Vapour blasting engine cases

[royhall]

Hi. guys. Just deciding what to do about painting or blasting the engine cases/barrels/head on the old 350. VHT paint tends to go a bit brittle over time so seriously thinking of getting it all vapour blasted and leaving it at that. Leaves a really nice satin silver finish but am a bit concerned about how durable its going to be. Has anybody tried it?

[bytio]

The best solution is Stove enamel, identical to origonal, totally fuel/oil resistand, very tough.
Here is mine (satin black but avail in silver)

[royhall]

Thanks Bytio that looks a top job. Now the big questions: Who did you get to do it, how much did it cost, what preparation work is required (masking etc). Sorry to be a nosy bu***r but I think that may be the perfect solution. Cheers Roy.

[Trigger]

Hi. guys. Just deciding what to do about painting or blasting the engine cases/barrels/head on the old 350. VHT paint tends to go a bit brittle over time so seriously thinking of getting it all vapour blasted and leaving it at that. Leaves a really nice satin silver finish but am a bit concerned about how durable its going to be. Has anybody tried it?

Vapour blasting engines does have a small problem. If i vapour a crank case i always get the customer to sign a dis-claimer that i am not responsible for any glass bead left in the oil ways. Cases are a lot easier but, make sure the media is a very fine grade because it can cause pitting in the alloy 

[bytio]

There are many places, but i had mine done through SEP engineering Kegworth, they sorted everything (cleaning blasting etc) and had the stove enamelling done, the price I can't remember as it was in a total covering REBORE valve guide and seats plus all new bearings, just give em a call and ask

[royhall]

Hi. guys. Just deciding what to do about painting or blasting the engine cases/barrels/head on the old 350. VHT paint tends to go a bit brittle over time so seriously thinking of getting it all vapour blasted and leaving it at that. Leaves a really nice satin silver finish but am a bit concerned about how durable its going to be. Has anybody tried it?

Vapour blasting engines does have a small problem. If i vapour a crank case i always get the customer to sign a dis-claimer that i am not responsible for any glass bead left in the oil ways. Cases are a lot easier but, make sure the media is a very fine grade because it can cause pitting in the alloy 

Good point that Trigger, guess it's the same with any type of blasting. What's the finish like, does it stand up to being handled with oily hands etc, and will it go black in time. Any advice on this would be great as its looking like vapour blasting or stove enamel. Don't want to go down the VHT paint route again as it ends up too brittle and easily damaged. Cheers all.

[royhall]

Anybody got experience with the vapour blasting thing? Cheers.

[andut]

Hi Roy,

I've just received my crank cases back from wet blasting, and they look fantastic - I'll add some pics later tonight !  I'm planning to leave them as they are now without any lacquer etc - my thinking is that the bike will not get lots of use, hopefully not in adverse weather and I'll keep on top of the cleaning.

Years ago my uncle used to run a shot blasting and wet blasting company aimed at bike / car cleaning (still going with new owner in north Kent) and he had quite a large collection of bikes that would have had their aluminum engine parts wet blasted with glass bead / high pressure water and they all looked great without any further coating.  They were mostly classic & vintage race bikes that were definitely used, but obviously nowhere near as much as road bikes could be.

I think it probably depends on your intended use of the bike - if it's going to see a lot of miles and salty roads etc, then I'd be considering a coating of some sort that can be hosed down / degreased, but if it's a 'sunny days' type of bike, and you're not committed to total factory finish originality, I'd be tempted to leave the wet blast finish.

I'll echo posts from Trigger in making sure you clean the parts and then clean them again to flush any blasting media out - that's my job for tonight !

Hope that is of some help !! 

Andy

[AshimotoK0]

Does anyone know the best grade of glass beads to get for dry blasting alloy parts? I got two 1 kg samples free from Vixen (same makers of our blast cabinet) (will post spec. of beads later) but I need to get a 25 kg bag of the best one for my application (cylinder heads/barrels, covers.)  I know vapour is best but I have loads to do and it's bloody expensive and I hate trusting rare parts with other people and I don't trust them to not get media in the internals. Saving grace is I do  have access to a large industrial polishing machine and the compounds to polish with. Just need to crack the prep before lacquering now like Vic World does (chromate treatment).

Ash

[Trigger]

Anybody got experience with the vapour blasting thing? Cheers.

This has been vapour blasted but, it is british alloy. For the same price i would go for stove enamel 

[andut]

... interesting that you suggest stove enameling !  My plan was to stove enamel head & barrels in satin black, but the coatings company (predominantly do bike work)  warned against it because of the durability of the finish which surprised me as it goes against a lot of what I have read on here and other forums !

After a lot of head scratching I've just ordered a couple of cans of Simoniz Motorcycle Heat Dispersant paint and I'll see how that goes !

Andy

[Trigger]

... interesting that you suggest stove enameling !  My plan was to stove enamel head & barrels in satin black, but the coatings company (predominantly do bike work)  warned against it because of the durability of the finish which surprised me as it goes against a lot of what I have read on here and other forums !

After a lot of head scratching I've just ordered a couple of cans of Simoniz Motorcycle Heat Dispersant paint and I'll see how that goes !

Andy

This is the best VHT paint in gloss black> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-GLOSS-BLACK-ENGINE-ENAMEL-PAINT-SP124-/351177183419?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item51c3ca90bb

FJ1200 engine i did last week in SP124 

[AshimotoK0]

... interesting that you suggest stove enameling !  My plan was to stove enamel head & barrels in satin black, but the coatings company (predominantly do bike work)  warned against it because of the durability of the finish which surprised me as it goes against a lot of what I have read on here and other forums !

After a lot of head scratching I've just ordered a couple of cans of Simoniz Motorcycle Heat Dispersant paint and I'll see how that goes !

Andy

This is the best VHT paint in gloss black> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-GLOSS-BLACK-ENGINE-ENAMEL-PAINT-SP124-/351177183419?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item51c3ca90bb

FJ1200 engine i did last week in SP124 

How about silver for crankcases Graham..what do you use for that to match original Honda finish?

Ash

[Piki]

I have bead blasting on my 550 engine and perfect, it very easy to clean with a brush(and fuel)looks great, and I am not worry about of the fuel/oil leaks, temperature,etc,etc

[Trigger]

... interesting that you suggest stove enameling !  My plan was to stove enamel head & barrels in satin black, but the coatings company (predominantly do bike work)  warned against it because of the durability of the finish which surprised me as it goes against a lot of what I have read on here and other forums !

After a lot of head scratching I've just ordered a couple of cans of Simoniz Motorcycle Heat Dispersant paint and I'll see how that goes !

Andy

This is the best VHT paint in gloss black> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-GLOSS-BLACK-ENGINE-ENAMEL-PAINT-SP124-/351177183419?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item51c3ca90bb

FJ1200 engine i did last week in SP124 

How about silver for crankcases Graham..what do you use for that to match original Honda finish?

Ash

The close finish to original is Simoniz SIMVHT31C