Alum. intake & TC cover cleanup

[fritz]

just took apart my motor for some up dates. & was wondering the best way to clean up the intake, TC cover & oilpump housing. The intake is in typical old condition, dirty & flakeing, I am thinking to glass bead & powder coat
or... any better suggestion??

 

[racemybuick]

if your intake is flaking, it isnt a good idea to bead-blast first...Try a fine sand (play sand) first to blast off all the flakes, otherwise you will get both stains and clogs from the glass bead tank if the flakes fall into the mix....Usually the galss beads are for finish polishing, once the major defects are cleaned up. As per the timing cover, I used a roloc abrasive disc from 3M on a 1/4 inch air die grinder and sanded the whole cover nice and smoth...after that, two quick coats of primer and three coats of gloss black have this thing looking flawless!!!!

Good luck!!!

John