Getting BD Bars polished..

green_comet · Postby **green_comet** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:34 pm

Hey everyone,

I picked up a set of brown davis bars second hand the other day, and have installed them.. They are black powercoated alloy, but I would love them to be polished. Does anyone know if this can be done?? I was thinking of just attacking them with some paint stripper, and then sanding and polishing them up..

I would just like some opinions on what can be done.. Im not really game on spending hundreds getting them done by a professional.

any help would be great..

Cheers
Ryan

rodent · Postby **rodent** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:42 pm

Mate the bar looks great just as it is! :mrgreen:

Don't think the bling look would go with it at all.

*drops 2c on the floor; runs away*

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:48 pm

Interesting question. Are you sure it is alloy underneath and not steel? It would be a shame to remove the coating to find you cant polish it. A quick search revealed the following answer from a coating co in the US...

\"What is the best way to remove the powder coat without damaging the metal underneath? Are there different removal methods for steel or aluminum? The company I work for (as well as many others) make hot alkaline strippers for paint / powder that are used routinely for powder removal. We even have a hot stripper that takes paint and powder off of aluminum surfaces. Mechanical and burn methods are also regularly used to remove powder.\"

My guess is to attack it with a reasonably coarse sandpaper (120 grit) until you see the metal start to show through, then change to a 240 grit, then 400 then 600 etc until you have the polished finish you're looking for. Be very careful not to put deep scratches into the alloy or you'll never get them out. Once the alloy is exposed there is no substitute for a good buffing wheel and polishing soap, but the tube joins will make this difficult to use. Good luck and post some pics of the process when you do it.

green_comet · Postby **green_comet** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 10:58 pm

The reason i want to polish them, is because the powder coating has quite a few scratches and chips in it.

Yeah they are alloy though, very light weight. The drill cut through them like butter(when installing eye bolts).

Im just scared of attacking them with sandpaper, and finding out it's too hard of a job. Ahh well i suppose if its too hard i can just get them re-powdercoated..

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 11:00 pm

Here's another suggestion - Permatex gasket remover :shock:

http://www.choppersurplus.com/global/articles/howtoremovepowdercoating.html

From what I've read it will depend on the type of coat used as to whether strippers will work, but it might be worth a try?

fastfreddygassit · Postby **fastfreddygassit** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:37 pm

Ryan, I would suggest investigating sand/bead blasting.
You have to be VERY careful though as the aluminium will pit if the blast operator is heavy handed.
You're best bet is to beg/borrow/steal a blast unit of someone and do it yourself, using fine sand and low(ish) air pressure.

I made the mistake :mrgreen:

of polishing a R1 frame and swingarm a few years ago..
It looked awesome (truly a mirror finish) when completed but took me 3 solid days to finish.
The hard anodising (clear coat) on the swingarm, I sent off to get sand blasted, and it was pitted like the moon when I got it back. It took ages of sanding to get it smooth
enough even to begin polishing. Thats why it is important to stipulate to the operator to go easy on the pressure. Even if it means you have to sand some parts down yourself.

Ok, as for polishing this ===>The Ultimate Polishing Guide is everything you need to know. And I mean everything. It is motorbike biased but the principals are the same.
As for materials, there is a polishing supply company (yellow pages??) just off the ring road near broady that I bought all my tripoli, rouge, pads, mats etc
off and they where very cheap and the guys uber helpful with advice.

Bear in mind the the aluminium will dull over eventually (oxidisation) and you will have to keep is polished to look its best. Mothers wipes are usually pretty good.

and my 2c worth? Get it sandblasted and get it powdercoated white or blue. And get the wheel centres done at the same time... :mrgreen:

green_comet · Postby **green_comet** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:58 pm

thanks for all the info dude.. :mrgreen:

It seems that waxing it every now and then will slow down the oxidisation..

also how are you new cams going?? I think that is going to be my next purchase..

fastfreddygassit · Postby **fastfreddygassit** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:43 pm

green_comet wrote:thanks for all the info dude..

It seems that waxing it every now and then will slow down the oxidisation..

also how are you new cams going?? I think that is going to be my next purchase..

Neil just sent the cams today, so I should have them by the end of the week.
As for fitting.... :mrgreen:

Maybe on the long weekend.
I also have a set of X-Force extractors to whack in so I might as well do it all at the same time.
I'm just contemplating whether to change the cam belt and water pump whilst the whole lot is apart, as these where changed about 40K km's ago.
Decisions, decisions.... :mrgreen:

PT · Postby PT » Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:58 pm

I think you'll find the product is sandblasted before being powdercoated also, so the alloy underneath is not going to be a nice smooth surface.

I think you'll probably do more damage removing the powder than it's worth.

I had a customer try to do exactly this with one of our roll bars, and ended up buying a nice new polished one because they ruined the surface.

green_comet · Postby **green_comet** » Tue Jan 02, 2007 6:40 pm

fastfreddygassit wrote:
green_comet wrote:thanks for all the info dude..

It seems that waxing it every now and then will slow down the oxidisation..

also how are you new cams going?? I think that is going to be my next purchase..

Neil just sent the cams today, so I should have them by the end of the week.
As for fitting....
Maybe on the long weekend.
I also have a set of X-Force extractors to whack in so I might as well do it all at the same time.
I'm just contemplating whether to change the cam belt and water pump whilst the whole lot is apart, as these where changed about 40K km's ago.
Decisions, decisions....

I would do cam belt, and water pump.. Im thinking I might put in a Gates timing belt, when it comes time to change. As for cams you will have to let me know how it goes, or take me for a spin after the install. :mrgreen:

I need to spend my new softtop money, on Cams rather than a new softtop..