cleaning and polishing

[The Novice]

'Soon' I will be stripping down my bike for a good clean and hopefully restore it to a decent level. It going to be a long slog for me though as i just dont seem to ever get the time to do what i want to! At the moment its all in my head so i am getting things together beforehand so i can just get on with it when i can.

I am curious about how people get everything so damn clean on theirs. I have recently bought a bench grinder and wire wheel to remove paint and stuff when i need to - but how do i get things like the exhaust or general nuts and bolts for example, really sparkling? A wire wheel will leave a terrible finish wont it - so thats only for things to be repainted or powdercoated i assume.

Is it just a case of buying new or can i make it look new again with some elbow grease and certain tools?

I do have an air compressor and a spot blaster kit but have never used it.

[lizard821000]

i cleaned every nut and bolt the way you say mate on my other bikes, wire wheel, bear metal bolts come up a treat..... bear in mind some bolts have a yellow zinc plating and if wire wheeled will remove, these are cheap bolts to replace mind so if its just a standard bolt/nut etc i will buy a new.....if its a costem made to fit nut or bolt(which bike companies love to make so can charge you 20 quid for a bolt! lol) then the wire wheel will bring it up like new :)

exhuast, wire wool is good. if a brushed finish. if polished, can re-polish it once cleaned.


HTH

[The Novice]

so once nuts and bolts not being replaced are wire wheeled clean, is it best to get them zinc coated? If not - they will just rust up v quickly wont they? Is it cost efficient to zinc coat or does it cost less to take out a loan and replace them!!?

And the exhaust - i have got headers to clean up, so i wire wool them, then polish with a rag and some autosol or something ? isnt there anything I can put on a drill and get it done quickly with?!

[lizard821000]

i dont know if id bother with all that tbh, if the bolts just a bolt and a non stress related one, id just swop for SS ones mate. BZP bolts will still rust, just not as quick.

with the headers, depending what sort of metal they are you can get rotary wire wheels, make the job easier, again, it all depends on what finish you was after as im unsure if you can get fine wire brushes, could make polishing(if polish finished)a twat if they mark them too much. youd be surprised how good working your way through wire wool grades can buff and remove crap too.

if its a full resto your doing(like what i did) you can get the magority in SS and the costem ones buy new from a dealer, be ready to spend big time though on some silly bolts if your doing it this way. for the bolts that where hidden but still needing a clean, i just wire wheeled them and coverd in rust resistant stuff. they ll still rust eventually but so will new bolts unless stainless.

[Deviant400]

yep the wire wheel will clean them up but will rust after , you can buy packs of stainless allen head bolts in assorted sizes from ebay , i think the guy is called bolt me up does massive packs quite cheap, there good for swapping out all the little bolts like on the clocks and switch gear throttle housing plus other areas, bottom fork pinch bolts caliper mounts and so on from pro bolt , bead blast and zinc coat the rest if you cant replace, its the little things that make the finish in the end.