cleaning srb parts

[smegs]

Hi guys whats the best way to clean old original parts.

[Percymon]

Depends what you mean by clean - grease and dirt removal just warm water and liquid soap with use of old toothbrush for gear etc.

Alloy parts such as roll hoop , chassis plate and front cross tubes can be cleaned with fine wire wool to give a near original lustre, or polished to a bright finish. Gercase and the front uprights are more dificult due to the recesses and shape - sand blasting with grit or glass beads give various leels of lustre.

[smegs]

Thank you for suggestation.

[shenlonco]

Hi WD40 should work great also.

[viperchief]

I use automotive brake cleaner on metal parts. I use a plastic container and spray the parts then use an old paintbrush with shortened bristles (to make them stiffer) to scrub as needed. Remove parts and let air dry. Works great! For plastic parts I use an ultra-sonic cleaner (available at Harbor Freight) along with some Purple Power degreaser. Five minutes later they are sparkling clean!

[Finman]

Viperchief

Which ultra sonic cleaner do you use, the 2.5 litre or the smaller one, on the Harbor Freight site?

Rich

[Gruntfuggly]

I've used T-Cut on the alloy parts too - parts like the front suspension tubes can be cleaned really quickly by putting the tube in a drill (with some cloth to protect it) and then put some t-cut on another bit of cloth and just hold it round the tube while you run the drill - comes out shiny in seconds...

For the pot-metal parts, I use a (fake) dremel with a fine wire brush...

[Finman]

Don't put the pot aluminium parts in the dish washer - they will come out clean but they will be dis-coloured (darker).

Rich

[viperchief]

Viperchief

Which ultra sonic cleaner do you use, the 2.5 litre or the smaller one, on the Harbor Freight site?

Rich

Rich,

I use the 2.5 litre one. It is a good size and you can fit a bunch of parts in it. It also really does a good job removing paint!

Rich

[Finman]

Rich

Thanks for that. Now I'll see what's available in the UK.

Rich

[Percymon]

Hi Rich,

I have a James 7000 ultrasonic cleaner. It's inexpensive but reasonably effective. It'll hold all the disassembled front of an srb in one go, gearcases you'd probably have to go one at a time. Handy bit of kit for £25, available widely and under different names. Amazon normally have decent prices.

I've used it more for nuts/bolts and small metal components thar are cuddly to do by hand with a toothbrush.

Fill with hand hot soapy water, set timer and get on with something else!

[Finman]

Thanks Percymon.

I don't know why but I'd always thought these cleaners were really expensive. So next on the list.

Rich

[Percymon]

Only other thing I would add is don't mix material types and use fresh cleaning fluid for each type, eg brass bearings separate from alloy components separate from screws/bolts. If you mix fluid/materials you can get some strange tarnishing effects