Home polishing, how and what do you need?

Was wandering what i need to purchase to polish up my motor. Even though i have yet to get my bike my friend is cleaning his motor with never dull and wants to know if there is anything he can purchase for home polishing? We figure if it is something a little expensive we can split the cost. I have no idea how the polishing process is done.:blink:

Start by reading "How to buff and polish" at www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm and that's also a good place to buy polishing supplies.

A lot depends on the condition of your engine covers to start with. IMHO never dull is way too slow unless you have a museum bike that has never been exposed to the weather.

I've been fooling around with early 80's vintage stuff and this has been working fairly well for me. I have been using wet-dry sand paper to get rid of the heavy tarnish first and then buffing the covers with a bench grinder fitted with a sewn 8" buffing wheel I bought at Harbor Freight for like $4.99. I also picked up a stick of SCR white compound for buffing stainless steel also from Harbor Freight costs $3.99. You just turn the buffer on and load up the wheel by holding the white compound stick against the wheel for a few seconds and then start buffing your part. Takes no time at all to bring the shine back to your parts.

I also bought a 4 1/2" angle grinder again from Harbor Freight for $9.99 and equipped it with a 6" sewn buffing wheel to buff covers I did not want to remove from the bike yet. It will do a superficial job but you can't get into a lot of spots like you can by removing the part and using the bench setup. I bought it thinking it will work well for doing mag wheels.

If you want to clean stuff up by hand Mothers mag polish works about as well as anything but it is still a ton of work.

I have a harbor freight about 8 blocks from my house. Think i will give them a visit, everything that you named sounds right up my alley.

I bought this from harbor freight on sale for like $69:



It works great.. 3600 rpm and 3/4 hp motor. Then bought, tripoli compound and white jewelers rogue compound. Also bought 8" sprial and loose buffing wheels from eastwood.com

First I sand my parts. I used 80 grit on my DA sander on my clutch cover for my kz to start getting all the pits out, moved up to 150, 320, 800, 1500 grit. Its ALOT of work ! but you can buff the 1500g out real easy on the buffer - or you can buff out 800g with more work on the buffer - but I find it easier to sand with 1500.

It takes time and patience and alot of trial and error..

I agree. Polishing is Filthy work. But it is all in the sanding. Make sure you cross grains between every grit. If you sand right ,you don't need much but a tub of Mother's,and a lot of patience. Beer helps.:woohoo:

I did this with the motor in the frame-without busting a gasket.

Post edited by: WharfRat, at: 2006/06/15 00:30

Damn that looks really really nice.I figure i will spend a few days just cleaning my bike when i get it.

I bought all my supplys from Tarheel supply. They have a shaft with two pulleys and bearings for 20 bucks if you want to build your own bench polisher. Roy

I looked into starting a polishing business years ago, but decided I just didn't want to do it all day! If you've done it once, imagine looking forward to it everyday. There's a reason it's expensive.
Regarding sanding the parts first, you can buy glue and grit and make your own sanding wheels that flex much like the sewn polishing wheels you would use with the compounds. Glue is applied to the wheel and then it is rolled in the grit. It's allowed to harden overnight and then cracked with a piece of dowel or hammer handle to allow it to flex. Now having said that, I don't remember where I got the grits or glue but I'm sure a check with commercial suppliers will get you what you need. Note, commercial polishers use a hot glue, I used a cold glue made for home use. If I can remember where I got it, I will post it (it was about 20 years ago).

edit...I just went back and read the Caswell link and all the info is there...

Post edited by: Fossil, at: 2006/06/15 09:00

start with small parts:whistle:

Just a hint from me... use a breather mask. Plan on taking a shower too afterwards as you will be black with aluminum dust. A lot of engine covers have clear coat on them so instead of fighting with sand paper I just soak them in lacquer thinner. The buffer wheel will work a whole lot faster and you won't have as many hand issues from holding the parts against the wheel. Watch using the wheel around edges as it tends to catch the part and fling it out of your hands.

You can even get rid of the majority of "drop" marks from the covers hitting the road. here are some photos of the covers off the wifes rebel I'm doing right now. You should have seen the starter on the inside as well, it was bad the worse you can imagine. A little time spent on it and it works perfect and looks bettr than new.

Post edited by: KZ_Rage, at: 2006/06/16 11:15

Joomlaboard, what a hack job of a program, sorry but it is really a bad program, I mean it makes Microsoft look good! Let's do it the hard way...