what's the best way to make this motor a bit prettiier?

..
thx,
goo

We'll without taking it apart,,,,, you could use a dremel or wire brush on the cylinder base anchor nuts and head bolts to bust the rust off. Or you could go ride the snot out of it and get a bunch of road grime all over it and call it even.

In place:

-A GOOD dremel type rotating tool (you'll eat 4 or 5 Harbor Freight types)
-two dozen or so tiny brass wire wheels
-two dozen or so tiny buffing wheels
-several small pots of polishing compound
-Eagle 1 or other similar polishing wadding
-several lint-free towels
-several days of steady, laborious, monotonous, fatiguing detail work
-Remove and replace fasteners one or two at a time and spray with Rust-O-Leum cold galv, or use a small Caswell plating kit (some would say this leads to an early death)

OR

-Remove main parts and polish on a proper polishing wheel (not quite as laborious)
-Mask and paint cylinders with Rust-O-Leum (or not)

The problem then becomes: "Hmmmmmm... now the pipes look tatty"; replace pipes
Then, "now the wheels look dull" remove & polish or replace
etc., etc., etc...

Put some gas in the tank and a babe on the seat and ride!

Russ


OK, maybe you were looking for something a little more constructive. How about buying some high temp silver paint (brake, stove, or other), cleaning up the barrels a bit with a wire brush and then just brush on some high temp on to those fins and the rusted bolt heads. Cheap and easy.

I think the barrels look much better painted black, that's what I done to mine, ('73 Interstate) I know it's not correct for the year but i'm not a purist!

Dave.

Dare I suggest a proper 750 air filter or a pair of velocity stacks instead of that squashed K&N thingy ?

I think it look good the way it is. Dirty, cleaned or polished, they all look pretty to me.

Together and running is a good look.

Looks fine. Other than cleaning it once or twice a year I would just ride it.

Beyond just surface finishing to really pretty up requires pieces in hand with rat tale files and narrow cold chisel and square end drifts to knock out the over casting in head and barrels which both reflines close up impression but aids air flows as some spaces that should be open deep in are crusted over by metal crusts. The head is a darker allow and can not be made to shine silvery like covers and cases. Phos acid, Calcium, Lime, Rust bath, or oven BBQ and kitchen clearners do a good job on cases but not head other than clean off too its dullish gray darkness.

If ya want to get fancy beyond the ordinary look into the DIY weapon and engine coatings that both resist elements but assist heat radiation.

I will suggest to you the same thing I have told my daughter for years. "You look beautiful the way god made you, just take care of yourself, and enjoy life".

Ha Ha Ha, best wishes on stffling the urge of primping and preening nature of humans but hope she and our bikes don't get surgery that removes their best character into artificial-ness.

Right Hobot.......we don't want our bikes, or our daughters to end up looking like Chapmanmd's frame.

pvisseriii said:

I think it look good the way it is. Dirty, cleaned or polished, they all look pretty to me.

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+1

one thing would give a VERY high priority to is replacing that head steady as the early ones are WELL known to break and no I don't want to start a war on which one is better :roll:

goo said:

..
thx,
goo

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My' not so glamourous' silver barrels made it this years calendar, April 2012, take close look at the barrels
as above, keep it clean , ride it often, and if and only if you have to pull down the negine, then give it a birthday, black or silver!!!
Regards Mike

one thing would give a VERY high priority to is replacing that head steady as the early ones are WELL known to break and no I don't want to start a war on which one is better

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Bill, stop making sense! If you continue along that line of thought, pretty soon everyone will be doing it...

Right Hobot.......we don't want our bikes, or our daughters to end up looking like Chapmanmd's frame.

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Oh come now... we all need at least one piece of crap in our lives... I'm thinking that if I tie a bunch of pine branches to it and throw it in a lake that it would make a good crappie bed. See! I have found a use for this frame!

The head bolts/nuts can be replaced one at a time, but only the ones around the plugs are visible. The cylinder nuts are another issue, the gasket will probably break and you will be pulling the cylinder/head off. The cylinder has to come up about 1/2" to get the nuts off. Not a huge project but if you don't want to go there.... Easy to pull off the timing cover and polish, you may want to look in there anyhow and work on the oil pump, Allen head bolts for the timing cover in stainless or chrome. Same for the gearbox. Stainless kits for the rocker arm covers. The head is the hardest thing to clean up. A small stainless brush will get into most of it and give a proper shine, but pulling off and blasting is most effective. Cylinder can probably be done on bike with lots of care and masking. Gearbox cover easy to pull off and polish, check for seals there and have proper seals installed if not there. Valve covers easy to polish. Put back on with paper gaskets, silicone on the cover and grease on the engine side. The 850 headsteady is a lot more robust unless you want to go more exotic. My original headsteady is still going strong at 14K miles. Polish the primary cover, if the plugs are crappy, a new set is only about $20 at Walridge.

Or ride, enjoy.

Dave
69S

I have not tried it, but I would be tempted to make one of those home made soda blasters (instructions can found on net) and blast the nasty stuff off. The beauty of using soda is that you can rinse the excess/dust right off with water.

GB

Dave
the factory made it stronger for a reason. I don't think I would push my luck to far with a known issue.

DogT said:

. My original headsteady is still going strong at 14K miles.

Dave
69S

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