When Clearer heads Prevail!

First off, let me say Happy Canada Day!

As mentioned in my last post, much of the day was spent in the garage, getting to the engine.  I decided to try a new product for the aluminum parts.  One of the frustrations of living in Canada is that many of the blogs, websites and forums are written for their audience.  99 times out of a hundred that means the US, Australia or England.  The advice, tips and tricks are great and very helpful......IF you can find the products that these people are using anywhere.  Due to various laws, many products such as Marvel Mystery Oil, Eagle one Mag Cleaner (to name a couple off the top of my head) are unavailable here now.  Even finding Plastidip spray can be an ordeal, as we have only one retailer that carries it, Home Hardware.

 Canadian Tire products under the house brand Motomaster comprise most of what can be found on store shelves. Usually it is a guessing game as to what product you are getting after being re-labelled.

I found myself frustrated looking for products to really get in and clean aluminum; luckily enough I found that one highly recommended product was available through NAPA auto parts.  This is a chain I have honestly never dealt with before, but I was pleased by what came about.  I inquired as to whether or not the house Brand 'Aluminum Brightener' was available here.  After a bit of a search, the fellow there found it for $12.99 and could have it for me the next morning at 9:00am.  Having made the call towards the end of the day, I was pleased by the turnaround.

Here is what it looks like:

The product is sold here under the brand 'Aquapro' and is to be diluted 40-1, 20-1 or 5-1 for really tough oxidization.  Here, I have put it in an empty windex bottle to spray on the engine components.  It's always best to start on a test piece, so I decided to use the top yoke I purchased a couple weeks back. Unfortunately, there is a serious lack of instruction on cleaning afterwards and how long to leave it on the part.  

Not too bad, though the pictures don't tend to tell the whole story. My mix was probably 8:1 when I did my first spray.

After the foam settles, a grey finish is left on the part.  There were a lot of dark spots so I thought another spray was in order.

Now Ready for a light polish! I will show you that a little later, however.  

Now on to the engine.  The years have not been kind, but a little elbow grease can bring back some of that 60's spirit.....

With the head off, I started cleaning the left one first.  A very light emory cloth and soapy water you can see the comparison between the two.  At this point, it seemed a good time to experiment and make a hot bath with the brightener.

I was extremely happy with the way the engine bolts turned out.

In short, I would recommend this product especially for the price.  Be prepared to experiment and be prepared for hazardous fumes.  There is also a chance that you may have some mild burns from exposure to skin.

Now onto the main engine.  On initial inspection, the cylinder walls look good, very little wear.  The pistons have a lot of carbon build up. I could see with a flashlight that the rings looked good when looking through the exhaust ports.  I found myself having a little too much fun pushing down the kick starter and watching the pistons move up and down.

I tried a few things here.  Varsol, Pine Sol and detergent applied with a tooth brush, emery cloth.  I realized that oven cleaner would be fine for a 2 stroke engine piston, as the bores are hard chromed.  A light, targeted spray and immediate wipe down did wonders.

The next steps will include cleaning the carbs and inspecting the rest of the engine.  I am confident this little beast will run with fresh gas and spark once everything has been put back together.

I have feelers out to various sources around the globe to get the remaining pieces I need.  Let's keep our fingers crossed!   In the meantime, please enjoy the psychedelic sounds of Tame Impala.