78 Zuke GS750 Build, or how I'm spending the winter - Page 12

**flitecontrol** · 02-23-2010, 07:01 PM

Looking much better. How did you clean it?

**Henryinva** · 02-23-2010, 08:29 PM

Simple Green, putty knife, good stainless steel wire brush and a pressure washer. Had to do it about 4 times to finally get thru it all. Ill be strippin the aluminum covers off for a little personal attention with a buffing wheel.

**Henryinva** · 02-28-2010, 09:08 PM

Did a little painting on the engine today. Ill be pulling off the polished aluminum parts and trying to bring them back to life. Welded chain adjusters onto the frame. Bout it for the day.

**flitecontrol** · 02-28-2010, 09:12 PM

Coming along nicely!

**Henryinva** · 02-28-2010, 09:31 PM

Thanks Flite. Its funny that the little stuff takes sooooo much time to do. Id rather build another frame than do the little stuff, but its gotta be done!

**flitecontrol** · 03-01-2010, 12:16 AM

"The devil is in the details"!

JunkyardDog · 03-01-2010, 02:25 AM

I have never been able to make an old motorcycle engine look good. I have gotten them spotlessly clean, by using things like carb cleaner and Castrol Superclean, but most of them are clear coated, and about half of it has come off, allowing the aluminum to corrode, and the other half has turned yellow. I have used aircraft remover to get all the remaining clearcoat off old engines, but air cooled engines have so many nooks and crannies it is impossible to get to everything to polish it. I have also never been able to paint the cylinder block properly, because to get paint all the way back in there, you wind up with drips and runs. Or at least I do. I suppose you could use a small brush, I never thought of that. Jerry.

**Fridgitator** · 03-01-2010, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JunkyardDog

I have never been able to make an old motorcycle engine look good. I have gotten them spotlessly clean, by using things like carb cleaner and Castrol Superclean, but most of them are clear coated, and about half of it has come off, allowing the aluminum to corrode, and the other half has turned yellow. I have used aircraft remover to get all the remaining clearcoat off old engines, but air cooled engines have so many nooks and crannies it is impossible to get to everything to polish it. I have also never been able to paint the cylinder block properly, because to get paint all the way back in there, you wind up with drips and runs. Or at least I do. I suppose you could use a small brush, I never thought of that. Jerry.

I have seen nice results achieved with blasting and even the sonic routine to get the crud out, followed by hydro. Unfortunately, once aluminum starts to pit, It's pitted. There are those out there that are quite adept at this; I'm not one of them I'd sure like to learn.

**cagie** · 03-01-2010, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JunkyardDog

I suppose you could use a small brush, I never thought of that. Jerry.

Air brush works quite well.

**Henryinva** · 03-01-2010, 09:47 PM

ya'll thinking way to hard. Its not a museum piece. No one is gonna crawl under the bike to see every nook and cranny. Use the 4 or 5 foot rule. If it looks good from that far away, its good enough.
Bikes in mags, photo-shopped, airbrushed. If ya ever saw one up close, you'd swear its not the same bike.

After you've built a bike and elect to keep it, thats when ya start dotting I's and crossing T's, IF ya keep it and show it. Otherwise, its not worth your time, and no one will pay for that time you spent doing it.

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