engine case polishing

hey everyone. i would like some tips on how to polish the engine cases on my 250r. what is the fastest, good looking, easiest way to polish my engine cases?

[Foxrage]

Take em off and senf em to a chromer that is the fastest and the easiest. It isnt so easy on your wallet though.

[kabd69667]

Get a can of pro stripper at like walmart and put it on your cases and then take some steel wool and rub it off after it has taken the paint, i guess thats what i'll call it, off. Then get some mothers polish and maybe a buffer, thats what i used and polisher her up

[400exdad]

:D I've been waiting for someone to ask this! So I can show mine off!! Check the pic!

It was a lot of work! However, it does look good. Here is how you do it.
1. Remove the side cases and any other aluminum parts you want to polish.
2. If they are painted, strip them. Not with that sweet smelling orange stuff, but with the "aircraft stripper". It works. Some of the parts will take several coats. Use steel wool or scotchbrite pads to remove any paint residue.
3. I started with some 180 grit for the rough cast parts, sometimes even 120. This was slow since it was dry paper.
4. Move your way up the scale all the way to 1200 grit. Something like this: 180, 240, 320 or 400, 600, 800 and/or 1200. Wet sanding speeds things up. It takes time and you need to completely remove all of the visible sanding scratches left by the previous grit sand paper.
5. For the hard to reach places, use small pieces of wood to hold the sandpaper with or you can use a dremel with a hard buff and some polishing rouge. (Sears sales polishing kits with various rouges. I think Harbor Freight has them too. Be carefull with the small buffs. They wear through to a metal rod (that scratches). Also, take it light with the small buffs as you can "burn" the surface of the metal.
6. Finally, you can use Mothers polish to finish up with by hand or if you have a big grinder and a loose buffing wheel you can use more rouge to help polish and "blend" all the areas together. For me, this was the best reward! It was really shiny after this step.

Here is what I polished: side covers and attachments, front motor mounts, rear caliper, new prm back bumper and skid plates (tops).
Here is what I plated: brake lever, shifter, pipe guard, and various small parts. I bought the chromed Duncan Racing front bumper. What I wanted plated was the rear sub frame but it was too much $$$ due to the detailing involved.
I had my head pipe ceramic coated.

Now it's time for MORE POWER!

strip the paint off the cases,smooth them with sand paper,buy a dremel drill and lots of the felt polishing wheels,buy some rubbing compound,use the dremel the polish with the felt wheels and rubbing compound and repeat till it looks like chrome

[Taco]

do you have any close up pics of your engine 400exdad?

[James70214]

Hey 400exdad did you polish the oil tank? I am thinking about doing that. How many hours did it take you to polish the cases?

[400exdad]

When I bought my 400 I knew I ws going to keep it for a long time and I wanted it to look different than the rest of the 400's out there. I thought I would like the power it had from the factory. So, I polished and chromed. When we went to Little Sahara, I felt it was lacking. Plus, when riding my friends warmed up and changed up Raptor, I think the 400 needs more. So, more power is the next step.

I've got probably 10 hrs in polishing the side cases, small covers and front lower motor mounts. When you see the pics, you'll see that I also chomed the pegs and the chain guard. The guard looks great, but the pegs are slippery when wet. I've got another pair and plan to put some extensions on those and maybe get those chromed.

I've attached some close ups. They are a little bit blurry since they are a smaller part of a bigger pic. I have never taken any just engine shots.

I haven't polished my oil tank yet. I thought it looked like it had been coated with a molten aluminum spray... remember when they use to coat headers with aluma-coat? So, I was afraid to try to take it off. Steve Abbott I think polished his and it looked great. He may have chromed it. If you are not sure who he is, he's buds with Wes Miller of Huevos Grandes fame. Steves shop is in Vegas. If anyone of you has polished your tank, let me know how it went.

[400exJOE]

has anyone polished their factory rims??? I saw it on a polaris scrambler and it looked real good. I have some scratches in mine and was wondering if that would get rid of them in addition to shining them up.

[400exdad]

400exjoe, you probably know this, but the factory wheels are clear coated and if you look close, they are really not that smooth. It would take more work than I did on my side cases to get them shiny... I think. If you really want shiny, shiny rims I would probably get aftermarket. I know they're not as strong, but they do look good. Personally, I like the rolled bead and am not willing to give that up or pay extra for that on aftermarkets.

[Scott]

A friend used Nev-R-dull on his factory rims and they polished up very nicely. Took about 30mins total. The rims were fairly new (less than a year) so I don't know if they had clearcoat on them or not. I was planning on trying the same thing this winter, so we'll see how it goes.

[Tommy 17]

i started to polish stuff and i tried my trottle cover and i ruined it now i gotta pay 25.00$ for a new one i am so stupid...

I did my throttle cover but only took of the black paint were it says honda,,not fancy but looks cool.

[JhallettEX]

OK I think that I am going to try and do this over the next few weeks. First where do I get this "aircraft stripper"? And has anyone tried this on there sub-frame yet?
Thanks

[400exdad]

You can get the aircraft stripper from Auto Zone, maybe you have those in your area. I truly wanted to have my subframe chromed but it was too expensive. Mainly due to the labor to remove the paint, bead blast and polish the metal before chroming. The chromer did offer to chrome it for $100 if I did the cleaning and polishing. I was talked out of it by a friend who said I would most likely bend it anyway. So I bought a bumper. The subframe is steel not aluminum. So if you strip it, it will rust. I essentially ended up chroming what I wanted shiny that was made of steel and polished everything else.

I took my time and did most of my sanding at the kitchen sink area. Stripped it outside of course. Got a couple of bath towels, put them on the counter next to the sink to hold the parts and absorb the water dripping from the sandpaper. One side of the sink had lightly soapy water to clean the paper with. It just took some time, but it does catch some looks.

Good Luck

You guys are all nuts! I guess maybe it's because I'm a trail rider at heart. I don't understand those idiots who drive 150 miles with their bike in the back of their pickup trucks to a pit. Then unload it and ride around, never going more than 5 minutes from their parking spot. I love a clean machine as much as the next guy but deliberately stripping the surfaces that Honda engineers deliberately spent time and money protecting seems well, not enlightened. I own a Harley that has so much chrome on it that the only painted parts left are the frame and the sheetmetal, but this is not an efficient setup for a performance machine. Chrome plated parts do not transfer heat well and are heavy not to mention the fact that chrome and aluminum do not get along chemically. Take care of the finishes and the exposed metal with gentle cleaners and WD-40 and you'll have a beautiful machine for years to come.

[Scott]

I agree with some of what you're saying Bane, but they look cool.

Mine's not polished, actually right now it's in the garage covered in mud. But shiny plastic, polished aluminum and stainless steel looks GOOD when it's cleaned up. I just don't have the time or the patience to do it to mine.

[400exdad]

To bane:

To each his own but to call somebody a queer is a little extreme. I guess I could say something and follow it up with a "Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah, Nah" but I won't. For your information, and if you read my other posts, I do ride, mainly in the woods. And my quad is muddy right now too. However, that pic was taken at Little Sahara... :D

This looks like a stong candidate for the flames section.:devil

[Scott]

400exdad
You accomplished what you went for with your quad. It looks good and gets attention. Made me start thinking 'what if' about mine. What if I polished that... ect. And a lot of the dune riders seem to really go for looks, and it works. Not too much dune riding in Ohio... Sooner or later some mag will end up with a show and shine contest. I won't be in it, but I'll check out the rides that are.

:cool:

[redrider ex]

400ex21 if you havent bought a new cover yet i have several
covers that i have made i work with aluminum at work and i make parts all the time the trottle covers are polished to a mirror finish
and some of them i have put on the milling machine and milled the letter (H) in the surface for a custom look i will sell you one for $10 dollers i allso have break resevore covers pollished ,dog bone
handle bar clamps and i just made me and my buddy a aluminum
head pipe guard mine has a big (H) on it and his say TRX 400 EX
across it. let me know and i will send you one if you want it.:huh

[400exdad]

Thanks Scott. I realize that most folks think that if it's polished, its not ridden. I'm not sure what it will look like in a year. One of the reasons I did it was because I knew I was going to keep it for ALONG time. Hopefully in a year the rocks, sticks, trees, logs, and other debris won't have destroyed it!:)

Sorry about the comments Rico, but I just didn't understand why the guy said the "q" word.

[Tommy 17]

Originally posted by redrider ex
400ex21 if you havent bought a new cover yet i have several
covers that i have made i work with aluminum at work and i make parts all the time the trottle covers are polished to a mirror finish
and some of them i have put on the milling machine and milled the letter (H) in the surface for a custom look i will sell you one for $10 dollers i allso have break resevore covers pollished ,dog bone
handle bar clamps and i just made me and my buddy a aluminum
head pipe guard mine has a big (H) on it and his say TRX 400 EX
across it. let me know and i will send you one if you want it.:huh

dude thats alot for tryin to save me money... i already got one though my friend wrecked and he cracked the thumb trottle case and when he bought a new one they gave him a cover too she he had he old one he gave it to me its scratched bad but i don't care.

[crday98]

Originally posted by bane
You guys are all nuts! I guess maybe it's because I'm a trail rider at heart. I don't understand those idiots who drive 150 miles with their bike in the back of their pickup trucks to a pit. Then unload it and ride around, never going more than 5 minutes from their parking spot. I love a clean machine as much as the next guy but deliberately stripping the surfaces that Honda engineers deliberately spent time and money protecting seems well, not enlightened. I own a Harley that has so much chrome on it that the only painted parts left are the frame and the sheetmetal, but this is not an efficient setup for a performance machine. Chrome plated parts do not transfer heat well and are heavy not to mention the fact that chrome and aluminum do not get along chemically. Take care of the finishes and the exposed metal with gentle cleaners and WD-40 and you'll have a beautiful machine for years to come.
you are probably not even old enough to ride a Harley by the comments you made:rolleyes: i ride mine like it was stolen in the trails,coal dirt,mud,snow,etc. and i have plenty polished on my quad that is sitting in my garage covered in mud.i am not afraid to get it dirty,i love to get it dirty but when i have her all cleaned up i want her to look extra good.i ,like many take pride in what they have and how it looks.does that make me queer?i think not!every time my friends see my quad all cleaned up they shoot compliments left and right,they all own 400ex's and ride with me every time i ride but still compiment me every time they see it.i even had some people tell me i am nuts for getting it as dirty as i do because it looks so good all shined up but that is not what its main purpose is.i have fun riding it and fun cleaning and polishing it.if that makes me queer,i guess i'll have to look for a" gay rights"club somewhere:D.as far as him chroming stuff,if you read his post,he only had steel parts chromed and there are no steel parts on the motor to be worry about heat escaping or tranfering:p i do agree with you about having a nice quad and it being a waste but think a little before you call us "polishing homosexuals".i didn't say the "Q"word,i already pushed it enough in this post:D sorry guys:(

[400exdad]

I couldn't have said it better crday98. I posted earlier and said a lot more than I should have. Rico said this post was about to go down in flames so I edited it.

I admit that I don't ride as fast or as hard as others but I do like to ride and I do go faster than most 37 y.o. with kids. A fractured tibia at the knee joint made me "re-think" things! Hence a little more time fixing up the quad and less racing.

LOOK GOOD AND RIDE HARD!

[Scott]

redrider ex

I think I'd be interested in the polished aluminum brake resi cover. Don't have the thumb throttle anymore, so the cover wouldn't do me any good, but I just added a polished SS brake cylinder cover for the foot brake so your polished aluminum cover would make it match. Email me and we can work out the details.

Thanks!

[redrider ex]

I have plain covers polished or some with the (H) milled in the top or some with grooves going across the top and there all polished
to a mirror finish , they want any where from $15to$20 for one in the adds in dirtwheeles ill take $10 for mine . I forgot I allso have made the nob that turns on the gas out of polished alluminum they sell for $37 in the mag and on ebay ill take $20 for them.
You can email me at brony@iocc.com got to go take kids to school be bake later.:huh

OK, I think all the 'phobes responses to my remark are wasting a little too much space here so I would like to apologize for my remark. I am simply expressing my personal view on quad tweaking. For me if it's $200 for a polished this and that or $200 for another 1.5 horsepower, I'm measuring my pennies in roost! I too have a few cosmetic items, so yes I understand where you're all coming from. I even catch flack from my riding group for my Pro-Design billet gas cap. I love the forum so keep yackin', and for the one who questioned my age and my harley; I ride a 1997 FXSTC with a list custom pieces that would boggle the mind, and I'm 30 going on 12.;)

[Scott]

Bane:

I envy you. I'm also 30 going on 12, but with less toys in the toybox. I wouldn't mind going out in the garage every morning and seeing a soft tail. I kinda prefer the dyna wide glide, but I wouldn't turn a soft tail down.

[crday98]

Originally posted by bane
for the one who questioned my age and my harley; I ride a 1997 FXSTC with a list custom pieces that would boggle the mind, and I'm 30 going on 12.;)
hey,thats alright;)i only made that statement to point out how immature your comment about us being polishing Q's when you have no clue of who we are or how we ride.:)

[Red Rooster]

Could i polish my stock gas cap?

[400exdad]

Thanks Bane. If everyone was the same in this little world of ours, it would be mighty boring place!:D

As far as polishing the stock gas cap, I would say no Red Rooster 300. The stock cap is metal on a 300 and would rust pretty quickly. I would say if you want a pretty gas cap, you'll have to buy an aftermarket cap like Bane did. I am (most of the time) too cheap to buy aftermarket stuff. :D

Of course, looking back at what I actually did spend in chrome, I could have almost 440'd it!! For now, I am going to high comp piston and cam it.