Case Cleaning

[lsutley]

I would like to pick the brain power of the members as to the cleaning and polishing of the aluminum motor and trans case covers.

 

I have replaced the clutch and rotor and before replacing the covers, would like to clean, polish and re-cote them. The laquer had pealed in places, exposing the castings to the normal crud. It seems that the porosity of the aluminum in places has imbedded some crud that is resisting removal. There is also a general color change in portions of the surface.

 

I have stripped the lacquer, washed with acetone, detergent and scalding water, and soda blasted. The surfaces are smooth as a baby's butt but not suitable to re-cote and replace.

 

This is holding up the installation of the new stator and R/R. The general rewiring project is stalled untill the wires from the relocated R/R to the stator are rerouted.

 

Any ideas as to how to bring the surfaces to a consistent color and polish?

[Wizard765]

I used some very fine grit sandpaper to get rid of scratches first. Then I used a polishing wheel in a drill. Shines almost like chrome and then clear coat. Be sure to get a GOOD clear coat or it will be a problem later.. I put a hand drill into a workmate and had the wheel in the drill. With a fine polishing compound

Carl did his and didn't clear them. He has something called a magic cloth and just wipes them down once in awhile. Been a couple of years and they still look great.

[Peder_y2k]

First, I used paint remover to get the old clear finish off.

I found all my sandpaper at ACE Hdwe, and used 220 grit to remove the deepest damage, then followed with 600 grit to smooth out the leftover sanding marks, then finished with 1000 grit that prepped the surface for the polish wheel where Jewelers Rouge shined it to a mirror finish.

Haven't clear coated yet, so surfaces are prone to easy scratching from boot contact. The polish wheel takes these out fast.

-Pete, in Tacoma WA USA

[Huggy]

While we are on the subject of polishing if I put my bike on the side stand can I remove the clutch case cover with out losing any oil? I can do this with my XJ just wondering about the VR. Mine have been polished previously by a PO and they are polishing up nicely with a buffing pad on a drill and some polish.

 

[Marcarl]

While we are on the subject of polishing if I put my bike on the side stand can I remove the clutch case cover with out losing any oil? I can do this with my XJ just wondering about the VR. Mine have been polished previously by a PO and they are polishing up nicely with a buffing pad on a drill and some polish.

 

Yepper again!

[Huggy]

Thanks Marcarl! Ya looks like all I need to do is clean the crud that has built up on the covers off and buff them up! The only place there's any lacquer is on the valve covers.

 

[lsutley]

Thanks for the advice. What I did not realize was that the discoloration on the covers is aluminum oxide. Very hard stuff that would not come off in the blaster using soda as a media.

 

The sandpaper removed the layer of oxides, turning everything one color, and the rest was a matter of polishing to an acceptable level. I used aluminum wheel clear coat to finish the piece and it does not look too bad from ten feet.