How much/good is vapour blasting?

O

olly

Senior member
What should I be paying for a good vapour blasting job to clean up a dismantled SF engine please? I'm in the UK.
Any pitfalls to watch out for?
Any way to seal the finish?
Anyone regret doing it - maybe because how it lost some of the original engine casting finish?
 
I've always been very happy with results. The best thing I can suggest Olly is that you trial it for yourself, initially on a non-important or hidden part, before jumping in, and judge the results. Maybe taking photos of the 'before' condition, so you can see what happened clearly. The process really doesn't remove much material at all.
 
Always been very happy with the results of vapour blasting and how long the finish lasts and stays looking good.Ive never had or felt the need to seal the finish so can.t really comment on that process.
My own personal preference is to only do heads, barrels and crank cases, for some reason I haven’t liked the finish on carburettors when I’ve seen them done on other bikes.
 
The only caveat I have with it is that you still must clean, clean and clean again before reassembly.
I had a set of CBR600 cases here that had been vapourblasted and were waiting for parts. They'd been washed once and appeared very clean.
After a couple of months on the shelf, they'd developed a small pile of dried abrasive in the lower case as it dried out and fell out of crevices.
 
Regardless of whether the engine was blasted with high pressure + corundum or dry ice, it is sufficient to spray the aluminum with petroleum once a year.
This evaporates quickly and protects the metal. Dirt is also much easier to remove, than without this treatment.
Although I (unfortunately) often drive in the rain, the engines still look great even after years.

Note: Using corundum for blasting results in a sharp-edged surface = dirt will find a good home. It is better to use walnut shells or glass beads as the blasting material.

Thomas aus LAU
 
Back in the olden days I used a lot of kero for cleaning engines etc. It was very cheap, about 1/5 the price of petrol, straight out of a bowser at the local petrol station.
Now it only comes in 1 litre bottles for twice the price of petrol!
 
Trying something different with vaporblasting. This is a steel oil tank for a "1950's" build. It's vaporblasted and then clear etch primed.
The friend who blasted it has had good results with this etch primer as far as longevity and resilience goes. We'll see.
 

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Looks pretty rustic and funky, Greg. Reminds me of a Brompton folding bike model that came in brazed cromo tubing with clear coat. Nuts and bolts, warts and all!
 
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