I have 8 new Pistons for my 292 Y-block. Somehow they have gotten a bit corroded, nothing too serious. So, best method to clean them up? Wire wheel, glass bead, some liquid solution? My favourite method is electrolysis but I don't think that works on aluminum or does it?
I don't "think" electrolysis would work but wire wheeling would be too rough and gouge the Pistons. Use some scotch bright if you have the time and elbow grease to spare. You could also use bras so or my personal favorite quick-glo. Check out this video-
Quick Glo? Wow, I haven't seen that stuff since my high school & college bike shop days. If it's the same as it was back then, it actually does work really well on surface rusted chrome.
Word... gotta know how bad they are. I saw this one "mechanic" at the shop I was with cleaning up some pistons that came out of an engine, using a wire wheel over the ring lands. I was 18 at the time and knew better... kept my trap shut as it was for his engine and he knew everything.
Bead blasting aluminum works best but you should be able to clean up with red scotchbrite as long as they aren't pitted. Absolutely no wire wheel
Never blast pistons with glass bead, sand or anything abrasive, as mentioned above soda blasting is okay.
Quite a few years ago I read an article about either painting or coating the top of the piston. Never did hear how that worked out.
Look for a product named "strong arm" and soak them . I had a Harley flat head stuck for years , no spark plugs . Shot some strong arm into cylinders , spun free as new . Removed the jugs and Pistons soaked them looked new
We glass bead very expensive aluminum aircraft parts , just regulate the pressure correctly and you won't damage anything. I agree sand is out of the question.
That is correct no beads or sand on Pistons , embeds into ring lands and skirts and scores walls and rings never seat .
That's odd. They must have been exposed to some type of oxidizer. Sometimes just being close to an oxidizer is enough. If there is any pitting and white chalky oxidation that will not clean up by hand, I would think really hard before I used them in a build.
Yes it is odd. I haven't had a chance to look at them that closely. Initially I thought a Scotchbrite pad might just do it but I posted the other ideas to get everyone's thoughts. I know if there is pitting they"'re done. Will update later.
I deal with mil-spec machined parts (and the vendors..) every day. Some workmanship standards say out right that abrasive blasting is prohibited unless specified on the part drawing. We do a lot of vapor and soda blasting though, along with very strict procedures.
Boil them in a pot of water and vinegar or acetic acid toilet cleaner. Works great and no damage to the aluminum.
I had some parts in acetic acid recently, didn't realize that 1 part was aluminum. It was badly eroded when I fished it out in a few days.
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