ZX636 Swing-arm count.... Black hard as hell to get off rims and swing-arm....
Here's what I used after trying several brands of stripper to no avail other than a mess....











Then buff the hell out of her..... Brown tripoli then white compounds, buff disk/pad on end of drill. Yes, it took some time, Ok was a PITA but was worth it...

OMR

Thats anno.

I did one for one of my KX builds once. Like turboking said, just do what you see. In my case, the center section is cast and it was painted originally. So I just polished the extrusions (arms) and painted the center silver.

i think it's the clear anodize you are calling a coating of silver......$375 seems like a lot. but after you do one it may have been money well spent. :whistle:

btw you only have to polish what will be seen...... not the under side or inner....lol :woohoo:

This is a thick silver coating, not just clear anodize. I'm guessing it's paint since I don't think they were powder coating back then. Whatever it is, it's on there good. I've got to get to the bare aluminum to polish it.

By the way, I heard back from a local polishing place.....$375 to do the arm! :ohmy: Does that seem right to you guys? I can buy another swingarm for that kind of money. Wow......

Made a few tweaks during the week and tested everything this morning on what has kind of become our normal Sunday morning breakfast ride. North to Guthrie, about 35 miles from OKC was the route this morning - just short enough that the wife and kiddow ran sag for the bikes. :whistle:

First order of business this past week was to get the rear brakes operating more efficiently. I swapped out a new Tarrozi straight lever for the angled lever, just on the brake side.



In the pic you can see the obvious difference in angle, but you can also see where I had already worn the casting smooth where my foot naturally wanted to hit. Now that I'm hitting the peg rather than the arm, and the pads are bedding in well, the brakes are feeling pretty good.

I also swapped out the knurled shifter toe peg for a rubber one. The knurled works great on the brake side but it made shifting hard in boots as it was too "grippy", not to mention it was killing the leather.

Messed with the clutch some more and finally am happy with it. Also tidied up some wiring, tweaked on the suspension a little more, and added a mini fender on the rear swingarm.



All in all, it was a good ride. Bike was awesome! Had a little rain on the way back, no biggie.
I think this picture of my son this morning pretty much sums up my feelings with the bike every time I get off.

It's clear anodize people.

The oven cleaner (EZ Off) can remove it but it will leave a black residue. Use the drain cleaner (lye) in the photo. You get it from Lowes in the plumbing section. Just fill a plastic tub with water and add about a cup of lye to start. It's going to be hard to see results since it's clear anno you're removing. I would let it soak for 30 minutes, then see if you can easily polish a small section with some fine steel wool. If it's the same, add another cup of lye and do another 30 minutes. Might bubble a bit, that's ok.

I picked up on these tips from a BMX site. They're constantly dealing with rust, anno, old chrome, etc.

Dunno what's on your swing arm, but an old signwriters' trick...the Lye in "Easy-Off" will attack sign paint (Enamel), yet leave factory paint (Laquer, Base/Clear) alone...Worth a try, but wear gloves and eye protection. The Lye WILL eat skin!

I used a chemical stripper on a brake caliper I was rebuilding and it bubbled the paint right off....the same stuff didn't do anything to that silver stuff! Oven cleaner might be worth a try.

I've done them by sanding with wet and dry sandpaper. lots of work though :S ....... after I did my last one a guy told me E Z off oven cleaner would remove the anodize :dry: ...... although I never tried it

I do have an angle grinder...will give it a try. I'm just concerned that it will leave the aluminum too rough and create a lot of extra work for getting it polished. I guess I don't have much of a choice though because that silver coating is tough stuff!!