Polishing Swingarm

[500_boy]

Hey there, I am in the beginning of restoring my 1985 CR500, Its in rough condition, and I finally got the swingarm off, I cleaned it up with thinners which removed the chipped away PRO-LINK paint and now it is bare, but there is still some stuff which I think is grease that is 20 years old, I aint sure. What is somethign that will take everything off to bare metal. Also there is some scratches and marks, Is there anyways I can get them out to make this swingarm like new?

Also, any ideas in restoring this bike would be greatly appreciated....

Thanks

-Jared

 

[bigcr]

You need to use a strong paint stripper to get the paint off. You can grind out the scratches and then smooth out the grind marks with coarse sandpaper then using finer and finer sandpaper until you can use the polishing wheel.

 

[Rcannon]

Once you get down to the bare aluminum I have found the mothers aluminum polish to be excellent. With some rubbing, it looks like chrome.

 

[SpectraSVT]

Are the new swingarms clear anodized? I'm assuming they are, how do you get it off with out having to go to an anodize strip shop.

 

[KAY DEE EXER]

You can get soft foam abbrasive wheels (hard plastic backing) for your grinder. Try 120 grit first to remove anondising, paint and scratches. Then just step down in grades till you can use a wool polishing wheel...