'82 XJ550: Sticky Carb Slides! What to do?

This is the third time in the past 4 years that my friend's XJ550 carbs have been here on my shop bench. Truth be told, he virtually NEVER rides this bike! If it's seen 200 miles since he bought it about 5 years ago, I dare say that's all it's seen! So, I blame him for 'neglect' as related to lack of use which is partially the cause of these problems. That said, the carbs are here again, this time to be cleaned, manually adjusted, and to have new needle/seat valves installed. In the process of doing this, I've discovered that the slides are no longer functioning what I'd call 'normally'. After cleaning some scale and debris off both the slides and the slide bores, I'm finding that of the 4 carbs, only one slide valve works smoothly. 2 more are sticky but will eventually close, and the 4th will stick about 1/4" 'open' and fail to close all the way. The 3 of them can be visibly seen as stuttering on their way down, while the one good carb slide/body combination will open and close smoothly and quickly. And....sadly, inspection of the slide bores reveals some deterioration of the anodized surface, which I believe is leading to this problem. The coating on the slides themselves appears to still be in tact, and actually in pretty good shape on all 4 slides. So, I guess my question is this: Does anyone have any opinions about using any kind of 'polishing' agent, or even something like 1000G sand paper, to smooth out the inside of the slide bores? Or, is there another product/process that works well to cure this problem? I think the concept of buying another complete carb set is 'out' at this point.....so, I'm going to have to make the best of what I've got. And, yes, I've applied a very light solution of light 2-cycle oil diluted with fuel to see if this will counter act the problem. While slightly less 'sticky'....they're still not acting properly. So....what now? Many thanks! WC

 

slides can only be cleaned with chemacials NO sanding it will remove the finish.
the bores can be polished with wet/dry paper and wd 40

the clunk test is done before the hats are installed

 

"....clunk test..."???? '....hats'....??

As to the wet/dry paper....... is 600 too course, or do I need to go up further? I think I have some 600, but n0t sure about anything any finer. I can probably find it, but I don't know that my local hardware store or auto parts store will have anything like 1000 grit. Small town........

Thanks, Tom

 

clunk test. top of carb (hat) removed lift slide ,release it should drop with a clunk

auto parts will have finer grits

hat is cover on top of carb chrome on 2 outside ones zinc plate Gray on inside 2

 

A good teardown and cleaning is needed. I wonder if the diaphragms are hardening up or cracking