Something new...

One neat thing about having an XJ is: you don’t have to worry that it won’t like what you get your bike for Christmas. What to get, though... hey, I know.

If your bike has Hitachi carbs, like my 750 Maxim, you know how the carb hats can end up looking ratty over time. If you’re like me, you could just take off the corroded chrome plating with a wire wheel and paint; however, that might not yield the best results.



Even afterwards, your carbs still won’t look their best. You might even become desperate enough to have a washed-up rap artist come in and Pimp Your Ride.

But with brand-new reproduction chrome carb hats, you can go from this...



...to this!



There’s always gold if you want that extra bit of bling, dawg.



The black hat screws and washers kinda set the hats off, doncha think?

The difference between old and new is like night and day, as you can see here:



Whaddya think?

 

I'd save the money for more important parts and just paint 'em with 99 cent spray paint.

 

I think the rap slang thing had a little racial undertone... And frankly didn't care for it!

 

What is racial about a washed up rap artist? Last time i checked there were people from nearly every race that sing rap and after they are forgotten they try to get back in the spotlight. Hence the term "washed up". Anyways sorry for the rant I am just getting tired of everything someone doesnt necessarily agree with automatically becoming racial.

Schmuck----those hats are awesome. It is nice to see someone who pays attention to detail especially with their carbs. Nothing disappoints me more than seeing a beautiful restoration on a bike and the same old rusty, crusty carb hats. Just curious, what is the pricing for the chrome and gold hats each?

 

yah, i agree. how dare you make fun of (in alphabetical order)....... 3rd Bass, 6th Sense, 900 Foot Jesus, Aesop Rock, Beastie Boys, Benefit, Bhudda BOUNCE, Big B, Bubba Sparxxx, Buck 65, Classified, Commodore 64, Craniac, CWB, El P, Eminem, Eyedea and Abilities, FortiFied Concept, Goin' Through, Gil-T, Haystack, Headmess, The Hoodfella, House of Pain / Everlast, Imiskoumbria, Insane Clown Posse, John Cena, Jonny Ringo, Justin Time, Kid Rock, Kish, KottonMouth Kings, Ksqueez, Kyprios, Lady Sovereign, Lexx Luger, Lil Wyte, Mack DVS, Mack Heath, Marky Mark, Mikro, Mindspray, Manau, Necro, Paul Wall, Powder, Rambo Amadeus, Rehab, Renegade, Ricky J, Rip, Rocca, Sage Francis, Skinhead Rob, Slug, Snow, Sonny Vito, Stereo MCs, MC Stopheles, The Streets, Terror X Crew, Ugly Duckling, Vanilla Ice, Wolfpack, Young Black Teenagers.......and many other white rappers i missed. you should be ashamed of yourself schmuckaholic!

fwright625- by assuming that "washed up rapper" meant "something negative about black/hispanic people", you are the racist! rap, hip hop, or whatever you want to call it....is a CULTURE and genre of music (not one that i will ever listen to!). it is NOT however, a race.

i find schmuckaholic's post catchy, entertaining, and most importantly.....it has aesthetically pleasing carb parts for sale.

 

I really think he was joking.
I hope :roll:

 

To get back on the subject...it looks better than rusty caps. I am one of the cheap ones. I would paint them. Word!

 

Gerry: Look at the first picture. I did just that.

Zookie: I thought that was MC 900-Foot Jesus.

OrganizedInsanity: He Who Supplied Them shall visit the thread, hopefully sometime in the near future, and fill everybody in on how much they are and when they'll be in stock. I'm also told there will be a separate post, from another user, showing off carb hats for the Mikunis.

Fwright: Dude. Sense of humor. Grow one, would you?

But, just to keep YOU happy, how about we edit the text to read this instead:

"Even afterwards, your carbs will still look like crap. You might even become desperate enough to just paint 'em with 99 cent spray paint, which will really make them look cheesy."

Better?

 

I'm going to say my piece, and then its dead on my behalf. I wouldn't expect from those above to understand, bc you haven't walked in my shoes... but I'm sick of hearing little comments... hiphop/rap/urban from somebody who don't know anything about it... bc they think it cool... or funny.
Over sinsitive... maybe... and if taken the wrong way... I apologize.

 

Paint them a different color? Go high-end on the paint. $1.50(That's a joke if nobody caught it).

I was referring to the replacement caps looking better than the rusty ones.

 

I have a set of crusty hats that I would like to refinish.
I cooked them in hot lemon juice and removed most of the rust.
They are now 50% deeply pitted where the rust used to be and 50% chrome.
I am not looking to spend a lot of time with a wire wheel.
Is there an easy way to got the tops down to bare metal?

 

I id just as HalfCentury stated and cooked mine in lemon juice, which cleaned them up very good. Then I used polishing compound and my drill press to polish them back to a nice chrome finish. I rode with them like that for one season.
After re-doing my valves, I painted the valve covers red and decided to rough them carb hats up and paint them also. I used a water based air brush paint and cleared over it with Duplicolor High temp clear.

 

Did you ride that in the snow or just pull it out of your garage to take the picture in the sun?

 

Actually I did ride in the snow a bit. I end up screwing around in the snow every year just to get it out of my system. The Seca is light enough to go out and spin some donuts and tear up the negihborhood when it gets warm enough outside...
Which I might just do today. It's supposed to get up in the high 30s/low 40s today and I'll need an excuse to cool off after splitting wood. A guy works up a sweat after slinging a splitting maul!!!

 

I have an electric chopper that I ride around the neighborhood to cool down after I mow the lawn.

 

HalfCentury,
Got pics?

 

(nod) Been there. Done that.

It doesn't take long. Trust me. Mind, the one I used was mounted on a bench grinder, but the stuff pretty much comes right off. Had I not already done the ones on the bike (I used my spare carb set from a Midnight Maxim to model the hats), I'd have used those, as they were in much worse shape.

Those gray carb hats I have on the bike? That's supposed to be chrome color paint. Spray clearcoat on top? Reacted with the paint.... and it's the same brand.

If one has the skill, time and patience to do their own work, as PainterD obviously does, the results can look fantastic. People like me, however, might find it easier just to replace them.

 

to get them down to metal quickly, dunk them in muriatic acid. same thing as lemon juice, just much faster and more aggressive.

sandblasting is very good, and often if yuo find the right place they will do small parts like that for nothing if they are doing other big things. a headstone engraver in my hometown was always doing things for people when i was in school.

i have also used CLR to eat away rust, it works!

 

Yes, bead blasting works well. I did the the ones on the XJ650G, primered and painted them silver. The 2 outer ones were pitted a bit but with enough primer filler they smoothed over well.

 

Mine were rusted and pitted as well. Painted them black but you could still see the pitting. Ended up using some black krinkle paint... No more pits