polishing the aluminum

[donnelly317]

Any help would be apreciated the guy that was suppposed to be polishing all my aluminum has had it for 2 weeks now and just told me he couldnt do it bc of the stock plating on most the parts... I tried a little scotch bright before and it came off pretty easy.. is that the only way pritty much?? i wouldnt be so worried about it but it looks like crap! alot of the clear coat and that plating stuff is missing i want it to look better.. I cant afford to chrome it because I wanna upgrade fork springs and front brakes first.. I read to use pure Carnauba Wax mcquiars sells it and i bought it already to use it instead of clear coat because it looks alot better and will keep aluminum from elements. as long as you apply it maybe once a month... Im very very meticular about how clean my bikes looks so that wont be a problem. hense why i ripped apart my max right when i bought it to make it look better because it looked like an 85 and last time it was detailed was 86 hahaha

 

[PATMAX]

Polishing our Vmax parts isn't something you go to Autozone and buy a few tubes of cream and some towels. Aircraft stripper takes off the clear easy enough. Then you need to start wet sanding with progressively finer grits. At around 800 or 1000 grit, you can start using a buffing wheel about ten inch sewn cotton wheel is a good place to start. Don't forget a couple colors of rouge working your way to show polish. This doesn't even get into the tight spots, nooks and crannies. Polishing still sound fun? A Dremel with more cotton buffs and you can finish with Simichrome or Mothers. Wash it all with soap and water or even lacquer thinner to pull all the compounds off. Then you can wax it three or four good coats. NOW you can install the part knowing you can do it all again in a year or so. Several hours per part, some burned fingers and a few curse words later and tell us all how you buffed all your Maxes aluminum. Oh yeah, if you launch a piece across the room while buffing it puts a nice dent or scratch on the part and you'll have to sand back out, recontour the area to blend it in. So, for about three or four hundred bucks, you can get started on practicing your buffing skills.


When in doubt...Gas it !!!

 

[donnelly317]

yea the guy that planned on doing it is giving me his wheel and some good compound stuff they use at his work.. Im mainly concerend about my sissy bar and carb covers they look like shit by next year ill have them chromed

 

[kingman]

Im doing my 85s allum now.I bought a buffer and several diffe rent compound bars.keep the buffing wheels dedicated to one compound per wheel.I did pretty much exactly what Patmax said.It is alot of work but so far i very pleased with the results.Gook Luck.Kingman

 

[88vmx12]

heck send it all off to a chrome shop and tell them that you only want it polished. They have to polish before they chrome.

 

[88vmx12]

if you are worried about price, take some pictures and email them to a few shops and get a quote

 

[SpecOps13]

I polished the top half of a set of scoops with drill wheels and various Rouge. They turned out really nice but it took days........
CaptainKyle uses something that takes the clear coat right off but I can't think of the name off hand...

Good Luck....

 

[[email protected]]

I recommend trying tal strip ii aerosol stripper for removing clearcoat. Good stuff.

No easy way to go about polishing. I find its all in the sanding. If you can get it sanded perfectly smooth up to at least 600 grit the actual polishing part goes pretty easy.

 

[spursmech]

Any help would be apreciated the guy that was suppposed to be polishing all my aluminum has had it for 2 weeks now and just told me he couldnt do it bc of the stock plating on most the parts... I tried a little scotch bright before and it came off pretty easy.. is that the only way pritty much?? i wouldnt be so worried about it but it looks like crap! alot of the clear coat and that plating stuff is missing i want it to look better.. I cant afford to chrome it because I wanna upgrade fork springs and front brakes first.. I read to use pure Carnauba Wax mcquiars sells it and i bought it already to use it instead of clear coat because it looks alot better and will keep aluminum from elements. as long as you apply it maybe once a month... Im very very meticular about how clean my bikes looks so that wont be a problem. hense why i ripped apart my max right when i bought it to make it look better because it looked like an 85 and last time it was detailed was 86 hahaha

:confused2: Contact www.chromemasters.com and look at their online pricing. $20 for each carb cover and $120 for the back rest. Why try polishing it , CHROME it. Good luck, Spurs

 

[PATMAX]

I like the way Spurs thinks. Some still prefer the warmth of polished over chrome. Chtome shops only polish well enough to get some filler copper on there and buff the copper before plating. They may do show polish but I bet you pay

 

[one2dmax]

Most of the vmax parts look like shit when polished only. The castings used were very porous and also had mixed metals in there so there will be "spots" when you polish that won't come out.

Sean

 

[wildweasel_pt]

Most of the vmax parts look like shit when polished only. The castings used were very porous and also had mixed metals in there so there will be "spots" when you polish that won't come out.

Sean

We don't do aluminium chroming here (unfortunately) but im really happy with the polishing on my parts (so to speak). Too bad it needs more maintenance than chrome. The polishing has its catches. A good polished part gets really hot and that friction heat creates a microscopic layer that will allow it to be more resistant to oxidation/corrosion. For the trickier and not accessible parts i just sprayed it with a 2K urethane compound varnish. Check my diff below clearcoated with the 2K varnish... powdercoat is even better but if you chip it you cannot repair unless you strip it again, repolish and rePC.

 

[donnelly317]

I know polished aluminum sucks to maintain but right now there's more important things to buy / pay for in my life than 400-600 in chrome lol. I can do the work while im at work. So if it gets me threw this year maybe next year. I don't mind putting elbow grease into how my bike looks. Polishing = cherish and time. Chrome = money and easy way out. Plus chrome looks hideous with silver.

 

[donnelly317]

We don't do aluminium chroming here (unfortunately) but im really happy with the polishing on my parts (so to speak). Too bad it needs more maintenance than chrome. The polishing has its catches. A good polished part gets really hot and that friction heat creates a microscopic layer that will allow it to be more resistant to oxidation/corrosion. For the trickier and not accessible parts i just sprayed it with a 2K urethane compound varnish. Check my diff below clearcoated with the 2K varnish... powdercoat is even better but if you chip it you cannot repair unless you strip it again, repolish and rePC.

Looks sweet weasel! I like it.

 

[PATMAX]

Oohhh Weasel, that's nice!!!!
By the way, if you polish now, you may get a discount on chroming later. You will have done a good part of their prep work and probably better than they would have done. +1 on Sean's comment on Yamaha factory aluminum. It's porous and often has inclusions. Billet stuff is much nicer to polish up

 

[donnelly317]

Polishings going good real good 100x better than it looked before! Thinking next year ill get it all black chromed maybe if I have the money

 

[sdt354]

I'm done polishing. Like Sean said, some parts are porous when polished. And, they are unsealed when you polish them. Don't attempt this on an old Harley rocker cover or pits open up. Polish gets ugly riding through the rain or just not being maintained. There's something to be said for detailing your ride though. I found a rear caliper pin clip missing the other day cleaning. The pad pin was working its way out.
They can be made to look nice, as Fred has done though. What I used to do is go through the progressive sanding. from 80 to 1500 grit (like newspaper...lol), then buff with my grinder and a hard pad using rouge then a marine 3m compound which is 2000 grit I believe. You can bear down and get a nice shine. My wheels are still polished, but when the Kosman and 85 front goes on with radials they'll be satin black and silver metallic. One is done and I really like the look. Great work Fred. My pumpkin is getting ugly, but I think paint for this year. I'd bet someone would want lots to polish a pumpkin.
Steve

 

[Redbone]

Polishings going good real good 100x better than it looked before! Thinking next year ill get it all black chromed maybe if I have the money

+1, I like the look of polished aluminum/ billet but the work it take to get the scoops to look and stay looking good has surpassed my patience. Black chrome it is, although I will still will have some aluminum polishing to do, without the scoops it will be a snap to do.

 

[donnelly317]

Yea my bike was pritty bad look condition I've been doing cosmetic work for over a month now. I just bought some Eastwood diamond clear bare metal which is formulated for bare metal and wont yellow maybe with that clear coat the polish will stay reasonable for awhile

 

[naughtyG]

I've never gone the polishing route 'cos I'm too lazy / just don't have the time to spend on it.

BUT, my new '00 arriving soon comes with great looking polished scoops. No idea if they are simply polished, or clear-coated, or waxed, or p/c'd, I guess I'll find out soon.

Now, I'm looking for the cheapest, easiest and most durable way to keep 'em looking good. Suggestions?