1974yamahaxs650
XS650 Member
I have a 74' xs650. I'm in the process of trying to restore and I was wondering what you old pros have to say as to the best way to go about bringing back the surface of the engine.
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Whats the best method of refurbishing the surface of an engine?
- Thread starter 1974yamahaxs650
- Start date
That's a very clean looking engine, probably just needs a degrease and wash. Don't use a wire brush on it, it will give a terrible finish.. If you're going to strip the engine, vapour, beads or soda give a nice finish.
eidemaddin
XS650 Enthusiast
I can only agree, no wire brush. There are much worse cases where old oil and dirt has been baked in for years. And in my experience, even that can be removed by soaking it with WD40 for a week and then scrubbing it off with diesel and a paint brush that reaches into the corners. Of course outside and place a collecting pan underneath. The final step then would be a cold cleaner.
The side cases I think are lacquer coated and corrosion gets underneath, stripping and polish work, the crankcase is generally painted to hide where they've put putty over plugs to block oil passages so a degreaser and nylon brush, the cylinder and head are generally left bare, same thing.
Various blasting techniques produce various results, though vapor and soda clean well and are less damaging, be careful of glass beads unless you mask any holes or properly clean and flush them after.
Various blasting techniques produce various results, though vapor and soda clean well and are less damaging, be careful of glass beads unless you mask any holes or properly clean and flush them after.
Its been a long time
Doesn't know nothing.
I have an engine in very similar condition. I will be cleaning it up in the next few weeks. My thoughts at the moment are to use a plastic kitchen scourer with some light oil and see how it goes. For more stubborn areas trying a bit of Autosol or similar.
Be interested to see how this one cleans up. I wouldn't go near it with anything aggressive like a wire brush.
To add, I have no intention of making the engine cases look new or better than new. I like the 47 years old patina.
Be interested to see how this one cleans up. I wouldn't go near it with anything aggressive like a wire brush.
To add, I have no intention of making the engine cases look new or better than new. I like the 47 years old patina.
Pretty much the routine is clean and polish for these old girls. Some guys repaint, some not. Lacquer on the cases has to be stripped off and cases polished although there are a few companies that will redo the cases in clear or matte. I was able to get deep in the fins with a gun cleaning brush. You can get them in brass so they don’t scratch. There are lots of quality rattle can finishes out there as well.
The best looking finish I have seen was presented by @cra-z1. He used stainless wire media in his blaster. I am probably mis-quoting the product he uses, but if you have seen some of his restoration work you will see what I am talking about.
https://www.xs650.com/threads/to-blast-or-not-to-blast.51476/#post-540428
https://www.xs650.com/threads/to-blast-or-not-to-blast.51476/#post-540428
eidemaddin
XS650 Enthusiast
In general, be careful with abrasive blasting media on the housing. At least it shouldn't be overdone here. Cavities in the aluminum casting that are connected to oil channels can be exposed. This spot marked with flour (to the left of the bolt with the cap nut removed)) shows the situation 1 minute after complete degreasing:
It took me a long time to find the reason for the oil puddles and the constantly oily engine and even longer to close the leak on the blasted housing : (
It took me a long time to find the reason for the oil puddles and the constantly oily engine and even longer to close the leak on the blasted housing : (
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Charles13
XS650 Addict
If your not too worried about keeping the finish stock, I have been playing around with Cerakote on areas where heat dissipation is needed. It’s a coating called glacier black and it’s meant for industrial turbocharger applications (so it really works well). I tried it out on my old cb450 clutch cover and will be using it on all cylinders and heads, they also have coatings meant to contain heat that I will try on some exhaust pipes.
1974yamahaxs650
XS650 Member
I guess the engine I have doesn't look that bad but I would like to clean up either side of the crank case covers because I recently got a new stator cover but it's way shinier than the rest of the engine and wouldn't match well and I just wanna bring the crank case up to standard
1974yamahaxs650
XS650 Member
I bought a cheap facial scrubber off Amazon and used mothers on my cases, beats little circles by hand.
It took a few applications to get the bulk of oxidation off then I finished it off by hand.
Now it's Flintz by hand just to keep up. This is after 3 years and it gets better every time.
I'll do the same to my 650 when it's time.
It took a few applications to get the bulk of oxidation off then I finished it off by hand.
Now it's Flintz by hand just to keep up. This is after 3 years and it gets better every time.
I'll do the same to my 650 when it's time.
Good old fashioned elbow grease! 
A few pertinent threads,
Cleaning / degreasing,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/the-perfectionist-engine-detailing.61242/#post-728948
more cleaning,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/mailman’s-xs2-a-full-on-restoration.51520/page-51#post-556532
polishing,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/polishing-questions.58334/#post-663117
painting the cases,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/cleaning-up-engine-block.63738/#post-783741
A few pertinent threads,
Cleaning / degreasing,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/the-perfectionist-engine-detailing.61242/#post-728948
more cleaning,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/mailman’s-xs2-a-full-on-restoration.51520/page-51#post-556532
polishing,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/polishing-questions.58334/#post-663117
painting the cases,
https://www.xs650.com/threads/cleaning-up-engine-block.63738/#post-783741
Mailman is correct about elbow grease if the engine is together. If it's apart Vapor Blast. If you vapor Blast no need for paint
Awesome looking Sporty!
I don't see how vapor blasting is good for any internal part of the carb or places where you want a smooth flat surface like where the vacuum seals are, the inside of the carb throat where the throttle plate is, where the CV cylinder rides up and down, where gaskets mate. The blasting I've seen leaves a textured surface.
Charles13
XS650 Addict
There is a misconception about vapor blasting, think of it as wet sanding as opposed to dry sanding; it is still blasting.
You mask the surfaces you don’t want blasted. Not too difficult.
That is the thing I think people might be missing. I"ve seen fakebook posts of vapor blasting carbs and they did the inside of the bowls and the entire outside of the carb and inside.
Looks pretty clean to me - you may have an easy clean up. I personally vapor blast with glass beads as they are round and do not take material off, if I have to clean steel for painting I may use aluoxide or a mixture of aluoxide and glass beads, all depending on how much paint I need to get off and how bad it is. On the engine I paint the block with POR-15 and cure it at 400F for two hours. The side cover I polish. Here is an before and after of a ‘78 XSE
