That brand new look for engine cases

City Garage said:
We vapor blast most cases, barrels, and heads unless a customer wants the tumbled smooth look, which we put in a large vibratory tumbler with ceramic media. Vapor blasting closes the pores, and the finish, with a little bit of maintenance, lasts. Also, vapor blasting is a good start for hubs or other parts that you want to polish.

If you are worried about maintenance, then Cerakote 5100 can be sprayed, and it will protect the surface.

Here is a video we posted on a case that was in rough shape.




Alternatively, some of the Cerakote silver(satin nickel, aluminum, etc.) make for good case and head colors as well and work much better than some of the paints available. Also, they are super easy to spray at home if need be.
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Are you sure vapour blasting closes up the pores? - I know glass ball peening does - hence its name!
 
I am also happy with the White Diamond polish on my Commando covers. Nice shine that seems to last well over a number of bike washes. I prefer it to Autosol and Meguiars (spelling?). My covers were already in decent condition, from regular polishing. Perhaps the White Diamond works best as a maintenance product, when used on an already reasonable surface, rather than use to renovate a poorer surface.

But, bizarrely, I prefer the Autosol on my1976 CB750's covers. I think this is because the Norton alloy is more dense than the Honda. The Honda doesn't shine up as well and needs a more abrasive compound.
 
marshg246 said:
Question: Are you all talking about the cases or the covers (timing, primary, gearbox, etc.) If the cases, how is it used?
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Only the covers, in my case!! That brand new look for engine cases
 
I use oven cleaner on sand castings (on the rare occasion I actually clean my bikes). I works very well and leaves the original, rough surface, like new. I never polish rough sand cast surfaces as that damages the original finish. Just don't leave it on for too long.
 
Mart UK said:
I am also happy with the White Diamond polish on my Commando covers. Nice shine that seems to last well over a number of bike washes. I prefer it to Autosol and Meguiars (spelling?). My covers were already in decent condition, from regular polishing. Perhaps the White Diamond works best as a maintenance product, when used on an already reasonable surface, rather than use to renovate a poorer surface.

But, bizarrely, I prefer the Autosol on my1976 CB750's covers. I think this is because the Norton alloy is more dense than the Honda. The Honda doesn't shine up as well and needs a more abrasive compound.
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More greyish on the Yamaha covers I've polished.

I spent half the cost of the bike new chroming the alloy on my XS1100.🤩
😜🤣
 
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hybridracer said:
I use oven cleaner on sand castings (on the rare occasion I actually clean my bikes). I works very well and leaves the original, rough surface, like new. I never polish rough sand cast surfaces as that damages the original finish. Just don't leave it on for too long.
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Hybrid,

Oven cleaner also works well for removing burnt on oil on exhaust pipes.
Mike
 
Depending on the oven cleaner it may contain caustic soda. This will eat away the aluminium oxide (a good thing) but once that is gone will then eat into the alloy, so once the case is clean and the oxide is gone the oven cleaner needs washing off so it leaves the alloy alone. Then wax the case so the oxide return is slowed down or eliminated if you wax regularly. I have used high concentration caustic soda to remove anodising, you have to act very quickly once the anodising is gone or the alloy pits and then dissolves.
 
cash said:
If your cases and I believe heads have been factory painted there's a good chance it was done to seal minor porosity. Removing the paint might not be a good idea.
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You may well be right, but the paint comes off if you just look at it crosswise. Almost any cleaning you do removes it. So, to me, if it's doing any good it's because it got in the pores (if it did), not because it is covering the porosity.
 
kommando said:
Vapour blasting just means the media is mixed in with a liquid, if the media is glass balls then that vapour blasting will close the pores. So vapour blasting as a description is a bit short of the full picture.
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I’ve used a glass ball peen blaster - very low pressure - it leaves a satin sheen to the finish. Low pressure as it will not cause the glass peen to shatter and become sharp.
I’ve also vapour blasted - high pressure but with an aluminium oxide media - this was fast and left a Matt finish
 
A bit off topic but a coating note.
Does anyone use Glyptal coating for the interior surfaces of their engine?
I used it extensively when rebuilding automobile engines and used it on the inner surfacing of my 850 engine before reassembling.
It acts a surface sealant that oil will not "stick" or adhere to...I was introduced to it in my other life from a high performance engine building friend...just curious if any others used it on a MC engine rebuild.
 
Lineslinger said:
A bit off topic but a coating note.
Does anyone use Glyptal coating for the interior surfaces of their engine?
I used it extensively when rebuilding automobile engines and used it on the inner surfacing of my 850 engine before reassembling.
It acts a surface sealant that oil will not "stick" or adhere to...I was introduced to it in my other life from a high performance engine building friend...just curious if any others used it on a MC engine rebuild.
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I don't use anything but often, especially on 850s, wonder about it. Even after my "make new looking" procedure which includes a lot of hot water and detergent washing, when you heat the cases to drop in the bearings, oil bubbles out of the pores. I wonder if sealing them with oil in the pores makes sense. Also, even on cases very ugly on the outside, I rarely find much to clean on the inside which I'm guessing is the difference in them and cast iron crankcases.
 
I’ve never used glyptal on motorcycle engines but have done so on car engines.
Internal painting reminds me of when I used to work on high speed wrapping machinery ( confectionary ) …..
These were rather large cast steel casings with alloy covers, internally they were bristling with cams, Geneva’s, sliding mechanisms and lots of large triplex chains, all good fun.
Anyway, these machines were painted internally and one day some dozy twonk used the wrong oil - should have used Meropa 150 but inadvertently used hydraulic oil !!!
All the paint dissolved, gummed up the works and caused a major smash up that took nearly two weeks to repair.

All the above said, Glyptal is a great paint
 
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