Magnesium Anodising?

[80s freak]

As it says people, can you Anodise magnesium engine covers on Suzukis. I've searched online and it depends on the alloy content, so I need to know if anyone has done it specifically to Suzuki covers because apparently they are low in alloy. Cheers.

[Redmohawk]

Even 100% mag can be anodised its just a different mix of chemicals (to increase the effective layer) , almost all mag/ali alloys will anodise just fine mate. Getting the colour to match another part thats just Ali is tricky as the Anodising layer will be a different thickness but thats about the only real difference.

[stiffsimon]

Magnesium covers, do tell?

[80s freak]

They are stock factory covers on the water cooled GSXRs sorry Simon, nothing to exciting, but the will be modded before they go on.

[Redmohawk]

If by modded you mean a clear cover , your in trouble with anodising bloke. Welds will take anodising dye at a different rate and different parts of the weld with alter the hardness varing the thickness of layer/altering the dye thickness and colour. Also ali for a ring etc will be slightly different in colour also. Gives the whole show a patchy look.

Sux but don't let me stop you, It might come out 100% how you want.

[ozzy1100]

just weld on the inside with a clean machine line on both parts outside lol prob fixed

[EXBEN]

I've never seen anything (Cast) magnesium anodised, if it's anything like cast alloy it'll look like shit.

[80s freak]

Cheers for the suggestions boys.
Ben, if I were to resurface the parts and get rid of the cast finish would that improve it? Or is it the way the metal forms when cast that is the problem?

[EXBEN]

It won't help & could make it worse. Why don't you want to paint it?

[Redmohawk]

Anodising is the surface layer of Ali/mag being corroded in a very specific way, which is porus then coloured if you choose, followed by heating to set the surface (and seal it) . Cast , welded pieces, and similar bits but not from the same batch of material all have slightly different chemical makeup, surface type, cast is granular in makeup etc. Bead blasted cast Ali seems to come out nice (possably as the surface has been altered with the bead blasting) A mate at work bead blasted a paintball action (cast) then polished it and finally did a home red ano looked good but it is only about as big as your palm.

[80s freak]

Ben, just really like the look. The other option is to tint a clear and paint them that way but dubious on longevity and resistance to heat. Might just get some billet ones made.

[BANDITROD]

use 2 pac geoff it holds up with heat real well

[Redmohawk]

VHT make an engine clear thats formulated to go over Ali , but its in a can only. VHT also make the anodised look paint in a can and its compatable with the clear. The red wheels on Betty are done with It, come in red, purple, blue, and green might be others but I havent seen them. There a tinted clear, then you just put the High temp clear over the top.

[BANDITROD]

the vht clear is shithouse and only holds for a couple of years

[Redmohawk]

good to know

[BANDITROD]

it turns yellow after a while and then starts peeling

[Mishdog20]

I'd just go in and chat with ya local auto paint store Geoff. Who knows what they've got. The local shop up here is excellent when it comes to painting any weird stuff. But as Rod said, 2-pac with even a 2-1 ratio of hardener will hold up excellent. Ive tryed to get the overspray off and nothing moves it...lol

[EXBEN]

I did these magnesium Valve covers in POR 15 on Larges spondon years ago, polished then coated, still look good now.1739

[BANDITROD]

can you still get that stuff Ben last time i tried i had trouble

[ALBI]

mate just get an old cover and send it to who you want to get work done by,crack it or smash it dont matter either way in front of him so he knows its a test peice and tell himm you want his services but want to see a final end result!!
i did this for some alloy parts yrs ago and the bloke did the test peice for free for his own satifaction!!
it came out not so good but he re did in a different way and it came out good!!

he did my job at a reduced rate then as he lernt something and it added to his line!!

[EXBEN]

ahh..... I think your right, looks like they've dropped it from their product line. ignore my last post ,Sorry.

[EXBEN]

What colour do you want Geoff ?

[BANDITROD]

yeah last time i tried the supplier told me i had to get it through elctromould so i rang them and they wont sell it but are more than willing to charge you an arm and a leg when they do it for you the ripoff cunts

[80s freak]

Thanks for building my hopes up Ben, then smashing them apart. lol. I want to go black.

[latheboy]

All this for BLACK????????


rattle can you dickhead.....

[80s freak]

How's the wagon Geckoboy?

[latheboy]

I've actually got thinking about working on it again, it's still in the shed.

[80s freak]

You should, because it is a bit of awesomeness you have there.

[Dynomutt]

Have a look round and see if anyone down your part of the world is offering black chrome powdercoating. Aerocoat here in the UK developed it along with their Aeromax finish that looks like polished ally. I'm currently having a load of parts done in the black chrome finish for a customers bike I'm building, and some parts done in the Aeromax finish for one of my own bikes. The black chrome has a nice transluscence to it, the Aeromax looks amazingly like polished ally. I'm having a set of magnesium ZX9R covers done in it along with my JMC swingarm on my current project.
The black chrome may be a viable alternative to anodising, and cast or welds won't make any difference to the finished item. Have a look on Aerocoats website at the stuff, and then see if anyone down under is offering it.

[80s freak]

Thanks Dyno, I'm chasing black chrome for another project. Love the look of it.

[Dynomutt]

As far as I know the pallet load of parts I sent to Aerocoat a couple of weeks ago should be ready for collection on Wednesday. I have someone driving up from London to Gt Yarmouth to collect it all then driving down to me with it all, a 500 mile jaunt for him, but the cost in fuel is similar to a courier and this way I know that everything should arrive without any damage. Plus the black chrome stuff is going on his bike anyway, so it gets it down here and he wants to have a look how it's going together as well. As soon as the stuff is here, I get some photos of both the black chrome and the Aeromax finish so you can have a butchers at the finish. There have been a few places recently offering the Aeromax/Chromacoat type finish but all the sample pieces I looked at came out very grey rather than looking like polished ally. This is why I sent everything to Aerocoat as they developped the finish, and having seen their work on a mates bike I was initially fooled into thinking it was a polished front wheel and engine covers, especially in sunlight. I'm looking forwards to seeing it all in the flesh.