How to Polish Parts for my Tecate?

[Meat-BoX]

I am looking for some polishing threads. I can never find anything with the search engine on this site. I know there is alot of info on this site. I would also like any info anyone can give. Also anyone who does good Polishing if I cant do it myself.
I have a Cal-Fab +2" swingarm that needs to be polished and I would like to do some of the Engine cases. I dont have any tools except a drill and no polishing kit yet so if anyone knows what is the best stuff to use please let me know. I hear a Dremel set is good. Any info on what is the best to use would be nice. I would like to do these parts in my house if possible. I dont have a garage which makes it hard to get any work done without anyone seeing my Trike out front. I dont want to get her stolen so I dont like to have it out where anyone can see it. And the snow is starting to fly and my hands dont work very good in the cold.:(
I'm hoping to get set up for Ice Racing and would like to have her done up by Spring so she will look good for Trikefest if I can get the time off. I havnt had so much fun in years and would like to go again and meet more cool people. Im looking to finish my Tecate finally. I see some people take about 6 months to get their rides nice while mine has taken almost 10 years.:wondering.
Also if anyone knows where I can get the proper Cal-Fab stickers for my swinger please let me know. Thx

[Yamahauler]

Mothers aluminum polish, and drill mounted buffing heads. A tapered on, cylinder and mushroom head. Then for the small things, a dremel with small buffing wheels.

sand first up to 1000 grit or so, in the closest increments you can find. Make sure you sand for quite a while with each grit.

Smear some polish on there then use the drill buffing wheel and press hard.

Do tight spots with the dremel..

Heres a pic of my case I started. I did this in about 15 minutes, only sanded to 600 though, you can see a little bit of scratches though, Im going to redo the entire thing.

[super90]

Usually i just get it down to the smoothest it can possibly get with sand paper, then steel wool. Then i just use some mothers mag polish, Works perfectly every time. You can get it for around $3.00 at wal mart too.

[Dave223]

heya Metbox,
Im no expert at polishing but this is what I do and use:
For heavily oxidized parts and big parts...First make sure all parts are clean and free of grease, oil, paint etc. Then I will usually find an old squirt bottle and put in some Aluminum Brightener and spray all the parts I want to polish. This cleans all the extra gunk off of the alum and etches it. I usually only leave this on for less than a minute before washing it off with plain water.

My polishing setup consists of a bench grinder on a stand, using this pad available at Lowes& Home Depot: http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/066366/066366695588md.jpg
For polishing I use the sticks of polishing compound available at Lowes. I cant find a link to it on their site but its usually located right with the buffing pads. There are many different types but the 2 I use are the cleaning and the aluminum buffing compound. There are compounds for metal, stainless, chrome and Alum. I normally start out with the cleaner/scratch remover compound, holding the part with a good bit of force against the wheel. This will take out alot of the micro-scratches.
afterwards I use the Alum compound stick, holding against the spinning buffing wheel (2 wheels, 1 for cleaning, the other for polishing) I then take the parts and hold them against the wheel lightly at first, applying more pressure if needed. WEAR HEAVY GLOVES, your parts will get HOT :D .
For small parts and detail areas I use Mothers Billet Polish and a rag. Just rub the area to be polished until it turns black in color, wipe off with a clean rag and do it again until your happy with the results! Mothers is good to test parts to see if it has a clear coat or anodizing on it. If you rub it and it turns black, its raw alum., iif it stays white after rubbing, its anodized or coated with something.
Again, Im no expert polisher, just self taught, but my parts usually come out shiny and look like chrome. Hope this helps, Dave

[rugabugadouglas]

all i know is it takes time i sandblasted mine first to get all the old paint and pits out then started with sandpaper then steel wool and the mothers i did mine in the house and it wasnt too messy but the wife bitched when i was sanding heres the intake i did for my 110

[Dave223]

here is a before and after on the rims of my SX: before--
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/bethrcno/trikes/sx1.jpg
AFTER---
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/bethrcno/trikes/sx-after.jpg

[scooterroo]

alot of elbow grease, time, and effort. you can do it at home. i do all my parts myself. like has been stated, strip off whatever paint you have tosand up from a rough grit to a very fine grit paper, which takes time, but the better the sand job the better the end result. then get yourself some metal polish and polish away, should be bling blingin when done.

[Bryan Raffa]

get it to me and ill do it! bling bling!!! almost free of charge!!:naughty:
You wont find a sweeter deal and im in NY so shipping will be cheep!

[honda250sx]

gregsmotorsports on ebay. I send anything aluminum and steel to him. Do and advanced search for him on ebay under sellers. His turn around is great. The final product is phenomenal. You can replace your mirror in the bathroom with a case cover of your choice

[jason 32]

i kinda think its a waist of time and money to polish stuff and not clear coat it
it doesn't take much for the weather to build up crapp on alluminum
just a suggestion
- i know i have polished w/o clearing too but it tarnishes so easily:cry:

but guys the polished stuff on here looks real good cleared or not
:w00t: :beer :Bounce

[Meat-BoX]

Is there a clear coat in a can for this kind of stuff or does it need to be done with a Paint gun at an auto body shop? I would like to have it clear coated to look good for awhile.

[Bryan Raffa]

yes john i agree.. that clear doesent yellow after time also, like some of the cheeper rattle cans

[jason 32]

if possible have it cleared with house of color high performance clear
lots of polish deserves lots of shine and protection

[Meat-BoX]

Heres a pic of the swinger. Raffa in going to Polish the swinger and case.

[Bryan Raffa]

oh ya man wait till im done with it.. is that carrier steel or alum if its alum send it!

[Bryan Raffa]

hey meat just lettin ya know everything arrive and theres no damage..LOL gettin on it asap, As i have some parts i need to get done also,Wedsday ill get it glass bead blasted and then set up a date for use of the polishing shop,Ill post some pics as I go!

[Tecate250]

For engine cases that have alot of space to move about, you can use a grinder mounted woven l"spelling" wire brush. It does not take material off as bad as it sounds.

[Bryan Raffa]

I find that a glass beadblaster takes alot of the light nicks and scratches out, makes it smooth and can get in around the lettering better also in half the time.

[Bryan Raffa]

yo gary got some prep work done today a few of thoes chain spots are un removeable, But cleaned up nice! smoothed alot of the dings and where the carrier mounts,Got alot of my stuff done too witch i needed to get done, Whats the word on the hub extenders? shiped? as soon as i get thoes its polishing time!

[Bryan Raffa]

my pipe took the longest cause i couldnt turn it around in the blaster :lol: :lol: :w00t:

[BigGreenMachine]

That cal-fab is sweet, it would go for huge bux on egay.

[nd4speed]

I was lookin into this for a rim I bought and here's what I found on E2S:

This is just MY METHODS, which I have had the best luck with, this is not the only way, and I am sure others have great methods, I am just sharing mine.

Polishing Aluminum Process:

1. Remove any coating the part or parts may have on it (ie; Anodizing, Clear Coat Powder coat etc.)
A. Remove Anodizing, with an anodizer removing solvent.
B. Remove Clear Coat or Powder coat by Chemical stripping, sanding or sandblasting (recommended)

2. After the part(s) coatings have been removed, clean the part thoroughly using water with simple green. Dry the part(s) then reclean with a mild wax and grease remover.
3. Now you are ready to start the sanding process.
A. Tools required: Mini DA (orbital) Sander 3”, air compressor.
B. Materials required: Wax and Grease remover, paper towels, 3” Sandpaper discs and wet/dry sandpaper sheets in the following grits (Make sure you buy automotive sandpaper!)
a. 320
b. 400
c. 600

C. Start sanding the part(s) with 320 grit on the mini sander, make sure you sand everywhere on the part(s) that you want to be seen when finished, the spots you cannot get the mini sander, use your hands/fingers with the wet/dry sandpaper in 320 grit. Use a scotchbrite pad to keep your sandpaper clean. (Gray pad)
D. After everything is in 320 Clean the part with wax and grease remover and move on to the next grit.
E. Now the parts are clean, resand everything with the 400 grit sandpaper.
F. Reclean the parts again.
G. Sand everything in 600 grit (take your time here, you want to spend twice as long on this step from what you did on 320 or 400) Keep your sandpaper clean on this step, or you will get chatter marks (looks like spiral scratches in the surface)
4. Get everything extremely clean, and now we are ready to polish/buff.
5. Tools/Materials required for buffing/polishing
A. Bench Buffer (hand held parts)
B. Die Grinder with buffing pads or drill for doing stationary parts (frames) 2800 rpm is ideal.
C. 1 Bar of 327 Tripoli Compound
D. 1 Bar of 130 Jewelers Rouge
E. 1-8” 40 ply loose buff (for use on bench buffer with 130 Jewelers Rouge)
F. 1-8” 40 ply coencntric sewn buff.(For use on bench buffer with 327 Tripoli)
G. 1-4” 40 ply loose buff (for use with drill or die grinder, requires arbor attachment with 130 Jewelers Rouge)
H. 1-4” 40 ply coencntric sewn buff (for use with drill or die grinder, requires arbor attachment with 327 Tripoli)

6. To start, use the sewn buff and load it up with the 327 Tripoli compound. You do this by starting the buffer, and rubbing the compound on the spinning wheel (End ONLY!)
A. Now just rub the wheel on the sanded aluminum parts, until a uniform finish is achieved. (NOTE! The parts will not be perfect yet) and don’t forget to reload the buff when the compound runs out.
B. After everything has been done with the Tripoli, Clean the parts with wax and grease remover, switch to the loose buff, and load it up with the 130 jewelers rouge.
C. Now do the same thing with this new compound as you did with the previous, until a mirror finish is achieved.

7. Clean all the parts
8. Now you are ready to final polish and seal the metal to protect it.
9. My choice for this step is Master Formula metal polish and metal sealer. You can apply both at the same time, by using a wax applicator pad (new) and put equal amounts of each on there, and rub the applicator together and then apply to the metal using a circular motion, until the aluminum becomes hazy. Then wait for polish to haze up (not completely dry though!) And use a micro fiber cloth to remove the polish/sealer.
10. Now the aluminum is protected from the weather and contaminates for up to a year (follow manufacturers specifications)
11. Reassemble the bike and part(s) and you are set.
12. Good Luck!

Products used:

Southwest Metal Finishing Supply Co. - Buffing wheels and compounds
www.swmetal.com
Master Formula - Metal polish and sealer
www.master-formula.com
3M – Sandpaper
www.3m.com
Matco Tools – Mini Sander
www.matcotools.com

[Bryan Raffa]

YO gary got a great jump on your swinger! But i ran out of compound it will be here thursday swinger looks awsome, But there a few spots i couldnt reach with the buffer and i will do by hand.. really hard to get a good pic cuz its so shiny so i took a bunch here's what it looks like so far:naughty: :naughty:

[Bryan Raffa]

some more pics:D

[Bryan Raffa]

Few more:beer CAL FAB BABY!

[oldsking86]

Looks killer bryan! you do any chrome plating that lasts a good while? My swinger is in need of a GOOD chroming

[edog]

Looking good.

[Bryan Raffa]

no plateing just a polish once and a wile! LOL

And to awnser a question asked earlyer once polished use a high end enamal gloss to preserve the shine, Dont recomend it for high heat area's like the jug as the heat will turn it yellowish

[Meat-BoX]

I can see your reflection in some of the pics. Looks real good. You didnt find any cracks in the swinger did you? I hope not. Man it looks like a totally different swinger. Its going to be nice to see that on the Tecate.
I wasnt going to send the Hub extenders because I didnt think they would come out good like that. Now that I see you handiwork I think I will need to box them up for you.

[Bryan Raffa]

I can see your reflection in some of the pics. Looks real good. You didnt find any cracks in the swinger did you? I hope not. Man it looks like a totally different swinger. Its going to be nice to see that on the Tecate.
I wasnt going to send the Hub extenders because I didnt think they would come out good like that. Now that I see you handiwork I think I will need to box them up for you.


NO cracks! just a few deep scraches and dings and there is a real fine line on both sides of the swinger looks like from when they made the sides out of flat stock or something like that. But there perfictly strait whitch leads me to think it was from production.:D

[Meat-BoX]

Yea I saw those lines, kind of made me wonder how the swingarm was made. Thx for helping me out on this. PM me when finished.

[Bryan Raffa]

going up tonight at 630 the compound came in today and ill get everything finished tonight!!

[Bryan Raffa]

All boxed up ready to ship tomorrow! hope ya like this :D
first pic i ran out the other night
second is the first compound
got the hard parts done on the swingarm
and a finished cover

[Bryan Raffa]

Now the bling!! Little mothers and....:TrikesOwn Thats how ya polish your parts for your tecate!:lol:

[Meat-BoX]

Man they look sweet. Thanks alot. I will send out the Hubs and extenders to you tomorrow. I need to find studs for the Hubs that are splined and about 3" long. Will see if the dealer has these as aftermarket goodies as alot of people run extenders on their quads.

Woo Hoo my Tecate is Blinging again. It feels good to save and polish up that rare Cal-Fab. The more I look at the pics the more excited I get. My Tecate will get noticed for sure at Trikefest 07:w00t:

[Bryan Raffa]

Yes,,, Git It Ragggggggg!

[x.system]

Heres a good way to show your bling clarity.

[Bryan Raffa]

lol nice but your cheetin thats plated.....:lol: :lol: :lol:

[x.system]

lol nice but your cheetin thats plated.....:lol: :lol: :lol:

Really its no different, aluminum can look just as good as chrome.

[Yamahauler]

http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38453&d=1167953293

MMMM...Turtles