Hi all, just wondered if anyone has any tips on restoring the former glory of the crankcase cover of my '99 Savage. As you can see from the pic the finish is kind of 'scabbed' and no longer a nice smooth surface. I am sure it is going to be sanding that is the key to restoring it to looking something more like new but does anyone have any hints/tips and tricks for this issue?

The aluminum pieces on the Savage are not a finely polished surface - but it has a fine brushed finish under a clear coating.  The clear is not very durable, and when it cracks or gets nicked or scratched - moisture can cause corrosion to occur.

I believe it is easiest to work on the pieces off the bike (as it is nearly impossible to get into the areas where the screws are located with the cover mounted on the bike) and I remove the side cases from the engine.  You first have to remove the clear coat, and I use Aircraft Stripper to do that.  Then I start with #360 wet/dry sandpaper to clean up the corrosion and nicks, then I start using finder grades of sandpapers #400, #600, #1000.  Finally you can polish the pieces by hand....or even better use a buffing wheel and polishing compound.

Now the problem becomes....do you leave the aluminum un-coated (which means you have to polish the parts regularly), or do you spray a clear finish on the aluminum?  Powder coating clear would be nice - but it will require all the wiring to be removed from the left case, and the oil sight glass from the right side case.

And even without doing any work to coat.....you are looking at a lot of work....maybe a whole day and some very sore fingers.

This topic has been discussed a lot.....do a search or look through the index for older posts, as it may save folks from repeating what they wrote in the old posts.

Dammmmmb....sounds like a LOT of work for a possibly hard to live with result (my bike lives outside so I am pretty sure leaving the alloy exposed and just polished is an absolute no no). I think I will just live with its 'aged' look until I have the time to do a complete removal and have it professionally powder coated clear. I guess another alternative would be look for a good looking one on the second hand market?? Should be a pretty simple switch right?

I haven't had very good luck with silver paint or silver powder coating.

Some of the pigment in the silver is metallic and you must clear coat over the silver or there is no abrasion resistance.

Kenny G :'(

I sanded mine, then sprayed engine silver high heat, from the can, from Auto Zone, or Advance.  It's cheap and easy. Dupli-Color is the brand.

Or you could  find car rim paint in spray cans ,mask off, paint in place,this stuff may work as I think it puts up with brake dust etc . and there's a range of colors .

Clear coat will turn yellow from the heat.

There's a clear engine paint able to withstand (I think) 2000 degrees.