a job site where they were removing a large amount of graffiti from public property.
http://www.icejet.com/
the owner, Faron, did warn me that the dry ice blasting does not remove any base material and would not remove staining IN the aluminum, but would remove anything on the surface. He quoted me $100.
I arrived with the Laverda motor on a trailer, but already squeaky clean, except in the crevice where the starter motor mounts, and between the fins in the barrel and head. I spent several hours cleaning up the motor when I first got the bike.
Faron had three different nozzles to try. Bottom line, dry ice under huge blast pressure is a fabulous cleaner. It got rid of everything from between the fins, in the crevice where the starter motor mounts, and some cleaning residue that I had missed under the trans. It would have been perfect to use BEFORE I had cleaned the motor, but does absolutely nothing to the surface of the aluminum, so I still have the staining and battery acid streaks to deal with.
Faron was very fair, charged me only $50 as he didn't achieve much of a result on the Laverda motor as it was already so clean, I will use him again but for cleaning filthy motors of dirt/oil/chain lube/crap. I happened to have a used Triumph Spitfire Car transmission in the back of my SUV, it was filthy with 40 years of accumulated grunge, the dry ice blast stripped it clean in minutes, much quicker and better than if I had tried to scrub it clean myself.
so, end result was really great cleaning with absolutely no damage, but no removal of stains already IN the aluminum, I am still going to have to chemically etch or maybe bead blast to get rid of the battery acid stains and some of the mottling in the bare aluminum, but that will be dealt with after I get the motor stripped to bare cases.
see attached photos.
Paul LeClair
http://www.icejet.com/
the owner, Faron, did warn me that the dry ice blasting does not remove any base material and would not remove staining IN the aluminum, but would remove anything on the surface. He quoted me $100.
I arrived with the Laverda motor on a trailer, but already squeaky clean, except in the crevice where the starter motor mounts, and between the fins in the barrel and head. I spent several hours cleaning up the motor when I first got the bike.
Faron had three different nozzles to try. Bottom line, dry ice under huge blast pressure is a fabulous cleaner. It got rid of everything from between the fins, in the crevice where the starter motor mounts, and some cleaning residue that I had missed under the trans. It would have been perfect to use BEFORE I had cleaned the motor, but does absolutely nothing to the surface of the aluminum, so I still have the staining and battery acid streaks to deal with.
Faron was very fair, charged me only $50 as he didn't achieve much of a result on the Laverda motor as it was already so clean, I will use him again but for cleaning filthy motors of dirt/oil/chain lube/crap. I happened to have a used Triumph Spitfire Car transmission in the back of my SUV, it was filthy with 40 years of accumulated grunge, the dry ice blast stripped it clean in minutes, much quicker and better than if I had tried to scrub it clean myself.
so, end result was really great cleaning with absolutely no damage, but no removal of stains already IN the aluminum, I am still going to have to chemically etch or maybe bead blast to get rid of the battery acid stains and some of the mottling in the bare aluminum, but that will be dealt with after I get the motor stripped to bare cases.
see attached photos.
Paul LeClair
