The shinning moment

[geniusloerts]

the most important tip from a pro to us is use grease on the sand paper in the initial steps. i will copy the whole process onto here that i wrote out describing it.


and about the candy in the back ground its the chips ahoy, nutter butter and oreo 12 pack....keeps a college kid going in the morning!

[geniusloerts]

some hints/tips/process of polishing

Here are the basic procedures that can be addapted to everyones garage. I have everything listed here or something close to it, except the giant polishing machine. All the posihing compounds and wheels can be bought at any decent autostore or look for them online. there are some kits available.


I started by soaking the valve cover in carb cleaner for about 10 minutes, this removes paint/clear coat and all the other nasty stuff from over the years(tip one....dosent hurt the aluminum).next I washed it in the parts washer with a tooth brush and some mineral spirits. after that i used a fine sand blaster to even the surface texture on the valve cover.
Then come the hard work. i started with and orbital with 180 grit paper and hit all the flat surfaces to even them out. after that i moved to a air dremel with 180 grit wrapped around the head to get in all the small tight corners so going far out into the larger areas, other wise you get deep scratches. then you progressively move to other wheels of diffrent shapes and sizes for diffrent areas, all 180 grit(tip 2....use grease durung the whole process). after the carpel tunnel sets in its time for the buffer wheels. This machine is a big motor and axle that you attach diffrent sanding/buffung wheels to it. i used 3 180 grit disks put together with grease to go over the whole cover again, this cuts down on grooves and fine scractches. After doing that and getting it all consistant it was time for the buffers. you move from diffrent buffing compounds getting finer until you reach the last touch(tip 3 get the compunds, it makes the diffrence)....then wipe it down with chaulk dust and you are set(tip 4....it removes all figure prints grease or what ever is left) rense and repeat.

and ta da!!!!!



this friend of mine is a pro and he was teaching me how to do it.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Genius,

It does look awesome!!

Now, as for your friend. Are you saying that he can RE-CHROME parts, or that he Pro Polishes Aluminum and chrome parts??

IF he does offer rechroming, then you'll need to get some price quotes for US. Lots of folks on here would like to find an AFFORDABLE place to get parts rechromed!!!

Well, I picked up the double wheeled buffer/polisher machine from Harbor Freight last weekend on sale for $39.99! I'm looking forward to putting it to good use in the coming weeks as I try to prep Godzilla for XS East 2008!
T.C.

[geniusloerts]

Its a full blown business

TC,

My friend does have a chrome and polishing shop. he dose plating, resoration, buffing and polishing.

my had had him do the foot peg braket on his V-Star, wow they are amazing.

If you guys get me a list of things that you may want to have chrome plated or polished i can get him to give us a price. This guy use to own and run a shop in riverside california that was huge. there are guys who do concorse restorations that bring there chrome, aluminum, and stainless to him to be fixed and polished.

[geniusloerts]

got it mounted tonight....now i have to do the whole thing....







thanks for all the complements

[prometheus578]

Those air filters don't look like they've been oiled.
Other than that.... looks nice!

[egsols]

Very, very nice. Like the choke knob too.

[cloerts]

Originally posted by geniusloerts

just wait till she finds out i used her good sowing sissors for cutting gasket material, and her finger nail files too.....

Dude, I think mom took away my keys once for using the sewing scissors. Things are definitley easier for the youngest child

[DJinNH]

genius....you may already have a plan for yours but thought I would mention incase you are looking,

Those crown nuts, on each side of the sparkplug opening, mine look rusty like yours. I found new ones on bikebandit and ordered them along with washers.

Unreal cleanup/polish you did there. I was thinking about painting mine black but after seeing your photos, I'm having second thoughts. Very nice shine!

Don

[trbig]

Don touched on what I was going to ask. I ordered 8 chrome acorn nuts for my head (The one on the bike, Pro...) that he mentioned. You can't see the inner 4, so I was just replacing the ones you can see. BUT... I can't find a chrome or stainless replacement for the washers. 10mm x 21mm x 3mm thick. You can buy stock, but they will eventually rust again.

So, could you check on a price for chroming the acorn nuts and washers? I will be checking on a place next week that does some nickel plating for these type of things. I'll post what I find out.

Tod

[TopCatGr58]

List of things to CHROME/REchrome

Hey Genius,

There's a variety of things that folks have mentioned wanting to get rechromed. Like the OEM thin steel metal chromed carb caps like on the 80-81 bikes, vs. the thick aluminum ones like on yours....that should polish up just as nice as your valve cover...
HINT, HINT!! Also, your float bowls, ALT cover, Clutch cover, Timing cover, Shift lever cover, etc.....these are the other parts that folks like to polish up on the bike, but others have found or had chromed.

The passenger footpeg trim piece, the front namebadge that's on the forks that says Yamaha.

CAN he chrome plate PLASTIC??? Folks tank namebages, and side cover badges might be another item??

Other small parts like the Speedo/gauge buckets.

Larger parts are sometimes the exhaust pipes, headers or mufflers, but would require him/someone to remove rust, either sandblast, or chemically treat?? Oh, yeah, also fenders!!
T.C.

[geniusloerts]

-plating plastic is a completly diffrent process that he dosent mess with. you have paint the plastic with a metal paint so it will take a charge in the plating process.
- if it is a used exaust w/baffels, he dosen't like doing them because it is impossible to clean the inside out completly and the carbon and oils contaminate the tanks.....expensive to clean tank and chemicals.

anything metal he can do.

TC,

I made a list of all the things to polish today. It has become an obsession!!!

I was in at harbor frieght today and they sell all the compounds and buffing wheels that i mention earlier.

started the bike up today....started on first turn....hehehe....ITS ALIVE!!!! but i have a studder to work out and number 2 was

[79XS11F]

Now that is SHINY and I love it :-) Now that it's complete will you be coating it with anything to keep it that way? High heat clear coats do exist but I have been told that they will yellow in time.
Rob

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Rob, and Genius,

Did you not see this post by TrBig in the Product Evaluations section?

Duplicolor ENGINE Clear Coat thread!
T.C.

[geniusloerts]

I was thinking of having it clear powder coated.



I heard that someone called steve and got a quote and is sending there stuff in?!?!? Someone from New York I think?