Engine case shine

I've always liked seeing the pics here of resto-mod bikes with super shiny engine cases, however, what's a guy (or gal if there are any here?) to do when their bike's engine is not in need of rebuild and thus, unlikely to be polished?

I decided to tackle my new-to-me kz550 last week. I had a day off and sat in the garage, coffee in hand, staring at the engine casings of my bike:


I love the stock looks of this bike. It has some mods, but mostly stock but the engine casings are letting it down.
So I went out to the local hardware store and bought some sandpapers - 120, 180, 220, 400, 800 (last two wet/dry papers). Also bought a couple packs of steel wool - triple zero and quad zero and an assortment of wire brushes (mainly toothbrush sized, steel and brass bristle).

It's certainly unnerving to take sandpaper to your bike but I've done this before for other car projects and knew it would work; it's just a matter of time and fingers holding out.
I started with the 120grit only where the cases were scuffed or scratched deeply to smooth out the surface faster. You could start with 220grit if your case is already in nice shape and just oxidized. Here's the start:


As you can see, the change is quick and so long as your fingernails and skin can handle the constant back 'n forth of sanding all you have to do is keep going and occasionally sweep the dust off and move-up to a finer paper all the way through to the finest grit you have. I stopped at 800grit and went to quadruple zero steel wool to put the factory-like shine back on the casings. Here's a pic after probably 6 hours of sanding and polishing with steel wool:


As you can see, it's pretty good. I could have gone up to finer grits of paper like 1000g, 1500g and 2k grits and this shine would be approaching a truly "polished" look but I didn't have the time or patience. I just wanted the ol' bike to look better or closer to factory new.

The wheels were the same process, except I started by washing the rims of grease first and then followed with the papers. Lower numbers to start and remove rash and then skip up to higher numbers. This applies only to the rims and NOT the spokes. The spokes were where I needed those wire brushes. In particular the steel wire brush and just like your mother showed you how to brush your teeth in the "right way" there is a correct way to brush your mag wheel spokes - side to side across the spoke worked best. If you look really close, the spokes have small grooves across them. I'd guess made by a lathe or similar tool at the factory. These small grooves mean sanding is impossible so I experimented with the steel wool but found simply briskly pulling the wire brush over the spokes worked best to get a shine back and remove the oxidation in those grooves. Here's the "During" pic of this. Far side of the wheel is untouched and near side is in-process:


and the finished result of the wheel "brushing":


And the final coffee in hand and staring at your hard work about 8 hours later... Not bad for a few bucks in sandpaper and basically cleaning supplies:


Oh. I also picked up a rattle can of satin black paint. I got high heat paint and sprayed it into the cap and then used an "artist" brush to paint the areas that were originally black like the foot peg mounts and the case covers. Then after the paint dried, I zipped over the engine fins and timing cover etc with 800 grit to take the black over-spray or drips off and light polish with the quad-zero wool again..

Not expensive. Meh... admit it was a day in the garage but still worth it in my humble opinion. I've noticed it rides better now too. Must be like when you wash your car and suddenly it works better... :laugh:

That came out quite nice for a few hours work.

Nice, sweat equity. I'm assuming you left the cases on the bike. I'm considering doing this and then polishing them in hopes that it last longer and is easier to maintain. Well done.

very nice

Nice job. I have an XS650 that needs this treatment. Great rainy day project...

No worries about using steel wool on aluminum? I've always heard that's a no-no. Particles of steel get embedded in the aluminum, then rust which makes things worse than before. At least that's what the aircraft people say. I've always used Scotch Brite instead. Hogwash?

Oh yes!
I guess I shoulda' mentioned that all the hand sanding and hand polishing happened on the bike wherever it sits.
I only removed the forward pegs et cetera to make it easier to access the cases for sanding.
The entire reason for doing it, at all, was because I didn't want to dismantle the engine or bike for polishing. Heck, I rode it a few minutes after I finished
Additionally, I did not do the upper engine surfaces but I did buff-up the chrome starter motor cover plate with the quad-zero wool...
I stopped at the casing screws adjacent to the starter cover. Kinda' on the case corner, artistically, carefully, where the engine goes into shadow. I guess you could polish the topside (or bottom side which I did not do either...) but it's hard to see and so ... OK.. I'm a lazy bastard...go on say it. :laugh:
Also, when sanding, I tried to keep the stroke motion in vertical direction where possible. This seems to minimize the visual effect of seeing scratches. If you were to climb on up to the papers in the thousands range, then obviously this would become less of an issue but since I was going more for that satin nickel as opposed to chromed look, super fine scratches are actually what gives the look so try to be observant of this as you work through the process. Vertical seemed to be harder to see...

I've not heard about steel wool and alloys?
I guess it's possible these cases are actually "aluminum" but I've always assumed they were an alloy of AL and other metals for strength and exposure to ... the street use they see.
I guess I don't believe triple and quad zero steel wool could become trapped in the alloy...
I did have to sweep off the "black dust" (seen in close-up pic of front wheel, on garage floor) occasionally but ultimately the alloy is hard and shiny smooth but If so, then maybe skip the steel wool if you're worried and just press-on with higher grit papers. By the time you hit the thousands, you're polishing, not sanding anyway...

I'll keep this thread updated over time but ultimately I've used triple and quad steel wool for so many years in other restorations (auto glass and chrome, bike chrome, home renovations). I used it to restore mid-century, aluminum window frames on a house with great results. Now that rusted because I forgot to clean-off the dust and it rained one night. Had to redo one whole window frame to clean it up.
So maybe a vacuum would be a good extra tool to have but I found most of the black dust fell off directly except around engine case top area... This area needed brushing (I used a small soft bristle dust pan brush...) or shots of compressed air (mechanical and human).

Scotchbrite pads would be useful too! No doubt but honestly, I didn't think about them so I guess I can't say for certain where in the process they would be best since they start off as being more abrasive and with use become less so. By the time you're hitting it with 800 grit paper, you're close to what your wife uses on her fingernails but definitely scotchbrite pads would be useful in this process for sure.

Lastly, I guess it's worth noting something about this. It will have an on-going maintenance requirement. Probably no different than washing the bike but in effect, the stage I took it to (so called satin-nickel finish) is in effect more raw or... porous than it was from the factory. This means for example that ... grease or oil will appear to stain it (I'm doing valve shims this week...). Once that happens (any kind of chemical/oily stain), you'll have to re-surface it - your highest paper and quad-zero. I've done it twice now. The steel wool by itself wasn't enough to remove the oily finger prints (carb removal/installation) but scuffing it again with 800g and then 4-0 wool did. I reckon you could always spritz the areas with clear coat or similar if you're worried but to me the whole garage and it's contents entirely are one bit maintenance concern which I enjoy...ain't that why "the man caves" on HGTV always end up in the garage?

I got a sprocket cover on eBay that was in a fire.


Took some sanding, the two grits of wool, then polishing compound to make it presentable. No one wanted it so I got it for $20 and it came with the actuator inside. That's what I bought it for. A sexy new cover is just a bonus. :woohoo:


Steve

Those cases look nice. Good work.

I'm too lazy to go through the technique you detailed. The following routine is what I do since it's the easiest and fastest way to get decent results.

1) Remove engine cover from bike

2) Use a small hand held 1/4 sheet DA with 220 grit sandpaper to remove corrosion pitting.

3) Use a Dremel with stainless steel wire wheel to dress up the small spots where the DA won't fit.

4) Use a SISAL buffing wheel on your grinder/polisher along with BLACK cutting compound. This will produce a polished finish that's brighter than the stock finish.

If you want a mirror polished finish you can then move to a stitched wheel and white compound but I don't bother.

That's it. You can do a full set of engine covers in only a few hours using this method. You just gotta pull together the tools and equipment. Beats the heck out of hand sanding.

Oh, and after you are done some Wizards Power Seal helps reduce corrosion going into the future.

Nice job
I go a little further to remove the brushed look and use 1500 and 2000 grit
Then use a good polish . I use Mothers products ( Billet Aluminum Polish ) among others

Thought I'd show an update on the engine cases. I admit this bike doesn't get exposed to inclement weather and since I buffed the engine cases, I've only filled it up maybe 4 times but it does get ridden at minimum weekly.
So far so good. Little more than wiping dust or bugs off it.
About 4 months in now:

Well,thats a bit spooky. Ive just come home from a day in the workshop spannering on the bike and the last thing I was looking at as I turned the lights off were the engine cases. Thinking to myself,'what am I going to do with those?Theyre really scruffy'
I like what youve done there,I like the satin finish.Just what I was looking for. I might just give it a go.

Something maybe interesting for you.When I sandblasted some other parts for the bike,a while ago, the guy with the blaster told me that I could just wipe the parts with diesel to protect them. I never tried it but it might be worth a go on a small area.
Having said that,when I had the engine ice blasted,I was told that I didnt need to do anything to it!!