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Master Cylinder painting?

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by Altus, Feb 16, 2007.

  1. Altus

    Altus Active Member

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    Hey all,

    I've got my master cylinder off the bike and in pieces for a good cleanup pending the arrival of my new braided line, and I thought now might be a good time to take care of touching up it's looks a bit.

    The MC and cover have had a bit of rash on them since I've owned the bike some 16 years now and I've just never bothered, but this seems a good time. Now, my first instinct would be to have it powdercoated, but that might be a little cost prohibitive as it's a one-off thing.

    So - anyone have good ideas for smoothing the rash and a good paint?
     
  2. Robert

    Robert Active Member

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    Machine the cap or replace it. Paint, well your kinda hosed there. I'm not aware of too many paints that will stand up to brake fluid. True two part epoxy paint should take it but it is expensive. Powder coating would be my choice. Heck, when (and if) I get my powder coating rig set up, I'll test the waters and see how well I can pull it off on my master cylinder.
     
  3. Stinky

    Stinky Member

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    I've wrestled with the idea of painting my master cylinder as well. I think it could be done but it wuld be very stressful bleeding the braks and trying to keep oil from splattering. Powdercoating isn't a expensive as you might think. Particularly if you're willing to wait until they are doing a big batch of the color you want. I also think you could go into any freeride/downhill bicycle shop and they would know somebody with a "backyard" powdercoat booth. Good luck.
     
  4. Danilo

    Danilo Member

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    PJ1 works quite well.. It survives surprisingly well, But, as stated nothing (that includes Powdercoats) is impervious to Brake fluid except epoxies
     
  5. bosozoku

    bosozoku Member

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    If you go the powdercoat route, you'll need to strip all the parts off, including the sightglass. Buy a new seal for it- if it leaks after reassembly, it will look worse than it did before.

    If it were my bike, I'd just look for a better m/c and keep the scuffed one for a spare. $25-30.00 will find you a decent one from the usual sources.
     
  6. RickCoMatic

    RickCoMatic Well-Known Member

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    Sand the rash right out of it. You can do it by hand. 80 Grit will get you started. Take-down the rash until the deepest scratches are worked-out.

    After you work-out the rash ... you need to re-finish the alloy.
    A quick, all-over -- with 180.
    Clean-up the whole thing with the 180.
    Your RE-finishing it now ... :
    220, 320, 400, 600, 800 ... (refinished for paintng)
    800, 1000, 1200 ... (refinished for Aluminum Polishing)
    1200 + 1500 Wet ... with WD-40 as the wetting agent ... Beautiful!
    1500 Wet followed by buffing with #5 + #6 Jewelers Rouge. Bling.
    Polished right ... looks better than chrome!

    (Peek at a few of the things I polished for my Max project in My Gallery)
     
  7. Polock

    Polock Well-Known Member

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    brake fluid won't touch this stuff gun kote
     

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