This is one of those KZfaq videos that show what KZfaq SHOULD be. Video - EXTREMELY helpful, clear, easy, lists what you will need, a great explanation. PERFECT.

Excellent Ronnie love it no music blaring no intro logos just the simple facts thank you!

Just worked a treat on my 1952 (same age as me ) L.E. velocette, here in the UK. Nicely presented video too,without all the shouting and waved around camera. And straight to the point, thanks for it, i did my cylinder heads too. Look great.

New subscriber here. Old time carburetor guy (I'm 71 years old). Today both of my vehicles are fuel injection. That carb looks new. Nice job. I don't know what a new carb costs today. Back in the day they were $60/70 dollars. In the 60's that is... Enjoy your no BS video, and waiting for more. Thanks, from warm Florida.

Keep this trick I devised years ago for the future when you do carbutator work.. Try this... Heat the plastic tube from the carb cleaner spray with a lighter (about 1/4-1/2 inch from the end. Then pull on each end of the tube to stretch it. This makes the outer/inner tube diameter smaller and more of a pin point. When the melted plastic solidifies, use small wire clippers or nail clippers to snip the tube at the smallest diameter that still provides flow when spraying. The cleaner comes out like a pin point pressure washer and the shrunken plastic tube end fits inside whatever port your spaying thru. You can also do the same to create 90 degree angles in the plastic tube to spray sideways inside long venturi tubes. I used to make/keep custom tubes around for these situations. Hope this makes sense. BTW.... Great videos.

Thank you for sharing. I'm a contractor and my hobby is rebuilding old cars and trucks. I have used muratic acid to clean away oil and grease from concrete with really good results before painting with epoxy. The epoxy run about 100 bucks a gallon so you need good results or it's going to get expensive. And my customers won't be giving me a good referral. I will definitely give this a try. And thank you for your service. Our Son gave all.

First off, Thank You For Your Service SIr. Second, this is an absolute PERFECT video. Thanks for this valuable information.

Tech for 50 years- 38 as a shop owner. If you have a carb that the air adjustment(s) do not change the mixture try this. Old school way is to use a mixture of white vinigar and water (approx 30/70) and put the disassembled parts in a slow cooker on low over night. Works especially good at disolving the salts created by moisture in the fuel more especially by ethanol that carb cleaners won't touch. Clean the as much grime and gunk as much as possible before the soak.

Thank you for your service to our country. And, thanks for explaining as you did - without any of that coarse language that embarrasses. I appreciate you.

First thanks for serving in the military and second thanks for sharing this tip. I have been very dissatisfied with the over the counter carburetor cleaner gallon can and baskets out there. They are not what they used to be. Thanks!

Don't ever think a gunk up carburetor is junk. I've never seen one that couldn't be cleaned and restored to perfect Working order. When walking down a hard packed oil soaked dirt driveway into a car collectors backyard, I Look down and recognise the corner of a Carter afb that had been completely buried into the driveway and had been used as pavement for years. My friends laughed at me as I dug it out of the dirt gave him 5 bucks, cleaned it and the only thing I replaced was the leather or rubber accelerator pump plunger. I even used the old top half gasket. Worked absolutely flawless. Today so many people are blinded by shiny and sparkly things, they don't have a sound understanding of what makes something work. As long as all the internal passages are clean, it's going to work like new.

Ronnie that special water & acid mix did do a BEAUTIFUL JOB on that old Holley 4 barrel!!!!!!!!! It looks even better than when it was brand spanking new right out of the box!!!!!!!! I bet that would work wonders for even an old GM Quadrajet 4 barrel!!!!!!! Just a simple acid & water mix! Who even knew???? I’m 56 & I have always messed with cars & it just goes to show that you’re NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW! Thanks for the video!

Great instructions and step by step explanations. Been doing this for years on various auto parts. My only suggestion is to add a couple of rounded tablespoons of baking soda to your rinse water to neutralize the acid.

A little baking soda in the cleaning water will neutralize the acid on the carb. Great tip. Hello from the "east side of Oklahoma".

I’m a machinist, thanks for the great video, right to the point! muriatic acid can be used to remove broken taps, drills, screws etc from aluminum. It won’t hurt the aluminum, but will literally rust out the offending tap. All you need to do is build a wall around the hole to pour in the acid, use modeling clay, not play dough! Or silicone caulking like the stuff you use to fix your fish tank. Once it’s dry, pour in the acid, it will bubble as it eats the tap, when it stops, poke it with a paper clip to get it working again. This process might take a day depending how much steel you need burned out. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!!!

Thank You Mr. Ron! I'm now stoked to be hunting down a double pumper on Craigslist for a song, and all will be well. As the son of a Vietnam Veteran, THANK YOU for your service.

Thank you, I've been fighting carburetors my whole damn life. If it's not a vehicle it's a motorcycle, quad, tractor, lawn mower, rototiller. I mean almost constantly fighting carburetors. Bought a ultrasonic cleaner just to clean carburetors. Wasn't impressed with it either. I will definitely try this. Thank you for taking the time to make this.

Great tip, Ronnie! I'm a long time automotive and power-sports tech,and this is the ONLY way to properly clean a badly "gummed up" carb, irregardless of what it is on,once the fuel in it has begun to evaporate and thicken.A bad carb clean can have bad results. I use a Safety Clean commercial product,pretty strong,and have both accidentally AND purposely left metal only parts in this solution for as many as four days with no noticeable damage to the castings,but this may cause some pitting on softer metal welsh plugs,and it can etch brass .Only do these longer dips for carbs that CANNOT be replaced,or the carb cleaner/air method has little effect on dried up fuel,(and if you are an experienced,capable technician). And again,as you pointed out,metal and plastic parts only in acid,it will compromise rubber,I.E throttle shaft seals,bowl gaskets,etc.One important thing to remember,though,(users pay attention,you can save yourselves a lot of downtime,money and aggravation),is that a DRY carburetor or fuel system will NEVER need much,if any cleaning after any length of storage.Always drain a fuel system DRY for long term storage,and you will NEVER reach the point of needing this kind of service. IF you have a steel tank,you must keep it wet to prevent rust,but plastic will always be better off dry. I have made a large amount of money cleaning carbs and fuel systems over a long span of time that wouldn't have been necessary by using proper equipment and fuel storage methods.This applies for anything using any hydrocarbon fuel, (gasoline,diesel fuel,alcohol),that will be subjected to long periods of storage or non-use.Don't let the fuel evaporate!

I am rebuilding a chevy scottsdale 4x4 right now. I keep a large home depot bucket of muriatic acid. 50/50 to water. All my metal parts go into it but...note to everyone. Have a good way to pull the part out and a way not to drip acid all over the place. Also, acid will clean that metal up slick as snot but it will not touch anything with grease or dirt on it so clean first. Lastly...eye protection! drop something in a bucket and that splash can hit ya right in the eyes. Thank you Ronnie for this video!! I never thought of using this for a carburetor and I have a 78 quadrajet that is dirty as can be.

Hi Ronnie. Great Video!! I'm a shop owner & have been looking for a good carb cleaner for years. We used to have great cleaners in this industry until the EPA killed them all. Always wondered about acid but never tried it. Now I will! This is a Great Help Thanks for spending the time to bring this to all of us!

Great info. Knew all that just never thought to apply to carbs. I use it on rusted tools and firearm parts. One additional step would be a baking soda/h2O dip to neutralize any remaining acid.

Thanks for publishing this. I've been working on motorcycles for the last 50 years. I use Sulfuric acid (20:80 water) to achieve the same result.

Nice product, my husband has a Carburetor rebuilding business for 36 years and he has tried everything out there. The best product he has found to date is called Pro 300 made for ultrasonic machines.Needs to be about 165 deg, and water rinse. Good luck with the acid.

First I thank you for your service Sir. I worked for Holley as a machinist for years and will tell you that all the "body" parts on a Holley carburetor are solid zinc. Excellent video, thank you.

Very cool. Several of my projects require carburetor cleaning and rebuild which I have been dreading. Working with the usual highly volatile solvents is not so good for your health to put it lightly. This idea revitalizes my enthusiasm for tackling the carburetor conundrum. Thank you Ronnie. Your propensity for detail kept me glued to the screen. Keep up the good work sir thank you for your service.

I'm also retired vet and I appreciate the information I've had a hard time cleaning these carburetors thank!!

Excellent video; no nonsense. Rebuilding ‘77 Honda Goldwing carbs…will definitely try your methods. Thanks

I'm about to embark on rebuilding an old 650 double pumper that was sitting on an engine for about 23 years. Was looking for an inexpensive solution to cleaning it back to new and I just found it. THANK YOU! AND THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE SIR!

Remember: "Add acid to water, just like you otter!" This is an important thing to remember and a good phrase to help remember. Doing it the other way can actually cause the acid to explode outward, and it's very nasty stuff.

"do as you oughta, add acid to water"...never forgot from science class in grade school! Great vid, Great idea!

Great video! Would love to see a carb rebuild video for motorcycle engines! Keep up the great work!

Good morning Ronnie! I’m trying out the muriatic acid right now. I got a bike carburetor that needs cleaned. Thanks for the tip.

You sir are a true inspiration, Thank you for you sharing your knowledge, if you ever come down under you can see the same results, I followed your steps. Couldn’t be happier

Thanks Ronnie for the video /mixed 2 gallons of water with 1 1/2 pints of muriatic acid. total change in about 10 minutes. note this carburetor looked like frosting it was so caked with white corrosion inside. Clean and re dipped a second time for 5 minutes. Total cleanliness in 15 to 20 minutes. Thanks again Ronnie

In one of your rebuild video, I noticed the wall locker in the background, and said to myself, this dude is a veteran. Looks like the lockers we had in the Army. You confirmed in this video. Thanks for the awesome video, and most of all thanks for your dedicated service! God Bless!

Excellent video for m acid useage. I'm showing this to my 75 yr old dad. He always messing with a carb on something.

I have been using muriatic acid on lawnmower engines carbs for 20 years. I used it full strength, maybe I was wrong. I now use it on my water filtration system for cleaning. It works great on iron staining.

Glad you posted this & I appreciate it. Very good video; direct to the point with no stupid background noise or unnecessary and unrelated conversation. Thanks, great job.

Hi Ronnie, years ago I used to re-build engines, carbs. etc. & I later worked for 3 years on the engine assembly lines at Ford in Cologne here in Germany. To clean alloy items such as carbs., water pumps etc. I always used paint stripper which works really well. After about 20 mins. of allowing the stripper to melt down all the gunk you just have to blow out the soaked item well after dunking in fresh water several times, then allow to dry overnight.

From the time this video started I was like that carb looks brand NEW!!

You're carburetor series has helped me tremendously, I have a 4160 that needs rebuilt and I've been putting off due to fear, but now that thing is as good as rebuilt

Great explanation on using acid safely. I've used muratic acid to break loose so many different rusted together items. From the center shaft of a coats tire machine to the turnover ball assembly of a gooseneck hitch that was so rusted in I picked up the whole truck dangling from the ball and heating it with a rose bud and it would not budge. 30 min after soaking muratic acid down the ball assembly it pulled out with my hand! Of course, this stuff is quite caustic so every precaution needs to be taken. I've also used red devil lye diluted to clean steel and aluminum. But it will damage aluminum if not diluted property and amount of time in the solution strictly controlled. Thanks for the great video!

Enjoying your good work here in S.C. Mr. Henson, keep'em 'coming. I'm retar... retired also and have the time to watch them! Very good video .

I found this just in time... tore my Quadrajet apart & it's in bad need of cleaning... I think I'm gonna give this a whirl.. thanks mate!!! Excellent video

This is great! I remember in the 80's building small blocks and Holley and Carter Carbs were what we used. I remember using lots of carb clean, wish I knew about this then, but then again all we had back then was Chiltons no You Tube!

Great tip. Retired military here also. ASE Master Tech.

I love these little tricks to beat big companies, selling expensive Products. When some of the cheapest stuff out there gets it done! Very Nice!

I agree with "V". Been wondering what to clean those nasty carbs with, since 1980, to make them look like new. Thanks for the enlightening video.

You're the man, this stuff also cleans seashells very well too. It does dissolve ferrous metals though (acid porting manifolds), and will destroy all stainless in my experience (stainless and high carbon tweezers rotted away after dropping in the tub)

I have been cleaning my carburetors by putting lacquer cleaner in my almost empty gas tank: a pint is most always enough. I run the engine after using starter fluid to get it going. The lacquer cleaner dissolves all the varnish, and gunk from even the smallest passageways. This method has never failed me!

Thank you sir for your service and thank you for taking this old hotrodder back 50 years great knowledge

I am working on a Suzuki Katana 600 that has been out under sun and rain for over 3 or more years, and now I am starting to work on the carburetors, I have seen many videos about cleaning carburetors, but this one definitely convinced me LOLm thanks for this great video, even 3 years later it is useful for many people, I am on my way to buy the Aces at the hardware store and let you know later if it worked for my motorcycle carburetors.

Stunning work and info! Hydrochloric acid (Muratic/stomach acid) does remove everything. But it is very bad for iron, because it causes rapid rusting of the iron after it removes the rust. You can use Phosphoric acid after cleaning steel to remove the invisible rust and seal the metal by creating a thin layer of black iron on the metal, which prevents rapid rusting. Phosphoric acid must be used instead of Muratic acid, on iron parts, unless there is no other way to clean the rust. Evaporust works very well too, the liquid, and it removes rust very well without causing rapid rusting afterwards. Citric acid and Acetic acid also passivate and seal iron, instead of creating rapid rusting like Muratic acid. If you don't have anything, using vinegar (acetic acid) is good for iron parts and won't cause long term rusting and damage. Phosphoric acid/citric acid/acetic acid lightly passivate iron and protect it from rusting. You can also use these acids on stainless steel, with Phosphoric acid and Citric acid being the best for stainless, they passivate the stainless. Muratic acid, does not passviate steel or stainless steel, so it will rust or stain later when exposed to light moisture. This carburetor looks absolutely amazing! I'm only sharing this information because it may be relevant for people trying to clean steel parts.

Cold wet day here in WV & been trying to clean a Holley 4180 (Holley/Motorcraft collaboration) in a parts washer with ok results. Glad you posted this & I appreciate it. Gonna give this a try after work.

Ron From Tulsa, I have a 1970 Fiat 850 Sports Spyder with a Weber 30 DICA carburetor. I have rebuilt the carburetor several times since I purchased the car in 1983. However, this time will be a little different. I will be zinc plating the steel parts. I will be cleaning the carb body with ultrasonic cleaner and mag wheel cleaner. Several you Tubes have done this however I may be zinc plating the aluminum carb body also. As for the steel parts I will be using a vibrating tumbler. First to clean then to zinc plate with yellow chromate solution. Zinc is to prevent the corrosion problems shortly after cleaning. I am in the electrical field and have plated many different items. I have not done Zinc but have silver plated. It may seem that I will be going to an extreme, but I was willing to buy new until I saw prices from 400 to 800 for a carburetor done the way I am going to do this one. If you would like I will keep you in the loop as to the outcome.

Subscribed, good tip and presentation. Retired mechanic who hangs in the shop. Currently doing a 383 (chev) and have a 1957 283 willing to part with...

What a great tip. I'm not happy with the carb cleaners out there and this looks like the answer I've been looking for. Thanks for sharing.

Good video info.... To the point with no music and no BS....

I just used this method on 2 holley 660's. Absolutely awesome. This is the best method there is. Thanks for posting this. One of the best videos i have ever seen on KZfaq.

Ronnie i know some people are complaning about balck scale but i gotta say i did this to 3 carburators so far and man o men it works great! i love it tanks a lot and keep up the good work

I found that aluminum wheel cleaner works wonders. It’s acidic for break dust which does the job on gunk but safe on aluminum finishes.

Firstly , Thank You for your service ! Second wow that's a cool trick ! Thirdly thanks for sharing the Acid into water and not the other way around ! 👍

Found a model 6919 Holley 600 at a garage sale for 5 bucks, pretty dirty and discolored, surface corrosion etc but for 5 bucks hell ya I'm trying this now. Thanks for the video! Awesome man.

Thank you very much I'm a retired fertilizer chemist and have a few old 327 to 350 motors I've owned and use on my airboats and as you say when i was working the gas gets left in carbs and I have used Nitric acid and other chems for cleaning the discount way cause you could buy a carb for almost what the 5 gallon bucket with basket of carb cleaner in the 80's and 90's but i never thought about using muratic and as i was watching and listening I was wondering about the baking soda Thank you I am retired and have about 5,000 worth of holley's from 650 cfm to 1150 double pumpers that are fixing to get rebuilt Thank you very much Preston Green Fish eating creek FL>

You earned my subscription with your straight forward information Thank you for taking the time Would like to see a video of you soda blasting and set up

When The Statue of Liberty was renovated a few years ago, they tried several kinds of blasting media, nothing so aggressive that it took off the metal, but aggressive enough to remove the dirt and corrosion. They ended up using baking soda.

Thanks brother for taking the time to explain your inexpensive way to clean a carburetor with excellent results. Going to try this over the weekend on my 2 carbs I just removed from my boat that are not in the best condition. I’ll come back with the results Thanks again

Watched this three years ago worked so well I'm back 3 years later to make sure I'm doing it right again haha

Very nicely done. No questions left unanswered - thank you!

Ronnie! You did a great job presenting and explaining the video. I'm going to try it on my next rebuild.

Coast Guard vet here, Vietnam era old fart and gearhead, you've got another sub. I appreciate your passing along the carb cleaning method as I've built my share of carbs through the years and continue to do so. I can remember a time when the available carb cleaner solution was effective, but I guess too many idiots couldn't follow instructions and the government stepped in and made piss out of it.

Thanks for doing this video. I am going to follow your instructions, and do this for my 1977 Suzuki DS100C & 1980 RM125T Carbs. The 77 looks pretty crusty inside and out, the RM just needs a general on the outside.

Bad ass ain't no denying it thanks for your service to our country and the carburator cleaner video

Something worth mentioning; well ventilated area and respirator are great. Inhalation of hydrochloric acid vapors and mists produces nose, throat, and laryngeal burning, and irritation, pain and inflammation, coughing, sneezing, choking sensation, shortness of breath, hoarseness, laryngeal spasms, upper respiratory tract edema, bronchial constriction, bronchitis, chest pains, as well has headache, and palpitations. Tile man, 22 years, and have had to "acid wash" a few old tile jobs. Muriatic acid is hydrochloric acid.

nice input thank you will do im doing a 1980 850 quadrjet for my 1981 elcamino

That Carburetor looks awesome . I am going to try this on some Dellorto carbs that I have on my custom VW .

Muriatic Acid will eat aluminum so be careful, don't make the concentration too strong and don't leave something you care about unattended. That said, when it's diluted correctly it's a great cleaning tool. Thanks for the video. P.S. Use it outside and avoid breathing the fumes....don't learn the hard way.

Also this trick can be used for removing zinc from steel before welding. It completely removes all zinc and anything else on steel, works awesome.

Nice job Ronnie. I'm an old school Ford dealership driveability tech and back in the day I've overhauled countless carbs of almost all types. We used a product back then we called hydroseal. And it worked great. But you can't get that stuff anymore that I know of. Since then, like you I've tried all kinds of stuff. None of it really worked to well. Functional, yes, appearance not so much. So this is good stuff to know. Thanks

i wish i had watched this 10 minutes ago, i have a motorcraft 2100 and i dipped in in muriatic acid uncut. the reaction took about 5 seconds and it cleaned it so well, turned the aluminum black. the black etch came off with a brass brush. wear a respirator, nasty gasses are made. thanks for the video.

Used TSP on my carb and motor rebuild for prep. Worked well.

Hey Ronnie, First off, thank you for your service from one vet to another. I could only tolerate 4 years of USN duty, but am honored to have served none the less. I haven't tried your method yet but was interested enough to watch the whole video. I've used distilled white vinegar with distilled water mixed 1 - 1 depending on how much mix is needed to submerge the parts. I really like the soda blast tip at the end and will have to try it. Another way I've used to spark the outside up before reassembly is to take Lava soap and dissolve it into a paste thinner than toothpaste and use a toothbrush to polish the outside surfaces. It takes a bit more time, but if you try it on a small area, I believe you'll be impressed. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience, it really helps a lot of people get their projects done. Stay safe.

Safetykleen use to have a product that they used in a pneumatic washing machine. It cleaned everything, carburetors, pistons, rods, or whatever you put in it. You set the timer for 15 minutes and the parts came out 100% clean. I called Safetykleen and they said the solution was to caustic that the EPA stopped them form using it. I will give try muriatic acid. Thank you.

Man you make me feel bad for not researching this for the last year or so. Great video better than just boiling it in vinegar water!

Surprisingly hot water and dish soap work well and doesn’t strip off any finishes, Learned that in a sthill chainsaw school .It is the only thing they recommended, I have an ultrasonic cleaner I throw them in.

And the younger boys say, What's a carburetor? I like the soda idea.

Randomly decided to click on this video after watching some videos on those ultrasonic cleaners. Glad I did, because the results of this actually looks better than a lot of the results I was seeing in those ultrasonic reviews. Plus, for me, they're not exactly cheap. And greetings from Northeast Oklahoma. 🤙🏼

great job.. the reason the acid works so good is it cleans out all the passages and doesn't need agitation, and it also has one more awesome benefit you are 1/2 way to anodized....you said you have spare time.. just one more skill to add that is really worth the time investment. I buy totaled bikes and boats and build smoking choppers for next to nothing because Aluminum is easy to repair, finish, polish, anodize, even plate... keep up the good work Brother...

Nice work Ronnie. Hello from Cairns, Australia.

I always dip the parts in soda water to neutralize the acid when I'm done. Works good but I have mixed it too strong and left it overnight. Ate a hole right through the bowl. So be careful.

I have done this for 35 years works grate on transmission case's also and wheels and rust on metal part's too. Try it in a spray bottle, i usually only get one use out of a sprayer unless you rinse it out.

M. Acid, water, 10 min at a time, then soda blast. Got it. Thanks a lot. Those ol bings on my beemer are getting done soon!

Damn, that carb is spotless !

Thanks for posting this information. I'd like to have seen the float bowls after cleaning. They never seem to get completely clean with your regular carb dip. I bought a Buell that sat for a couple of years and the inside if that carb looked like apple brown betty. Weird, I know. But all I did was disassemble and clean it just to see if it would run. Now I have a kit and I'll do it the right way this time. I will try this method.

I CLEARLY remember the Holly 750 for the big block motors...the best carb made!!! Had one in the early 70’s

I am on the east coast of Canada so know all about cold and dreary. I am on my way tomorrow for a jug of muriatic acid. I rebuild and restore old outboards and some Tecumseh and Briggs engines. I have a sonic cleaner and have tried MANY so called cleaners...THAT carb looks GREAT. Great vid Ron.

Just what I needed to clean my carbs, thank you and thanks for your service Sir!

Thank you for this cleaner I’m going to tell my friend he has 5of them that are frozen with gunk!!

I normally prefer watching the steps being done as the person talks, but you did an amazing job describing the process, cost, tools, etc. 5 star video. Great job. Earned my subscribe and like for sure!

Great Video Ronnie ! Very Very Helpful considering I just Purchased a Gallon of cleaner @ $ 39.00 a Gallon It doesn’t do the Job like it use to back in the 70s.But can’t thank you enough on your Experiment.I can tell this is the way to go ! Thanks Again for your help !