Aluminum case mottling

[gsinmaine]

Has anyone found a way to remove the discoloration on the engine side covers and case that appears on these older Suzukes and others? You know, the dark gray to light gray color mottling. Not corrosion that I can see. It looks like some kind of coating going south. Is there a way to remove this and polish the aluminum? I have tried aluminum mag wheel polish and it didn't seem to do much. Maybe I didn't rub hard enough, long enough. Any tips would be great. A great weekend is forecast for Northern Maine. Looking at almost 80 degrees. Time to get out and catch some wind before the insect kingdom wakes up. I suppose it is a choice between bugs or traffic. I take the bugs since I have a Vetter. There is nothing like a ride north up into the Allagash. 250 mile loop through the forest on a vintage cruiser. Can't wait!! Thanks for any help re the aluminim polish.

[twiggy2cents]

you need to strip it, the original aluminum had clear coat over it

[GS550ES-Hank]

The mottling is in fact 'corrosion' but not like rust. Bare aluminum oxidizes with exposure to air. It's pretty tough stuff, but you can sand through it, then polish and re-coat with clear to protect the new finish.

[dirtyfingers]

I had the same problem. I took all the covers off, sanded off the remaining clear coat and corrosion, then scuffed them with a scrub pad until the grain was uniform. They were then re-clear coated. I wanted a somewhat stock appearance, and it involved less mess and preparation than polishing.

[Billy Ricks]

I prefer to strip, polish, and leave them uncoated. A little polishing from time to time is all they need after that. Uncoated aluminum shines better than coated.

[nvr2old]

I also prefer to strip the clear coating off, sand with 1,000 grit wet/dry paper and polish. Looks great. There's a product called "Zoops" that is a liquid application for freshly polished aluminum that keeps it shiney for at least a year with no re-polishing required. Amazing product.

[gsgeezer]

I prefer to strip, polish, and leave them uncoated. A little polishing from time to time is all they need after that. Uncoated aluminum shines better than coated.

Good advise!!

[gsinmaine]

See, some great ideas and advice once again. I love this place. Uncoated versus coated seems like the only point of difference. Me myself am undecided on which to choose but now I know that that nasty looking stuff on the covers can be removed and should leave a nice looking surface. I can't wait to go out and give it a try. Mr. Fingers engine looks fantastic! If I could get mine to look like that, well, time will tell. Thanks for all the great input!

Ride safe!

[duheme]

wet sand with 600 grit then 800 grit then use mothers aluminum polish. One trick is to add a little DAWN dishwashing detergent to the water. For some reason this stuff is like magic when wet sanding aluminum

[headsbikesmopars]

What Deheme said is good. Only thing I would add is that each time you go to a finer grit, sand 90 degrees to the previuos grit untill you remove all the scratches left behind by the last step in grit. After I get up to 1500, I buff with white compound and reseal with high temp clear. Lasts for years,..just like the factory job did.

Good luck.

Terry

[rapidray]

Terry, did you guys ever figure out what was up with Glenn's cams & the piston to valve clearance issues? Ray.

[headsbikesmopars]

Ray, .. Glenn is sending the intake cam back to them for inspection. We feel the cam is a bad grind. Dean degreed them in,..I went over and degreed them in and then Glenn degreed them in...all of us came up with the same numbers using different wheels, and different methods. Dean uses a 90 degree wheel I prefer the large 180 degree wheel and Glenn used his own..don't know which one. Intake cam is just clipping the piston while the exhaust was never an issue. We will let you know when we hear from the company. Just waiting now.
Sorry to hi-jack the thread. Good luck on your cases.

Terry

[Froudster]

Stripped cover with Nitromors, then polished. This one took about 90 minutes to do from start to finish

[motocycle shawn]

mottling

well i think i said this some time back . there many ways you can do it .
the way i do it is to strip the cover with a good paint stripper
then go over it with steel wool very good and polish it on my polisher.
using white jewlers ruge. i offer to do this for any one willing to ship me there covers. i will post some befores and afters to night. i got a cover for a guy im doing and its a real ugly one too.

if you have some thing you want polished please im me.
i can do most gs covers in about 2-3 days .