Polishing Forks

[fat6man]

I'm rebuilding the forks and while I have them apart I'm Polishing and buffing the aluminum. The question I have is for those of you that have done this did you use a sealer on the newly polished and buffed areas?  If so what brand of sealer? 

[Skinhead]

On my standard, I tried using Glissen PC (?), a POR product, about $50 a pint, supposed to be rock hard and brushable.  I didn't like the way it went on, and removed it before it fully cured.  So, the answer is no, I didn't use a sealer, and they look good a year later.  I hit them with a little Mothers chrome and aluminum polish now and then.  I just did my IS forks this winter, they came out very nice, again no sealer.

[mirion]

I polished my forks and wheels last winter, Mothers is the only thing I use and they look as good as when I did them.

[98valk]

do a mirror finish. somewhere on the site they state that this level of finish does not require any clear and only a once/yr polish to keep the mirror finish

http://topoftheline.com/poal.html

http://topoftheline.com/dulalchrom.html

[sandy]

Another option is to have them Clear Powder Coated. It might be tricky unless you separate the tubes from the bottom casting.

[fat6man]

The forks are completely separated and the upper tubes have been chucked in a lathe and polished

usings 180 grit and working my way to 800 grit. They do look good compared to the honda finish. The

Lower section will be work in progress for a week or so... all done by hand.

The way it sounds I'll be better off just to Polish them once or twice yearly.

Thanks to all...

[greggh]

On my standard, I tried using Glissen PC (?), a POR product, about $50 a pint, supposed to be rock hard and brushable.  I didn't like the way it went on, and removed it before it fully cured.  So, the answer is no, I didn't use a sealer, and they look good a year later.  I hit them with a little Mothers chrome and aluminum polish now and then.  I just did my IS forks this winter, they came out very nice, again no sealer.

I also used the Glissen product.  Same results.
However while I polished the forks I also took care of the rims at the same time and I did use the Glissen product on them.  Makes for real easy cleanup and still looks good.
The rims for the most part are hidden from plain view most times.
Use mothers after polishing and you will be very pleased with all the looks that it gets!

[Misfit]

The forks are completely separated and the upper tubes have been chucked in a lathe and polished

usings 180 grit and working my way to 800 grit. They do look good compared to the honda finish. The

Lower section will be work in progress for a week or so... all done by hand.

The way it sounds I'll be better off just to Polish them once or twice yearly.

Thanks to all...

At 800 grit you are not quite half way. Take it on up in steps to 2000 grit and then move to polishing compound. After that only wax them. Mothers and others are fine for un-polished aluminum but for highly polished surfaces the grit is too course and will dull your finish.

[Big Mike]

Sounds like a lot of work to me, and then the maintenance of keeping them polished after. I just dropped fork tubes, fork lowers, and the triple tree off at the chrome shop. Not cheap but should look great upon completion. I also brought in the calipers, rear brake bracket, and all 3 rotors.