Topic: Polished Aluminum - what to use for care and feeding??

[Rayzerman]

The more I read, it seems many/most don't apply coatings to polished aluminum and tend to do manual polishing.  A few have suggested or used 2K clear, but my thought is getting adhesion is going to be tough and it would have to be more like a wrap if you will..... I did polish up carb bowls and covers, put 3 coats of 1k clear, but it only took me a day to find out I can start "wearing" it off... basically, it doesn't stick.  So I'm a bit leery of doing 2k.....

If not coating and simply manually polishing occasionally, I see some use Simichrome polish.. is it better than Mother's or say Autosol?

Found a couple of interesting coatings..... the boys on the Corvette forums use it for wheels... there used to be a product called Zoop but company gone, now called ShineSeal.  There are some prep chemicals, then you wipe on the ShineSeal.... looks very interesting.  I'd liken it to wiping on a clear but without the film build and on wheels it seems to last a couple of years.
http://www.shineseal.com/products.htm

Another product is Sharkhide Metal Protectant.  They use this on raw aluminum pontoon boats, and on polished ones.  Seems it will dissolve into itself when you do a second coat (recommended).  Again, looks interesting but I have concerns it may not let the real gloss show through (haven't asked them yet).  Simple video shows on raw aluminum and polished diamond plate.

Then there's Zaino.... another slightly different animal.
https://www.zainostore.ca/zaino-faqs/

I guess the question is, has anyone used any of these coatings?  Or what do you think of them?

[scottly]

I've only used Mother's myself, and never found any reason to switch.

[M 750K6]

Polish will be like oil preferences. I used White Diamond with good results. Use a Dremel wool polishing tool each spring, then a touch up manually after washes (max 5 minutes). Seems to protect and shine. Each winter a wipe over with ACF50 as a salt and condensation barrier. Then wash off in spring and start again.

I have used a dusting of 2K clear on the painted engine cases, to protect against ethanol / fuel damage.

[newday777]

The more I read, it seems many/most don't apply coatings to polished aluminum and tend to do manual polishing.  A few have suggested or used 2K clear, but my thought is getting adhesion is going to be tough and it would have to be more like a wrap if you will..... I did polish up carb bowls and covers, put 3 coats of 1k clear, but it only took me a day to find out I can start "wearing" it off... basically, it doesn't stick.  So I'm a bit leery of doing 2k.....

If not coating and simply manually polishing occasionally, I see some use Simichrome polish.. is it better than Mother's or say Autosol?

Found a couple of interesting coatings..... the boys on the Corvette forums use it for wheels... there used to be a product called Zoop but company gone, now called ShineSeal.  There are some prep chemicals, then you wipe on the ShineSeal.... looks very interesting.  I'd liken it to wiping on a clear but without the film build and on wheels it seems to last a couple of years.
http://www.shineseal.com/products.htm

Another product is Sharkhide Metal Protectant.  They use this on raw aluminum pontoon boats, and on polished ones.  Seems it will dissolve into itself when you do a second coat (recommended).  Again, looks interesting but I have concerns it may not let the real gloss show through (haven't asked them yet).  Simple video shows on raw aluminum and polished diamond plate.

Then there's Zaino.... another slightly different animal.
https://www.zainostore.ca/zaino-faqs/

I guess the question is, has anyone used any of these coatings?  Or what do you think of them?

You haven't said or shown what your covers condition are that you want to use these products on.
Condition is important. If you are looking for a magic formula to bring back corroded aluminum that has been neglected for years, it isn't going to happen without first doing a lot of prep to remove the original coating that was put on then multiple steps of removing the oxidation and then polishing to the sheen you want. Then you use the product you choose.
My K5 has been kept up with Semichrome all these years, it took time and elbow grease to get it where it is and could use more time on it to make it better.
I have some Autosol and some White Diamond polish, neither have done better or worse than Semichrome, nor are less work to maintain.
 
I've read and seen videos of the shark hide but it's expese has kept it at bay.

[rotortiller]

Here is what I prefer.

[calj737]

Shark hide. It’s most durable treatment and is extremely widely used in the marine industry where boats and trailers are subjected to the most extreme conditions. Other products may work, nothing works better.

[Rayzerman]

I will have very shiny polished parts, all were glass bead blasted.  Before I final polish, ...... how to protect them is the only question.... I was debating what to do with the fork lowers on the CB350F.... I had considered a powder coat silver, but am going with polished.... side engine cases and alternator cover will be polished.  Now considering that  this bike is going to be a show piece rather than ridden in any kind of foul weather, and always stored inside..... I could go with a maintenance polishing.

That Sharkhide is tough, but degrades over time (on a boat in salt water)... to get the old off they recommended lacquer thinner, but the guy that was polishing the boat had to use a stripper to finish getting the old off... then he polished.

[Oddjob]

The better the shine the more the surface is sealed and the less maintenance it requires, in my experience. A good coat of Carnuba wax is all that's really needed in that case or most car waxes will do. I've had a grab rail on my 1300, exposed to the elements and no attention for 3 years. Jusr recently gave it a rub with some Solvol Autosol and came up like new again. The better the job, the less the maintenance in my experience. Carb tops are easy, the bowls are much harder.

[calj737]

That Sharkhide is tough, but degrades over time (on a boat in salt water)... to get the old off they recommended lacquer thinner, but the guy that was polishing the boat had to use a stripper to finish getting the old off... then he polished.

That’s the point actually. Since your bike won’t be subjected to nearly a similar environment, a simple treatment will protect it for years and years without ever needing to strip it. And responsible boat owners perform periodic maintenance versus “neglect and repair strategies”.

[Ozzybud]

I don't like doing all the work polishing without protecting it with clearcoat like Honda did. My polishing usually requires stripping the clearcoat then sanding in stages up to 2000 grit. Then I polish with a rotary buffer also using a dremel with small instruments to get into tight places.Wenol Poish has a slight grit in it that resembles the factory finish and promotes adhesion. Then I coat with 1 thin coat of PPG/ Omni 2k Clearcoat. I've never had an issue with adhesion.

[Oddjob]

Fair play for using a Dremel to get into the tight areas, and there are lots of them on casings, I however find I polish so highly that any paint just runs off, also no doubt to the fact that buffing soap is essentially just wax with a abrasive embedded into it and I find that's a natural barrier to paint sticking.

Here's an example of my 550 clutch case I just did for a mate, FOC I may add.

[BenelliSEI]

I usually polish the same way as everyone else and finish off with a final polish of Autosol. It seems to leave a fairly protective coating that I occasionally clean up with WINDEX and a soft towel. My bikes don’t get huge mileage so this seems to last for years….

[Oddjob]

I'm not sure that anyone polishes the same as anyone else, we all seem to do it differently. Some do it by hand using stuff like Autosol, some machine buff using buffing compounds, some use polish, all the results seem to be different as a result.

I'm fairly sure my method is kind of unique, as I tend to remove any casting marks, any road rash that has occurred and any dents, scratches or anything else that I feel detracts from the look I want. I've seen results from so called "Professionals" that frankly look awful, that clutch cover for my mate is to replace one he had done professionally, I've already done his alternator cover and I'm most of the way through his sprocket cover. He already has some of my fork sliders 

I'm not saying my method is for everyone, it's not. It requires immense amounts of patience and time, however scrap casings can be recovered this way, like this alt casing that I bought off Ebay for a pittance and restored to a very usable condition. If you look carefully you can still see the made in Japan section still has a small amount of damage, I can't get everything removed all the time. 

[denward17]

Looks very good oddjob, so what's your secret?

[Kelly E]

Oddjob, I do polishing like you do. By hand removing the casting marks as well as any damage. On my 74' CB 550 K0 I even smoothed every fin and rib on the motor. It took a couple of months.

[Oddjob]

LOL, my secret. Bloody mindedness if I'm honest. I like to experiment, I'll get an old piece that if I ruin it it's not the end of the world, I watch myself doing things and try and analyse why it's not working or why it is, I buy stuff just to test them and see how they turn out. I started off by hand polishing, sorry, sod that, I had no fingerprints left, my fingers were bleeding, not kidding. I had to stop for days to let them heal. So I tried using a Dremel, I burnt 3 of them out, again, not kidding, luckily they have a 2 year warranty so they were all replaced. I have 5 Dremels now, if you're thinking of buying one do not buy the 3000 or the 4000, must be the 4300. It's a genuine improvement on all the others. Use a flexible shaft on it, that makes a huge difference.

I've found some flap wheels for the Dremel that come in different grades instead of the usual 80 grit. They go down to 40 and up to 320. I use them a lot, I also use plastic abrasive wheels, they go up to 2000, which TBH is so fine I can sand my hand with it and it doesn't take skin off, 2000 grit is far too fine for alloy, it's like a pumice stone.

For the buffer, I use a converted grinder, 650w motor, let the soap (as we in the UK call it, buffing compound to you) do the work, pressure works but it can dish the alloy if the soap is aggressive. I use felt mops a lot, with grey soap, the most aggressive, go down to pink for the next polish, then white and finally gold or yellow. If you've prepped them correctly they'll polish up with no effort or time at all.

That's basically it. Kelly, that motor is like a negative of mine, my barrels and head are black with the rocker cover silver, breather cover polished, tappet caps polished. I had the head and barrels ceramic coated satin black but smoothed all the fin edges first, took all the rough spots off them and then polished them, then had it coated, then resanded the edges and repolished the edges again. Not 100% done yet as I then found some water damage I'd missed somehow on the liners so I'm having it rebored. I also have a NOS set of barrels for a 550F which I'm considering doing the same to IF the reboring doesn't work as planned. Nice to see I'm not on my own doing the casting mark things mate, hate them.

Can I just point out, Honda painted these casings, they are not polished and lacquered. Sand one and find out. This is a CB650 points cover, NOS,

Just sanded lightly. You can see the paint layer just under the lacquer as the lacquer starts to thin out



A little more, bare alloy showing now with dark grey on the edges where the paint layer is still present



Some more, and really clear there are layers on there. Some lacquer, some paint. You wouldn't get that with polishing.




Sorry if I'm hogging the thread a little.

[seanbarney41]

Oddjob, (and many others here) you must realize that although your work is very beautiful, it looks absolutely nothing like what these bikes looked like when they were brand new.  Originally, non of the aluminum was actually even polished, it was just brushed clean.  All of the shine was purely from the clearcoat that was applied.

I see that Oddjob just posted again about this while I was writing.

[Oddjob]

True Sean. However I don't do standard, you can buy a standard looking bike everyday on Ebay, I prefer a more personalised look, how Honda MIGHT have done them if time and money was no problem. I like to correct what I think Honda got wrong, like the single fuse on a 500, if it blows the whole bike stops, whoever thought of that idea wants sacking.

[seanbarney41]

Yeah, your idea's are certainly rational and not unheard of.  I like both ways, especially with Honda's.  When they were brand new they looked neat and worked so well for years even though they were cheaply made.  I see so many restorers overdo the paint and polish, I often feel the need to remind them what it is they actually have.  And I love the look of perfectly polished aluminum.

[Ozzybud]

Oddjob, (and many others here) you must realize that although your work is very beautiful, it looks absolutely nothing like what these bikes looked like when they were brand new.  Originally, non of the aluminum was actually even polished, it was just brushed clean.  All of the shine was purely from the clearcoat that was applied.

I see that Oddjob just posted again about this while I was writing.

I disagree with this. I have original unrestored  bikes and the hubs,fork lowers and side cases were  Indeed  polished! Never to a mirror finish.
See the Pic  below it matches the original finish .
These parts were cast and some work was needed ro prepare for paint or clear coat.
As in auto painting  paint or clear  coat  do not hide any defects underneath.
Maybe our definition of the word "polish" are varying.

[Ozzybud]

800 mile unrestored CB350F.

I would call the clutch cover polished

[Kelly E]

We have enough stock bikes and I like to turn on the music and get in the zone. I also did the 79' CB 750F DOHC but we sold it.

Doing the smoothing and polishing is relaxing to me. Almost as much as long distance road trips on a motorcycle.

[denward17]

LOL, my secret. Bloody mindedness if I'm honest. I like to experiment, I'll get an old piece that if I ruin it it's not the end of the world, I watch myself doing things and try and analyse why it's not working or why it is, I buy stuff just to test them and see how they turn out. I started off by hand polishing, sorry, sod that, I had no fingerprints left, my fingers were bleeding, not kidding. I had to stop for days to let them heal. So I tried using a Dremel, I burnt 3 of them out, again, not kidding, luckily they have a 2 year warranty so they were all replaced. I have 5 Dremels now, if you're thinking of buying one do not buy the 3000 or the 4000, must be the 4300. It's a genuine improvement on all the others. Use a flexible shaft on it, that makes a huge difference.

Thanks for the info.  I do have an older model dremel and it is just about dead (was the last time I tried to use it).

This prompted me to search for a new model and they are on sale, so I ordered it.

[Don R]

 This is an interesting thread with some great information.
 I've had good luck using 80 grit flap wheels with the Red Scotchbrite alternating between the flaps for getting past clear coat, the minor scratches and pinholes.
 For polish I like Green Dragon, it contains Carnuba wax so it polishes and protects. I found it at the Highway Shine Co. A recently deceased friend used to sell it at the drag races along with a spray on cleaner.

[Oddjob]

800 mile unrestored CB350F.

I would call the clutch cover polished

Sorry but that to me has been polished, for instance it no longer matches the dipstick which is the standard colour for Honda cases. If you can see a reflection then it's been polished, generally you can't see a reflection at all.