Amal finishing

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What gives the best appearance result when restoring old Amals?

Light machine polishing?
Fine sand blast, low pressure?
Vapor blast?

Photos of restored Amals welcome here.
 
I just keep them clean with carb spray. They get grungy around the ticklers. I do polish the bowls however with Mother's or similar.
No closeups, sorry.



Amal finishing
 
not sure what can be done. a lot depends if you're looking for a stock look, or some sort of show look. i found that i get close to stock by just a cleaning in standard carb cleaner. amal bodies are some sort of zinc alloy, and like most metals will polish up nicely. i've seen polished amals - look nice, but don't know how long it will last. you can clean them, but after several "tickles," things go south.
 
Looks good. I've got a set which have a some white rust so need to take to the polisher or have blasted. Carb spray won't do it.
 
I think a soft (brass bristled) wire brush and scotchbrite is all yer need.
 
There was a utube viddy of a young lad doing an amal refurb and he did a great polish up using a buffer pad on a dremel or maybe a bigger wheel, using suitable soft metal polishing 'wax'. Got them close to mirror like.

EDIT: Here it is....but he only states how he did it, not showing it:



Have heard these carbs do have some sort of anozdied or coated surface, maybe its just normal oxidation. So any surface work will strip that away. Will return to dull in short order Id expect.
I tossed one of mine into a tub of acetone for a few weeks. Came out much cleaner than the other one, so one is now jealous of the other.
 
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A toothbrush and Naval Jelly (phosphoric acid) will clean them up and look like new. Not a polished surface, but good for a restoration.
 
IMG_0468.JPG


Edit.
That Amal is over 47 years old.

Probably less that 5 minutes work when I was fitting new jetting. (No polish used just brushed then a protectant )
It would be cleaner on the inside of course but shows what happens if you spend a small amount of time to look after things.
 
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Why worry about it as they will get dirty if you ride your bike all the time, but that's me I like the well ridden look of my Norton, I just clean my bike once in a while with a spray cleaner/degreaser and a good polish once a year for its birthday, the day I brought it new and where ever I pull up it still attracts onlookers and they always wonder why there is no oil droppings on the ground.
Pot metal is hard to keep clean so if you spend a lot of time polishing your Amal's they won't stay that way for long if you ride your bike a lot, but if you don't ride it then that's another story.
My Norton is no show pony and has been a everyday rider most of the 46 years of ownership and now its starting to look its age, but that's the way I like it to look, but as I say that's me, I have better things to do than to be polishing Amal carbs.

Ashley
 
I really wouldn't bother polishing pot metal carburetors, what's the point?

There is no point as I learned in 1979 and the reason I only brush them which will still last many years with a protectant.

It also has nothing to do with riding the bike, they would still tarnish eventually sitting in a china cabinet.
As you say they are made from a material that does that.

Here is a Dellorto I did the other week coming up 40 years old.
Super weak DuraGloss 853 and the brush again (no polish) to get a finish to match its age, that acidic product would be unwise on an Amal.
The Amal up the page I regard as a restored type finish as is the Dellorto and any form of blasting especially vapour will not get that.
Amal's are similar to the likes of VHB Dellorto's as far as surface deterioration.

del3.jpg
 
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OG from FB would be having kittens reading this thread and not able to post.
The rust will get you home. :D
 
Pot metal or alloy? Alloy, whether polished or not will always become tarnished when exposed to the atmosphere. Hence the use of some petrol resistant lacquer to protect it and keep the finish.
 
Pot metal or alloy? Alloy, whether polished or not will always become tarnished when exposed to the atmosphere. Hence the use of some petrol resistant lacquer to protect it and keep the finish.
most likely carbs are a zinc-aluminum alloy (ZA). three commonly used percentages used in production. - 8%, 12%, and 27% aluminum. a little copper plus other trace metals. cheap, easy to cast, machine, and has natural bearing characteristics (for throttle slides). the carbs are NOT pot metal.

 
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a long time ago I read a "letters to the editor" possibly CLASSIC BIKE. The Norton owner decided to clean the amals and lacking any regular carb cleaner decided to try muriatic acid and let them soak. A few minutes later he noticed a cloud floating by his garage window and discovered the amals were quickly turning into goo.
 
i'm wondering if you could seal a fresh, clean, carb body with a clear dichromate coating? according to the following, adds a corrosion protective coating, brightens up the surface and gives a blue tint. i know they seal and color auto carbs with yellow dichromate - gives carbs a light olive color with rainbow effects. back in the day, colored many carb body castings with yellow dichromate.

 
There was a utube viddy of a young lad doing an amal refurb and he did a great polish up using a buffer pad on a dremel or maybe a bigger wheel, using suitable soft metal polishing 'wax'. Got them close to mirror like.

EDIT: Here it is....but he only states how he did it, not showing it:



Have heard these carbs do have some sort of anozdied or coated surface, maybe its just normal oxidation. So any surface work will strip that away. Will return to dull in short order Id expect.
I tossed one of mine into a tub of acetone for a few weeks. Came out much cleaner than the other one, so one is now jealous of the other.

That two part video is terrible. Polishing the throttle slides to cure warped carbs is clueless. He is also clueless in the use of his wrenches [part 1 & 2]. No mentions of how to set float level, inspect body to slide wear at the throttle closed position, inspection of air and fuel passageways in the main body, etc.
 
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