[Polishing gurus] - ATV Riders Forums - Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Polaris, CanAm, Arctic Cat, Kymco ATVs

Pages:1

Polishing gurus
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: Jimmah

What's the best way to polish something? I wanted to start polishing stuff on my bike and it hasn't turned out very good. I used a dremel with buffer and aluminum compound after I stripped it with stupid stuff. I couldn't find AIRCRAFT STRIPPER anywhere so where can I locate that, I looked at walmart and home depot. I'm not thrilled with thte way the cap cam out and think maybe I might just need to get some mothers or something. If someone could give me a step by step it would be appreciated.

Posted by: Fender Bender

It depends alot on what your polishing, if chrome, just get really fine steel wool, and polish it like that.

Aluminum, you do the same thing, but after you steel wool it, polish it with some mothers. reapeat over and over, and it'll look better every time

Posted by: jwisniew

Do you use sand paper at all or just steel wool?

Posted by: Fender Bender

if you need to take off paint, you can use real fine sand paper, adn then go to like a 00 steel wool til it looks like brushed aluminum, then go to 000 or 0000 steel wool til its shiny, then polish.

Posted by: luvmyex

Get a buffing wheel and some tripoly and fubuluster or jewlers rouge.The BEST way to do it.alot faster too.then use mothers on it.

Posted by: muff

go to www.eastwoodcompany.com and order the aluminum manifold kit with a can of clear coat, for only $55 you can do this, with the right tools of couse (you need air tools)

it takes a little bit of time but I think it's worth it

Posted by: muff

heres the rought steps
1. sand the part down to bare metal, get mostly all scratches out
2. use tripoli compound on a buffer until the part gets a even shine throughout (it wont be like a mirror yet)
3. use white rouge compound, this is what really makes it sine
4. spray the clear coat on

polishing isnt hard, it just requires A LOT of prep work (sanding) in order to get it good

heres my motor mounts

Posted by: muff

if you want you can send me the parts you want done, I havent done anyones yet for them so I'm not gonna charge a real lot, I kinda only want to do small stuff cause I don't have a real lot of time to work

Posted by: Sick0

After i have striped the paint off I use 600 grit and wet sand the metal. Then I ues the red rouge to get the metal pretty smooth. then I come back with the white high polish. Then I wipe the whole surface with a clean rage until it looks good. Morthers polish is more for clean all ready polished stuff. Its not the best whats to polish some thing.

Posted by: RideRed400EX

Try paint stripper then hit it with steel wool after it has set up. When the paint is off using a buffing wheel with metal polish.

It's a good idea to have a separate wheel for each type of polish, if you've got the money. I know they sell them through Eastwood.

Here's a pic

Posted by: jwisniew

Do you have to use stripper on rims b4 you polish?

Posted by: luvmyex

rims have a very tough coating on em, thats why i havent done mine.

Posted by: ZRider400

check out my Z400 throttle cover that i polished:

Posted by: ZRider400

and honda one....

Posted by: blastersrule

wow i just did it and it didnt even take that long it looks sssssoooooooooooooooooo sweet on my quad

Posted by: ZRider400

quote:
Originally posted by blastersrule
wow i just did it and it didnt even take that long it looks sssssoooooooooooooooooo sweet on my quad

I polished my pipe guard to....i'll get a pic tomorrow

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by ZRider400
I polished my pipe guard to....i'll get a pic tomorrow

cool, I dont have a pipe guard

right now I'm working on 2 throttle caps and a throttle assembly, I used paint stripper today for the first time and the stuff is so awesome, it sure beats sanding the paint off, it makes the paint scrivel right off the metal

Posted by: ZRider400

what type of paint stripper?.........im curious on how it works.......

Posted by: BrianWrightR6

Mothers sucks *****! That sh*t is too hard to fool with. Get you some of the good stuff! X-Treem Polish! This is the stuff right here!

Posted by: BrianWrightR6

Here is what the result's will look like!

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by ZRider400
what type of paint stripper?.........im curious on how it works.......

I don't really know how it works but i'll tell u what I did
1. Shake well, Pour a little bit into a metal container, I used a coffee can
2. Use a small brush and brush onto part only going in one direction, not back and forth, if you go back and forth the paint will start to come off and get stuck to the brush
3. Let it sit for 10-30 minutes, or whenever the stripper gets dry, once dry just peel/scrape the paint off the part, it was cold in my garage and I wanted to get it done so it wasn't hot enough and I didnt give it enough time but it still worked good.

you need to wear gloves and make sure you dont get it on anything thats good, I just set a bunch of newspapers down where I worked

brian did you just polish the x-treem stuff on or do you need to buff it on there?

Posted by: Pappy

quote:
Originally posted by BrianWrightR6
Mothers sucks *****! That sh*t is too hard to fool with. Get you some of the good stuff! X-Treem Polish! This is the stuff right here!

try mothers billet....it does the job i think

Posted by: ZRider400

here is my pipe guard........ i only polished it with mothers and a rag for about a 1/2 hour. I will do it longer someday. but for now its fine.

Posted by: ZRider400

and another pic....

Posted by: luvmyex

my starter cover i just did

Posted by: ZRider400

quote:
Originally posted by luvmyex
my starter cover i just did

WHOA

what did you use to polish that??.........it looks sooooooo nice. good job.

Posted by: luvmyex

zrider look back in this thread i said how before.

Posted by: luvmyex

My W/B pipe i just bough from Ulgymutha,Good deal for $90 i think

Posted by: blastersrule

i just polished my front brake cover and its like a miror, i think im addicted to polishing

Posted by: ZRider400

I just polished my starter cover.

Posted by: muff

does the starter cover on a 400ex need a gasket or does it have an o-ring? if its got an o-ring that'll be the next thing i'll polish

hey luvmyex do you sand the part down before you use the compounds? if so what grit sand paper do you go up to?

i've been using tripoli followed w/ white rouge and its workin really good, i think i just need to sand the part down with finer grits til there's no scratches left

Posted by: luvmyex

that starter cover i didnt even strip off the paint.lol it took about 30 mins time total including on and off.If you have the sanding scratches use the tripoli longer it should remove all fine scratches.but i have gone up to 2000grit it wears out fast and will almost polish it by itself.and the cover has a gasket and is hard to get off without tearing it up.

Posted by: muff

hey thanks man, I had only gone up to 400 cause thats all i have, I'll have to get some finer stuff or try wetting it for now

yeah I wasnt sure if you had to sand everything first even though the aluminum seems like it has some kind of coating on it

I kinda don't want to have to buy a gasket for it so I think i'll do the oil filter cover next and maybe some more motor mounts and throttle/brake caps

Posted by: brad_400ex

where do you get that extreem metal polish. I can't find and mother billet polish either, just origanal mothers.

Posted by: BrianWrightR6

I had to order it off line. My local Honda shop sells it. If you know a dealer that deals with PART'S UNLIMIMITED then you can get it from them.

Posted by: honda250xrider

i was wondering, what kinda clear coat should i put on my side cases is there any high temp. clear coat out there or am i stuck polishing it all the time?

Posted by: racin 400

never mind the thumb throttle(sp)I fried my dremel tool.

Posted by: racin 400

man those pics sucked.

Posted by: RiPPiNiTuP7

I got bored :blah

Posted by: CBW

Posted by: j37

The paint stripper that i use is called premium stripper. They have it in Wal-Mart and it comes in a spray can or a can where you put it on with a brush. It works good just dont get it on your hands.

Posted by: luvmyex

Must be nice to just ride in the sand!So much easier to keep clean

Chris,Come east and ride,get some dirt and mud on that thing.You need to scrub once in awhile like the rest of us LOL

Posted by: j37

Chris that left side of your engine looks sweet man. Is that case polished or chromed? I was wondering because it looks almost like your stock shifter bent into your case and scratched it up which happens to me all of the time? Yours looks great and I want to shine my case up like yours but i was wondering what would get rid of the scratches or reduce the amount that you notice them such as you did.

Posted by: CBW

quote:
Originally posted by j37
Chris that left side of your engine looks sweet man. Is that case polished or chromed? I was wondering because it looks almost like your stock shifter bent into your case and scratched it up which happens to me all of the time? Yours looks great and I want to shine my case up like yours but i was wondering what would get rid of the scratches or reduce the amount that you notice them such as you did.

It is polished and the right side is just as clear but he light inside was bad.........

the shifter never touched the case.....there are no marks on it

as far as how i did it........alot of time and equipment

Posted by: Pappy

i was inside a huge polishing company today...they had like 30 peeps just hammer down and turnin out some badass work:devil

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by Pappy
i was inside a huge polishing company today...they had like 30 peeps just hammer down and turnin out some badass work:devil

wow, how long did it take those 30 guys?

Posted by: Duner21

quote:
Originally posted by Pappy
i was inside a huge polishing company today...they had like 30 peeps just hammer down and turnin out some badass work:devil

WOW... that looks real nice!... I wish i could get mine to look that good!

Posted by: CBW

quote:
Originally posted by Duner21
WOW... that looks real nice!... I wish i could get mine to look that good!

you can,,,,,,,,it just takes time and the right stuff:devil

Posted by: Pappy

quote:
Originally posted by muff
wow, how long did it take those 30 guys?

thye have a 2 week turn around...we dropped off a z400 aluminum subframe for polishing

Posted by: jwisniew

racin 400
What kinda connection did you use on the dremel?

Posted by: j37

Chris thats a really good job.

This was the mark I was talking about im not sure what it is or even if it is a mark but its in the exact spot that my shifter rubs.

Posted by: CBW

quote:
Originally posted by j37
Chris thats a really good job.

This was the mark I was talking about im not sure what it is or even if it is a mark but its in the exact spot that my shifter rubs.

Oh.........nah.......

there is nothing there,,,,,,cept the reflection of the prodesign shifter

My stock shifter never was on long enough th rub on anything

Posted by: luvmyex

Did you PC the cases Chris?

Posted by: CBW

quote:
Originally posted by luvmyex
Did you PC the cases Chris?

Nope............could have though i guess. But in such an arid climate the tarnish takes a while to build and even then the polish i use is the best out there IMO......and the water beads off when washed and if you wipe it dry it looks freshly polished again..........

i use this polish to maintain my buffed aluminum and stuff.....

oops.....thught i had it turned better than that.........its called heavy metal, metal polish

Posted by: TRX300X

this is all alluminum right? or is some of the stuff steel?

Posted by: j37

Yeah your right Chris that is the reflection I didnt look at it hard enough to realize that. My fault.

In that same spot though is where my shifter rubs and my cousins also rubs there too.

I dont know what to do about it though because if i polish it, im not sure how good its going to look and im not to sure how chroming or anything else is going to turn out looking on it.

Im probably going to buy a pro design shifter though because the shifter gets bent into the case and it makes it hard to shift and I dont need it getting bent into there when im racing and end up screwing me up during the race. Its probably worth $80, that thing looks like it'll last forever.

Posted by: muff

j37 all u need to do is grab your shifter and pull it out..its not something u need to buy a new shifter for

Posted by: j37

j37 all u need to do is grab your shifter and pull it out..its not something u need to buy a new shifter for

Muff im always pulling my shifter out and it just bends back in towards the case.

Same thing with my cousin one time his bent into his case when he was racing and had to pull off the track to bend it back out.

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by j37

Muff im always pulling my shifter out and it just bends back in towards the case.

Same thing with my cousin one time his bent into his case when he was racing and had to pull off the track to bend it back out.

yeah, your right, the only thing u can pretty much do is buy a new one

Posted by: racin 400

Posted by: DantheEXman

good job

Posted by: racin 400

Thx.

Posted by: ZRider400

i did my motor mount today....... only did it for a 1/2 hour. i will work on it some more tomorrow.

Posted by: IL400exen

I am new to this polishing stuff, but will a wax buffer work? If not, what do I use? Dumb ? but im a dumb person...

Posted by: Pappy

sorry boys...mothers will only get ya so far

Posted by: Chef

Thats right, Mothers isnt that great, for anything but touch up...

Posted by: brad_400ex

pappy those nerfs look good

Posted by: nacsracer27

ok...i need soem info on what kit to huy from eastwood...should ig et the ball polisher and the fritz compound....or should i buy the red rouge compound along with the radial bristle discs to strip the stuff.....and for finishing...and then just go buy a polishing wheel for a bench grinder.....im realy curious

Posted by: DantheEXman

I just did the same thing.... Go the the "How to polish Mag and Aluminum wheeles" under the Buffing colum.... Then use the first two kits they list there... It has 3 different greeaseless compounds for evening it out, then the other kit has tripoly and white rouge for polishing it...Thats it, Kits come with alll the buffs, but I would order some extras.

Posted by: yamasaki_125

if anyone is interested....i polish parts for people.... pm me or email at little_leon60@hotmail.com for prices on different parts if interested

Posted by: racin 400

quote:
Originally posted by yamasaki_125
if anyone is interested....i polish parts for people.... pm me or email at little_leon60@hotmail.com for prices on different parts if interested

U have to pay to advertise.

Posted by: muff

quote:
Originally posted by racin 400
U have to pay to advertise.

exactly

lets see some pics

Posted by: racin 400

quote:
Originally posted by muff
exactly

lets see some pics

what he said.

Posted by: nacsracer27

mothers seems to work fine for me...heres my starter cover, i ripped my gasket....i was pissed

Posted by: nacsracer27

oil filter cover

Posted by: nacsracer27

brake cover

Posted by: nacsracer27

throtle cover

Posted by: ZRider400

Posted by: nacsracer27

fender brackets

Posted by: nacsracer27

end cap for my exhaust

Posted by: nacsracer27

engine mounts