Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Vintage Royal Enfield => Topic started by: High On Octane on February 19, 2013, 09:00:15 pm
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I decided to pull the lower controls off my bike today and tried polishing my engine covers with my 3" buffer and some heavy duty rubbing compound. After that I went back over it and polished it again with some Never Dull. They're better than they were, but still not as good as I had hoped to achieve.
Timing Cover Before
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/lethalinj/TimingCoverBefore_zps127eb2d6.jpg)
Timing Cover After
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/lethalinj/TimingCoverAfter_zps1e3b411f.jpg)
Primary Cover Before
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/lethalinj/PrimaryCoverBefore_zps58939f0b.png)
Primary Cover After
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y217/lethalinj/PrimaryCoverAfter_zpsdfa17546.jpg)
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Rather than using "heavy duty rubbing compound", the next time your at your local hardware store look for some "Dico CHROME, CR1" buffing compound.
This comes in a cardboard tube that is about 1 inch in diameter X 5" long.
It is a fairly hard, dark red wax like material that is made for polishing metal.
Although this particular compound is made for polishing steel I've found that it is excellent for polishing aluminum, brass and copper as well.
Normally, it is used on a cloth high speed polishing wheel but with a bit more effort it will work on a low speed buffer.
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The only way to get the see your face in it is to buff them on a wheel and even then they don't come up as bright as the Harleys I had from the same era as your bike. I think it's the metal they use in the casting process. ERC
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Maybe next year when I rebuild the motor I'll pull them off and take them to a buffing wheel. But I think they're good enough for now. They're not perfect, but they have a pretty descent shine for now. Then again, once I do the paint, I might change my mind. LOL :D