Survivor Chop: Clean and Polish

This topic isn't exactly the most exciting, but it's very rewarding.  When this bike showed up, it was dirty, the chrome was pitted and flaking, and the paint looked dull.  It looked a lot better in pictures than in reality.  

Time to get to work, pulling it apart, scrubbing, polishing, waxing, and blistering.  For this, I'll be using, blue magic metal polish, Collonite 845 insulator wax, 0000 steel wool, microfiber cloths, plastic brushes, degreaser, carb cleaner, soap, and water.  I made a deal with a polisher to get a full set of engine covers polished in exchange for some spare covers for him to polish and sell.  It worked out great because, well, I hate polishing and have quite a few spare engine covers.

One thing to note that is very important.  If you have your engine covers polished, be sure to wash them thoroughly to remove any remaining rouge before putting them on your engine.  Rouge is abrasive and while it may seem insignificant, you don't want chunks of this stuff floating around in your oil.  also, while the covers are off, this is the best time to put a good coat of sealing wax on.  Enter Collonite 845.

This work was done quite a few months ago, but I haven't been able to keep up on the blog.  I was in between a surgeries to fix damaged nerves in my arms, so my Dad was helping out quite a bit.  And he continues to do so.   We basically scrubbed and polished everything we could. While tearing the bike down for cleaning, we inspected everything to ensure it was in good order, greased the greasy parts, and replaced all gaskets.  The rear wheel turned out surprisingly good, considering it's perceived condition when it arrived.  My Dad is obsessed with doing great work, and it shows.

Dad working on the rear wheel.

Bolting the sprocket to the carrier.

Piles of parts.

The pipes cleaned up nicely even though they still have some sort of acid drip markings on them.

Scrubbing every tiny bit.

Polished engine covers.

In the picture above, notice that the stator cover it dressed up with some black paint for accent.  This is a relatively simple job and I think it looks great.  Just roughly mask off the stator cover except the outer ring and the Honda logo, spray black and let dry to touch.  Once the paint is dry to touch, remove the tape and gently wipe away the paint on the side of the outer ring and the lettering with a solvent, leaving the background black.  I follow this by carefully polishing the exposed aluminum to minimize oxidation.

Unmasked and painted stator cover before wiping off the excess paint with solvent.

While removing excess paint, you may accidentally remove paint from the background.  Just dab a little paint on the bare spot to fill it back in.  Oops.

Finished product.

Once everything is cleaned, polished, greased, etc. it's time to throw it all back together.  I bought a stainless steel bolt kit for the engine and polished all of the heads.  When using stainless bolts on an aluminum block, consider using a dab of antiseize.  The contact between stainless steel and aluminum causes galvanic corrosion and can cause the bolts to bind up and make removing them in one piece difficult or impossible.  Its a little more work up front, but it's good insurance.  A little dab will do ya.

Polish, polish, polish.

Polish, polish, polish.

ANTISEIZE people!!!  I hate snapping these bolts off.  Also, 5 ft-lb of torque is the spec for most of the engine bolts.  You might need a little more to help it seal on worn surfaces, but be careful.  The antiseize will also help you get more torque without binding up the threads.

Here's a little before and after of the paint and polish process.

Before.

After.

More after.  So pretty.

Ok, one more.

I installed a few parts that John had given me, including that super shiny bread box air cleaner.  Thanks John!

It runs and rides now, but still needs more work.

Out for a little celebratory ride with my homey.

Now, onto more work. I still need to replace the front brake line and master cylinder, tune the carbs (they're way out...150s are a no-no for a stocker), make a plate cover for the instrument light cluster, etc. etc. etc.