Refinnishing transmission/crankcase

[Dave swMN]

Not that I am lazy :D .......Would blasting with plastic pellets (or the mildest product available) remove whatever is on the case so that a good job of painting could be done?

[Spokes]

I would imagine that bead blasting would provide a good surface to paint. You would still have to make sure the surface is grease and dirt free before painting.

[Smithers]

I haven't used the plastic pellets but if it takes off the paint and residue then you should be good to go. I'm trying to get a friend of mine to start soda blasting.

Are you taking the transmission all apart of leaving the engine together for paint?

[Dave swMN]

Finished splitting the engine/transmission today. Had gotten the inside dirty working with getting other parts off and thought it would be good to reseal the halves of the case.
Haven't decided for sure yet about painting or polishing the gear case. If I paint might do it after putting the case together without the sides on. For the parts that I do polish should they be clear caoted?

[Spokes]

Clear coating over polished aluminum will slightly dull the shine. A good clear coat will protect the finish and reduce maintenance. Just make double sure that all of the polish is removed and the surface is clean before the clear coat application.

Bare polished aluminum will be brighter, but the surface needs be maintained with a quality wax/cleaner. Polished aluminum should be towel dried after washing or rain to avoid spotting. There is no wrong choice.

[Smithers]

You can go to the store and buy "boiled linseed oil" to coat the raw aluminum if you polish it out raw. You just put some of that on a rag and wipe it around to coat it and it will preserve it for a long time but you will eventually have to put a little more on from time to time. The stuff costs $20 or so at my local Lowes store for a gallon. You can buy a quart of it as well for like $8 I think. You will hardly use any of it so buy small. And don't let the rags lie around in a pile because they will catch on fire so be careful with how you dispose of them.

[92merc]

The Goldwingers swear by ProtectaClear from Everbrite. They will sand and polish up their rims, then put this stuff on. Supposedly it dulls the finish very little. All they do is use soap and water to wash it off again.

http://www.everbritecoatings.com/aluminum_protection.htm

[bluerider]

I havn't seen anyone mention it yet but clear anodizing is also an option. When I worked at an aluminum foundry we used to send alot of parts out for either clear or black anodizing. there is actually a whole rainbow of colors available. of course this is only an option for a compleately striped case.

My honda ct 90 has some kind of coating on some of the bare aluminium like the lower forks and it has allowed the metal to oxidize and it looks . The hardest part of polishing it back up is getting the old clear finish off. Seems like it would be easier to restore if it was just bare aluminum.

I'm not sure which way I will go on my bike so I am watching this thead with interest.

Robin

[92merc]

On my 1998 Honda Aero 1100, the fork legs were clear coated. Simple paint remover takes care of that. Not sure if they did something like that way back when...

[vintage2strokes]

If you have access to an ultrasonic cleaner that often works the best for removing old paint from sidecases without damaging or scratching the metal. need to have an ultrasonic that heats the water, though.

[Smithers]

These are kinda expensive and not real easy to find. If you search around your area for a transmission shop you could also use their hot water cleaning closet. They throw transmissions in a big metal closet type box that spins a water jet around the transmission blasting it with hot water. They would probably decline your offer to pay them for putting your engine case in there for the 10 minutes it takes. But if you brought them some beer I'm sure it would be thrown in there and cleaned even faster.

This is what my cylinder head looked like after a few minutes in one of those. It just blasts the crap out of it with water. Just imagine a nasty transmission - they take them out from under cars and clean them in this machine before they open them up for work. Now tell me this cylinder head isn't ready for paint!

http://www.fourwheelperformance.com/honda/ca95_head_06.jpg

[Dave swMN]

I assume then that cleaning any or all parts of the cycle sould be done with an ultrasonic
cleaner. If you think that is ok do you think that the gears could be in the case while doing the cleaning?

[Dave swMN]

Forgot ..........what do you think about the carb. unassembled and the petcock?

[Smithers]

It CAN be done in an ultrasonic cleaner. But I've done many carbs without such luxuries. Here is a whole bunch of reading on the subject for you: Old Honda Carb Cleaning (http://www.fourwheelforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=5917#post5917)

There is also a lot of information on here about cleaning and painting the transmission cases so you're going to have to search around... it's all here. Don't put anything into an ultrasonic cleaner that isn't assembled!! You'll have water in your bearings so don't opt for that method. Just search around here and you'll see that most everyone just strips the engine super clean and then just paints it... or primer it if you want. I didn't but I wasn't trying for a perfect restoration to take to motorcycle shows.

I cleaned a few petcocks in my day and always did it the hard way. You can find my thread in which I completely take one apart and clean it with picks and small brushes and some cleaners. It's just a lot of work!