Restoring engine cases

I'm rebuilding an RC36 and would like to get the engine cases looking good again, and would appreciate any input from you guys who've done so, or know of a way to get good results. I'm not intending to take it apart, so soda blasting etc is out of the question, but the engine is complete and out of the frame.

I've been going round in circles trying to discover the best way of doing this.

I've boiled it down to the following:

1. Prep and paint with POR15 or Eastwood 2k Engine enamel
2. Clean with raceglaze Alubright deoxidiser then finish with raceglaze Jet Laq
3. Clean with brass brushes, on slow speed drill, or with scotch brute, with wd40 or penetrating oil, then coat with ACF50.

The last one, I read on a forum where someone cleaned up an old air cooled Honda very nicely, but he didn't say how he protected the finish. My thought is just leaving it satin, then coating with Acf50 say once a year, and seems the most logical in a way, for a durable finish, as I know ACF 50 is great at protecting a surface. I'm not 100% convinced that any paint would last, but POR15 and Eastwood are the best I've come across.

Also, does the engine have a factory finish? I've read that using aggressive abrasives kills that, and causes even more issues, though as its oxidised and pitted, surely the finish is compromised now anyway??

So has anyone acheived long lasting results on their engine cases, with anything not involving blasting of some sort?

Any tips and recommendations much appreciated. I've got plenty of time so not afraid of hours of elbow grease if that's all it takes. Though it's protecting the finish that's the tricky one.

Cheers!

 

It depends how bad they are..... got a couple of pics?

 

Their not horrendous but definitely not great either.
this is one of those things that the more I read, the more undecided I am. I thought paint was the ultimate best solution, but then I thought about the whole notion of painting 'built' engine cases - as in, it's not really ideal, especially painting over engine bolts (though I could mask,but then what's the point in painting??). And I'm pretty much put off by harsh acidic chemicals, that would maybe do too much damage. And getting it all lovely and clean with hours of polish and elbow grease is ok, but I'm not gonna want to keep that practice up just to maintain a semi polished look. Hence the idea of yearly coating with ACF50.
The plan isn't to have a total concourse job, but I'll be refurbing everything on the bike (a few parts cerakoted, that sort of thing) so don't want the cases to look like they've been left as is. I'll also be repainting/powdercoating the black covers, and poss rocker covers for added bling, though that's a bit unecessary I know.

Any advice would be welcome though, thanks.

 

Don't worry about painting over the old bolts - I always replace with stainless anyway but you can after its all painted clean up all the bolts.
Once you start painting one part you WILL have to paint the rest as it will just look off...
Paint the cases satin black & leave the rest - although you could lacquer it once its cleaned. It will take hours of cleaning. You do want to remove the water pipe between the V and replace the gaskets on the caps and the pipe.

 

if you are not going whole hog, the aluminum parts cylinders can be cleaned with brake cleaner or carb cleaner in a spray can but the painted parts are chipped and stuff. i like 303 protectant for cleaning black or other paint but some of your paint is coming off

 

On my '83 V65 Magna, black engine oxidized and after cleaning it of oil/grease I used something like Back to Black to restore the main cases, followed by application of black BBQ paint (soft gloss or semi-gloss) with Q-tips of all things. While wet you can redo it or wipe it off with isopropanol and start over. It matched up pretty well, and was of course heat resistant. Sanded fins or used emery stone on raw exposed fin edges. As for the engine covers, you can clean them up and repaint with just about anything or polish the aluminum to shiny. On my VFR Gen5, the clutch cover was rashed a bit and after "fixing" that up a bit, I painted it with an almost matching antique bronze/charcoal (Rustoleum has a good spray nozzle). Into a 200 degree oven and you'd think factory. Those are just some ideas..... and decide what matters to you if it is covered up by fairing... I did not refinish my stator cover as you can't see it, but I did clean it up. Brass brush works great, toothbrushes, Simple Green, naptha or mineral spirits, isopropanol as last step. Fun job I get it completely.

 

Thanks for all the tips guys. Plenty to consider there. Brass brushes is a good one, I'll try that. Still might go the paint route if I don't have an joy getting it clean. As for stainless bolts, what's the deal regarding stainless into ally. I understand you can get galling problems (is that the word) unless the stainless is of a specific quality?
Just another topic to gen up on .

 

It's a matter of personal preference, but generally aluminum and stainless don't like each other and bi-metal corrosion starts. Might take a year but you may ultimately have difficulty removing that screw, risking damaged aluminum threads. If you want pretty screws, you could go with anodized aluminum ones in decorative applications or chrome plated steel if available,... with stainless I would suggest coating the threads with anti-seize, and since it is now a lubricated thread, reduce the torque roughly 25%.
I personally like the nice small black hex screws that are the originals on most Hondas. Preserves the OEM look. Or, paint your existing ones.

 

Tanks RaYzerman. Just read a whole host of opinions on this, and as you recommend, anyone using stainless bolts on their bike seem to recommend anti seize on threads and coppaslip on faces that would meet the aluminium. It also, I understand, depends on the quality of the stainless part, and most stainless bike kits sold don't seem to make any mention of what grade stainless they are. Might just stick with oem bolts and get those cleaned up, or maybe nickel plated if there's someone that would do a bunch for a reasonable price.

How has your Gen5 rustoleum painted cover lasted, out of interest. Rustoleum paint generally seems to have good reviews.

 

Well to be fair, it hasn't seen many miles, just finished my restoration and shakedown ride. I expect it will hold up just fine, but I would recommend cleaning well before paint and then baking it for an hour or more at 200-250F. I painted a couple of other parts and let air dry, but it takes time to harden up. Rustoleum seems to have nailed the better spray nozzles.