Engine Painting

Hello Everyone,

Now that I have my bike running really well thanks to the XJ forums I would like to take on another task. I have a kit to polish out the aluminum covers on the bike but finding it hard to buff out the engine. I'm thinking about pulling the egine and painting it with black engine enamel. As far as the cooling fins on the engine I'm thinking about taking the paint off the edges once the block is painted. Any suggestion on engine block painting? Will it pose any over heating issues? Thanks to those who have answered my postings before...I think this is a very informative site. I knew nothing about a motorcycle until I started reading up on this site.

Thanks Again....

 

There should be no heating issues (Yamaha painted a few models black so why not!). I've used PJ1's Case Black (semi gloss) with great success. I've tried to abrasively clean off the tips of the cooling fins and it is a real job with this paint! Another company to consider would be VHT. They produce high temp rattle cans in a variety of colors. I'm also aware of Krylon and Plasticoat producing high temp paints. You have a variety of options my friend, good luck finding what you like!

 

Go for broke. Get the best of both worlds. Find a buddy of yours the works at an AutoBody shop ... and, before you paint the engine -- prep the edges of the cooling fins for a real custom look! POLISHED!

You'll need to hit those edges with a small "Palm-D/A." Hit the fins on the cylinder head with 320 until you get the casting edges all uniformly smoothed-out.

Then, start the process you need to bring them up to where you can polish them. 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200 and 1500. After the 1500 treatment; polishing them will be cake.

After they are polished-up nice ... blow-on the color. But, first MASK the edges with some 3M Pin-stripe vinyl masking tape. AutoBody supply stores have this 3M vinyl masking tape in a wide variety of widths. You'll probably find a width that will mask the edge precisely ... if not, use two overlapping skinny widths.

The beauty of 3M tape is that you can apply it with pressure to form a paint-proof seal ... unlike regular masking tape that bleeds at the edges.

On goes the stripe tape over the polished-up edges. On goes the engine paint over the whole works. Then, before the paint dries and is still tacky enough to leave a fingerprint on the taped-off surface ... OFF comes the 3M tape ... leaving a PERFECTLY painted edge along the surface you masked.

3M stripe tape "pulls straight" ... bends around corners and masks contours if you like waves or want to paint flames.

Since that surface is going to be polished aluminum ... the effect should be stunning!

 

Cool deal...I'll be sure to post my pics soon. Hopefully I'll have it completed Sunday. Thanks for the info!

 

COMPLETED! I pulled the engine which was a pretty good task in itself. Everything went well with the pull. Well, the onlt problem I had was getting the driveshaft hooked back to the engine. That rubber boot isn't as forgiving as you think it would be. Once out I cleaned the block really well. I tapped off the covers that I didn't want black. I didn't tape off the fins as discribed by you Rick. Once painted I had a 'HIGH" speed tool with some what of a abrasive wheel on it. It took the paint off whith no problems on the edges. Once I did that I went back over with some 1000 grit sand paper. I might hit them again with some 1500-2000 but they look fine as is. Thanks for the tips....Just need to paint the tank and the rear fender for now.

 

Pics man, pics!

 

yes, definitely we need pics. NOW

 

Pimping your ride is a DISEASE! When I got to the point where I had everything done on my Max; I couldn't wait for Spring to get it out of the damn garage and begin getting the feel for what a Max runs like, compared to the 900.

There was snow, outside, up to my armpits. I had to have something to do; so I started Pimpin'-it!

I stripped the black paint of everything painted black on a Midnight Max. Then I had to deal with all the flaking gold-colored plating on the side covers and seat rails.

Several weeks later ...

I had everything stripped to the fine, beautiful, bright, aluminum alloy hidden beneath the rattle-canned flat black the PO used to spruce it up for sale.

Once I got that aluminum nice and cleaned; I still had the NFL Play-off's and the NCAA Tournament to get through before the bike could be rolled-out and shook-down!

I decided to work a scratch out of the right-side, small, crankcase cover.
I sanded it out and buffed it. It looked better than new. Damn if the aluminum didn't take a mirror finish rivaling chrome.

That's when I strapped-on the snowshoes and headed to the hardware store for a complete buffing kit.

As the NFL Playoff's and March Madness happened; all the aluminum on my Max got polished.

When "Cabin Fever" kicked-in ... I shook-off the shut-in feeling by keeping the buffers and rouges going on the bike.

Fork tubes, calipers, levers, handlebar control housings, all the covers, shift pedal, brake pedal, side rails and the rear brake housing ... sanded-out and buffed-up until I couldn't get a better finish unless it was really chrome polished.

Then, I bought the Full-Stainless Fastener's Kit off eBay and made everything shine.

If my Max was a babe ... We'd be on the Boston-Logan to Las Vegas shuttle flight to get hitched at the Elvis, 24-Hour Wedding Chapel!

"I now pronounce you ... Man and Bike!"

 

Rick,

You got pics of this pimped up max? I'd love to see it. I have always wanted to do this for my bike but figured all the little nooks and crannies of the heads, between cooling fins etc would make it a real pain. Some questions: How did you strip the paint? How did you polish in all those tight spots?

 

If this link works ... here's my baby!

http://autos.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/ ... /c866?b=29

This is likely to be my Masterpiece. I doubt I will ever have the energy to do another full restoration like this.

This was a two-year project!

 

Hey Rick,

Link takes me to a Yahoo login page? Thanks for trying though. If you feel so inclined, throw those pics up in the gallery here. I'm sure others will appreciate the time and effort required to polish an entire engine!

 

VEEEEEERY Nice.

Need to have a Yahoo sign in to see them though.

BTW. I think you could do it much faster a 2nd time. Can my bike spend the winter with you?

 

OK ... I got her in My Album.

So, what do you think???

 

Dang Rick, I wish my fuse box looked as organized as yours. Of course, my inability to solder anything at all plays a part in that. Looking good.

 

Very Nice! If only I had the patience....and a way to convince the wife that I should spend every waking moment in the shed...


Ah well - we can dream right?