Engines all polished

[Ishamael]

Yea you have to start rough and work your way down to a nice finish its alot of work.

OK...I guess I'm just not doing it right, because the medium stuff doesn't remove the scratches from the rough stuff.

I'll keep trying...

[renobruce]

you can wet sand too. That's how renobruce did it.... I used his methods of wet sanding with various grits and it's turned out extremely well on the few pieces I've tested it on.

Good luck!

I first tried using steel wool but my results weren't that great. I stripped the parts with aircraft stripper, then went with 400, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper. Then buffed them with mothers and a polishing pad in my drill. They turned out pretty good, I think.

[Ishamael]

I first tried using steel wool but my results weren't that great. I stripped the parts with aircraft stripper, then went with 400, 800, 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit sandpaper. Then buffed them with mothers and a polishing pad in my drill. They turned out pretty good, I think.

Wow. Nice work.

[supergus]

OK, so how did you guys get into all of the little crevaces w/ either sand paper or steel wool??

also, i am assuming that you guys clear coated... so, what clear coat did you guys use after it was all done? is 500 degree stuff OK, or should i use 1000 degree?

[J_C]

I believe most people just put some turtle wax or similar on there and forgo the clear coat

[ScreamingLiL2stroke]

I didnt clear mine i just used mothers polish on it.

[supergus]

I didnt clear mine i just used mothers polish on it.

i tried using Mothers polish after i wetsanded it, and within days it started to oxidize, so i clear coated it w/ 500 degree clear. so far the clear has not discolored, but i wanted to make sure if this was the right thing to do before i go "ScreamingLiL2stroke" on it.

how did you guys sand in those little crevaces tho???

[Hoomgar]

how did you guys sand in those little crevaces tho???

Get a Dremel tool buddy

[renobruce]

OK, so how did you guys get into all of the little crevaces w/ either sand paper or steel wool??

also, i am assuming that you guys clear coated... so, what clear coat did you guys use after it was all done? is 500 degree stuff OK, or should i use 1000 degree?

For the engine on mine, I just scrubbed it clean with a toothbrush and some Simple Green. For the side cases, I just polish every now an then with Mother's. I did not clear coat anything. Where are you from? You must have some humidity in your neck of the woods. I don't. Just a quick bath and a quick polish and my motor and side cases look great. As for the cracks and crevaces, I used a dremmel originally, but now just polish by hand.

[MissFabulous]

well i have an old dremel thats only one speed. the thing spins so fast, that probably why im chewing them up.

Try using something less course. I've managed to MacGuyver some of my worn out dremel bits with really fine steel wool... sometimes, you can wrap steel wool on an old bit and secure it with tight wire (go around the fitting with the wire and twist tie like a bread back several times to get it tight) or even duct tape if you do it carefully and tight. Use more steel wool than you think you'll need since it mashes down or will spin off the top. Practice on areas you'e not worried about until you get it down to what you need. Patience in the key in rigging Dremmel bits ghetto-style or otherwise! Worn out stone-style bits are my fav for steel wool rigging and crevices. There are probably some other creative ways to do this. Waste not want not!

Mine is variable speed, but I still get irked when the bits wear out too fast or find out too late that I've used the wrong grit!

[ScreamingLiL2stroke]

I dont clear coat anything i polish ,kinda makes it dull if ya do in my opinion,the beauty of leaving it un cleared is u can allways shine it back up with a fine steel wool and it only takes a few mins.

[KPac]

Looking great man! I love the fender.
I've been taking some steel wool to '77 750. it doesn't look that good yet, but shes look better than the "before" pics of your. Wow that engine was rough looking.
Great polishing job.

[supergus]

For the engine on mine, I just scrubbed it clean with a toothbrush and some Simple Green. For the side cases, I just polish every now an then with Mother's. I did not clear coat anything. Where are you from? You must have some humidity in your neck of the woods. I don't. Just a quick bath and a quick polish and my motor and side cases look great. As for the cracks and crevaces, I used a dremmel originally, but now just polish by hand.

I live in Central Illinois, right now we are in the upper 90's w/ a humidity of 91% :shock:
it took approx. 2 days for it to start looking bad, but maybe i need to sand it to a finer grit (i stopped @ 800 grit) and user Mothers again... (i think i will try that sometime and post the results)

[nichols750]

I was in checker auto last night and they had a buch of these in differnt sizes could be used in a drill, dremel, whatever, but they were like $1.20:-D for whatever size you wanted, along with skinny flapper sanding wheels.

just in case anyone else has been inspired and is trying to do this.

great, i'm gonna pick one up and go to town

[Billy Ricks]

'
I've got about 60 hours of polishing just in the wheels on my bike. Tedious work and hard on the fingers. I used the wet sanding method. I just used a couple of different grades and used the worn out finer grade for the final sanding followed by polishing with compound and a cotton wheel.