Mmmmm, shiny....

[wombat]

Bikes can never have too much shiny stuff, and I saw John's old ones and thought it would be a good look, especially with my blades; amazing what you can do with a few hours spare time.

Shout outs to Cave Dweller and Rik for sorting me out with some lever bodies.

[Ride_Guy]

Watch out Chingy!!

This Wombat gots BLING!!

Lol nice nice, looks better then what they originally are, but im thinking this might start up some sort of trend or fashion with the levers :S

Rhys

[Chilli]

mmmm shineyness is good......
what did you use to shine em up with?

[Bodin]

Quite possibly the coolest customisation I've ever seen on a MTB. I have the same lever bodies and would greatly appreciate a rundown of the method you used.

Cheers.

[wombat]

Quite possibly the coolest customisation I've ever seen on a MTB. I have the same lever bodies and would greatly appreciate a rundown of the method you used.

Cheers.
No worries, although I guess it's only fair to point out that I did see if on BB7 rider's levers before, and thought it looked cool (but better with the black/gold blades :p ).

The process is very simple, and took me only a couple of hours for each lever.
First of all you need to remove the paint from the bodies, I used "Selley's Kwik Strip" (mainly because it was what I had kicking around) to remove the paint, but any stripper safe for use on aluminium etc. should be fine.

Once all the paint is off, you need to smooth the cast finish. To do so I used wet and dry, starting with 380 grit, to level out most of the surface, then 640 grit to smooth the surface, and 1000 or 1200 grit for the final sanding. When you're done sanding you should have a surface with a similar brightness to that of machined aluminium (things like cnc stem etc.)

With the sanding done they need to be polished. I did all the polishing on a bench grinder, and it's not a job I'd want to approach if I didn't have this tool. I used a general aluminium alloy polishing compound on the buff wheel, and worked on the bodies until they came up to a mirror finish. Final polishing was done with the same compound on a mop wheel; it wasn't really necessary but made them just that little brighter.

It pays to take your time with the sanding though, and not get lazy as the finish will only be as good as your ground work. I guess I should also mention that you have to pull the lever apart before you do any of this work and pull the master cylinder cartridge and bladder etc. out.

The big problem I'm having at the moment is with tarnishing, if I find anything to help stop that I'll post up, otherwise maybe someone else has an idea *cough*GRIP*cough* :)

[DEVLIN]

Get them nicely polished up and give them a good degrease, then getthem anodised. Not sure how much of the shine you will keep when it isdone, but it should still be purdy.

[rtd]

I've done this to my Hayes Mag levers many a time. I've stopped, because I'm sick of them tarnishing a week after I do it, so any suggestions to prevent it would be great!

[mikesmith]

hey guys

after it has been polished it has to be painted with clear paint. i have the same finish on my motorbike swingarm and polish and cleared and now forgotten about always shiny.

[Tomas]

Spray Lacquer? Thats what we use at school on our aluminium projects. Any clearcoat should do it?...

[crozza]

make sure they are not on the angle to shine in to ur eyes

[MrPlow]

Just give them a clear coat Wombat.
Go down to Mitre 10 and buy the most expensive clear coat you can get.
Give them a really light first coat. Then start laying it on thicker.
The reason I give a light coat on polished stuff is casue the paint doesn't stick to the smooth surface really well. Sorta like an etch primer theory.
It will chip off easy, nothing you can do about that :(

[Shaun]

very schmick wombat. now just think what my bb7 would look like if i went to all that trouble.

hmmm i would like to do that very much so, but it would be a long and tedious process.

[wombat]

hmmm i would like to do that very much so, but it would be a long and tedious process.
Not really, took me about 2 hours to completely sand each body (maybe less) and only a few minutes for each on the buff/mop.

I think I might look into clear coating them too, although that'll mean stripping the lever back down again and at this stage I don't think I can be bothered messing around with the hose again. I'll see how badly they tarnish and take it from there. Although, I did have car wax suggested to me, any ideas on that?

[tripmitz]

hey wombat, wax should work fine as well. Although you'll probably need to reapply fairly regularly. In fact anything that will create a barrier to the atmosphere. Oxygen is causing the now raw aluminium to form a very thin layer of aluminium oxide over the surface, ie the tarnish and spoiling that sexy finish! You could also use some clear nail polish and apply with a tiny brush.

[Shaun]

Not really, took me about 2 hours to completely sand each body (maybe less) and only a few minutes for each on the buff/mop.

I think I might look into clear coating them too, although that'll mean stripping the lever back down again and at this stage I don't think I can be bothered messing around with the hose again. I'll see how badly they tarnish and take it from there. Although, I did have car wax suggested to me, any ideas on that?

i meant it would take me a long time to do that to my frame. and i'd have to buy new stickers etc.