First post, First project. Wow lot of firsts.

[Jycorro]

First off, I’d like to thank everyone here for the wealth of information that I have picked up on. I am a hobbyist but want professional results. That’s why I am glad I found this site. There are professionals and weekend warriors here and I love seeing everyone’s projects. If I (and I will) screw something up, I will post it too. Better that than someone else waste a couple of hours doing the same thing I did.

Most of my “polishing” projects have been on chrome. Really tough work. Wipe on, wipe off. LOL. I have moved to some aluminum parts and found this site a long time ago after I polished a set of foot pegs.

Now I am restoring a buddies ‘81 Sportster. It’s my first big project. The bike has been rode hard and put up wet a number of times. The side covers and engine are pretty bad. I did use a power ball and some Mother’s just to clean off the oxidation. I knew going in I was wasting my time but I ordered the Aluminum & Copper Alloy Polishing Kit, so I had some time to kill. With any luck I should start tearing the bike apart and start polishing by this weekend.
Here is an after picture I polished the front cover for about 10-15 minutes. I did the emblem by hand. It is chrome so I want to make the cover match it. My Blackberry takes horrible pictures. I was too lazy to grab the good camera.



Sorry about the lengthy post. I’ll update this thread as I go. Be warned though, I move at the speed of a herd of turtles. Too many hobbies and not enough money.

Ken

[Jycorro]

Well a small update.

My Aluminum & Copper Alloy Polishing Kit should arrive today so I decided to get a jump start on the rear rocker cover. I only used some sand paper I had in my shop. I went 80 (roller in my dremal), then wet sanded it with a drop or two of dawn dishwashing detergent with100, 220, 320 and then 500. And to note, the dawn made the sandpaper a little tricky to hang on to.

The reason I went with the 80 on the dremal was the cover looked like someone used an ice pick on it. 4 or 5 good dings. I also found out that high speed rotory tools will remove a lot more material than I expected, even at 2 or 3 thousand rpms. I hand sanded everything after that little OMG moment. It's a tight fit.

I will use the white rouge from the kit to finish it off but I may start over using the kit. A few small scratchs but I think it is 100% better than it was. I'll look at it again tonight.

Anyway, here is a picture. I tried to get the chrome S&S carb cover and the forward rocker cover in the shot for comparision. Not to shabby for a half drunk redneck killing about an hour and a half.



Laters,
Ken

[Jycorro]

Well I hope you are not on dial up.

Here is what I started with. A sprocket cover.



After I got my Caswell Aluminum Polishing kit I got to work. This is a sewn cotton wheel with using Black. My 1300 RPM drill was taking to long so I put it in my 3300 RPM bench grinder.



Part 2 in a sec.

Laters,
Ken

[Jycorro]

Part II

Excuse me. Here is a close up.



Yep. I R Tarded. I need to go back to 100 grit or maybe 80 grit to fix that.

Here is the criminal. With the offending nut on the shaft slowing me down!



Yea, SECURE YOUR FREAKING GRINDER!!!

Laters,
Ken

[Jycorro]

As a follow-up. I had a lot of trouble getting the angles where the bolts go. I decided to go with 100 grit sand paper so I could get in the tight places. Maybe I am using the wrong wheel or not cutting right. The spiral sewn wheel seemed to get in the nook and crannies but I think it wasn't fast enough so I sanded the whole thing. Looking at the pictures I think I need to slow my role just a bit and take my time. That and get an extension for my grinder or a real buffing machine.

Meh, as long as I don't punch though to the other side I'm happy. My wife is stopping by Harbor Freight to pick my up a felt bob kit. It might help me get into the corners better. Well see.

Oh, also a shameless plug.....



Gotta love them guys. LOL

Laters,
Ken

[aussierescue]

Wow , wonderfull great pics
ovens

[Jycorro]

Well, I got rid of the dings then did something really stupid. After final polish I noticed there were very small pit in the aluminum. So I used an old t-shirt and tried to buff it a little more for a better shine. Evidently I pulled some black or brown bar material out of the bolt holes and scratched the piece. So back to black and then clean out the bolt holes when I switch to brown. Here's a picture anyway. From about 1 or 2 feet, you can't see them but I know they are there.



Laters,
Ken