Cleaning/Polishing the old engine covers

[hotdergs07]

After fixing all the wiring, it is time to do some beautification on the ol' 1100. I'm starting to polish up some of the aluminum engine covers, cloudy paint, and spotty exhaust. Any suggestions on what type of polish to use, or what type of abrasive wool/cloth I should use??

 

[denydog]

Here's a good start http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=97961&highlight=polishing+engine

 

[RJz1100E]

Quick question. Is there any way to polish out the typical corrosion that occurs on the engine cases? I'm thinking of trying a Dremel tool with Cratex points. FYI, those who never heard of Cratex, it's rubber that is impregnated with abrasive grit. We use em at work to polish stainless steel extrusion dies. I can make stainless look like chrome with it.

I've got a few small spots that I'd like to make disappear.

Rj

Edit- Couple more questions. What are the lower engine covers made out of? Aluminum?
Can they be chromed?

OK, answered my own chrome question with a little more research. Sorry, not trying to hijack your thread bud.

 

[jimcor]

I haven't tried all the polishes, but nothing I have tried beats Simichrome polish. It's pricey, it's been around for years, you can buy it at most bike shops. It's made in Germany, imported by Competition Chemicals and is pretty abrasive. Will make aluminum shine better than chrome. Last time I bought a tube it was about $8.00, small tube, a couple 3 ounces or so.

 

[wes cooley]

on my 80 gs1100 the stator cover, sprocket cover, ignition cover, and peg mounts were all corroded bad! what happens over time is the clear coat on the aluminum components gets compromised allowing moisture to get between it and the bare aluminum. the white, foggy look results. i start with 400 grit sandpaper and wet sand the whole area removing the clearcoat and corrosion. then follow it up with 600. this is not a quick process, plan on spending a few evenings or a weekend day doing this. then i use 0000 steel wool with a 3m scratch remover to knock down the sand marks from the 600 paper. it works like a charm, eliminate the final sanding marks virtually completely to the naked eye. then i use the 0000 steel wool in conjunction with simichrome polish ( i think its the best too!) to really polish the parts up. this is the procedure i use, and it works great for me.

with i had a before pic so you could see how dramatic the results were: