[Doc Moore]

My VLX is 23 years old, so of course it has it's share of tarnish here and there. I've been doing lots of degreasing and cleaning lately trying to make her look as good as possible. Last week I bought a rebuilt brake master cylinder that was completely bead blasted inside and out (I posted about it here earlier). It looked so good, I decided to look into getting my own bead blaster. Lo and behold, Harbor Freight had a small blasting cabinet for $99 with coupon, 25 lbs of glass blasting media for just $20.

I decided to clean up the clutch/light switch controls as they looked terrible compared to the nice shiny brake lever. The results were amazing.

Light Switch top-Before:

Light Switch bottom-Before:

Clutch base - before:

I did the sprocket cover too, since it was easy to remove and UGLY:

 

[Doc Moore]

And now the After Pics:

Light Switch After:

Another view of the switch:

Clutch Cable Base:

Sprocket Cover corner:

You can see the rest of the pics here:
http://gallery.me.com/ramcg#100030&view=grid

All in all, I spent $160 on the cabinet, the media, and the 3/8" air hose. I already had a 10 gallon 125 psi compressor, although I really could use a bigger one with more CFM. It took about 20 minutes per part (40 for the sprocket cover) due to the low CFM (4.2 at 90 psi). I think I'd really like one that can to 7 to 10 CFM at 100 psi. Still, can't argue wit the results, those parts looks brand new!

Next I'm going back to Harbor Freight to get an air polisher and some polishing paste and polish up the sprocket cover.

Doc

 

[rkforrest]

The Soda Blaster works great on Al also and doesnt leave any Pits.I have the Big HF Blast Cabinet and use it all the time.If you paint the recessed letters with Model Paint then go over them with a sanding Block lightly the Letters will stand out clearly.Then finish it up with a satin clear they will look better than new.

 

[MB_ED]

Now a little polishing and that stuff will look nice. Big difference wth just the blasting

 

[Doc Moore]

The Soda Blaster works great on Al also and doesnt leave any Pits.I have the Big HF Blast Cabinet and use it all the time.If you paint the recessed letters with Model Paint then go over them with a sanding Block lightly the Letters will stand out clearly.Then finish it up with a satin clear they will look better than new.

Perfect! I was trying to figure out how I was going to do that. Excellent idea, thank you!

Doc

 

[rkforrest]

For the Shifter number Box you can do the same thing.On Bigger Pieces I use a syringe filled with paint to make the Puddle Bigger.

 

[Doc Moore]

Now a little polishing and that stuff will look nice. Big difference wth just the blasting

For sure going to polish the front sprocket cover, but I got to say I really like the matte semi-shinny finish left by the glass beads. I think I'm going to leave the controls with that finish and see how it goes.

Next step is to get some walnuts and blast the engine and crank case sides. Or I may just take off the crank case cover and clutch cover at the next oil change and just bead blast them too.

Doc

 

[oconeedan]

That looks great! You can change the effect by using different media. And also, polishing first, then masking off portions of polished area, and blasting the rest.
Dan