Possibly not what you're thinking but I thought I'd share as (a) I'm caring like that and (b) I thought it may be of interest to some.

Anyway, as some of you will know, Dee has a 40 year old Z650 which fell foul of my socket set some time ago. With the engine stripped, I set about cleaning the cases, head, etc and after much degreaser and scrubbing, it was cleaner (less oily) but still very stained. I decided that more drastic action was called for, so took a drive to the bright lights of Wrexham and deposited this at Red Dragon vapour blasters.



A week later I received a phone call saying it was ready ... this is the result. I'm actually looking forward to getting the thing built up now. If you have any blasting work, especially anything delicate, Red Dragon come highly recommended.

That's a superb finish. Need to see the finished bike! Oh, and what's happening with that triumph engine?

what's happening with that triumph engine?

It's a Norton and I've finally managed to wrestle the tappet blocks out

I might liberate an AJS Model 30 engine from my mums next week ... another project is forming in my head.

That looks beautiful, it's going to rack up a lot of brownie points

Very nice finish, was it expensive?
I'm currently getting the 1961 Triumph 21 to run and a Mot.

was it expensive?

Cases, head, barrel, sump and cam cover was £180. It's not a cheap process but I figure on only stripping / building the motor once. Next job is finding my porting machine and setting about the head

Lovely job that

Amazing. I'm not really a motorbike kinda guy, but as a motorsport fan / gear head I can definitely appreciate a shiny engine!

Mmm, good finish on that - I do approve!

Was that the high pressure water with the glass beads in it vapour blasting - or some other kind of magic medium?

Was that the high pressure water with the glass beads in it vapour blasting - or some other kind of magic medium? Image

Pretty much it Zippy, it forms a kind of paste. Seals the alloy and prevents it picking up finger / oil marks which can get happen on dry beaded finishes.

Good effort. Was just chatting with a mate earlier on the dark art of restoring Japanese bikes - she's is nearly done with an RD250 but we all reckon it will be too shiny to ride! I prefer singles as there is a lot less of everything to put back together.....