[carpenter]

Is there anyone who knows a good link or has experience polishing their frame on a 99-02 R6? I'm about to undergo the process and need a good write-up. I know how to do it, but any help is appreciated.

 

[fastcop]

i'll tell you how i did my swingarm. i completely stripped the paint using paint stripper. i used some stuff from autozone, dont recall the name, but its strong as hell, and burns like hell, so dont get it on your skin. after i got it stripped, i hand sanded it with 600, 800, 1000, then finished with 2000. i sanded with each grit until it felt like it wasnt do anything to the metal, then i switched. i always sanded in the same direction. after i finished my sanding, i bought some etching mag cleaner (strong acid cleaner). i sprayed it on the swingarm and let it sit. after a few minutes, i washed it off. it will turn your metal white, so dont freak out. after that, its time to polish. i used a variable speed buffer and used some mildly abrasive liquid polish. shines like a mirror.

 

[hastings_26]

any pics?

 

[carpenter]

Hmm, I heard to sand with one grit, left to right, then the next grit up to down? ??? Oh well, I'll give er a try and let you know what happens. If I ***** it up, I'll just spray it. LOL.

 

[hastings_26]

i polished the rear sets on my old bike, and my roomates gsx-r subframe... we used sandpaper, but dipped it in water first. we didnt sand in any certian direction. just sort of did it.

 

[fastcop]

yeah, forgot to mention to wetsand. makes it easier. if you can see a deep scratch before you polish, you'll damn sure be albe to see it after you polish it. its a lot of work, but it pays off. i would practice in your levers or rear sets. the levers are easy to do.

 

[newbspeed]

PATIENCE, wetsanding while going up in grits, and polishing compounds are the key. It's no secret, good ol' fashioned elbow grease.

 

[carpenter]

Yep, starting the project this weekend. There's alot of info online for polishing. Should've checked google first huh? Thanks fellas for the input.

 

[01strimbullitt]

be sure to do a nice write up on this... take pics and show it step by step...

please...

thanks

 

[Seth01R6]

Heres the trick to frame polishing...TIME AND HARD WORK....
on my 01 frame the aluminum is anodized...its a really hard coating that keeps the frame looking nice and silver...i heard you can use over cleaner to take it off but run the risk of damaging the aluminum...i choose not to...

I used 200 grit sandpaper and a simple hand sander and sanded away until your down to bare aluminum.

Next, i used 400 grit sandpaper and sanded in one direction...left right up or down...dont care, pick an easy one...with the 400 you need to remove all scratches left by your 200 paper.

Next i use 800 grit, same thing, need to remove the scratches left by 400, this time sand in a perpendicular direction from your previous sanding.

then used 1k, 1500, and finally 2k wet sanding. all alternating direction from eachother.

Before you start this keep in mind it takes a LONG time...i lost my license for 10 months and have been working on this for a while...all in total its taken me about 28 hours to finish the frame. heres a pic of the frame that has the cast iron finish, just sand down that part until you have no more little divots in the metal.. Happy hunting and enjoy your finished product

 

[hector113]

http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40983&highlight=polish
http://www.r6-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16227&highlight=polish