My GSX1400 Restoration

[SA14]

Figured I'd start my own thread, show all my work and all my questions in one central location. I'll be repeating myself a bit as I drag everything I've done into this one central thread but it'll stop threads going off topic as I ask questions as I think of them in other threads.

This weekend I'll be polishing my new engine side covers which I'll detail below but for now I've mentioned how I touched up my barrels and fins with high temp BBQ paint and they look good so before I put the new polished covers on I thought I'd touch up the rest of the block but I have a few questions.

In the pics below you'll notice that despite being brushed with cold soapy water (as suggested) the white muck still remains. Is it ok to paint over that? I have some thinners I can brush on but am worried it'll splash onto areas it shouldn't, such as the frame...etc. I'm not after a show quality job, just want to re-blacken the block/case. What steps should I take before spraying on the BBQ black (shown below)? Or is it ok to just clean with soapy water, dry off then spray right over it?

It's also on the top of the engine. A bit more worried about spraying up there but I would like to get the engine looking even and black.

[KiwiCol]

A firm / stiff bristle brush might shift some more of that dirt, some degreaser might also be worth a go & finish off with a water blaster?  Else just paint it & see how it goes.

[SA14]

A firm / stiff bristle brush might shift some more of that dirt, some degreaser might also be worth a go & finish off with a water blaster?  Else just paint it & see how it goes.

Ok cool. I've already tried all those things except I don't have a high pressure water blaster I've inly got a hose nozzle jet thing. I'm wary of blasting high pressure water but I could always go down to the car wash and give just the bottom of the block a quick careful blast. So I guess that must be some permanent type of corrosion which will accept paint hopefully.

I'll try once more before giving it a quick blast of high temp paint this weekend.  Can't wait. But worried about the head covers though. Not trying to win any awards. Just trying to give it some youth back. It bothers me to see it.

[grog]

S100 would fix it easily but now hard to find in Oz. Harley engine brightener supposedly as good, havent tried yet. Thats what id be trying, i know how good s100 is, easy to use, comes up like new black motor.

[SA14]

S100 would fix it easily but now hard to find in Oz. Harley engine brightener supposedly as good, havent tried yet. Thats what id be trying, i know how good s100 is, easy to use, comes up like new black motor.

Okay so I may not even need painting? That would be better I was thinking of oiling it up but that's not a very healthy solution. There are also some chips where the paint has actually come off and there is corrosion so I'm guessing the blackener wouldn't solve that  but it might be useful for the head cover where I don't really want to paint   

[grog]

25 bucks at the Hardly shop.

[SA14]

25 bucks at the Hardly shop.

$24.75. They also said they think S100 is not being made anymore. Not not being imported, not being made.

Off to repco for a few cans of degreaser so I can clean the front sprocket area while replacing the left cover. When I was blessing my clutch I was horrified at the amount of funk and sand.

Might also buy some gear oil and kerosene while there ;-)

[KiwiCol]

Kero is cheaper at the local supermarket, Repco & Supercheap think it's gold.

[SA14]

Ok, this surprised me! I started on the side cover polish this afternoon and got a nice surprise. All I did was strip off the clear coat and just doing that revealed a nicely polished set of covers. WTH? Am I imagining it or was the clear coat covering a half decent polish? I swear that as delivered from Suzuki parts they had that "semi-brushed" finish that is common throughout the GSX1400. It's there on the cam end "covers" the headlight mounts and of course the engine side covers but under that awful clear coat sits a nicely polished metal surface. Did Suzuki intend for the side covers to have a chrome like polish?

Keep in mind that I have not touched these covers with anything. I've only removed the clear coat with that generic paint stripper. I applied two coats but it almost all came off with the first application. I did the second one to make sure. I was so surprised I had to take a video to show you guys what was hiding underneath that "brushed factory finish".

The first photo shows the covers out of the bag as they arrived from Suzuki, Then the stripped covers but unpolished by me then some of the blistering clear coat for eek value. I used a soft nylon brush to agitate and rinse the parts in warm water (yep, my shed has a hot water tap) to get the stripper off but that's it. The second photos are of the parts after the factory clear coating has been removed and the video speaks for itself.

This is a fascinating discovery to me. I could almost slap on a few coats of ceramic coating and call it done but I'm going to give them my best polish using all my skills and materials and my new Dremel thanks to and motivated by @Snapey dig. All in good fun.

[sandman_2091]

Good post SA,  mine has the faded and crazed look on the leading edges, and I am going to ask how best to bring them back to life!   Yours are looking good mate. 

[SA14]

Good post SA,  mine has the faded and crazed look on the leading edges, and I am going to ask how best to bring them back to life!   Yours are looking good mate. 

Wait till you see them now!

Ok so I've just spent the last few hours polishing, dropping  (I was holding them with one hand, and holding the polisher in the other hand and...yep you could have predicted it) , and re-polishing them again. I tried the dremel but I slipped and damaged them as I knew I would. Ended up doing them mostly by hand and with my 3inch Milwaukee Rotary polisher (M12-BPS). I used a large piece of soft foam as a working surface. Touched some areas with 800 grit, then 1,200 grit, then 2,000 grit, then 3,000 trizact disc on a thin foam backing pad, then autosol dabbed onto a cutting pad, then 3,000 grit cutting compound on the same cutting pad, then 12,000 grit on a polishing pad then buff with a microfibre cloth. They're not perfect but I think they're a little better than the amazingly shiny condition I discovered in the previous post (under the clear coating).

Tomorrow I'll be giving them a triple coat of ceramic so they stay shiny for years (hopefully), painting the block a bit and bolting them on.

...and now pics and video!

[steve porter]

They have come up a treat

[SA14]

Ok, umm, wow! That Harley engine brightener really worked! I will not be paining my block. It worked so well I got a bit carried away and applied it to every black surface I could find. Didn't want to spray it directly onto my rims so I sprayed some onto a microfibre cloth and wiped them down and again...wow! Look freshly painted. What's in this stuff? It made my shoes squeak as I walked on the lino of my garage floor and I can feel it (sort of) on my hands still but when I touch and wipe the black bits on the engine it feel neither damp or oily.

Seems a bit too good to be true and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I'd probably doubted it. It reminds me of that gunk used car dealers spray all over engines to make them look fresh but this feel dry to the touch. Reminds me of armour all - hope it's nothing like it because that would be disappointing but it immediately blackened and refreshed the whole engine. I'm stunned to be frank. Great tip! Thanks @grog! Great tip!! Got some before and after photos below to show the difference. The front of the block looks a billion times better but still not perfect but I'm not going to let perfect become the enemy of good. Not going to put this into a show but it looks much much younger already. I highly recommend anyone who misses S100 to give this a try.

[SA14]

Ok, so I'll be installing my brand new polished engine covers next but staring at that SUZUKI lettering I want those letters black. My concern is I have a fresh raw beautifully polished surface and I have to both clean and paint those letters. But how? I don't want to hit them with thinners (or alcohol) but they must be cleaned somehow before I apply the paint or if I don't paint them and leave them raw (opinions please) so I'm going to have to do that somehow.

I have both Hi-Temp engine paint (pictured below) as well as common garden variety shiny black spray paint. I don't have a tiny brush but I do have a small syringe that I used to apply ear drops into doggo. Thought "this syringe will come in handy one day, might keep it". One idea I had was to lay a strip of masking tape across the letters and carefully slice out the letters with a sharp razor. That will allow me to use an old tooth brush and alcohol (or thinners?) to clean then spray them but not sure how well I'll be able to cut around all the letters. The Hi-Temp black engine paint drys faster and is meant for high temperature applications but I suspect the normal spray paint will do the trick too. What about just using a black felt marker? That's safe but is it a good idea?

Given the sensitive nature of the freshly polished surface I'm leaning towards the relative safety of a permanent felt marker to be honest. Is that too hack of me? Maybe raw will look ok? It is the way that Suzy intended after all.

Edit: Just had a thought, what about those paint touch up pens?

Edit #2: If I fill the letters with paint and use the "wipe with thinners" method, how long do I wait before I wipe? Immediately or let it dry to the touch (20 minutes with the enamel but only 5 minutes with the High-Temp paint)? Or straight away while it's still wet?

[SA14]

Made an executive decision to use High Temp engine paint - semi satin finish which is the same paint I used to paint the engine barrels (finned area). Made a few mistakes though. I used a cotton bud and sprayed high temp engine paint into a container (btoom of a orange juice bottle) and dabbed the paint into the lettering (pic 1 below). I applied two coats (dabs) then eventually ended up carefully wiping away the excess using cotton buds dabbed in thinners.

The first time I tried to wipe I made a mess because I used too much thinners onto a rag and just started wiping in broad strokes all over the lettering like a moron and it flowed into the lettering removing and smearing the paint all over the place. I modified my technique the next time around (after filling the letters in again) by carefully dabbing the cotton buds into thinners then dabbing the excess thinners off the bud onto a cloth then gently wiping carefully around the edges of the letters with the slightly damp cotton bud. That worked. Again, it's not perfect but it'll do.

And now pics and a video!...