[SilverStreak18]

Hey guys I'm not sure sure if anyone has made a DIY about using a HF gravity feed blaster, but I set one up using this method and it worked perfectly for me.

I believe the gravity feed blaster is $20 from HF and the 25 lb box of fine grade walnut shells you will need is $25. Also the BMW blaster wand and vacuum adapter will run you about $100. And you will need a washer that will fit the BMW blast nozzle to the HF gravity feed blaster. So assuming you already have an air compressor and shop vac you're looking at less than $150 to blast your car and friends cars if you're a nice guy I guess.

Tools/Items Required:

1. HF Gravity Feed Blaster
2. HF 25 lb box of fine grade walnut shells
3. BMW blaster wand
4. BMW vacuum adapter
5. T8 torx bit
6. Drill bit set or at least a 1/4" bit
7. Washer- 3/4" OD, 5/16" ID



Here goes. First you will need to modify the blaster.

Step 1- Use a T8 torx socket to remove the two pins that hold the feeder to the blaster. May have to purchase this one separately because it's such a small size torx bit it may not come in a basic set.




Step 2- Enlarge the holes in the feeder and blaster that the blast media flows through. Without this step the blaster will barely work if at all. I started small and worked up to a 1/4" drill bit. Make sure to drill through the rotating cam lever when you're drilling out the blaster.






Red- Nozzle that comes with the adapter and fitting that will be reused.
Green- The fitting and o-ring that came with the BMW nozzle that won't be used and also the washer I used. I bought a few.
Blue- Pins that hold the hopper to the blaster.


Step 3- Use the correct size washer that has a small enough outer diameter to just barely fit in the fitting that came with the blaster so that it catches the lip on the fitting and an inner diameter that fits snug around the BMW blaster nozzle so that the lip on the nozzle catches on the inner part of the washer. Just measured the one I used and it was 3/4" OD, and 5/16" ID.







Step 4- Put your new nozzle on your modified blaster and you're all done with setting up the blaster other than putting an air fitting on it.





Here is a view of both the nozzle that comes with the blaster and the BMW nozzle. As you can see the inner diameter is the same and the lip is the same which allows for a leak free fitment. Also if you need to change the angle of the tip of the blaster it's as easy as loosening the fitting a bit, changing the angle and re-tightning. There's no messing with the flow rate and clogging of a pressure blaster which is why I decided to go this route since my buddy had such a hard time with the HF pressure blaster.





Here are some before pictures. My car had 63k on it when I bought it and I'm assuming the valves had never been cleaned lol.






And here are the after pics. What do you know you can actually see the valves and more importantly the blaster worked beautifully.



Guess I forgot to snap a picture of the 6th cylinder lol. Also this was after first scraping with a combo of picks and flathead screwdrivers to get a lot of the gunk dislodged and then blasting each cylinder for about 10-15 minutes. I went back afterwards and hit each one again to make them almost perfect to satisfy my ocd.


Here is a shot of the vacuum adapter ghetto green duct taped to my shop vac.





Also the compressor I used is a 5.5 hp, 25 gallon unit that flows 6.4 scfm @ 90 psi. It kept up barely, so I would say these specs should be about the minimum of what you need if you don't want to be standing around waiting all day for your compressor to catch up.





Thanks for taking a look guys and I hope this helps some people out.

[SilverStreak18]

If anyone needs better pictures of modifying the blaster let me know and I'll try to take some this week.

[Two Snails]

Nice! This looks to be a cheaper way to do it

[aohus]

for thoroughness sakes, what is the size of the washer?

[SilverStreak18]

Originally Posted by aohus

for thoroughness sakes, what is the size of the washer?

Just updated thread with the size of the washer. Also my apologies when I said previously to knock the pins out with a punch and hammer. It had been awhile since I modified the blaster and I forgot that the pins were in fact threaded and you actually use a T8 torx bit to remove them. Also I double checked the size I enlarged the holes in the hopper and blaster to. Turns out the final size was a 1/4" bit. Hope this helps!

[aohus]

Originally Posted by SilverStreak18

Just updated thread with the size of the washer. Also my apologies when I said previously to knock the pins out with a punch and hammer. It had been awhile since I modified the blaster and I forgot that the pins were in fact threaded and you actually use a T8 torx bit to remove them. Also I double checked the size I enlarged the holes in the hopper and blaster to. Turns out the final size was a 1/4" bit. Hope this helps!

Just had mine done by a 3rd party, but bookmarking this thread so that 30k miles later I can use this DIY guide Thanks.

Also, installing an RB PCV Valve + Oil Catch Can is a must to prevent carbon build up in the intake valves.

[SilverStreak18]

Originally Posted by aohus

Just had mine done by a 3rd party, but bookmarking this thread so that 30k miles later I can use this DIY guide Thanks.

Also, installing an RB PCV Valve + Oil Catch Can is a must to prevent carbon build up in the intake valves.

Glad you're going to give it a go next time. OCC was installed the same day that I did this! Need to get that PCV valve though.

[aohus]

Originally Posted by SilverStreak18

Glad you're going to give it a go next time. OCC was installed the same day that I did this! Need to get that PCV valve though.

Installed both the PCV Valve and Mishimoto OCC today and it went swell. Only difficulty was removing the flapper valve that went from the intake to the valve cover area. Thanks again for your DIY guide.

[asquared]

I've done plenty of walnut blastings using the harbor freight $30 blaster kit. Did the same thing by rigging up the blasting wand to the gun and it worked like a charm. But as of late I purchased their pressurized blaster and it's so much more efficient. I can get a car done start to finish in about 2-2.5 hours. I'm planning on doing mine soon and I'm gonna set up my knock off go pro in the garage to do a time lapse so everybody can see what's involved. Should make for a pretty cool video. I'll post up in a new thread once I do.

[SilverStreak18]

Originally Posted by asquared

I've done plenty of walnut blastings using the harbor freight $30 blaster kit. Did the same thing by rigging up the blasting wand to the gun and it worked like a charm. But as of late I purchased their pressurized blaster and it's so much more efficient. I can get a car done start to finish in about 2-2.5 hours. I'm planning on doing mine soon and I'm gonna set up my knock off go pro in the garage to do a time lapse so everybody can see what's involved. Should make for a pretty cool video. I'll post up in a new thread once I do.

I know that the pressurized blasters can be more efficient, but it sounds like you do a lot of blasting and this DIY is intended more for people who just want their own setup as cheap as possible. A video would be awesome though, the next time I blast my car or another members I'll try to make a short video as well.

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by aohus

Just had mine done by a 3rd party, but bookmarking this thread so that 30k miles later I can use this DIY guide Thanks.

Also, installing an RB PCV Valve + Oil Catch Can is a must to prevent carbon build up in the intake valves.

Dont know when the misinformation will stop. Occ is collecting oil going to your turbo intake no where close to the intake man. The poor pcv valve is doing its job relieving the cc, sending oil vapors to the intake man, in the process gunking up your valves.

[aohus]

Originally Posted by Sgop335

Dont know when the misinformation will stop. Occ is collecting oil going to your turbo intake no where close to the intake man. The poor pcv valve is doing its job relieving the cc, sending oil vapors to the intake man, in the process gunking up your valves.

I didn't know this thank you for the correction. Would the RB PCV valve prevent oil from going into the intake valve? I heard that it did?

[Sgop335]

Originally Posted by aohus

I didn't know this thank you for the correction. Would the RB PCV valve prevent oil from going into the intake valve? I heard that it did?

Welcome. The rb valve functions the same way, its their job to let crank case gas to relieve into the intake man. Every car is like that, of course the direct injected have issues. Now this happens when intake man is in vacuum. When you are boosting the job of the pcv is to close so no boost can leak from intake man to cc. The Rb valve does this part better since the oem can leak and thats bad.

[Maniac0908]

Gonna do this. Thanks

[SilverStreak18]

Originally Posted by Sgop335

Welcome. The rb valve functions the same way, its their job to let crank case gas to relieve into the intake man. Every car is like that, of course the direct injected have issues. Now this happens when intake man is in vacuum. When you are boosting the job of the pcv is to close so no boost can leak from intake man to cc. The Rb valve does this part better since the oem can leak and thats bad.

Just got the new external PCV valve from RB Turbo. I'm going to install it with the mishimoto occ next week. People have been having a lot of success with it so far.

[Kaz26]

Excellent thread! Especially since I already have this exact blasting gun and a compressor that's up for the task. I just ordered the wand

The only thing I need is a shop vac. Which model or how much suction power is required for this?

Thank you,
Kaz