Corrosion, rust and painting....

[andym]

I figured I might as well get my bike back to showroom condition (at some point), so I have a few questions

1) I've noticed quite a lot of surface rust and pitting on my handlebars, is there anything I use to stop that happening, and will leave a decent shine? (or would it be easier to get a new set?)

2) There is a couple of places on the frame that has some rust, can I just use a rust treatment on these parts and if so is it any good or do I have to cover it up afterwards with paint etc?

3) I was planning on stripping the engine back to bare metal, but that looks like it ain't going to happen, so is there a liquid paint stripper type stuff I can use to take the old coating off the engine? (might sound lazy but I'm not fancying the idea of sanding it all down)

4) What is the best paint I can use on the engine, and do I need to remove it to paint it?

5) Can I think of anything else to put on this list? (hmmm it appears not)

Thanks for yer help (in advance)

[Bru]

Depends on how far you want to go (obviously). You could have the originals rechromed, if there is any guarantee that the re-chromed part is of better quality than a straight replacement (although more expensive). You could soak the bars in mild acid (like vinegar) for a few days to dissolve some of the rust, and then polish and oil the bars for protection.

Some brave souls have proved that using electrolysis intelligently will remove all the rust, and leave you with the best material to either rechrome, repaint or oil.

Frame rust: wire brush it like mad, then apply red-oxide paint and a few top coats of your colour choice.

Engine.. Don't know really. It's aluminium alloy (I guess), so is not going to rust away like the frame or handlebars. Engine-in paint stripping and repainting is not ideal, so either touch up or remove the lump.

[Noxious89123]

Alloy bits might not rust, but they do corrode and become white and "furry".
____________________
'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[Robby]

What bike is it?

There are liquid paint strippers, nitromors being good and easily available in any DIY or hardware store. Melts plastic and rubber.

However, engines are more likely powder coated or painted with very tough, baked on paint that even nitromors won't get through. The only decent method I know to clean up an engine is to get it vapour blasted - not cheap or easy. You'll need to strip it down to bare cases, and it cost me about £150 to get a CB250RS engine blasted.

Handlebars are cheap, there's not a lot you can do that's cost effective and a long term fix when the rust has broken through the chrome.


As for the frame, the proper way to do it is strip down to the frame and get it powder coated or stove enamelled. If you're going to try and touch it up with the bike complete you won't do a good job. Rust needs to be sanded back to good metal and repainted with hammerite or similar.