Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

As I've been cleaning up the old Z, one of the things that has really been bugging me is the patchy paint on the fins on engine. There are also some bits on other parts of the engine that seem to flake off pretty easily, so I shouldn't have any trouble getting them off, but the really tricky bits are on the fins on the outside of cylinders (see below).

Any suggestions for effective ways to remove the paint that don't require me to take the engine apart and won't cause any other damage?

maybe some type of hand wire brush

If you have a compressor, get a sandblasting kit and use plastic beads. Using sand will destroy the alloy, but plastic will work wonders (it's one of the agreed ways of stripping paint from an alloy gas cylinder to prep it for ultrasound inspection). I believe many merchants who carry sand/shot for blasting will also carry plastic beads.

So how much of a mess will the beads make? Will they get into everything on the bike so I have to spend ages cleaning them out?

that would be the case; a portable vacuum would be the best idea. Preperation may be the key. Use rags to cover anything you don't want the beads in/to remove the surface from. Oh, and start low perssure.

Mick C wrote:So how much of a mess will the beads make? Will they get into everything on the bike so I have to spend ages cleaning them out?

Spend ages masking it up first. As photomike said, "prevention is the key"

Cheers,
Pete

Mick - when I removed all the paint from the Pearl's motor a few years ago, I just used normal paint-stripper - that thick gel stuff. Apply with a 1" paintbrush, you can get right into the fins with one of these.

It worked great. It will peel old engine paint off the block easily. To remove it, I just pushed the bike outside, and used one of those garden-sprayers full of water, set to 'Stream', and basically hosed it off in small sections. Tape up the frame tubes so none of the stripper gets on the frame.

It takes a bit longer than using your garden hose, but if you use that on high-pressure, you will spray paint-stripper all over the place - the hand-sprayer is much better...

And you can just apply a bit more here and there for those 'stubborn' spots that didn't come off the first time......

Just scratch off the flaky bits with a screwdriver and apply Black engine paint liberally
Then IF you ride it fast no one sees

Gosling1 wrote:Mick - when I removed all the paint from the Pearl's motor a few years ago, I just used normal paint-stripper - that thick gel stuff. Apply with a 1" paintbrush, you can get right into the fins with one of these.

It worked great. It will peel old engine paint off the block easily. To remove it, I just pushed the bike outside, and used one of those garden-sprayers full of water, set to 'Stream', and basically hosed it off in small sections. Tape up the frame tubes so none of the stripper gets on the frame.

It takes a bit longer than using your garden hose, but if you use that on high-pressure, you will spray paint-stripper all over the place - the hand-sprayer is much better...

And you can just apply a bit more here and there for those 'stubborn' spots that didn't come off the first time......

Cool, I'll give that a go then if I know it's gonna work OK

Rossi wrote:Just scratch off the flaky bits with a screwdriver and apply Black engine paint liberally
Then IF you ride it fast no one sees

hahaha the problem is I want to leave the metal bare...so no coverups of screwdriver scratches



......and I don't know how fast it's gonna be yet

One trick with applying the stripper - brush it on thick, and only brush it once. (ie, don't brush it back and forth) ......then, let it 'settle' into the paint and soften right up before you spray it off..........that old engine enamel can be baked on pretty hard.....

wear rubber gloves and a long-sleeved shirt - the shit is toxic and will burn on exposed skin, if it gets on your skin wash off *immediately*. *DO NOT* get it into your eyes under any circumstances......clear safety goggles are *highly recommended*

Can you tell I am doing my Cert IV in OH&S at the moment ??

Mick C wrote:

Rossi wrote:Just scratch off the flaky bits with a screwdriver and apply Black engine paint liberally
Then IF you ride it fast no one sees

hahaha the problem is I want to leave the metal bare...so no coverups of screwdriver scratches



......and I don't know how fast it's gonna be yet

You may want to make sure it starts before you strip it and rebuild the bike

hoffy wrote:

Mick C wrote:

Rossi wrote:Just scratch off the flaky bits with a screwdriver and apply Black engine paint liberally
Then IF you ride it fast no one sees

hahaha the problem is I want to leave the metal bare...so no coverups of screwdriver scratches



......and I don't know how fast it's gonna be yet

You may want to make sure it starts before you strip it and rebuild the bike

lather a hot vindaloo on it...that may strip the paint...

Neka79 wrote:

hoffy wrote:

Mick C wrote:

Rossi wrote:Just scratch off the flaky bits with a screwdriver and apply Black engine paint liberally
Then IF you ride it fast no one sees

hahaha the problem is I want to leave the metal bare...so no coverups of screwdriver scratches



......and I don't know how fast it's gonna be yet

You may want to make sure it starts before you strip it and rebuild the bike

lather a hot vindaloo on it...that may strip the paint...

well it has stripped the paint of the bathroom walls

hoffy wrote:

Neka79 wrote:

hoffy wrote:

Mick C wrote:

Rossi wrote:Just scratch off the flaky bits with a screwdriver and apply Black engine paint liberally
Then IF you ride it fast no one sees

hahaha the problem is I want to leave the metal bare...so no coverups of screwdriver scratches



......and I don't know how fast it's gonna be yet

You may want to make sure it starts before you strip it and rebuild the bike

lather a hot vindaloo on it...that may strip the paint...

well it has stripped the paint of the bathroom walls

I heard a rumour Hoffy's toilet is held together by 100 mile an our tape after the vindaloo ate through the ceramics