Finished my MasterCylinder

[R_W_B]

Well my Master Cylinder paint has been peeling since I before first bought the bike used. You all know what a few fluid leaks does to that OEM black paint (or any paint). So I came up with this hair brained idea to strip the paint off it and sand back up thru all the grits and then polish it.

As you might guess a Master Cylinder does not lend itself to such activity easily. It took some redneck determination (and the fact that I've spent all my money on TBars and other stuff and can't afford to just go buy a Chromed Master Cylinder).

Well to make a long boring story short, I stuck an ear plug in bango hole, left the old gasket in place, and spent several hours of sanding and polishing. It still has few small scratches where the stipping process went to deep to sand totally out, but it looks good enough for a Master Cylinder and now hopefully (if I keep it polished) the fluid won't ruin the finish like the paint did.

Next I'm headed out to the HD shop (yes the one that treats me so well :lolrolling ) to get a new gasket. Then I'm gonna pop the cover and wash the whole thing in denatured alcohol and then mount it on my new Tbars. Feel pretty good about it.

Here's a few pics,

 

[Jack Klarich]

Well my Master Cylinder paint has been peeling since I before first bought the bike used. You all know what a few fluid leaks does to that OEM black paint (or any paint). So I came up with this hair brained idea to strip the paint off it and sand back up thru all the grits and then polish it.

As you might guess a Master Cylinder does not lend itself to such activity easily. It took some redneck determination (and the fact that I've spent all my money on TBars and other stuff and can't afford to just go buy a Chromed Master Cylinder).

Well to make a long boring story short, I stuck an ear plug in bango hole, left the old gasket in place, and spent several hours of sanding and polishing. It still has few small scratches where the stipping process went to deep to sand totally out, but it looks good enough for a Master Cylinder and now hopefully (if I keep it polished) the fluid won't ruin the finish like the paint did.

Next I'm headed out to the HD shop (yes the one that treats me so well :lolrolling ) to get a new gasket. Then I'm gonna pop the cover and wash the whole thing in denatured alcohol and then mount it on my new Tbars. Feel pretty good about it.

Here's a few pics,

While at the dealer ask them abou:st a recall on the front master cylinder, Mine same year as your s was recalled

 

[HDDon]

Nice looking job. Are you going to clearcoat it or just but some pledge on it?

 

[fin_676]

You will have to keep it polished but a good coating of a well known brand of furniture polish should put a wee barrier between the metal and the general nasties in the air we breath that will cause corrosion
when i did mine a few years ago i repainted it and it has held up ok

Brian

 

[R_W_B]

While at the dealer ask them abou:st a recall on the front master cylinder, Mine same year as your s was recalled

Do you know what was wrong with it for the recall ? Ee gad I don't want a new one with black paint all over again.

Nice looking job. Are you going to clearcoat it or just but some pledge on it?

It has some metal polish on it and that's all I plan to ever put on it. Never had good (lasting) luck with clear coats.

 

[HarryB737]

Nice job, That looks really good. Genuine inginuity with the ear plug

 

[glider]

Looking good RWB, have you thought about going into business doing that?

 

[bwalsh22]

This has to be a regular problem. My '06 has the same problem since I bought the bike too. If no one buys the bike I may go this route as well, unless you want to come take care of mine too

 

[Jack Klarich]

Seems to Me there was a problem with the Master Cylinders leaking, Check with your dealer Dave:s

 

[R_W_B]

You will have to keep it polished but a good coating of a well known brand of furniture polish should put a wee barrier between the metal and the general nasties in the air we breath that will cause corrosion .. .. .. .. .. Brian

Well Brian just because 'you' said so, I'm gonna put wee barrier of the well known brand. That way I can just be a wee bit happier on the whole affair. :cheers

Looking good RWB, have you thought about going into business doing that?

Oh lord Glider there ain't no money in doing that. It's tedius work. If I had the money I would of just bought a $3xx.xx chrome one.

This has to be a regular problem. My '06 has the same problem since I bought the bike too. If no one buys the bike I may go this route as well, unless you want to come take care of mine too

Well I'll be glad to share all the ins and outs of doing it whenever you do it. Don't really know why HD puts paint on these things (well obviously for curb appeal ) but it just ain't very functional. When I went to put my new gasket on I found paint INSIDE ON THE BOTTOM of the cap. And it was bubbling off also. So I had to scrape the inside of the cap which was also time consuming since it ain't flat everywhere, has ridges and numbers. Anyhow got everything off and out that might get into my fluid. And then rinsed the dickens out of the whole affair with denatured alcohol. It'll dry overnight.

Seems to Me there was a problem with the Master Cylinders leaking, Check with your dealer Dave:s

Thanks Jack will do.

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By the way guys I have a question. I put the little plastic cap thingy in the new gasket and then inserted the new gasket. Got it in and pulled up the wrapping sleeve on top real good. BUT ... my little plastic thingy was sticking up too high. So with some difficulty I got it to slide back almost all the way down flat (like it was on the old one) . Did I do this right or is there some trick to this ?

And what is that plastic thingy for anyway ?