Bead or plastic?

[jsmith1107]

when blasting the upper and lower cases of the engine, what is the appropriate media to use? Bill Silver says plastic media in his book. Anybody used glass and how does that work? When you are done blasting, do you protect it in any way or leave it natural?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[markstertt]

Hi Jeff, I'm against glass beading unless the part is to be painted. The glass beads leave a matt finish that is hard to keep clean and ruins the original patina of the cast part. I've seen many ruined vintage Triumph parts that have been glass beaded. Wet bead blasting (vapor blasting) is far superior in regards to leaving the nice bright finish of a fresh casting. Soda blasting is also a prefered method especially for items such as carburetors, it leaves a nice finish and the soda residue washes away with water, no glass beads left hidden to resurface and cause havoc later on... I believe you can get a cheap blaster from Harbor Freight and a bag of soda and have at it in the back yard, gets a little dusty I'm told but just hoses off...this is from posts from the guys on the Britbike forum where I usually hide out....Mark

[Rickytic]

Jeff,
I used round glass beads with the Harbor Freight portable blaster, worked absolutely great and I am totally satisfied with the result.

[Bob750]

Rickytic,

Your engine looks really great! Nice job!

May I ask what specific media you used? I think the round glass beads come in a number of diameters or grits; don't they? Also, you're saying there's no paint on that engine in the pic?

I used round glass beads with the Harbor Freight portable blaster, worked absolutely great and I am totally satisfied with the result.

[LOUD MOUSE]

I rebuild HONDA engines and I blast every part with 2 different grades of ROUND GLASS.
The only part I don't blast is the crank.
I do paint any of the parts which were painted by HONDA but not the Head, Cylinders or Oil Pump.
Those parts will over time have a patina which looks just like they did originally. .............lm

when blasting the upper and lower cases of the engine, what is the appropriate media to use? Bill Silver says plastic media in his book. Anybody used glass and how does that work? When you are done blasting, do you protect it in any way or leave it natural?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[Bob750]

This could be considered OT, but I think it fits within the spirit of the OP, which is ultimately about case refinishing.

Loud Mouse, which silver paint(s) have you tried and/or settled on using?

I do paint any of the parts which were painted by HONDA but not the Head, Cylinders or Oil Pump. .............lm

[LOUD MOUSE]

I've used several brands over the years but I have used KRYLON Dull Aluminum since around 1993.
I've never seen a silver which would not go bare at the Clutch Cover side where boot/shoe wears the paint away and I found that when I did a repaint (piece of heavy paper with a 2" oval cut out and held apx. 2" away) that KRYLON was the only one which when dry didn't show a difference in patina to the older paint. .........lm

This could be considered OT, but I think it fits within the spirit of the OP, which is ultimately about case refinishing.

Loud Mouse, which silver paint(s) have you tried and/or settled on using?

I do paint any of the parts which were painted by HONDA but not the Head, Cylinders or Oil Pump. .............lm