cleaning the carburetor pistons

What, if anything, should be used to clean the pistons? I will be cleaning the bores with WD-40 and 800 grit wet/dry. I saw somewhere that the pistons needed to be shinning new, but I'm not comfortable using any abrasive on them.

 

Polish the bore ( might even want to use something finer than 800 grit), just clean the piston, don't use any abrasives, most of them have some sort of special coating if I'm not mistaken...

 

I'm right where you are right now, just bought some 1000 grit.

 

thanks. I think the local hardware has some 400, 800, and 1500. I'll just wipe the piston with some WD40 and clean the bores.

 

You don't need to just blindly polish the bores unless they actually NEED it. If they're badly pitted or corroded sure; but in most cases NO ABRASIVES ARE NEEDED anywhere inside a carburetor.

WD40 is not carb cleaner, nor a good lubricant. Use it for displacing moisture, that's what it's designed for.

CARB CLEANER is for cleaning carburetor parts. The absolute best stuff out there is Berryman's B-12 Chemtool (you can get it at AutoZone) in the aerosol can. BE CAREFUL with this stuff; it's not "Brake cleaner" it's real carb cleaner and it will EAT plastic right now.

With a can of Berryman's and a couple of stout shop rags, you should be able to clean the bores and slides without having to "attack" them with abrasives. If you want to gently polish the bores with metal polish, that's fine; just be sure to use more carb cleaner to remove any remnants.

 

Thanks. That sounds good to me. I've taken one piston out, removed the needle, and it drops like a rock. So the less I can do the better I like it. I just want to be sure these carbs are spotless when I put them back on so all adjustments will work as they are supposed to.