Motor Prep for paint

[Good Times]

Ok guys, I'm getting my motor cleaned up for paint. Simple Green and a bottle brush works wonders. I still have a lot of imperfections in the paint on the case.

What's the best way to prep my motor for paint? I've searched and seen a lot about tank, frame, side covers, etc. Haven't been able to find a thread that is specifically what I am looking for?

What's the next step? Paint remover/stripper? Aircraft Paint remover?

I eventually want to go with VHT primer and Universal Aluminum.

 

[Guest]

Sanding by hand always works but on my last one I used a soda blaster and it worked great! far better than I had expected.

 

[Good Times]

Sanding by hand always works but on my last one I used a soda blaster and it worked great! far better than I had expected.

I'm a little concerned about soda getting in the motor. It breaks down in water but not in oil. You didn't have any problems with that?

 

[Guest]

Sealed up the exhaust and intake ports with good tape and just stayed away from blasting directly at those points too much. Soda blasting doesn't take too much pressure so it wasn't a problem. Blew most of it off with air afterward then water and a brush. Worked out fine for me. There's probably a lot of threads/mentions of prepping a block for paint in the search function as well.

 

[Good Times]

Thanks Azr. Tried the search just wasn't seeing what I was looking for. Probably not using the right keywords.

Glad it worked out well for you. I may give it a shot. No pun intended.

 

[Vmass]

Any thoughts on soda blasting an engine while in the bike? I know it would be more work to prep.

Also, any concerns with soda blasting gaskets and seals?

 

[Good Times]

Hi.


You can see on the pic I used sink stoppers on the intakes and exhaust.

I measured the holes and bought the closest at the hardware store. They come in almost all sizes in increments of 1/8 or 1/4 inches.


DP

I actually had the same idea today and will be measuring my ports and doing that.

Any thoughts on soda blasting an engine while in the bike? I know it would be more work to prep.

Also, any concerns with soda blasting gaskets and seals?

I had the same questions about using paint stripper on or around those same parts.

Good thoughts guys.

 

[Guest]

Any thoughts on soda blasting an engine while in the bike? I know it would be more work to prep.

Also, any concerns with soda blasting gaskets and seals?

I've soda blasted an engine on the bike, worked out fine. I use one of these and it seems to work fine for me, really gets in those hard to get places well. The soda doesn't really start to do anything until you get up nice and close so over spray isn't too much of a worry on surround paints. None of the gasket or seals were any worse for wear from soda blasting while on the bike.

 

[Wyldesoul]

Hi.

As for primer I user "Rustconverter" It's supposedly turn rust into primer and is paintable...I jumped to the conclusion that oxide is rust.

Time will tell how well the paint stickray:.

DP

I do hate to break it to you, but rust converter doesn't react with the oxidization of the metal, but rather iron in the unstable compound iron oxide.

The rust converter is primarily just tannic acid, which reacts with iron oxide to form Iron Tannate, a stable, black material.

So it has to be iron oxide, or the rust converter is doing nothing at all.

 

[Good Times]

I spent some time last night "piddlin" to see if I could figure out the best approach to getting my motor clean enough for paint. Can't stand the thought of painting over any grime.

I started this process with Simple Green and bottle brushes. Amazing product. Worked great on the areas that had grease except the front of the motor where I have baked on oil from the tach leaking. It worked, but is not getting as clean as I would like. Even after hours of scrubbing.

I used some spray on Aircraft Paint Remover last night on parts of the case and cooling fins. That stuff is great. On the case it removed any paint within 5 minutes. Great product. It still did not remove the oil from the front of the case and cooling fins.

My next move will be soda blasting the stubborn part of the motor. I am looking for some cost effective rubber stoppers to fill the exhaust and intake ports. Thinking that if I can find some that are 2 inches at the top of the stopper that I will be in good shape. I don't want to risk anything getting through tape. I know of a guy that soda blasted a car motor, thinking he had it sealed off and eventually ruined the motor because of soda in the oil. It ate everything up that it touched. That's why I have been tentative about the process. I am going to make sure I have the motor completely sealed up.

I also broke out the polishing wheel to see what i could accomplish and was pleasantly surprised by the result with the breather cap and the top part of the stator case. She will look good eventually.

 

[GateKeeper]

For plugs,,,someone on here used bath tub plugs, they come in varying sizes, and are probably cheap enough for what your after.

Instead of masking tape, I used the aluminum foil tape, the stuff used for sealing up duct work, it holds on well, and is pretty strong, if you double it up, nothing should get past it, make sure where it's being applies is nice and clean, so it sticks well

The parts your going to buff, if you sand them down with a very fine paper, wet/dry say around a minimum of 400 grit, but go even higher, and then buff, you will get rid of almost all of those scratch marks, it will come out almost mirror finish, I didn't have anything higher than 400 and was lazy to go and buy some, but my parts came out not bad, if you want to go and take a look.

.

 

[Good Times]

For plugs,,,someone on here used bath tub plugs, they come in varying sizes, and are probably cheap enough for what your after.

Instead of masking tape, I used the aluminum foil tape, the stuff used for sealing up duct work, it holds on well, and is pretty strong, if you double it up, nothing should get past it, make sure where it's being applies is nice and clean, so it sticks well

Yes, it was Highway Glider earlier in this thread. I looked for some at my local store but my ports are too big for what they have. I'll keep looking though.

With the buffing, I realized exactly what you just mentioned which it why I stopped. I actually took a lot of scratches out with a grinding bit on my dremmel and then went from 360 to 800 to 1000 grit, but want it to be as close to perfect as I can get. This was just messing around to learn the technique. I'll get serious about it next time. The bike was laid down and that cover was scratched as you can see on the emblem. Can't wait to see it finished.

I just ordered this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005RRQP64

Should be here next week. I'll let you know how it works.

 

[Good Times]

Soda blasted yesterday and finished up with a little hand sanding. She's ready:

 

[tkent02]

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[AJ]

Very cool. I'd really like my engine in black. Look forward to seeing your results.

 

[Guest]

Looks good. What are you going to paint with?

 

[SVSooke]

My stator cover is a bit more beat up than yours.

But came out OK when I painted it.
The power was out here one day on the weekend,finished them up with a bit of hand polish.

 

[Good Times]

Looks good. What are you going to paint with?

I am going to go with VHT primer and then universal aluminum. Polish the covers. It too cold here to paint right now, but I am working on getting things polished.

 

[Good Times]

My stator cover is a bit more beat up than yours.

But came out OK when I painted it.
The power was out here one day on the weekend,finished them up with a bit of hand polish.

Looks good SV. I am going to replace the emblems with new eventually so I am not as concerned with the existing emblems.

 

[Good Times]

I have not been able to locate any VHT universal aluminum paint locally. Can't even find any that they can order to the store. I can get it online but shipping doubles the cost of the paint. I picked up some duplicolor engine enamel primer and aluminum engine enamel today. Temps are right at 60 degrees and the humidity is a little high to paint just yet. Plus I want to get some work finished on the motor before I paint it. I did work on polishing a little today. Will have pics posted when I get a little more finished on that.