Wire brush

[chubs]

Hi,
I had a bit of fun with the wire brush drill attachment on the weekend, used it to strip the paint and polish the oil cap and one of the bar end weights. Comes up quite nicely.
Before i go any further, does anyone know of any bits on a typical bike that isn't alloy ie DONT strip the paint because they'll rust?
Engine cover?

Its a '92 gixxer 750.

[Deano]

All your engine bits will be fine but the wire brush will scratch the surface. What works good on alloy is a scotchbrite style attachment.

[ozkat]

Chubs, if your talking engine covers hit it with paint stripper and hose it off, it might take a couple of coats but its the easiest way. (make sure the covers arnt on the engine tho) Then you need wet&dry paper. I usually start with 1000 grit, then 1200 grit then 1500 grit, (put a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid in the water) by then you should have a nice satin finish on the alloy. Then i use 30 micron and 15 micron paper, either Norton or 3M are the most common brands. Any good automotive paint supplier will have it. I use orbital sanding discs in the micron paper. Use the micron discs as the same as wet&dry paper in water. Start with with the 30 micron and when you cant see any scratches then use the 15 micron paper. By now you should be covered in black shit, if your not your not doing it properly. When you have finished with the 15 micron paper then you can start polishing. You can do it by hand or use a polishing mop either mounted on a bench grinder for larger parts or a mop in a drill for more intracate parts. Once you get to the polishing stage i simply use Autosol with the mops, its cheap and avaliable from most auto stores. If you follow these instructions and spend the time on a piece you will end up with a very profesional finish, if you try to cut corners it will look like crap. A really good finish on a clutch cover will proberly take around 3 - 4 hrs. Ive done 1 GSXR1100 frame (never again) wheels, engine covers, swingarms, triple clamps etc. Its very cheap to do and if you follow all the stages you WILL end up with a first class finish.

[Gsxar]

I got heaps of polished bits :D and the only thing I have had any real trouble with is the fuel cap. I sanded the lines out and polished it but it would tarnish and discolour in a few days ( think it was the petrol fumes) repolished it many times but it still did it.
A polisher told me to use scotchbrite pads (with built in soap) before buffing, works great gives a better lasting shine;)
I'm with Ozkat I would think seriously before polishing a gsxr1100 frame again lol

[ozkat]

Chubs, if you cant get the micron paper let me know and ill send you some.

Autosol is not bad,but i use Lightening Shine Metal Polish made by Wicked Products.Its a liquid rather than a paste and fuck my pup it works well.Only went down to 600 grit then got the buff out (Lambswool). polished the whole swinger to a blinding finish in 10 minutes.

[chubs]

davo - where do you get that stuff? Hook me up!
I'm in nsw if that helps

What about blasting guys? I was thinking about maybe blasting my engine while I'm doing the rebuild. The picture that someone put up of a GPz9 with a polished motor looked pretty trick (anyone remember where it is?). But I am way to faaarkn lazy to actually polish it all myself.

Capral Aluminium sell it up here (QLD) think its about $18 a bottle.
www.wickedproducts.com for more detail info
Chalky,sand and bead blasting is a bit harsh for engines but my neighbour/paint guru mentioned somthing about Soda blasting,not sure where ya get it done but it gives a super fine finish.I've got a bloke that does all my acid etching and blasting on glass up here so i'll ask him next time i see him.

Thanks Davo :)

[gibbo]

Hey Chalky, doing what I do we do a lot of sand and bead blasting, the blasting process uses literally millions of grains of sand or plastic (as I'm sure you know), I tell you that shit gets every where no matter how well you seal it up. Remember it is propelled by air pressure of over 100 psi. All it takes is for some of that6 medium to get left in your oil galleries or somewhere like that & the new engine aint so new anymore. I've mentioned this to the guys that blast our stuff and they agree.