Any how-to's on Corrided Engine Cases?

[Chaharly]

Hey Guys! I got my bike from a guy in Ohio who must've liked to take the bike out on the salty roads in the spring. The polish is corroded off pretty bad, and its looking like some of the painted parts are getting corroded too. I really don't know where to start if I want to have the motor looking half way nice again. I'm considering a repaint some day so I want the motor to look nice too. Some of the corrosion is even on the handlebars!!! I've got a few pics, for your viewing pleasure

 

I've thought about pulling the motor, spraying it silver while covering the polished bits, re polishing them and putting the whole thing back on after a valve adjustment. The problem with that is I honestly have no experience at all about buffing or polishing or even painting really. What would you guys do to make it look better?

[bongobobny]

Ummmm, buy better-looking ones off of ebay??

 

As far as what's on the bike, you're in for a whole lot of sanding and polishing to return them to looking good again. You could have them bead blasted and powder coated to any color you think would look good...

[gaj1917]

You can restore most of the tarnished aluminium pieces, but only with a lot of work. For pieces that can be removed, I use an electric bench buffer and various polishing bars. You can get the same results by wet sanding with 600+ grit sandpaper, but with a lot more effort. One you've got a decent finish, coat with a high temp clear finish. Here are examples of pieces I've restored recently.

 

[Chaharly]

Ummmm, buy better-looking ones off of ebay??

 

As far as what's on the bike, you're in for a whole lot of sanding and polishing to return them to looking good again. You could have them bead blasted and powder coated to any color you think would look good...

 

I was thinking about pulling the whole engine, bead blast it and just painting the whole thing at once

[Chaharly]

You can restore most of the tarnished aluminium pieces, but only with a lot of work. For pieces that can be removed, I use an electric bench buffer and various polishing bars. You can get the same results by wet sanding with 600+ grit sandpaper, but with a lot more effort. One you've got a decent finish, coat with a high temp clear finish. Here are examples of pieces I've restored recently.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=109087

 

That looks real, real nice! Any ideas on how to get the gold and black on the clutch cover??

[gaj1917]

That looks real, real nice! Any ideas on how to get the gold and black on the clutch cover??

 

Paste masking tape across the "Yamaha" letters. Then using an Exacto knife, or similar, cut the tape to expose the inset letters. A tedious job! Spray over the tape and exposed letters with aerosol high temp black. You can do a similar thing with the gold lettering.

[Marcarl]

The covers and such are doable, but take time to accomplish. First remove all clearcoat with paint remover, then sand with 600 and better, then finally buff with a buffing wheel. I found that a small wheel on my highspeed hand drill clamped into my workmate worked the best, using black buffing compound. I then washed the part and finished it with Classic Cloth. After that it was a yearly cleaning with Classic Cloth to keep things looking good. Never put clear coat on it again. I did all engine covers, forks, floor boards and what ever else wanted to come off.

Now your engine don't look so good either. Guess my advise would be to remove it, strip it entirely and then paint the color of choice. Polishing that would be almost impossible.

[cecdoo]

Carl, you had that 1st gen looking beautiful, awesome job on the polished parts!!

 

Craig

[bongobobny]

Carl, you had that 1st gen looking beautiful, awesome job on the polished parts!!

 

Craig

Ya know who else had super polished engine covers?? Swifty!

[bongobobny]

I was thinking about pulling the whole engine, bead blast it and just painting the whole thing at once

That's a lot of work but in the long run probably the most effective!

[Marcarl]

Carl, you had that 1st gen looking beautiful, awesome job on the polished parts!!

 

Craig

Thanks. The only thing that hadn't come apart and get fixed\modified\redone was the engine itself. Buddy that bought it is still a very happy camper. Sometimes I kind of wish I had kept it, but at a round 1k$ per year for insurance, that didn't make any Dutch sense at all. I really did like that scoot though, right from the first time I set eyes on it.

I now have a nice 88 sitting here. Maybe I could take it for a spin before Evan fixes the plastic, that way if I drop it he might not notice so much.

[Marcarl]

Ya know who else had super polished engine covers?? Swifty!

 

In the end Swifty got all his covers chromed. His bike ended up in his living room during the winter and got thoroughly cleaned every season. I think he liked taking things apart. Evan is now the proud owner of all that chrome, but likes his 88 more.

[Condor]

Hey Guys! I got my bike from a guy in Ohio who must've liked to take the bike out on the salty roads in the spring.

I've thought about pulling the motor, spraying it silver while covering the polished bits, re polishing them and putting the whole thing back on after a valve adjustment. The problem with that is I honestly have no experience at all about buffing or polishing or even painting really. What would you guys do to make it look better?

 

We have a guy here in town that polishes for a livin'.... A lot of custom car builders use him. On the '83 I took him the covers, and turned him loose. They came out looking like new.... Cost me $20 bucks per cover.