As I mentioned in the previous post I did a bit of finishing work on the engine in the last few weeks, from 9 thru 13 March 2013.
Here is the cylinder head, taped up for sanding. These were a little difficult to tape up because the engine oil kept seeping from the valve springs. After a bit of Simple Green on the rim, I taped it up then razored off the edges and it stuck.
The bottom of the cylinder heads: the combustion chamber and intake/exhaust ports taped up.
Fast forward: heads sanded and painted with high gloss black engine paint
On to the rocker boxes. These are constructed of aluminum. The one on the left I sanded for a few hours, starting with 60 grit (coarse) sandpaper, followed with 150 then 220. Repeated several times. Got the gunk off, but it can still use a lot more sanding with a finer grit paper for more shine. Aluminum can be sanded to a mirror shine using sandpaper and metal polish. This photo tutorial was posted by a guy who polished an aluminum coolant neck (car engine) to a mirror shine; he started with 80grit --> 120 --> 400 --> 2500 and then used a drill with a polishing tool and metal polish. Pretty magical to see the transformation.
Alas, I have much more sanding to do.
My hands have the same sheen as the silver-painted robot man street performer in Waikīkī on Kalākaua Avenue. Probably should've worn gloves but hard to get the nooks and crannies with those on and my hands always get sweaty.
In the midst of all of our work, either the motorcycle goddess or a pigeon came and visited our shop and left a feather on the ground for us. The end.
