Took my cam cover off of my 67 Electraglide because it looked very pitted, I sanded on it with a DA for an hour but the pits are never ending, is this because they are sand-cast and can it be polished out or will the pits keep appearing as you go further down into the material? I don't want to keep talking material away if it wont polish out. Anyone have experience with these and I don't want to go the chrome route in advance thanks!

 

Sometimes you get one that's not so porous and sometimes you don't. I had one years ago that had to be touched up with a MIG then leveled out before polishing. It's all in how much work you're willing to do or pay to have done.

 

sand cast out gassing pits.
you can try filler material but this will be pain-staking.
one option is to have it shot peened and then polish.
another is just powder coat it
lastly, go RAT

 

Thanks for the replies, the bike is too nice to go with the "rat look" and I don't want paint or chrome, I would really like a polished cover, I contacted Tony at Mirror finish polishing by Springfield Mo. he said he may have to weld on it but most should sand out after .030, I really don't want to take that much material off, plus when I was sanding on it I was wondering if I would reveal more pits or pores the further I got into it, i haven't found any aftermarket other than SnS cycle and theirs looks pretty rough. I did see a couple of covers on Feebay right now but the one seller told me his was full of pores as well.

 

so that leaves shot peening. i am sure you know the process but for others:
controlled pressure shoots small pellets at the surface and this compacts the surface so if there are any imperfections, they are smoothed out and the surface actually becomes more dense, perfect for polishing.
a common item is con rods to help stress relief.
this was a common issue with early hd casting, even my 1974 fx had these issues.
one + is shot is less stressful than applying heat which can lead to other issues.

btw: cases do have rifle drillings for oil so if you cut down the surface, could open one up, had to peen one closed on that fx.

 

Tried to pm you but you must not have enough post yet. If you want to ship me the cone I'll tig weld the pits for you then you can grind and polish your *** off. I've done a few welding jobs on the older sand cast cases so it's not an experiment. Not selling anything and not charging anything just hooking up a fellow rider and forum member...you pay shipping lol. Just throwing out the option for you.