The downside of sandblasting valve covers

[mediarare]

He bought the valve cover already sandblasted, so instead of saying he should've done something else or whatever, here's the context. He didn't sandblast it himself, so he did the logical thing and cleaned the aftermath.

[timessiah]

Some parts of a car you do not sand blast.

[TacoPapi]

I destroyed a SR20 like this when I was in my 20s. Had it sandblasted, painted it all nice, thru it in and blew the motor in 15 minutes on the freeway.

[Handle]

If you have the money for it, buy a machine that uses dry ice, it's more expensive but you dont have to worry about things like that

[steelwitness]

Some valve covers have the baffles bolted or screwed on. I sand blast tons of miata valve covers because the baffles covers are only held on with screws. I put the screws and covers in a white vinegar bath while I sand blast, wash, and paint. Take the screws and covers out of the vinegar and rinse them well. Assemble the valve cover.

[Nightshade-dhfm]

This is why you use a soda blaster, baking soda dissolves in water, so a quick rinse after you're done we'll get rid of all the contaminants, then use compressed air to dry.

[swagpioneer]

my motor loves sand idk whats wrong with everyone elses

[SpecialEDy]

Soda Blasting! You should always use baking soda for abrasive blasting on engine parts. Its water soluble, you simply rinse or wash the parts to remove all of the abrasive. Harbor freight sells 40lb bags of baking soda..

[michaelbenoit]

Don’t sand blast, use crushed walnut shells. Won’t destroy ur bearings, are softer than aluminum, & no grit.

[obsoleteprofessor]

We rebuilt an airplane engine in A&P school. Lots of parts were glass beaded. No amount of cleaning got everything out. When we pulled the screens first run up, there was a good amount of glass beads.

[cliffweinan]

Great point. You can also chemically clean valve cover with spray oven cleaner. It is serious acid so please use PPE and neutralize cleaner with warm water when it is done. Pat dry and put under sunshine to sizzle any remaining water.

[wolfemancola]

I sand blasted a valve cover on a 1995 Plymouth Neon ACR with the baffles still on but i used brake cleaner and compressed air to remove most of the sand. That was over a year ago and no problems yet, i guess only time will tell.

[dresser]

It's not so much clogging the oil passages but the abrasive effect of the sand or glass from blasting on bearing journals causing failure

[Tuck]

I'm a professional sand blaster, I work on some critical plane parts, and I agree with you

[minimanadam]

Wow, i honestly never thought about that...thx for the tip

[blueberrychronic]

If you have to worry about media getting stuck you don't sand blast, you soda blast and then use hot water to remove it from anywhere you can't see

[daniellepage]

So if you want to strip parts clean. Sand blasting is for large parts like frames and body and engine block. Little stuff like a valve cover can be treated in menthol hydrate. It’s cheap and peels paint and cooked oil off in about 2 hours. But you could also leave in overnight. And you can reuse the solution many times before it evaporates or becomes completely contaminated and fails.

[jmfb.]

Gran consejo 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻, siempre todo debe estar muy limpio, y luego bien soplado, para una lubricacion correcta.

[consaka]

Worst case scenario for the sand is that it wears out your oil pump. It might do some damage to a lifter if it gets on the cam but everywhere else the oil goes through the oil pump and then through the filter. No crank, main or cam bearings should be affected. In fact the oil pump probably wouldn't even pick up the sand from the bottom of the pan.

[grecco_buckliano]

Great jorb. Any yay-hole can take stuff apart. But how about putting it back together? Can you do that too?