Clean up the lower legs?

[Hog54]

What is the best way to clean up the lower legs?Is polishing allowed in a restoration?What I mean is,the lower legs arent really high polished stock and theres no way to clean them up when thier 50 years old and starting to pit and all scratched and stuff.

[Robert Luland]

Maybe this will help ya. Bob L

http://www.harleyhummerclub.org/members/backyardbob/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Hog54]

Thanks,I was wondering if somebody had a way to restore them to original look instead of just polished.

[Cotten]

Hog54!

Polished of blemishes, brushed with an abrasive nylon wheel, then blasted with walnut hulls comes close.

....Cotten

[Hog54]

(abrasive nylon wheel) Like this one? http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 0964161000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cotten]

(abrasive nylon wheel) Like this one? http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 0964161000" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hog54!

My browser times out on the link, but abrasive-impregnated nylon brushes, sometimes marketed as "Nylox" or "Adalox", are available in an enormous variety.

I use everything from 1/4"-shank endbrushes to 14" mounted wheels, usually of the silicon carbide type.
The tube brushes are great for cross-hatching the slider bushings, too!

....Cotten

[RUBONE]

I don't get this whole thread. The sliders were polished from the factory on all but the plainest utility group black painted type. The brake backing plate was as well. And the polish were pretty good. Not like a chrome shop will try to do but as good as most any home job. So I don't see what finish you are trying to match. One of the easy things about fork legs is that they WERE polished!
Robbie

[Robert Luland]

Rob, I think what he’s getting at is the dull die-cast look that was on timing covers etc. I remember buying brand new early lower legs back in 82 from the dealer. They weren’t polished but I would say they were buffed. They still had that die-cast look about them. Bob L

[Cotten]

Folks,

There can be no doubt there was grinding on these "die" castings, as many remain, and likely polishing to a degree as well.
They are not like a die-cast potmetal part, that comes out friendly.

But they were not preserved with any of the millions of snakeoils we have today, much less even the standard of the day (Johnson's Wax).

Freshly exposed aluminum is actually quite reactive.

The result is gradual 'oxidation', or 'carbonate crust', or even "patina" if that is what you want to call it.
Winter is coming, and leaving a set of polished and scrubbed sliders on the roof all winter may very well be the most effective re-finishing of all!

But make certain they drain well, of course.

....Cotten

[tcb-1]

I just finished up my lower legs (no pun intended) with this process. I used the aluminum etching spray, but polished with Mother's Mag and Wheel polish, then a light coat of oil to penetrate the open pores. The legs aren't a mirror finish but not dull either. I'll have to post a pic when I can get her out in the sun. I quite happy with the results.