Yeah, gasoline smelled good back when the only way they had to refine it was fractional distillation.
There were a lot more aromatic compounds left.

Remember how fresh pavement (asphalt) smelled???
Roads didn't used to crack in a couple of years either.

 

Yes sir I remember the asphalt smell also. I remember when they paved the road in front of the store. I stayed outside all day long watching them and sucking in lung full after lung full of that smell. I bet that asphalt job lasted 10 years before they had to over lay it. I still live on that road about 2 blocks from the old store and you ought to see the crappy asphalt job on it now. They come through once or twice a year now sealing cracks in it.

 

I just caught your question about ultrasonic tanks.

Ultrasonic transducers have been used for many things.
The rangefinder in an old Polaroid Land Camera used ultrasound to focus the lens.
My father worked to develop a surgical scalpel that parts flesh without ever actually touching it. Almost as if there was a force field ahead of the blade.
And of course we now have ultrasound that can 'see' into the human body.

Anyway...
A stainless steel tank is filled with liquid, and transducers (like speakers-attached to the outside of the tank) cause vibrations beyond the range of human hearing.
This scours anything submerged in the liquid.
Small particles are lifted, suspended and carried off.

Even water with a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid to break the surface tension is effective.
I hear many people use dilute Simple Green or even a splash of Pinesol to help cut through oil and grease.

 

I like that Simple Green stuff....

 

Thank you sir I appreciate it. I wasn't sure what ultrasonic cleaners were so I googled it....gotta love google LOL. I saw a few pictures and kind of got an idea about it. I think an ultrasonic cleaner might just be the ticket to give a carb a good cleaning, thanks for the idea. I checked harbor freight with no luck so I went to eBay and bingo, there must be several hundred for sale on there. I have my eye on a couple of them and I'll see how it goes. I may end up soaking them in lacquer thinner for a bit then run them through the ultrasonic cleaner with some simple green. Thanks again gentlemen your knowledge is priceless.

 

Be careful about leaving parts in an ultrasonic cleaner for too long. We left some steel parts in one overnight once and the vibration of the parts against each other beat the snot out of them and made them junk. An ultrasonic cleaner is a great tool, just be careful with it.

 

A cleaner called Mean Green seems to work fairly well. Nothing degreases like Methylene Chloride but you won't find that just anywhere.

 

Be careful about leaving parts in Simple Green for that matter.
It's mildly caustic and not too good for aluminum.

I've put parts in my case tumbler for a shine and then into the tank with distilled water to get the dust off.
As always, compressed air to blow out passages.

 

It's next to Acetone in the paint department in the hardware store. It is supposed to evaporate at a slower rate than acetone. I don't know what the other qualities it possesses vs acetone, but I chose it for the slower evaporation rate. I'm not impressed with it for cleaning in the aforementioned mixture.

I too loved the smell of fresh asphalt and gasoline when I was younger. And I fondly remember the days when it was possible to pull spare change out of the ashtray to buy enough gas to carry you over to payday.

 

We are closer than we have been in quite some time!

 

I bought an ultrasonic cleaner off of ebay yesterday, it took me a while to get a deal on one but I finally got one. I also found the MEK at Lowe's in the paint section. Now I am going to put out some feelers for Methylene Chloride. I seriously doubt I will be able to find any of that but it won't hurt to try, nothing ventured nothing gained. I probably can't create the old carb cleaner but maybe I can get close enough to have something that will work better than what I buy now days.

 

If you do decide to use Simple Green, heed Jim's caution re aluminum. I use SG all the time in my parts washer, even on aluminum, but I rinse it off with hot water and don't let it sit on the aluminum. And, I recommend Lemon Simple Green as the standard, pine-scented stuff has an extremely pungent smell when heated or agitated, and an ultra-sonic cleaner does both, although the heating is minimal.

 

Thanks for your advise and input gentlemen. Thanks Gary I appreciate it, do you use the Simple Green straight or do you dilute it with water? If you dilute it what ration do you use to dilute it? I will definitely use the Lemon scent, I don't really care pine scent anyway LOL. Thank You

 

Years ago when I got this parts washer, which was made to use Simple Green, I called the Simple Green company and wound up talking to the guy on the commercials. He's a car guy also and suggested the Lemon scented version or even one they call Crystal that has no scent, although I've never found it.

Anyway, he suggested that I run a max of 1:1 SG and water, and more like 1 part SG and 2 parts water. So, I start with 1:1 and as the stuff evaporates over time I add water. Then, when it gets really awful I get rid of it and start over.

 

Thank you sir, the ultrasonic cleaner should be here soon so I'll be off and running before long. I really appreciate you gentlemen sharing your knowledge with me.