carburetor cleaner

What"s the best chemical to clean a single barrel carb? I would rather bead blast it but don"t have access to one. It has some rust in the bottom but didn"t know if denatured alcohol, acetone, or something better would eat the rust without damaging any of the brass fittings, etc. I am replacing gaskets and have ordered the drill bits to clean passages but was needing to remove some of the rust in the bowl.

Thanks

I used a small wire wheel the kind that goes in a drill or pencil grinder. I got a assortment lot from harbor freight.thats how I cleaned my bowl and the throat of the main body. It didn't go all the way through but got most of it. I rolled up some sand paper and got the rest. I drilled out my passages with bits from Roberts and had some tiny paint gun brushes to run down them. I used regular spray carb cleaner on it ,

Muratic acid will eat the rust out of a cast iron carb quite well but this should be done outside and carefully. Shouldn't take more than five minutes to quit foaming and then rinse off with plenty of water followed by shop air, more water and more air. Won't hurt your brass jets given this small amount of time, but it will put a shine on them which indicates that it will eat them with enough time. Small plastic pail large enough for the carb to sit in and filled above the carb, then lower it into the acid with a wire tied on thru a bolt hole. Dip it until it quits foaming and rinse right away. Pour most the pail back into the jug it came from with a plastic funnel, but leave a little in the pail along with the dregs of consumed rust to be rinsed away as well. Don't forget to rinse the funnel.

Find it in the hardware store for $8 a gallon and be very careful with the fumes off of it, you don't want to breathe this stuff. Keep it sealed and outside as the fumes will escape the sides of the jug and start rusting everything around the bottle of it if you keep it inside - ask me how I know this. Uncovered, it will form surface rust on every drill bit in the shop seemingly overnight. Very potent, so just be extra careful with it.