Motor finishes.

[rossguzzi]

Hi,
I`m wondering what is the best way to get the motor of a 500 Camel to look better. Its had a slightly neglected life. Bit grimey, old oil stains ect. Take motor out, degrease/scrub reinstall ?
Or, degrease then paint ? I`m not so sure of this avenue.
I guess the best way would be to strip motor completely, bead blast cases, clean, reassemble. But that is a big job. Can bead or glass blasting be done on an assembled motor ?
I will probably do some off road, not big into mud. Like my bikes looking good !
Cheers.

[rossguzzi]

I just read up on different forums last night, about SODA blasting. Going to look into it as I dont want to stip motor apart, but freshen up the outside a little.
Anyone used this system before ? Good results ?

Cheers.

[P.I. Staker]

Dry ice/ CO2 blasting is a much safer alternative, although more expensive

[Mepstein]

We do all kinds of blasting at our shop. Soda, glass bead, sand, vapor blast. You could leave the engine in place and use a scrub brush and your favorite grease cutting chemicals if you just want to clean and degrease the engine. I've had good luck using brake kleen to get the nooks and crannies cleaned out but try it out on an inconspicuous part just in case it attacks your paint. Any blasting will need to be done with the engine out or you risk removing paint from your frame. You would never blast with an abrasive like glass bead unless you plan on completely stripping down your engine. Even CO2 blasting will send anything on the engine into any available opening, even tiny spaces. Most blasting media will remove all the finish from parts and hardware so keep that in mind.

Looking at your bike, I would clean really well with a brush and grease cutting soap and then take off some easily removable parts to refinish - engine side covers, valve covers, exhaust cover and other bits that are easy to remove, refurbish and reinstall. Then look at the hardware and see what could be cleaned up or replaced. Even though none of this will affect the bikes performance, looking closely at the engine and hardware gives you a chance to see if there is any real maintenance or repairs needed.

[rossguzzi]

Wow, that looks great.
It is tempting to do the same, then repaint the black covers.

Thanks.

[Mepstein]

I started with this, so I had no choice.