My grab rails have been bugging me for a long time, so I finally pulled them off to clean them up. You can't see it very well in this pic, but they are VERY oxidized. I'd always keep saddle bags on to cover them up (My shocks are next)
You'll notice at the top right what my cheat is. On the grungy stuff I start with the palm sander to get down to good metal. I can get into pretty tight nooks and crannies with it like the bends on the covers. Here I started with a 220 grit. after about 15 minutes, all the oxidation was gone.
I then ran the sander with some 1000 grit, followed by a hand wet sand with 3000 grit. Each step was about 15 minutes. I also sanded the black paint a bit in the center. I then taped it off with thick masking tape, used and exacto knife to cut out where the black part is, and shot a new layer of black paint. (Shakey can) I pulled the tape off while the paint was still wet, then set it aside to dry for a few minutes. I rubbed some Simichrome on it and Presto... looks like a new one. Just make sure to wash it well between each grit of paper, or you'll just be rubbing the previous grit around still.
Total time from start to finish was about 1 1/2 hours and 4 beers! It still doesn't run... but by gosh it will look pretty sitting there! lol.
Tod
You'll notice at the top right what my cheat is. On the grungy stuff I start with the palm sander to get down to good metal. I can get into pretty tight nooks and crannies with it like the bends on the covers. Here I started with a 220 grit. after about 15 minutes, all the oxidation was gone.
I then ran the sander with some 1000 grit, followed by a hand wet sand with 3000 grit. Each step was about 15 minutes. I also sanded the black paint a bit in the center. I then taped it off with thick masking tape, used and exacto knife to cut out where the black part is, and shot a new layer of black paint. (Shakey can) I pulled the tape off while the paint was still wet, then set it aside to dry for a few minutes. I rubbed some Simichrome on it and Presto... looks like a new one. Just make sure to wash it well between each grit of paper, or you'll just be rubbing the previous grit around still.
Total time from start to finish was about 1 1/2 hours and 4 beers! It still doesn't run... but by gosh it will look pretty sitting there! lol.
Tod
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