Soda Blasting and then Flitz Polish

[Guest]

Hi All,

I want to clean the gunked up exterior of my engine. I was thinking of first using a soda blaster and then using Flitz polish as I've only heard great things.

My question is will the soda blast remove the finish from the engine? I was hoping it would only remove the gunk and then I could polish over a clean surface.

Thank you,
Drew

[londonboards]

What do you mean by "finish"?

Show us a pic of your engine.

Does it have paint or laquer on it?

Soda blast is not very aggressive, you may need to vapour blast to get it back to an original type metal finish. If you do that, no polishing is required. It will look good for ever.

[jboge123]

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Here's a shot from when I was taking the engine off. I believe it's the factory coating. I'm not looking to paint the engine a new color, would just like to clean it off well and apply a polish to prevent rusting.

[1978GS750E]

I've always done a light sandblasting and then baked on an engine paint. Makes the engine look like new! BTW, how you going to polish an engine?

[jboge123]

My buddy swore by that Flitz compound while using a buffing drill bit. I'm new to this, so it sounds like once i blast the engine exterior it will need a coat of something, eh?

I was hoping I could just blast then buff with Flitz

[sharpy]

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Here's a shot from when I was taking the engine off. I believe it's the factory coating. I'm not looking to paint the engine a new color, would just like to clean it off well and apply a polish to prevent rusting.

the whole engine above the lower crank case is painted silver. look at that cover and you can see 2 different surfaces. FYI. VHT Universal aluminium is the paint most recommend

[londonboards]

Yes some people polish up the engine side covers and even the engine top cover (cam cover), in which case Flitz would probably do a good job.

The engine cases, the barrel and the head would benefit from either:

1. Vapour blasting and leaving as is

or

2. Other types of blasting (grit, soda etc) and then painting with Universal Aluminium. But do make sure the components are cleaned thoroughly first. Some blasting companies will only do this sort of blasting if you strip the engine completely and give them the individual components.

[Nessism]

The UK guys love their vapour blasting and it's starting to find it's way stateside over here too but it's a little rare. It's still media blasting though and unless you follow up with painting there will be corrosion since the surface that's left behind is raw aluminum.

Regarding that valve cover, it's got a heavy coat of paint from the factory that's very difficult to remove by common media blasting methods. Soda blasting will clean the surface enough for a new layer of paint though. That's your best bet I think.

[LOTO]

I recently soda blasted my engine to prep for paint and it worked really well for getting into the hard to reach spots and pretty much cleaned off all traces of oil/grease. I really didn't notice the soda blaster taking off any of the factory engine paint off but since I was repainting anyway I didn't look to closely.

I used the VHT Engine Enamel #127 and it really flows well and does a good job....picked up the soda blaster off Amazon.

My plan is to buff some of the side cases/covers and I'm still undecided on clear coat over the buffed cases.


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[Agemax]

It's still media blasting though and unless you follow up with painting there will be corrosion since the surface that's left behind is raw aluminum.

Not true, vapour blasting impregnates a rust inhibitor into the pores of the aluminium, preventing corrosion. I had my whole engine vapour blasted (before assembly) almost 15 years now and it still looks good, only after all this time do i get very small traces of oxidization appearing on the bare cases if they get wet. This is easily cleared by washing with hot soapy water and then dried off, usually just by a quick ride round the block.

[Nessism]

Not true, vapour blasting impregnates a rust inhibitor into the pores of the aluminium, preventing corrosion.

I've never heard this before. If what you say is true then the parts can not be painted after vapour blasting.

Edit: found a few references that do not mention additives into the slurry to reduce corrosion. If so desired a protectant is added afterwards. https://www.restocycle.com/vapor-blasting-faq

[Agemax]

I've never heard this before. If what you say is true then the parts can not be painted after vapour blasting.

Edit: found a few references that do not mention additives into the slurry to reduce corrosion. If so desired a protectant is added afterwards. https://www.restocycle.com/vapor-blasting-faq

They can be painted but have to be washed with solvent before painting.All the vapour blasting companies that i know of in the UK include a rust inhibitor in the slurry itself,always have done.My engine serves as proof to this.

[Nessism]

They can be painted but have to be washed with solvent before painting.All the vapour blasting companies that i know of in the UK include a rust inhibitor in the slurry itself,always have done.My engine serves as proof to this.

Your bike never spends significant time in the elements. And while I believe you when you say the companies you know in the UK put additives in the slurry, if those additives are as effective as you say they will not be easy to remove for painting.

Don't misunderstand, I think vapor blasting looks very promising. My only beef relates to corrosion on raw aluminum parts used by the typical person that washes their bike once a year or never.

[jboge123]

Wow LOTO! That looks amazing! Any chance you have photos of the before/after soda blasting?

[Nessism]

Wow LOTO! That looks amazing! Any chance you have photos of the before/after soda blasting?

He painted it. That's why it looks nice.