Polished Covers (pics)
Club Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 14,564
Likes: 9,225
From: the 50s & the 60s
Already did mine jrk.
I'm asking Dawg what technique he used.
mud
.
Last edited by mud; Aug 8, 2008 at 02:16 PM.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,443
Likes: 3
From: Sasser, GA
Thanks for the compliments, guys.
Mud, I guess you could say I cheated...I didn't strip mine, and I still have my silver take-offs. I didn't want to be without the bike, so I bought some used polished covers off e-bay ('02 FXD). I had considered buying new ones until I found out it was gonna cost close to $400. I ended up paying about $65 ($90 or so with shipping) for all three including the derby cover, but two of the three parts needed a lot of work (cam cover was like new, other two from a different guy were not in good shape at all...dings, stains, and dull finish). I used some off-brand polishing compound and a polishing wheel from the parts house on a drill to buff them to a shine (after wet sanding some areas with 2000g) and then hand polished them with Mother's aluminum polish. I wasn't sure the tranny cover would ever get good enough to suit me, but it did eventually (though not perfect) with some help from a Dremel. The primary is pretty close to flawless now, and the cam cover came to me in new condition.
As for the fork lowers, I don't plan on polishing those more than they are. Like I said before, the ones I shined are starting out a little brighter than what I'm going for (I want close to the finish of the rocker covers), so I'm not really wanting that much bling...really want more of a raw metal machine-like look for the bike- a mixture of black, dull silver, polished metal, and chrome. It's getting there a little at a time...
One thing I am gonna polish is the lip of the pulley. I also have a coil cover that I bought off a bargain table at a shop a couple of months back, but I'm still deciding if I want to leave it chrome, Scotchbright it, or maybe do something different like powder coating or painting it (maybe with some matching plug wires)...waiting for inspiration, I guess.
Sorry so long-winded...making up for months of one-liners.
Mud, I guess you could say I cheated...I didn't strip mine, and I still have my silver take-offs. I didn't want to be without the bike, so I bought some used polished covers off e-bay ('02 FXD). I had considered buying new ones until I found out it was gonna cost close to $400. I ended up paying about $65 ($90 or so with shipping) for all three including the derby cover, but two of the three parts needed a lot of work (cam cover was like new, other two from a different guy were not in good shape at all...dings, stains, and dull finish). I used some off-brand polishing compound and a polishing wheel from the parts house on a drill to buff them to a shine (after wet sanding some areas with 2000g) and then hand polished them with Mother's aluminum polish. I wasn't sure the tranny cover would ever get good enough to suit me, but it did eventually (though not perfect) with some help from a Dremel. The primary is pretty close to flawless now, and the cam cover came to me in new condition.
As for the fork lowers, I don't plan on polishing those more than they are. Like I said before, the ones I shined are starting out a little brighter than what I'm going for (I want close to the finish of the rocker covers), so I'm not really wanting that much bling...really want more of a raw metal machine-like look for the bike- a mixture of black, dull silver, polished metal, and chrome. It's getting there a little at a time...
One thing I am gonna polish is the lip of the pulley. I also have a coil cover that I bought off a bargain table at a shop a couple of months back, but I'm still deciding if I want to leave it chrome, Scotchbright it, or maybe do something different like powder coating or painting it (maybe with some matching plug wires)...waiting for inspiration, I guess.
Sorry so long-winded...making up for months of one-liners.
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,246
Likes: 1
From: T-City, Wa.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,443
Likes: 3
From: Sasser, GA
Updating what's been going on with the bike, I've scuffed up the chrome for that brushed look on a few more parts, and I've been planning to paint/powder a few small things black going forward to get the right balance of black/chrome/polished/brushed. I took off the passenger boards a while back since I only ride solo anymore. I'll probably switch to a solo seat and lose the backrest mounts (slotting them for quick on/off) once I get around to fixing the rear fender paint under the seat and sissy bar brackets. I've been considering the H-D quarter fairing and a different bar set up for a couple of years since I ride pretty hard sans windshield quite a bit (and because it will pop right on my windshield mounts), but I've been too broke to do much of anything that wasn't free for the past year +. I really want to do some engine work and go to a 2-1, but frankly I push myself too much a lot of the time as it is. More power would probably just get me in trouble, and I like the current setup just fine when I stop to think about it, but I'm sure I'll do it anway once I get some jingle back among the lint.
Sorry about the rambling....it's been a while since I thought much about mods.
Last edited by Dawg Rider; Feb 11, 2010 at 09:28 PM.
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