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Vapour Blasting/Engine Re-finishing

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Nurse Julie:
You should never vapor blast any engine parts with bearing surfaces. This link may help http://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php/topic,20419.0.html

Arch stanton:
I have used Sutton Soda blasting in the past. i found them to be very good.
I think they can do a whole engine.
Whith no danger from stray blast media

AshimotoK0:
This was a complete twin cyl. engine minus, all internals, I blasted with a positive pressure maintained on the inside of a few PSI, after checking it was completely sealed.

Not done any of my plain bearing crank engines like this though.

Laverda Dave:
I have had four engines vapour blasted in the past and never had any issues BUT.....you must strip the engine to the bare castings. You will also need to clean and clean and clean again all the castings when you get them back paying particular attention to the oil galleries. I use my parts washer to clean the castings followed by hot soapy water from a garden pressure bottle (the type you pump up). I then used compressed air followed by a quick stint in the oven at 30 deg to dry everything out.
If you live in London I can recommend a company in Penge called I Cleenz Machinez run by Peter and Caine. They do this work for a living and they know what they are doing.The finish they leave on the cases is like a satin. On my 400/4 I didn't paint the cases, I just rub them over with ACF50 when I clean the bike, never had any corrosion. If you want the cases painted they can do this for about an extra £160 but get a quote first.
I do know someone who had a complete engine vapour blasted years ago without stripping it first. They thought they did a good job of sealing it up with bungs, bolts, mastic etc. They obviously didn't though because the engine was wrecked within a couple of weeks of refitting.
Vapour blasting is tricky and you do it at your own risk, it only takes a few stray beads getting into a bearing and the engine could end up as toast.

Raygun:
Hmmmm!

The finish looks amazing, but the complexity of the bottom end rebuild is quite daunting so very much in two minds as to whether I strip the whole engine and rebuild, or just stick to the top end rebuild only.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. This forum is so useful in doing this project.

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