how to give striped metal a smooth finish?

Hi,

In restoring my bike I started with the goal of making it run and
ended up going a bit overboard, disassembling what a big part of it to
remove rust and give it a thorough cleaning.
Both sides of the engine covers and the top parts of the mufflers
(near the engine) were filled with rust and corrosion and I ended up
using a rotary wire brush on my drill to remove the rust and, of
course, the chrome/polish came along with it. It is still shiny, but
now it has this matte shine that looks better than all the corrosion
and rust (I am still yet to decide on whether this was a good
decision), but...
I would like, if possible to, at least make it a bit smoother or
shinier, but I can't find any information on this kind of repair except
to have it plated by a pro, something my budget does not allow.
Any suggestions on how to smooth the metal, or at least on how to
protect it against future corrosion? Right now it's bare metal exposed.

Any ideas appreciated,

thanks,

Vasco

 

In the past, I've polished aluminum to a high sheen by going through
progressively finer wet-and-dry sandpaper from 330-grit up to
2000-grit, followed by finer and finer polishes, finishing with
Simichrome polish and then wax. It leaves a gloss that I like better
than chrome, but that requires periodic polishing and waxing to keep
it that way.....

-Don

 

Don,

I have experimented with wet vs dry sandling and it seems the dry works
better. Is that your experience as well?

I have yet to find a way to really duplicate the brushed finish on Hondas
but I am getting closer. I really would like to spray a high temp clear
coat on the aluminum parts but haven't found anything labelled high temp.
I don't want to waste time and money on a clear coat to find out it turns
yellow in a month or two. Do you have any recommendations on clear coat?
I know enough to NOT use a water based finish. All of the ones I tried
really suck as they don't dry clear.

pierce

 

No. When sanding aluminum I sand wet, with a steady stream of water to
wash away the sanding dust.

No. From above: ". . . finishing with Simichrome polish and then wax."

-Don

 

Maybe that is what my problem has been. Not enough water.

I thought you had gone the clearcoat route at some point in time and then
went sans clear coat.

 

I polished my swingarm a while back and found wiping with kero first,
then sanding wet worked quite well. The kero stops the paper sticking
and gives a smoother finish. I've also heard that soap works quite
well, haven't tried that one though. I started with 600grit to get the
scratches out, then worked my way back to 1500grit, which gave a mirror
finish.

Ben.