Alright, I've discovered a place where I can concentrate all my non-GMT400
wrench-swinging nonsense in a single stream of consciousness.
Although the reader may or may not comprehend what the underlying
thought process was, I'm hoping that at least some of the following
will either entertain and/or provide some food for thought.
****
Getting engine parts clean enough for a quality build
Ever since I was old enough to wander out to the garage in
the evenings to watch and listen as the old guys would swing
wrenches & bench race while drinking their Lone Star beer(s),
I could sense the unspoken passion that drove these
hard-working folks to spend precious free time working
on their rides.
And the conversations would always start off low-key, and
the participants would almost act like they preferred silence
to the spoken word...but as the brews would work their mojo
on the elder's speech centers, inevitably the conversation would
take on a life on it's own.
It was like watching Gearhead Opera, the natural ebb & flow of
an unforced conversation amongst friends, complete with a little
salty language sprinkled in as verbal exclamation points. (That
stuff just flew over my head, and I just figured that these
forbidden {for me} words were salty dog code for the
listener to pay very close attention. :0)
But in most (but not all) of these conversations, one of
the participants would describe something of breathtaking
beauty that they had made with their own 2 hands, and
then proclaim in absolute terms:
" It Was Clean Enough To Eat Off Of !"
And I'd watch the entire assemblage nod in deep approval.
****
Well, hearing this phrase time & again made a lasting
impression on me. While tinkering with Briggs & Stratton
& Tecumseh motors in 9th grade Power Mechanics class,
I started to understand why the old guys got so excited
about putting together an engine that was clean enough
to eat off of.
(Years pass.)
Thanks to driving a series of '1 car payment cars' (well
used Mk. 1 Fiestas) I was able to siphon off a little of
the auto budget & invest in a 5-gallon ultrasonic parts
cleaner, followed by a Skat Blast cab that I would
fill with crushed walnut shell.
And between those 2 primary cleaning widgets
(+ plus all the other normal cleaning steps) I was able to take an engine
that we had a balance & blueprint performed by our machinst,
and end up with this:
Buttered Toast, Grits, Scrambled Eggs, Canadian Bacon, & Coffee
And yes, I ate every single bit of that, in honor of all the old dudes who regaled me with tales of this.
And I lived to type this in.
(Take that, Cali Prop. 65 Alarmists! :0)
Nooks & crannies don't stand a chance against 100+ psi crushed walnut shell
You know, I never did find out if those walnut shells were certified Organic or not prior to use.
(Shhhh - don't tell anyone, it will be our dirty little secret.)
Q: How did I learn about this cleaning method?
A: The jet engine shop guys were all about the walnut shell. I thought that they were goofing
on me as one of the flightline pointy heads, but they insisted it was for reals.
Q: Are you satisfied with your current cleaning setup?
A: Of course not. I would love to get ahold of an old claw foot bathtub, line the inside with
ultrasonic transducers, and drive them at the resonant frequency of water molecules with
a couple of big honkin' Phase Linear amps. No longer only getting to ultrasonic just the
moving bits, now I can ultrasonic the entire block after a good shellin'! :0)
BONUS PHOTO FOR THE BOWTIE CROWD:
Never before opened Chevy 400ci small block heading into
the blast cabinet for a righteous walnut shelling to see if
it's even worth taking to the machinst for boring:
Glad it didn't drop. That would have been a serious injury. Yeah, serious injury. I'm a good driver.
That just about covers that. Seems crazy...but so does the fact that any/all debris left inside
the engine always, always finds the most expensive places to wedge themselves into and
create concentrated sadness.
wrench-swinging nonsense in a single stream of consciousness.
Although the reader may or may not comprehend what the underlying
thought process was, I'm hoping that at least some of the following
will either entertain and/or provide some food for thought.
****
Getting engine parts clean enough for a quality build
Ever since I was old enough to wander out to the garage in
the evenings to watch and listen as the old guys would swing
wrenches & bench race while drinking their Lone Star beer(s),
I could sense the unspoken passion that drove these
hard-working folks to spend precious free time working
on their rides.
And the conversations would always start off low-key, and
the participants would almost act like they preferred silence
to the spoken word...but as the brews would work their mojo
on the elder's speech centers, inevitably the conversation would
take on a life on it's own.
It was like watching Gearhead Opera, the natural ebb & flow of
an unforced conversation amongst friends, complete with a little
salty language sprinkled in as verbal exclamation points. (That
stuff just flew over my head, and I just figured that these
forbidden {for me} words were salty dog code for the
listener to pay very close attention. :0)
But in most (but not all) of these conversations, one of
the participants would describe something of breathtaking
beauty that they had made with their own 2 hands, and
then proclaim in absolute terms:
" It Was Clean Enough To Eat Off Of !"
And I'd watch the entire assemblage nod in deep approval.
****
Well, hearing this phrase time & again made a lasting
impression on me. While tinkering with Briggs & Stratton
& Tecumseh motors in 9th grade Power Mechanics class,
I started to understand why the old guys got so excited
about putting together an engine that was clean enough
to eat off of.
(Years pass.)
Thanks to driving a series of '1 car payment cars' (well
used Mk. 1 Fiestas) I was able to siphon off a little of
the auto budget & invest in a 5-gallon ultrasonic parts
cleaner, followed by a Skat Blast cab that I would
fill with crushed walnut shell.
And between those 2 primary cleaning widgets
(+ plus all the other normal cleaning steps) I was able to take an engine
that we had a balance & blueprint performed by our machinst,
and end up with this:
Buttered Toast, Grits, Scrambled Eggs, Canadian Bacon, & Coffee
You must be registered for see images attach
And yes, I ate every single bit of that, in honor of all the old dudes who regaled me with tales of this.
And I lived to type this in.
(Take that, Cali Prop. 65 Alarmists! :0)
Nooks & crannies don't stand a chance against 100+ psi crushed walnut shell
You must be registered for see images attach
You know, I never did find out if those walnut shells were certified Organic or not prior to use.
(Shhhh - don't tell anyone, it will be our dirty little secret.)
Q: How did I learn about this cleaning method?
A: The jet engine shop guys were all about the walnut shell. I thought that they were goofing
on me as one of the flightline pointy heads, but they insisted it was for reals.
Q: Are you satisfied with your current cleaning setup?
A: Of course not. I would love to get ahold of an old claw foot bathtub, line the inside with
ultrasonic transducers, and drive them at the resonant frequency of water molecules with
a couple of big honkin' Phase Linear amps. No longer only getting to ultrasonic just the
moving bits, now I can ultrasonic the entire block after a good shellin'! :0)
BONUS PHOTO FOR THE BOWTIE CROWD:
Never before opened Chevy 400ci small block heading into
the blast cabinet for a righteous walnut shelling to see if
it's even worth taking to the machinst for boring:
You must be registered for see images attach
Glad it didn't drop. That would have been a serious injury. Yeah, serious injury. I'm a good driver.
That just about covers that. Seems crazy...but so does the fact that any/all debris left inside
the engine always, always finds the most expensive places to wedge themselves into and
create concentrated sadness.
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