Engine Cleaning and Polishing

[msimm43]

I think I may have put the cart before the horse on this one.

Let me start by saying I have limited storage space in my garage (and storing in the apartment is not going to happen). I have a '76 cb750 that is currently stripped to the frame with the engine still in. I decided that I wanted to polish all of the engine cover, and there is a good chance that I am going to repaint the engine down the road.

I pulled off all of my engine covers and cleaned and sanded them, and they are now ready to go on the polishing wheels. The other day I realized that it might have been a better idea pull the engine out of the frame and really washing it before doing the covers.

My question is, do I hold off on polishing the covers, put it all back together, pull the engine out, scrub the hell out of it, and then take the covers off to finish the polishing? Or do I finish polishing and put it back together once, then pull it out of the frame (very carefully so I don't scratch anything) and wash it?

One other side note, when the covers came off the gaskets pretty much came apart. So I will need new ones when all of this goes back together. Will I need the new gaskets in when I wash?

Thanks for the help,
Matt

 

[loudest143]

Yes, you will need the gaskets in when you wash, as far as I know. Now we don't have the same bikes, but I definitely DON'T want water in my ignition, or my wet clutch. It's wet with OIL, not water. It's probably possible to do it without gaskets, but man, you would be PISSED if your engine got even a small amount of cleaning solution and water in your oil. It won't brick an engine, cuz you can drain the oil and dry out the points, but think of what COULD go wrong.

I polished my case covers on the bike. Like you, my engine will eventually come out for a full super clean. Eventually ain't happenin' right now, and with the polishing wheels and compounds, you will be able to keep those around for years and never run need new ones. You could at least polish up the parts on the bike, get it lookin' pretty good, then worry about them at a later date when you've got the engine sitting on the kitchen floor with the little missus glaring at you as you tell her 'Honey this was the only way to do it, and I'll be out of here before you Mom gets here for dinner.' ;D

I'll be adding some pics to my build thread later, as I'm gonna get to uncover the bike and get her out in the SUNSHINE for an hour or two after work.

 

[msimm43]

Crap, I figured as much about the gaskets. I may just polish 'em anyway before I put it it all back together. Then they can set a good example for the rest of the engine ;D