Recommended example web sites for painting tips:

• CB 750 Restoration Pages
• PJ1 Brand Engine Paint Supply
• Refinishing engine cases

Recommended Paint Brands:

• Yamaha as Clear Top Coat (PNT-65000-04-00)
• Dupli-color Lacquer T178 Grey
• Dupli-color Aluminum HT1375 Hi-Temp
• Ace Aluminum 17066 Heat Resistant

This is the paint I used, VHT Hi-temp Engine Enamel, SP-127 Universal Aluminum. It's solvent resistant and good up to 550 degrees. I got the idea from Andy Fraser's CB750 Site where it was used with a great deal of success.

I hastily decided that it would be a lot easier to beadblast the engine with the cases assembled. This way I don't have to tape off every little area that the media could seep through. At this point the cases are assembled but there is nothing (crank/trans/pri-shaft) inside of it. I used the new block gasket as a templet to cut out a piece of 1/4 inch thick cardboard to block the cylinder holes as shown. Also recommend using duct tape, as it will stick better and seal/hold up better against the media blasting.

The motor is very light with no internals. I just lightly tightened the main bearing bolts and all the other case bolts to prevent the media from getting into everything. Six things needed to be taped off, the cylinder holes as in the above picture, the hole from the absent transmission output shaft, a small hole under the spark unit cover & alternator cover that allows the wires to pass through, the gear shifter hole, and the starter motor hole. (This is assuming you have the oil filter, clutch, spark unit, alternator, and oil pan covers on, along with the oil pump unit.)

Done. The cases turned out pretty good. Hopefully they will stay this way, because between being a full time student and working I do not have the patience nor the energy to even consider doing this again. Also, next time (theoretically, that is) I would construct some sort of paint booth. It was painted in a garage heated with kerosene torpedo heaters which spread dust everywhere. Fortunately, I painted it with the cases together and when I let it dry overnight the bottom was face up, so no dust got on the top case which is most visible. Even then most of it wiped off the bottom.

On the other hand, remembering how grungy the engine looked before I'd say it's well worth it to start over fresh and have the chance to keep the bike looking like new from now on. (Great- now I'll be cleaning every individual cooling fin after each ride.) Threw on the oil cooler adapter in this picture.

Here she is, 80% complete. Paint turned out real nice.

This thing better work or I'm gonna........well, cry for starters.

This is the end goal, give or take a few scratches. I found this bike for sale on Ebay, turned out it was sitting in someone's garage for the last 20 years or so. Had like 400 miles on it. I didn't know that the alternator and side covers came in chrome, and even the carburetor slide cover. Looks pretty sweet to me.

It's amazing what a little bit of mothers polish and a dremel spinning at 30,000rpm can do for these aging parts. It is much faster to polish these parts if you first use a wire brush are remove any surface corrosion.

Ok, I'm guilty of laziness here. Let me first explain that I hate polishing. It takes forever especially when there are little crevices everywhere. So, in a moment of frustration I decided to paint my rocker adjustment covers with some black hi-temp exhaust paint that I had handy. Actually, it doesn't look too shabby. And once I finish polishing the rocker cover beneath it, it will have more of a 'custom' look.

Because I ended up finding a new cylinder head, I faced some new options. The original plan was to paint the cylinder barrels and head the same as the cases. But interestingly enough, this head was never painted from the factory and has a new cast look to it. So, I changed the plan to painting the barrels, but keeping the head and rocker box with a polished look. Oh yeah, and the rocker box covers are black too. I've gotten to the point that I can no longer worry so much about how it looks. After all, when this project is done I should be riding it more than looking at it, right?

The exhaust headers were certainly in sad shape when I acquired the bike, so after bead-blasting all of the rust and chrome off, a fresh coat of Hi-temp black exhaust paint did the trick. Actually, the rust was so bad in many spots that there were many areas of deep pitting. But, the matte black paint did a good job of hiding it.

In case you were wondering what my true opinion of the engine stripping/cleaning/painting process is, well, it sucks big time. I only had limited access to a bead blaster (long story) so it turned out I missed some spots. Ended up using paint stripper on the rest, took a million coats of that and still ended up with a little paint and dirt in some of those small crevices. If I had to do this again (and the hell if I'm ever doing this again any time soon) I would have paid a couple dollars to have a shop strip everything off the cases. It would have saved hours upon hours of time, and also would have been much more thorough. Plus, I managed to get glass beads inside the empty engine cases anyways, and had to spend more countless hours with an air compressor and a garden hose making sure no glass was in the oil galleys.