You win a few, and lose a few...

Check these carbs recently bought as a restoration project.  I've got a blast cabinet and zinc plating setup to clean up the outside, but there is nothing that can be done with THIS!

Purchased off ebay.  Sent the seller a message asking for a kickback, consistent with the purchase of some parts carbs...but no response.  Thank goodness for ebay buyer protection because they are going back at the buyers expense.

Edit:  seller reached out and gave me fair compensation.  Guess my spares pile just grew larger.

 

What is all that stuff?  What would fill the entire bowl with white powder?

I bought a set recently and took a bit of a chance.  Luckily they were in decent shape, but the seller did a bad job packing the carbs.  Two of the bowl drain nipples got bent, one of them enough that I felt the need to try to straighten it and it broke off.  I happened to have one extra bowl, so it was ok, but I'm constantly frustrated by how poorly some folks pack things. 

On the other hand, I've been lucky and have never been burned with anything as messed up as those carbs you have.

Wow…maybe the original owner was doing runs up and down from Columbia.

Wow, don't know about "barn find" but they look like " bottom of a salt lake find"

Come on ED, we have seen your work, I am sure you can clean them up.  I am teasing of course, those are some ugly looking carbs for sure.

wrote:

 I've got a blast cabinet and zinc plating setup to clean up the outside, but there is nothing that can be done with THIS!
 

Don't be so defeatist, there is plenty that can be done with that. Scrape the white powder off and sprinkle it on your favourite chinese take-away. Or if you super-heat it at extremely high pressure, you can create your own sapphires. Throw the carburetor body at the person who sold it to you. The possibilities are endless.
 

Have your tried seeing what’s left under the oxidation? I fixed a set of carbs that were pretty far gone with “muggy weld” turned out pretty good considering 

Looks like the calcium carbonate you find in a hot water kettle or some similar type stuff.  Try soaking in a bucket of white vinegar. The cheap stuff. It's acetic acid which is not strong enough to dissolve the metal but strong enough dissolve the crud . Used it once to clean the crusty stuff of diving gear which was underwater for some years.

I'll try to remember to pick up some vinegar at Costco this weekend.  They sell the stuff in bulk for cheap.  

The corrosion goes deep into the various passages in the carbs.  It might be necessary to drill out the sealing balls in order to properly clean them.  The biggest concern is that parts of the float posts have eroded away, and the post piece around the needle jet too.  I don't want to try to weld to repair.  I've done some brazing in my day, but trying to build up the delicate edges where metal is gone is beyond my skill level, I'm afraid.

I’d be concerned that shmutz is also in the passageways. I’ve used CLR to remove that corrosion. Caution thought it will lighten and dull the bodies, if left in the CLR for extended periods. I only soak till I see the bubbles stop. I wonder though if you clean them first then Vapor blast if it would restore the finish. Worth a try. 

I'd send them back instead of taking on the liability he passed on to you. 
Steve

As mentioned, the corrosion IS in the passages.  And cleaning those is not trivial.  Metal missing is the biggest concern, though.

As it stands, I'm into these carbs for $43 total.  The various good parts are worth this to me.  The slides seem okay for example.  I'll try to clean one of the bodies and see what happens, but in my mind, they are a write off.