vanster

I'm working on my old 60/2 BMW motorcycle and I am going to vapor blast all the aluminum bits.

Has anyone done this to our intake manifolds?

GT6ixer

By vapor blast do you mean dry ice? I have been asking the same question on the intake manifolds for a while. So far no one I know of has tried it on the intake. I think if it was aggressive enough to remove the old coating it would be a nice alternative to traditional media blasting since the dry ice sublimates on impact and leaves no embedded particles. If you try it I'd love to read how the results went.

jschiller

I think he means water + media. It's generally a commercial system though there are youtube videos on doing it yourself. I don't know the benefits if you have to usa a media with it, though the water may assist in washing the media out immediately. I'm curious too.

fossberry

I've had a commercial company use vapour blasting (water, micro beads, mild cleaning agents and air), mixed into a slurry and propelled at high speed to the surface to be blasted to do my Cam covers and manifold on my 928. The water component of the slurry provides hydraulic cushioning to soften the micro bead's impact on the metal's surface. Then ultrasonically cleaned and further cleaned with compressed air before powdercoating. That was over a year ago and still looks like new.

vanster

There are a few powder coating shops here in the Bay Area that offer Vapor blasting. I'm taking a bunch engine parts to them and I will report back.
This is how vintage BMW motorcycles get that fresh look, heads, block, hubs etc. This is not my bike but similar.