Engine Progress

[mack]

This is cleaned and polished with one coat autosol. Will try buffing compound #5 & #6 later. Looks like all the coon sh..t is gone.








This is all I'm stripping and polishing this year. Time to start putting it back together.

[tinman905]

Wow! that's a nice looking engine. You've done a great job cleaning and polishing. It's nice to see someone put the time and effort into our bikes. It would be nice to see you at the XSNorth rally so we can all meet you and see the great job you have done.

[petejw]

That looks really nice,
something i want to do to mine one day.

[cywelchjr]

I can imagine the amount of work it's going to take to keep it looking like that though. Unprotected polished aluminum can take a lot of work to keep it looking good. That's why they paint the stuff from the factory.

[crazy steve]

I like the custom engine stand....

'78E original owner

[Southhill101]

Mack,
What Autosol product did you use for cleaning? Those fins look spotless, always a pain to clean.

Cheers,

[DiverRay]

You REMOVED the cam chain tensioner!!! Be VERY CAREFUL when you put the tensioner back on!!! I hope you had the engine at TDC BEFORE you removed it, and did NOT turn the crank AT ALL with it out!!!!

[foreda]

Engine stand

I don't suppose you would have a drawing of the engine stand? Engine looks great! What kind of pads or wheels did you use between the fins?

[79XS11F]

That's looking grest Mack. Do post the plans for your stand.
Rob

[mack]

Thanx guys

It looks better in photo's than it really is, for some reason the pitting left behind from the rust doesn't show up. If you really want to see a fantastic job, go to 79XS11F web site. Robs motors look like chrome. Anyway I used everything from dental picks and Q tips to sand paper on wooden shims. Rolox pads with a die grinder and various dremmel attachements. I went to Papa Johns tool box and bought all the dremmel stuff(wire brushes, various buffing apparatus) by bulk. Much cheeper than Home depot or lowes.
Not to worry about the tensioner, what your looking at is basically just a shell. The internal workings are laid out in several rows on two large tables to the right. The stand is grossly over built. I didn't know how much the engine would weigh so I figured bigger is always better. The motor is tipped slightly forward on this one so all the oil will drain out. I can post the spec's if your interested but I'm almost computer illiterate if you haven't noticed during my attempts to post a picture. I"m not sure how to get the dimmensions in but I'll have my ten year old give me a crash course and I'll see what I can do. Just give me a little time.
As for maintaining this shine. I really had no choice but to take a layer of aluminum off to remove all the rust and stuff. As foreda can attest, I was too embarassed to post any pre-restore pictures as it was in such a bad condition. I am the original owner so no matter what, it was my fault it got to that state so now I'll have to do what it takes to keep it looking good. A lot of wax I'm guessing.
Where would the NE rally be held this year?

[ManitoulinLad]

Hey Mack: That motor looks fantastic! If its a reflection (no pun intended) of what the rest of your bike will look like I imagine your restoration build will be excellent. Please post a pic when you got it all done - great work - Dan