Cleaning a Train horn

So i got a good deal for a K3LA, got it on craigslist…anyways…it must of been on a locomotive cause its has a lot of diesel soot…if anyone knows an easy way of cleaning that off please tell me…some chemical or what kinda brush…i used a pressure washer and it didnt do sh!t…so if someone can Chime in…please tell me

carb cleaner?

i was gonna say brake clean

elbow grease

I used Carb and Choke Cleaner and a Brillo pad on every horn I’ve cleaned so far.

brake clean fo sho!

Fo sho curtisl…brake cleaner or carb choke…and this stuff they sell at autozone…elbow grease…ha ha jk

headlight fluid :rolleyes:

haha

mineral spirits or tire cleaners from your local walmart
i cleaned my mom and dad deisel and i had to use wheel
cleaner on the body where the exhaust was cuase the
soot build up… any auto shop should have it too

i was think carb cleaner myself…everyone is also saying brake cleaner…i think that is stronger…what about steel wool to brush them…after that ima paint them…havent decided on what color…i got a green/khaki king ranch…maybe green bells and manifolds…khaki back caps and insde the bells

I used steel wool on one of my bells but it didn’t work near as good as a Brillo pad. Something about the soap that is in them. Plus, steel wool falls apart and stabs your fingers when you spray brake cleaner or something on it… or mine did.

I was way too lazy to scrub mine, so I broke out the stripper :o







Just make sure you remove the diaphragms and seals before using anything corrosive :cool:

good to see you back

flat black is full of win

okay i just cleaned mine…i used 18wheeler aluminum cleaner…its a bunch of acid…i sat them in a tub. let it sit for about 1 hr…then scrubed a little…they look real good right now…just bare metal…ima paint them flat black also…it looks sick

Well if they have that thick railroad epoxy paint then yeah you need stripper. I used aircraft stripper on my Leslie and on my P5. My K3 didn’t have any paint though, just thick diesel smoke so that’s why I used a Brillo pad and Carb and Choke Cleaner.

that looks sick! i like it…but i may two tone mine…

looks bad donkey

thats nice

Here’s one I cleaned for a friend that just had diesel smoke and stuff on it… this is what a brillo pad did lol


And here’s mine that required alot more work than the previous haha. I found the number 1 bell on the railroad tracks buried in the mud. Here’s what it looked like (required ALOT of work to fill in those pits) they were worse than the picture looks and covered the entire end of the bell.

And now you can’t even tell :slight_smile:

(and to the OP, sorry for the threadjacking lol)

looks good!