looking for any good info on refinishing engine covers and case?

[rsoffar]

Hi all, been a longgggggg time since Ive posted on here and back then it was a dif bike.

long story short Ive had this 2002 m900s just sitting for about 7 years now give or take and with this craziness in New York its given me a break from the mountain bike racing that usually takes all my time and money and given me an opportunity to start into this project. So, big project, complete rebuild.

So far I have taken the entire bike apart and transferred inside my apt 
I have the engine torn down a good bit, currently waiting on my friend to bring a gear puller over to get this pesky main drive gear off and then can get inside the case.

From years of use and years of sitting the finishes on the case is flaking off a decent bit in a spots and just generally so gross Id really like to get them media blasted and refinished before putting it all back together cause why not right.
these are things I know nothing about
so my questions (for now) are....
1. what kind of media blasting is best for engine covers / case / heads to clean everything and get them ready for a new finish?
2. What paints? or things to make sure the painter knows to be used on an engine case and covers with the heat and everything?

thanks in advance for any info 

[Speeddog]

Are you planning all new bearings in the motor?

Or you want to clean and paint the cases re-using the existing bearings?

[ducpainter]

WRT refinishing, I've successfully used epoxy primer with a 2K urethane topcoat on entire Duc engines.
 
It will take a couple of heat cycles before the paint stops being soft/gummy, so don't touch it.

[rsoffar]

thanks for moving it, I debated a good 2 minutes where to post lol

[rsoffar]

Are you planning all new bearings in the motor?

Or you want to clean and paint the cases re-using the existing bearings?

honestly the plan was to get in there and see what they feel like. From the outside everything is spinning very nicely but Im willing to do what's right for it

[rsoffar]

WRT refinishing, I've successfully used epoxy primer with a 2K urethane topcoat on entire Duc engines.
 
It will take a couple of heat cycles before the paint stops being soft/gummy, so don't touch it.

perfect thanks a lot!

[ducpainter]

honestly the plan was to get in there and see what they feel like. From the outside everything is spinning very nicely but Im willing to do what's right for it

I think Speeddog's question was more related to the type of media that you use.

If you use glass, or slag, to blast you'll need to replace all the bearings because you'll never flush all the debris out of the bearings. I guess some people have had success using soda blasting, but that is a slow tedious method...if it even really works.

[rsoffar]

I think Speeddog's question was more related to the type of media that you use.

If you use glass, or slag, to blast you'll need to replace all the bearings because you'll never flush all the debris out of the bearings. I guess some people have had success using soda blasting, but that is a slow tedious method...if it even really works.

oh I see. Interesting I didn't anticipate that being part of the equation or if could be masked off.

[rsoffar]

unrelated... removal of this primary drive gear wooooof
guess we're gonna find a hydraulic gear puller to borrow.

[krista]

The snap-on one works. Put in a penny, hit it with the impact until it stops, then tap with a hammer.

You might want to put a blanket up to catch the parts flying...

[booger]

For cleaning the engine, there is a method called vapor blasting I find fascinating. It uses glass beads & water vapor at high pressure.

[Speeddog]

Vapor blasting or vapor honing

Wonderful results, dunno about doing a whole motor.

[cencalal]

If you're looking for something cheap and easy that you can do yourself, I removed the black paint from the engine covers and the melted silver on the cylinder heads on my 695 with ordinary (methylene chloride) paint remover and a stiff (not plastic) brush.  Ducati's engine finishes are not as good/tough as on Japanese bikes I've had.  As you say, yours is flaking off.  I wear a respirator, gloves, and of course eye protection, and work outdoors.