Engine/Alluminium/Steel/Chrome cleaning.

[Cal Price]

My project '81 Yamaha has come to the point where I expect to have it road-legal and riding in a few days. This leaves me with a fair bit of cosmetic work. I have replaced the bars with new chrome ones, the cruiser style grips and mudgaurds I have just about saved, the wheels will be ok with a bit more work. Jury still out on the exhausts. The frame and tank need attention, I think I can do most of it with glass-paper/wire wool and rattle cans. Switches and levers can probably be saved.

This leaves me with the big noisy thing in the middle, you know the bit that get hot. I have got rid of the old muck by washing and using a steam cleaner, this leaves me with an engine with staining rather than oil or dirt present on it. I am not one of these cruiser-guys who gets off on polishing metal but I would like to get it looking a bit better, it will be a long winter so I have the time. Is it best to get stuck in with various types of (mildly abrasive) polishes or should I look to a chemical and hose-down or one followed by the other?

Best advice (Apart from not having an '81 Yamaha XS400 US custom special cruiser restoration project in the first place)

[nogs5yet]

I'd get some high-temp engine paint (I'm partial to black, though you might want to use silver); I wouldn't bother trying to make it shiny. I've never found a cost-effective way to remove those types of stains in aluminum that gets heated and cooled repeatedly. Even if you CAN polish them out, how many times will you have to RE-polish the thing? Is that something you'd want to do every winter from now until your arms fall off?

If you decide you don't like the effect from the silver paint, you can always spray black right on top of it. If you don't like THOSE results, you can strip the whole thing, and start over...

Better yet, just paint it, and be done with it.