Engine Refinish

[Hodado]

I am having trouble cleaning the engine covers;It appears they had some type of clear coat on them; but now it is sort of patchy.I would like to strip the old finish off and either repaint or possibly buff the aluminum.Is bead blasting the only technique? Any help appreciated.There may be another post for this but I could not find anything specific.Thanks

[chuck hahn]

i used the spray heavy duty paint stripper from ACE.. let it set about 15 minutes and use an old tooth brush to scrub the bubbled crap off. then wash well with hot water and dish soap. bead blasting isnt the only thing just the quickest and easiest.. some peole go to the trouble of sanding it down with progressively finer sandpapers. bead blasting does it all in one process and all you really gotta do after that ism the buff to a nice shine. I did my entire bike..forks and all in one day.

[chuck hahn]

As for the jugs, tranny, cam cover and carbs.. I bead blasted it all.. Put corks in the rear of the carbs,intake ports, and exhaust ports. Tape the intake side of the carbs with duct tape and be sure all is sealed very well. then i used Rustoleum 500 degree engine enamel from a spray can to reclear it all..get the engine enamel at advanced auto.

[Agemax]

think about what finish you want, if you want to spray them then bead blasting gives a really good key for the paint but if you want to polish them to a show like finish bead blasting makes it very hard work. better off rubbing down by hand for a good shine

[chuck hahn]

not with the proper wheels and the right rouge it is a snap.. if i had a camera i would send youn some opics of my engine covers.. bet youn would think they were chrome!! use a good stiff wheel for the grinder and use a rouge called BLACK MAGIC.. No need for all the silliness and time wastage of sanding and buffing by hand. galss beads at 90 PSI and wheel them out. I did my two 750s and my buddies 78 750 in two days start to finish..now mind you thats a 11 to 12 hr day!! How long ya think it would be to do all that by hand sanding and rubbing???? Maybe a week per bike???

[jwhelan65]

Aircraft stripper works well, you can usually find it at any automotive parts store.

[Nessism]

I did the hand sanding business on my first few bike restorations but found a sisal wheel and heavy cutting compound is WAY less work. Strip off the clear with paint stripper of some sort and have at it. I can't see how bead blasting first would help...but then I've never tried.

[chuck hahn]

ED next time try that black magic..its a cut and color all in one rouge..works super nice!!!

[Agemax]

not with the proper wheels and the right rouge it is a snap.. if i had a camera i would send youn some opics of my engine covers.. bet youn would think they were chrome!! use a good stiff wheel for the grinder and use a rouge called BLACK MAGIC.. No need for all the silliness and time wastage of sanding and buffing by hand. galss beads at 90 PSI and wheel them out. I did my two 750s and my buddies 78 750 in two days start to finish..now mind you thats a 11 to 12 hr day!! How long ya think it would be to do all that by hand sanding and rubbing???? Maybe a week per bike???

nope, a day for all covers, rub them down with wet and dry, very wet to remove the old coating. then buff them. i have a buffing machine in my spare bedroom.take a look at the pics of my bike. bead blasting makes for more work when it comes to buffing rather than wet sanding.

[Hodado]

Thanks for all the great replies.Since I don't have access to a bead blaster,I think I will use the strip and buff method.While I'm here where can I obtain allen head bolts to replace? Does somone sell a kit? I hate those phillips heads

[gadang]

i used the spray heavy duty paint stripper from ACE.. let it set about 15 minutes and use an old tooth brush to scrub the bubbled crap off. then wash well with hot water and dish soap. bead blasting isnt the only thing just the quickest and easiest.. some peole go to the trouble of sanding it down with progressively finer sandpapers. bead blasting does it all in one process and all you really gotta do after that ism the buff to a nice shine. I did my entire bike..forks and all in one day.

Chuck did you do this with the parts on the bike?

[Kcwiro]

ummm...bling bling?

[Agemax]

ummm...bling bling?

should see the rest of the bike

[chuck hahn]

I bead blasted everything right on the frame...heads, jugs, tranny frame, mag rims.... Everything that i wanted stripped. I made a home made bead blast booth and just rolled it in there as is. Then i dissassembled everything and whatever clearcoat was missed or left on any part i used the spray stripper to bubble it opff and washed the acids off with hot water and dish soap. then just started the po,lishing and reassembly phase...you will find that you wont get evry crack witth the bead blaster so thats why instead of re bead blasting i just used the stripper its a very small amount that you wont get but not worth firing up the blaster again.. youll be creative.. Look at all the different ways we have all tackled this and choose which you think will suit your resources and go for it.

[JasonEllis]

I used JBI Dull Buster to strip my engine before I painted it. I got big plans. If you check my account on face book I got a few pics of the process. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...00000972311104