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Is it safe to media blast my '93 Evo heads and jugs (exterior, head and base gasket areas...not the cylinder interior itself) with walnut shells? I have a blast cabinet which I've used for other restoration work, but I've used glass bead for that. I'm thinking that it would do a wonderful job at removing the carbon from the combustion chambers (SeaFoam and CRC valve cleaner had little impact), and whatever gasket residue is remaining, but obviously I don't want to ruin anything.
Won't have as much impact as glass beads. I've used walnut shell to clean glass without marking it. Shoot a bare metal spot with the walnut, shouldn't see as much texture change as with the glass, if any. I've used both extensively on aircraft parts. Walnut takes longer on some hard substances, might still have to use glass on the carbon build up, or knock it down a bit and finish with walnut. If your parts are painted, walnut might not take that off, depends on the paint.
Professional engine builders use baking soda to remove carbon build up on pistons and heads but it can't be reused or recirculated like in a typical blast cabinet.
So, it doesn't cut nearly as fast as glass been does, but it doesn't mar the surface either. Here are my two pistons; 1 before, 1 after.
It also did a nice job on the combustion chamber of one of the heads. The primary problem with a small blast cabinet is that it's hard to see. Once the media gets flying around (although I have a shop vac attached to it), visibility sucks. That makes it especially hard for complicated pieces like the cylinder head.
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Is it safe to media blast with walnut shells?
