1970 3-nipple breather cleaning?

[challenger_affair]

My 1970 383 has this 3-nipple breather and its pretty grimey inside.  Does anyone have suggestions on how to clean the insides?  I don't want to clean it half way and risk loosening something that might wind up down in the engine.

[brads70]

I'm in the same boat. Mine has chunks of crap falling out of it. I've sprayed a couple of can's of brake clean through it , and when I let it out it looks like muddy water!    I was going to buy a new one at Carlisle but all I could find was a NOS and the dude wanted $250 for it!   I have a buddy that has a vat of some chemical cleaner that removes all oil , paint etc... I was going to try that today if I get time?   I'll let you know how it goes?

[Super Blue 72]

What's inside it?  Is it just breather material?

If so, can you pull out the old stuff from the bottom and put in new breather element? 

[Chryco Psycho]

soaking in carb cleaner should work , varsol compressed air after the carb cleaner loosens it

[challenger_affair]

Its hard to see whats acutally in there, but I can see what looks to be some sort of internal divider thats larger than any of the opening so I don't think it can be taken apart.  I don't know if there's a paper element or anything behind it. 

I'll be interested to hear how that effort goes Brad.  Berrymans sells a gallon can of carb cleaner so I was wondering if that might work for a soaking?  And I don't have easy access to compressed air so after its been soaked could I then use a spray can of carb cleaner to try and blast out anything that loosened up? 

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Chryco Psycho]

I believe it is a shredded wire mesh

[brads70]

Well..... I've sprayed an entire can of carb cleaner, then brake cleaner through it and there are still chunks falling out of it. I soaked it in a vat of acetone for about 4-5 hours , then blew it dry and lots of dust then came pouring out.  So I kept dunking it in the acetone and ran it under hot water to keep flushing it out. Flushing it with hot water and shaking it seems to have been the most effective so far. Now I have it soaking in a jug of vinegar. Well see how that goes. Still lots of crud coming out of there especially after you shake it with some water inside?

[brads70]

The vinegar worked pretty good! I then flushed it out well with hot water, then another can of carb cleaner. The carb cleaner ran out clean so I'm satisfied it's clean. I then blew it all out best I could, taped up the 3 nipples and glass beaded  it and then spray bombed it black. Looks new! I'll post some pictures when it's dry.

[challenger_affair]

Thanks for the updates, glad it finally cleared out for you!  I don't have good access to air so I may try and get as far as I can with vinegar, water, berrymans chem dip, and some spray cleaner, then let it dry out...  I'll get the supplies tomorrow.  I'll post back when I've had a chance to attack it tomorrow after work. 

[Jamiez]

You can get a pancake air compressor for like $40 at a place like harbor freight.  You won't be sand blasting or running air tools with it, but it should have more than enough power to fill up car tires and blow gunk out of parts

[challenger_affair]

THanks, I'll have to look for a pancake compressor at some point soon...

The vinegar doesn't seem to be doing much for me.  The carb cleaner is doig something, 2 cans so far and its not coming out clear yet though.  Would soaking in white gas do much as a degreaser??  I have some sitting around and wondered if that would be worth a shot instaed of the berrymans chem dip...

[brads70]

THanks, I'll have to look for a pancake compressor at some point soon...

The vinegar doesn't seem to be doing much for me.  The carb cleaner is doig something, 2 cans so far and its not coming out clear yet though.  Would soaking in white gas do much as a degreaser??  I have some sitting around and wondered if that would be worth a shot instaed of the berrymans chem dip...

Did you try hot water yet?

[challenger_affair]

I did use some hot water but I think it needs more degreasing action.  I wound up putting it in some white gas last night and the container turned brown almost instantly so I'll see how it looks when I get back from work after about 18 hrs in the gas...  The water makes me a little nervous because the outer surfaces showed some rust pretty quickly afterward.  Not a big deal because it can be cleaned well on the outside but it made me wonder how well it could be neutralized internally. 

[brads70]

What's" white gas" ?

[spamtank]

I think that's Colman lantern fuel- the liquid, not the propane.