Clearcoat carbs?

[oshanac]

Renobruce-you carbs came out pretty good for just dipping them. Are your cam covers chromed or polished? They a freaking amazing if they are polished. I decided to not paint them clear. I'll figure once they strt to get dirty, I can clean them or pull them off and bead them again.

[renobruce]

Renobruce-you carbs came out pretty good for just dipping them. Are your cam covers chromed or polished? They a freaking amazing if they are polished. I decided to not paint them clear. I'll figure once they strt to get dirty, I can clean them or pull them off and bead them again.

The cam cover is polished. I polished alot of the parts.... cam cover, side covers, cam chain tensioner, oil cooler adapter, fork brace, wheels, speedo drive, swingarm, etc. I'm crazy....

[tas850g]

Renobruce,

The engine looks amazing! What polishing technique do you use? I've played around with using Mothers and a buffing wheel which helps things but your results are far better.

I recently purchase a neglected '79 GS850 i would like to spruce up a bit.

[oshanac]

REnobruce must have the patience of a rock gardener. I don't think I could sit there and polish all day. Bruce, what is you method to madness? What grit and type of materials do you use?

[rudy]

Polishing really isn't that hard. Not to steal all Bruce's glory for doing an amazing job. It just takes time and a lot of patience, but the end result is reward enough.

Just buy a cheapie bench grinder, or if you can find them and afford them, a real buffer/polisher with the extended shafts. A couple buffing wheels for the different grit compounds, some sandpaper in fine grits, and off you go. Just start wet sanding until smooth, then start with your coarser compounds and move to the fine.

You'll get a number of different opinions on what compounds to use, but all I go for is a "looks good" finish. It's not showbike quality, but I don't build showbikes. They get dirty, wet, gravel and sand thrown at them, bugs splattered on them, and so on.

If there's bad pitting, or scratches, I'll wetsand first. Otherwise I start with an abrasive buffing wheel (yellow) with black emery compound for stripping clearcoat and oxidization and smoothing the surface. This works pretty fast. Wipe everything down real nice and switch to a soft buffing wheel with white diamond compound. Some guys use rouge as well. Kinda up to you, and what you want your stuff to look like when it's done.

It's also suggested to use a respirator or good dust mask. Aluminum dust isn't all that good for you.

[rudy]

REnobruce must have the patience of a rock gardener. I don't think I could sit there and polish all day. Bruce, what is you method to madness? What grit and type of materials do you use?

All day??? Don't you mean for weeks on end? Lol! Really depends on what shape it's in, and how many pieces, and what pieces you're polishing.

[renobruce]

REnobruce must have the patience of a rock gardener. I don't think I could sit there and polish all day. Bruce, what is you method to madness? What grit and type of materials do you use?

I did all the polishing over winter. I just picked away at it over time. But you COULD probably do it all in one long day.

I stripped the parts with aircraft stripper, then wet sanded, starting with 400 and working up to 2000 grit. Then I polished the parts using a Harbor Freight buff in a drill, and/or a dremel tool. I used Mother's for the polish. Mine's not show quality, but it came out pretty nice, and it's easy to maintain. I think the key (using my method) is the sanding up to the super-fine grit.
I plan on getting a bench polisher and proper polishing supplies for this winter, and give them another go for some MORE shine. But you can get great results as I did on a limited budget.

[tas850g]

Thanks so much for the recommendations. Sometimes, well many times, I wonder if I am going to be doing more damage than good when i venture out on my own. I would like to keep replacement costs to a minimal if at all possible.

[rotty]

I am going to spray my carbs once a week with wd 40..My buddy has done that for years on his carbs..They look new after 3 years.It won`t harm the carbs either.It protects for about a week.Buy a can and it will last you the summer.

[crazedfooter]

harbor freight has a cheap buffer for about 35 bucks, worked well to polish up various pieces for me.

nick

[AskInWv]

how did you clean the engine its self like between the fins and all??

[renobruce]

how did you clean the engine its self like between the fins and all??

Simple Green, toothbrushes, and baby bottle brushes. Spray, scrub, rinse, repeat.... alot.