Author Topic: Winter Project-Aluminum Polishing  (Read 6980 times)

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tooseevee

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on: November 21, 2017, 06:29:28 pm
  Now that the bike is finally starting and running close to perfect without any drama at all (thank god) and I've blacked out every possible object I can without removing and disassembling both wheels, I've decided to polish some aluminum over the winter. Nothing has been done to polish any of it since I got the bike and it looks pretty awful.

         Is there any drama to pulling off the timing cover? Things to be careful of? Or is it pretty straight forward.

         I'll probably use a Power Ball (or Cone) and Mother's. I plan to try to do the tranny cover in place. The Primary and Timing covers will come off. 
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


longstrokeclassic

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Reply #1 on: November 21, 2017, 09:26:56 pm
Sometimes when putting it back there can be a problem engaging the oil pump teeth with the worm gear. The trick is to put the engine in gear (plug out) and turn the rear wheel backwards as you push the cover back on.


tooseevee

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Reply #2 on: November 25, 2017, 08:17:24 pm
        This bump only took about 10 minutes and the picture doesn't do it justice. It's a huge % better.
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


DanB

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Reply #3 on: November 26, 2017, 10:51:56 am
Hi 2CV. The timing cover is fairly straight forward to pull off. It may present a challenge as it is a very tight fit and that gasket will act as glue. Speaking of which,  you'll need to spend timing cleaning up that gasket to replace. It was a pita. Inside the cover, watch out for any shims on the cams. These arE very thin; not sure how many you'll have as factory sets for the bike. I have 2.  Reassembly is as noted above. A bit of gear wiggling to get cover to sit flush with oil gears.

FYI,  I polished my covers in situ with ball and mothers. They came out great. It's hard to get into little creases and valleys with the ball. Little dremel tool at moderate speed works.
Suppose I were an idiot, and suppose I were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself. ... Mark Twain
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tooseevee

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Reply #4 on: November 26, 2017, 12:31:35 pm
Hi 2CV. The timing cover is fairly straight forward to pull off. It may present a challenge as it is a very tight fit and that gasket will act as glue. Speaking of which,  you'll need to spend timing cleaning up that gasket to replace. It was a pita. Inside the cover, watch out for any shims on the cams. These arE very thin; not sure how many you'll have as factory sets for the bike. I have 2.  Reassembly is as noted above. A bit of gear wiggling to get cover to sit flush with oil gears.

FYI,  I polished my covers in situ with ball and mothers. They came out great. It's hard to get into little creases and valleys with the ball. Little dremel tool at moderate speed works.

          Hey, Dan. Thanks.

          I'm thinking now that I'll just do the right side in place. At this stage I don't want to risk doing something I didn't really NEED to do and that I'm not familiar with that creates a problem that I just can't deal with myself. I have ZERO RE help nearby and would not even know how to find someone (who I would trust). And cleaning gasket off and prepping surfaces horrible hurts.  And the engine is leak-free now. Just for shinyer ??? ??? ???  I don't think so!
« Last Edit: November 26, 2017, 12:36:50 pm by tooseevee »
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


REpozer

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Reply #5 on: December 12, 2017, 01:40:54 pm
I always wanted to get the Mcquires Magic ball , that hooks to a drill motor to polish all the nooks. But was always too cheap to spead $20-25 to get one.
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tooseevee

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Reply #6 on: December 12, 2017, 06:16:05 pm
I always wanted to get the Mcquires Magic ball , that hooks to a drill motor to polish all the nooks. But was always too cheap to spead $20-25 to get one.

             I used Mother's Conehead and it worked great. The covers could only be better (but not a wholehelluvalot) if I had removed them and done them on the bench. Balls and Cones are all over eBay dirt cheap free shipping.
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


Bilgemaster

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Reply #7 on: January 04, 2018, 04:33:08 am
Not really an issue for the foreseeable future with my 2005 Enfield's military green painted timing and primary cases' paint still being pretty much tip-top, but it would NEVER occur to me to pull off my old Norton's aluminum (or "aluminium" for you purists) alloy timing case just to polish it, if I weren't already mucking around in there fixing something anyhow. I do like it shiny though, so that NEVR-DULL wadding has always been my go-to polish of choice for those alloy bits. It buffs out real pretty with any old rag, lasts a long time, and unlike pastes it gets into and then, just as importantly, out of those those nooks and crannies quite handily.  If I were to suddenly experience any yearnings for "even shinier," then I think I might have to have a few stern words with my pharmacist about his messing up that decimal point again.  NEVR-DULL does pretty much any metal well, but if you're looking specifically at chrome, especially pitted or even rusty chrome, then a while back a great little specialist mag called Classic Car Restorer did a long-term test of chrome cleaning products in which the humble and inexpensive Turtle Wax Chrome Polish & Rust Remover earned highest marks and their recommendation as top choice above other polishes costing several times as much.  That said, one of the Jay Leno's Garage episodes on YouTube plugged a little family-made water-soluble metal polish from Louisiana called Quick-Glo Chrome Cleaner, so I gave it a whirl.  Sure, it's roughly five times pricier than the Turtle Wax stuff, but then it does clearly contain some kind of Cajun voodoo.  My old Amazon review of it's here, with a link to the item.

As for wax for those painty bits, I've got cans and bottles and jugs of all sorts of high-end buffy goop jostling around on my garage shelves because of my boats: Collinite, 3M, Starbrite...The gang's all here. But once that good firm shiny bed is made, as it were, do you know what I REALLY like as a super easy gleaming touch up?  It's that Lucas Oil Slick Mist Speed Wax Spray.  Man, I love that stuff, and I adore putting it on. It smells like prom night in Candyland. I wish they made an aftershave.  Seriously: grab a bottle next time you're at "Wallyworld" (and pick yourself up one of these super-handy cheap gadgets for your Enfield's toolbox for just a few bucks while you're at it). Your wife will wonder why the hell you're suddenly spending so much time in the damned garage lately. Oh, and yes it does make everything shiny without a math-challenged pharmacist's aid. If you're interested in seeing what it does with an Enfield, check out the pix in the online folder at http://www.bukmop.com/RoyalEnfield/.  The pix with names beginning "AsFound..." are the Before pics taken before I bought the bike last month, while the ones that begin with "AtHome..." are the After ones, having given her a little scrub and a quick Slick Mist rubdown. Bring that glistening beast hither to my bedchamber, I pray thee, for a man hath need of beauteous diversion! WHOOPS! Best call the pharmacist. Gotta go now!
« Last Edit: January 04, 2018, 05:34:46 am by Bilgemaster »
So badass my Enfield's actually illegal  in India. Yet it squeaks by here in Virginia.

 


Arizoni

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Reply #8 on: January 04, 2018, 11:03:15 pm
For removing rust from chrome parts, you might want to try using a small wad of crinkled up aluminum foil with a few drops of oil.

With a bit of rubbing, the rust will vanish and the aluminum foil won't remove any of the rather thin chrome plating like many of the "polishes" will.

Once done, wipe the chrome clean and apply a coating of good automotive wax to keep water away from the steel under the chrome.
Jim
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DanB

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Reply #9 on: January 05, 2018, 05:24:37 pm
+1 to Arizoni post! 

I failed to treat the rims before winter last year. Little foil and oil did the job followed by a decent waxing!  The alloy side covers are a labor of love  :)
Suppose I were an idiot, and suppose I were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself. ... Mark Twain
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Bilgemaster

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Reply #10 on: January 06, 2018, 12:37:15 am
For removing rust from chrome parts, you might want to try using a small wad of crinkled up aluminum foil with a few drops of oil.

With a bit of rubbing, the rust will vanish and the aluminum foil won't remove any of the rather thin chrome plating like many of the "polishes" will.

Once done, wipe the chrome clean and apply a coating of good automotive wax to keep water away from the steel under the chrome.

Yeah, I've heard of that aluminum foil hack--also heard somewhere that one should use the shiny side to the metal for some reason. Some folks just dab with water, others a little vinegar for really dire rust. Another SUPERB rust removal tip for steel and iron bits, like nuts, bolts, tools, etc., is to give them a bath of one part molasses to about 9 parts water for a week or two.  That one I do all the time, since I also have one of those cockeyed Amphicars, one of those amphibious boat-cars from the '60s, and so am accordingly engaged in a never-ending deathmatch with the laws of physics AND chemistry. It really works a charm.  Finally found that favorite adjustable wrench you've been kind of missing for a couple of years out there in the back yard looking like they maybe dredged it up from the engine room of the Titanic? Despair not! Just go raid the pantry, and see if I'm not telling you straight.

Marvel Mystery Oil is also lovely stuff.  I use it in all my vehicles, small engines and outboards: in the gasoline (4 oz. or so per 10 gallons), with the odd dash also in the motor oil (say, one part MMO per 8 to 10 of motor oil normally, with a tad more just before oil changes), and as an occasional topical light machine oil for control cables, levers, hinges, whatever needs a drop of mechanical kindness. MMO on an old toothbrush or rag will also handily scrub away really stubborn oxides, especially aluminum oxides--like that stubborn white powdery crud one can get on cooling fins or other neglected aluminum alloy bits. It does an OK job on ratty chrome as well, if that's what's handy. Smells nice too. My new Enfield will be on a steady diet of that marvelous stuff, both internally and externally. In the fuel it really helps mitigate the evil effects of The Devil Ethanol, purges the "snots and clots" as well as gently easing the carbon, varnishes and other cruds away, all for less than $4 a quart.  It's also a great hair tonic or dessert topping and cures the blues... ;D

Speaking of my new-to-me 2005 Bullet 500ES, not to threadjack or anything, but since this is the Electra & AVL Models neighborhood of the Forums and all, perhaps I should use this opportunity ask: what the hell engine have I gotten myself into?  Is she a CI (Cast Iron [cylinder barrel]) or one of those Austrian-designed AVL (Anstalt für Verbrennungskraftmaschinen List) motors? How can one tell them apart by sight with the 500's? Search as I might "out there", what I'm able to find is either flimsy on details or just random "lads" from India going on floridly about their respective 350s.  Honestly, I'm good either way...grateful really, given the ultra-lowball "winter price" I picked her up for a couple of weeks ago (which you guys are probably better off not knowing).  I'm just curious to learn what I've actually got.  If someone knowledgeable could take a gander at the fairly high-res photos in http://www.bukmop.com/RoyalEnfield/, or provide some other guidance whilst I patiently wait for those glaciers to recede, I'd really appreciate it.
 
« Last Edit: January 06, 2018, 12:57:23 am by Bilgemaster »
So badass my Enfield's actually illegal  in India. Yet it squeaks by here in Virginia.

 


Arizoni

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Reply #11 on: January 06, 2018, 01:54:44 am
Well, the cylinder head is an Iron Barrel.
Most likely, the cylinder is too but a quick swipe with a file will tell you for sure.

If a fin is difficult to cut it's iron.  If it's easy to file, it's aluminum with a steel liner.

If you don't want to file on your engine fins, get a refrigerator magnet.
If it sticks to the fins, they are iron.  If it falls off, it's a newer sleeved aluminum cylinder.
Jim
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DanB

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Reply #12 on: January 06, 2018, 02:14:51 am
@Bilgemaster. Those photos are of an iron barrell. Mechanical points, old oil gears and what appears to be iron cylinder. That needs to be checked as Arizoni suggested!
~dan
Suppose I were an idiot, and suppose I were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself. ... Mark Twain
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Bilgemaster

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Reply #13 on: January 06, 2018, 06:13:10 am
Egads!  When I think of all of the prospective heaps, jalopies and other well-worn hoopties I've checked out for Bondo with a magnet...Why the hell didn't I think of a magnet?  Nah...Instead let me DO THE DERP!

Thanks guys, and yes the magnet stuck, hence it's a older model cast iron cylinder thumper, and that's just fine with me. If you'll excuse me now, I'm gonna go shoot up some Ginkgo Biloba supplements to maybe try and jumpstart my cerebral cortex.
« Last Edit: January 06, 2018, 06:20:44 am by Bilgemaster »
So badass my Enfield's actually illegal  in India. Yet it squeaks by here in Virginia.

 


Arizoni

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Reply #14 on: January 07, 2018, 02:10:13 am
Well, now that we know it's an iron barrel, posts about it should probably be put in that area of the forum. :)

Also, while I'm writing, your engine won't like sustained speeds over 60 mph, even on a cool day, it has a floating sleeve bushing in the big end of the connecting rod and the rod is made out of aluminum so take it easy.   8)
Jim
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1999 Miata 10th Anniversary