Repainting Pointy engine casing?

Hi, im new on here only bought my pointy K4 650s last week, was looking for a bit of advice as the previous owner said there was a lot of corrosion on the engine casing so he decided to spray them but it has to be one of the worst spray jobs i have ever seen! and the colour is horrific. unsure whether to strip the paint and polish or to strip and repaint?... thoughts would be appreciated

After you strip the paint, you 'll be able to make a decision as to whether or not it's feasible to polish.
I'm too lazy to keep polished aluminum looking good, so I'd repaint.

I would buy another cover, less work

[squirrel_hunter]

Originally Posted by zadar

I would buy another cover, less work

On the basis that looks as if it was painted on the bike judging by the painted bolt and that it looks like it just painted in primer I'd do that.

Alternatively take it off strip all that primer off and then paint it properly. I've had good results with Hammerite before. With the cover off and previous paint removed rub the cover with some wet and dry to key the surface to help the paint stick. Mask up the oil level window and any other bits that you don't want paint on including the mating surfaces where the cover joins the case. Then spray with Hammerite (or something similar). Keep the can moving and use 4 light coats rather than one heavy coat to get a good finish. Once it is dry, leave it at least 24hrs and test the dryness of the paint on the over spray, not the cover just in case its still wet. Remove all the mask and then refit with a new gasket.

I have just done what you are thinking of doing and its actually not too bad to do.
You will need gaskets for both sides, clutch cover and alternator cover. The water pump has a rubber seal so it should be fine as long as you dont knacker it when you take it apart. I then split the water pump and just did the outer casing.

You will also need to remove the oil so I would suggest you just replace that too.

As for paint I got mine from :
http://www.bike-paint.co.uk/

They actually stock the right colour paint for the sv engine and their sprays are decent (if a tad pricy). If you do I would reccomend you buy 2 of the colour coat at least because I only bought one and I did not get a good thick coat on mine. It is possible to do it with one but i am not sure how long it will last during a winter commute.

As for stripping I would reccomend the hand sand method. I took a couple evenings pacing myself through it but the results were good for me. If you cba with the tedium and blisters then you could try to soda blast it. Sand blasting would most likely pit the heck out the casing.

It does come out well if you take your time but if time is an issue I would pop on over to the for sale section and see if anyones got any good quality casings for sale, there is normally someone breaking something.

[Nobbylad]

Isn't that a curvy casing and pump?

If so, raises the question what happened to the original.

Originally Posted by Nobbylad

Isn't that a curvy casing and pump?

No.

[Nobbylad]

Originally Posted by zadar

No.

Doh. .. yeah I just realised the clutch cover isn't separate. In my defence, I've had anaesthetic today lol!

Thanks for the replies thanks STUL think il take your advice just need time to take the casings off and spend some time on them i decided to give them a little clean up while they were on the bike just to see what was under the paint .