Black engine coating removal ?

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Grewth

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Anyone know of a surefire way to strip the black stuff that Yamaha used on engines like the Heritage Special, XT500, and XS750 ?
I'm reading sort of conflicting advice on the web.
Yamaha seemed to have made a big investment on a top quality process back in the day, but 40 years later it's a real pig to get rid of.
It's suggested that powder coating firms may be the only way to shift the stuff.
"Aircraft Stripper" is unobtainable in the UK, as it contains something which is banned from being sold for private/domestic use
 
The rock salt that they spread on UK roads during the winter (not that we actually have winters any more) usually does for most motorcycle finishes after a few years.
Yamaha's black engine coating is good, but the combination of heat and salt beats it in the end.
But in my case, I'm building a composite engine from XT500 and SR500 parts, and the latter are bare alloy.
It will look a very strange beast if I can't make it the same colour all over.
20221016_120049.jpg
 
IME that's a very tough coating, only the methchloride strippers will work and then not 100%. Vapor blasting is really the only reasonably sure solution.
 
Probably want the bead blast first then Vapor. At least the guy here who has done some of my parts does it this way which saves a ton of time and does not screw up his Vapor Cabinet with the paint.
 
Are you trying to remove the paint and keep the engine in bare metal or re-paint in silver or black?

If the latter then why do you want to remove the black. Rub it down until the base metal is ghosting through and the re-finish.
The paint that has stayed on for forty years or so is well stuck on and makes a good base coat. Bare patches can be treated with an etch primer first.
 
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