How to make the engine shine?

[gerkenbruce]

BLACK SHINES

When I Did the motor for (The Black ) it took me sixty five hours to wet sand the motor then sprayed it primer filler wet sanded primed and painted it black yes I would do it agin


XSively
Bruce

[John]

Engine prep

When I did my engine last year, I had it totally dissassembled. Totally empty cases and head. I have access to a sand blast cabinet at work, so I brought in one piece a day, soaked it in a parts washer for two hours, until our first break, and then scrubbed it down with a wire brush and a Scotchbrite pad. At lunch time I would sandblast the piece, fresh water rinse it, and blow it dry/clean with compressed air. When it came time to do the head and cylinders, I spent about four hours of company time and filed all of the cooling fins until they were smooth and flat. Then I sanded them to remove the file scratches. Any rough areas on the cases was sanded with a die grinder to smooth them out. After painting and baking them, I scraped the paint off the edges with a razor blade, and sanded the edges again to get a nice shine. I used VHT brand of engine paint, with no clear coat. The paint as held up well, with no chipping or flaking. I had high temp, clear coated another engine after painting it, but it dulled quickly, so I didn't bother this time.
You can see some of the assembly pics at the Webshots address below.

[Winterhawk]

Nice pipes John.

[John]

Right back atch'ya!

I though you'd like them

[xschop]

shine

hi guys, i completely polished everything on my bike with a wheel and rouge 2 years ago, after a few thousand miles, it looks like it needs to be redone. pics in the v star-xs1100 tank thread...chop

[gerkenbruce]

Nice bikes

I can rember when ther was a few nice bikes now most of the bikes are realy nice and getting even nicer some of these bike were not that nice new


XSively
Bruce

[chevy45412001]

chaa

i know what ya mean bout these bikes. Makes me very embaressed to be on this site my bike looks like butt.

[Yamaniac]

(you, in the back corner)

I hear you Chevy, and I'm not talking J-Lo butt either... PO on mine let their yapper dog ride on the tank, scratched from hell to breakfast. I'm slowly working on the chrome/polished parts, but painted parts are in need of some attention in the worst way. And now spring is practically upon us, so it'll probably get put off another year (unless I find another XS to ride in the mean time)

[mro]

i know what you mean

My 80G ain't that bad looking (from a distance) but when you pull up beside someone like simplyd1's XS (restored) makes you glad you got a full helmet on



mro

[pggg]

I wanna new paint job too

[John]

Well Pat

Winter's coming. That will give you time enought to repaint, AND 'triple clean'...(waiting for the scream) your carbs.

[pggg]

Tex, my starter solenoid might be stuffed too. Hit start button and the motor goes 'DUh... duh.. Checked and battery is perfect, even a heavy duty diesel battery does the same. Swapped starter motor with a spare. Still no go. Shorted the solenoid with screwdriver - no difference. Can't be bothered with it at the moment. Here goes.
1. Needs paint
2. needs clutch springs
3. needs oil/filter
4. needs rego - $280
5. needs warrant - $30
6. needs fuel tank flushed and sealed (rust flakes)
7. needs drive unit done up again
8. probably needs camchain adjusting also one clcky shim.
9. needs no-start problem done
10. needs scrubbing and cleaning.
Who the hell would own a motorbike?

[TopCatGr58]

I want my REGO?

Hey Pggg,

Are you saying REGO as in Reg/Rect?! Get ahold of Geezer, see the link in the Links section, and you can get one for under $100.

Shorting across the solenoid should have made the starter spin properly, so it actually doesn't sound like the solenoid? I'd check your ground and positive cables for corrosion, and the engine grounding strap! Good luck, looks similar to my projects list!
T.C.

[pggg]

Rego down here is registration, the yearly money grab by the government on road vehicles Kickstarted the bike and she runs sweet. Just stripped a starter motor for a looksee inside. All fine. Strange, I get a 12v reading on the first solenoid connection, and only 10v to the starter motor. Jumping the solenoid with screwdriver, the starter motor still only gets 10v Must be bad earth or dodgy wires? With headlight on, hit the starter button, starter motor goes duh.. but headlight doesn't even dim. Grrrrr... hate electrics..

[pggg]

Fixed. was the frame to engine earth wire. Bolts to middle drive.(missing) Had only checked ground to battery. Engine was earthed from somewhere else but 2volts down. You'd have sworn it was a dodgy battery.