Reclaiming an old damaged CB550F2/K3 rotor cover

[DomP]

That's a bit more than OK Ken it looks fantastic, it's got me thinking though, my 550 must have a 500 cover on it.

If yours is a CB550 F1 it came with the 500 Four cover 

I've just been looking at Google images and got very confused for a moment.  Yep mine is an F1 which clears that one up, for a moment I was thinking I had a bit of a mongrel. 😆

[Matt_Harrington]

Ken, an excellent recovery! Probably why I tend to never throw anything out! Mind you, I never get round to doing a decent job like you have done.
Could you briefly show what variety of tools you used? It maybe of use to other (and to me....)

[Laverdaroo]

So how much for that one and I have a couple here that need working on if you're up for it Ken


Great job, looks fantastic mate.

[Oddjob]

How much?

I wasn't going to sell it TBH, I was going to vacuum seal it in a poly bag and store it for the future. However, I may sell it if the paintwork comes out ok, a NOS is £200 if you can find one that is. Getting one polished to that standard is pretty expensive I reckon, best part of £100 maybe. It's actually sat on the sideboard next to me as I type and whenever I look at it I'm surprised at how it looks like the casing has been chromed, I'd say it's very slightly brighter than the fork sliders I gave you Roo and those were pretty good.

What do you reckon it's worth?

I've got some other parts I may be doing up and selling. Which reminds me, have you still got those old fork sliders

[Oddjob]

Ken, an excellent recovery! Probably why I tend to never throw anything out! Mind you, I never get round to doing a decent job like you have done.
Could you briefly show what variety of tools you used? It maybe of use to other (and to me....)

LOL, you want me to give my secrets away Matt?

No secrets mate, I've already listed what I normally use on the polishing thread that started about 1 year ago. Get Roo to show you the abrasive discs we both use, I also use some flap wheels but I have some that are 40,60,80,120,180,240 and 360. I find the flap wheels give you a flatter surface than the discs but the discs get into places where the flap wheels can't. Plus the discs go down to 2000, so I use those for the final surface. After that, a bench grinder converted to a polishing machine with pig tail extensions on, a variety of buffing soaps and mops and the most important bit, patience and time, you need lots of both of those.

I do have a couple of other tools I use but I don't divulge what they are but TBH they are only useful for certain jobs and most of the time I don't use them.

[Oddjob]

Just bought another cover like this one off Ebay, some small damage but nowhere near where this one was. I'll do that one and sell it on I reckon.

[Matt_Harrington]

   Yes, those mini flap wheels are great! You obviously use similar methods to me, the only difference is you are better at it and spend a lot more time than I would! 

[Oddjob]

Small update on the cover, painted the logo last night at 3am, couldn't sleep so thought I'd do something productive. I painted inside the screw holes as they just collect muck otherwise. I also painted the black areas on the tank badge I'm restoring.

Will do the Made In Japan area tonight, just wanted to see how it looked with just the normal area painted first, I'll also do the outer ring.



I'll also do the white interior of the letters on the tank badge. After that I'll touch up the gold and lacquer it.

[Johnny4428]

Nice resto work there again Ken! 3 am?? I don’t think I would be much good to anybody at that unearthly hour. 🤣😴😴

[Oddjob]

Another step forward with the rotor cover and the tank badge. Learning what works and what doesn't.

Painted the Made In Japan engraving and the outer ring, made a few mistakes when cleaning off the excess and that means I need to do another layer of paint on top of that one but the effect is there.

I have decided to sell this one, most likely on Ebay. As these covers are £200 new and they are rarer than unicorn droppings and the fact that it's highly polished, I've set the price at £150. If a member wants it I'll sell it for £130 inc P&P.

I now have another casing to do, exactly the same as this one, which is already earmarked for a member on here for his 550. When I get his in return I'll do another and probably sell that on as well.

Here's how it currently looks, still needs a little tidying up and of course another layer of paint. I've got to say I like the look of this, better than just the logo painted.



The tank badge also got some more paint, the white interior of the letter has now been done. Like the rotor cover another layer is needed, as the paint dries it tends to shrink a little. I think that the other badge will be done slightly differently, I'll do the gold last I think as removing excess paint also removed small areas of gold. Might as well avoid that and do the gold last and then lacquer it as the gold I think won't be as hardy for outside use as I want. I'm thinking of petrol resistant matt lacquer.

Here's how it looks right now. I may put up a picture of the other one which is untouched at the moment just for a comparison when it's finally done.

[Sesman]

Looking good Ken. Which gold paint did you use? I’m thinking it might work on my F2 tank badges.

[Oddjob]

It's 24K gold leaf Phil, you paint a bonding agent onto the metal and the leaf sticks to that. The finish is good but not very robust, hence the plan to lacquer it.

[Oddjob]

Started another of these covers today. Coming on nicely, front almost done.

[Oddjob]

Just for you Ted.

Bought these to experiment and see if they can be reclaimed.

Not finished yet, still need to be polished.

400 rotor cover, bought off Ebay, part number 11632-333-010, price new £90 off DS plus the usual P&P.

Here's what I started with, cover generally in nice condition, no real corrosion, just some light damage, most likely the bike fell off the side stand.



And after some attention, a little panel beating.



This one was pretty damaged, a little too damaged but I suppose that's a good challenge. Worse than yours Ted. 500 rotor cover, 11632-323-003. Same price, £90 at DS etc.



This one took a while and the edges still need a little work but coming on. The Honda logo cleaned up reasonably well, just a small area on the N that needs work. These covers look thin but in fact they are stronger than they look.

[Seabeowner]

You've saved me £80 Ken. I was looking at buying a new cover for my 500K1 as it had a fair few marks. But cleaned it up, plus a little paint on the black and although nowhere near your standard it no longer stands out as a blemish.