My 82 shovelhead has a wrinkle black paint on the crankcase. Wonder when they switched finishes and the heads were black with highlighted fins.

 

Nice. My 80 FXS has back rocker boxes, black cylinders and black cases. And a black inner primary. Some paint is chipping so I’m going to sand and paint. But the engine is going to stay in the frame, so it’s nice to see that it’s feasible!

 

heat guns are your friend

 

Here's before and after on the rocker boxes. They were even worse but I did hit them with a wire wheel before pulling them off.



First thing to do is sand with dry 220 grit to remove crud and smooth them out some:


step 1 sand with 220 grit

Then get rid of all the scratches by wet sanding with 280 (or 320) grit, 400 and then 600 grit paper:


wet sanding complete

you could stop there if you like the brushed aluminum look.

 

But I went to the buffing wheels. I got my supplies from the Eastwood Co. I have had good luck with them over the years.

First red rouge on a sewn cotton wheel gets rid of the scratches:


Polishing step 1

But it isn't a deep shine. For that you need white rouge on a loose cotton wheel:


Polishing step 2

Now it could be chrome plated, except I like the look of polished aluminum. A little hand work with Mother's Aluminum Polish, and they look great:

 

nice job joe

 

Agreed.... Very nice job.....

 

nice work on the rocker boxes , i'm not sure they even looked that good brand new !

 

LOL thanks - I sprayed clear acrylic on them and they almost look chrome:




I had a great surprise today!

Since it is easy to turn the motor over, I put a drinking straw down the plug hole and checked the stroke. It was 4 1/4", stock for 80" motor! Some previous owner must have swapped cranks, and I can only assume pistons, too.



I didn't take any pictures of the assembly process, it's pretty straight forward, right out of the manual. But I did have to grind one of my wrenches thinner to tighten the locknut on the pushrods. If I had an assistant he should have taken a picture of me holding three wrenches to keep the length steady while tightening; it was quite a chore...



Final picture for the weekend. Next steps, put the motor in the frame, install the carburetor, and then the primary:


glamour shot!

 

Nice. An 80"shovel is a great power plant... Looking good man...