man, somebody give me some polishing encouragement please!

[da evil one]

i dont think i have any questions but jeez im feeling like a bitch here. i need some friggin encouragement. i decided when i took on this build(and it being my first) that i really wanted the motor to look sick. so even though i dig the black with polished fins look i wanted the completely mirror polished look...cases too. now im debating the cases but im probably another 8-10 hours from finishing the heads and the top end is done except for the oil tube and the tappet and points covers. ive probably got 150 hours in polishing. tell me its gonna be worth it! fawk!!

 

[littlebill31]

It's gonna be!!!! Once you're done then it's only a matter on maintenance. The hard work will be done. Donald Trump once told a guy on the street, who was selling a car, that he could get even more for it by just getting a simple carwash. It just makes it look better. And you didn't just slap some store bought crome on it and then brag.
Keep it up!

 

[gggGary]

No I don't like it at all. Matter of fact just to make YOUR bike look better I would be willing to trade you a nice set of "experienced" black factory parts for those overly shiny things you are now stuck with. Really I would be willing to make that sacrifice.

Way to go. Looks beautiful.

 

[da evil one]

thanks fellas. thats what i needed...that and some sleep. im SOOO sick of polishing and i dont have much else to do that i CAN do without the motor in it. ill get some sleep and put another 8 hours into it tomorrow night. sometimes when you keep working on the same thing for weeks it starts to feel like nothing is happening at all. i sometimes find myself eying a can of duplicolor in the shop and thinking "just damn!". heh.

 

[501Spanky]

That top end looks great!

I'm about 6 hours in on the top of mine. After 20 minutes I decided I was gonna paint the rest of the engine

You should be very proud of that work once it's done. Good job!

 

[Ghetto]

Man I wouldn't attempt to polish that! It's going to look so sweet when it's done though!

 

[pumps]

I too wanted lots of shiny. I did some polishing of my own but the little bit I did took forever. I found a local guy who did it for cheap enough that I just let him do it. Cost me 50 to get both side covers done plus an old seat I had laying around. My time is valuable and IMO it was well worth it.

 

[Arkus]

Polishing is tedious work period. The fact that you're this far along is awesome!! And it's going to look real nice when you're done... keep going!

 

[olddude13]

Man i'm getting sick just thinking about it..... But you are all most done! keep going.

 

[SPEIRMOOR]

What are you using to polish between the fins?
looks amazing so far keep it up!

 

[pyroman]

There's this chick down the street. She loves bikes. I was getting a bike ready for a magazine shoot, and didn't have time to polish everything I wanted to polish. She volunteered to help. She polished EVERY spoke EVERY nipple, made the rims like new, cleaned the shop, brought Me beer and offered .....other polishing services. I may be a SOB, but I'm not a bastard. I declined the Extra perks, but got a beautiful job that I would not have time to do. I had to MAKE Her take money for the great job She did. If She was 50 years younger, I might keep Her around! I guess "Chick" is a relative term.

 

[pyroman]

Sorry , didnt mean to hijack You thread, that looks outstanding!

 

[da evil one]

you guys are awesome. thanks! as far as in between the fins goes, first a shop file to smooth the casting grain out, then 400 rough wrapped around a paint stick, then 400 fine wrapped around a paint stick, then scotchbrite wrapped around the file. then 1000 grit wrapped around the paint stick, then 2000 wrapped around the paint stick dry, then 2000 around the paint stick wet and then a buffing wheel on a drill with the buffing wax.

 

[littlebill31]

Pyroman, no happy ending? And yes it looks great. I had enough with just the side covers.

 

[Tech7]

Polishing is a very tedious job, but SO worth it. You want encouragement? Look at 2wheelMafias bike on the homepage. I got probably 8-12 hours in my side covers and cam covers. But well worth it. Just plug in the Ipod and ear buds with some cool tunes and keep going!

 

[bikerjack]

da evil one.....that is alot of polishing, dude. looks great. tech 7, i may be stealing your idea. what flavor of black paint did you use and method?

 

[Tech7]

My black paint is actually PPG DP90 epoxy primer. Tough as nails, and a nice matte finish. Good stuff. And yes, it has to be sprayed from a gun, as real paint should.

 

[jamesgs4]

Since you are starting at 400, just skip the dry sanding and just do it all wet. The water keeps the paper from clogging, and therefore more progress is made. Going from dry to wet using the same grit is redundant.

 

[da evil one]

thanks james. NOW you tell me...heh.

 

[bikerjack]

Thank you, tech7. And the more i look at it, the more i wanna copy it.