Ok, so stalled a bit. The place is listed as Wootton Bassett but is actually closer to Wroughton, near the golf course. They are a small company specialising in marine engines but also do anodising. They will be doing the work but I want to give them everything in one hit. They reckon the sleeves will take one run, and I'm getting them to do my footrests, pegs, levers, and hangers, plus rear brake plate and a couple of other bits too, and they reckon they should be able to do that on another run. And that's where the delay came in. My rhs riders peg, lever, and hanger were damaged and I couldn't see the point in getting them done if not perfect, so hangar and lever from breakers, and new peg from the dealers which I'm waiting on so they can match it all together. I should hopefully have it all back from anodising early next week and I'll get pics up.
Just got everything back from the anodisers. Wow is what I reckon. Cans are mot fully back together yet as I need to get a bit more of the original tube taken off the inside of the end cap for a good fit, but here's what the ally sleeves look like along with a few other bits that were done too.
Gilps, they're about ten mins away from me and looking very interesting, did you need to do all prep work except the final degrease? Cheers Mike
I drilled the rivets out of them, tapped end pipe off with soft hammer and cold chisel, undid the hanging bracket, and took the sleeve off. It took no more than 10 minutes per can. The anodisers asked me to degrease them so I just gave them a good scrub inside and out with brake and clutch cleaner and a scotchbrite cloth. I also cleaned up the outside with a scotchbrite wheel on a bench polisher. In hindsight if I were to do it again I would scrub/polish them differently. I used a medium scotchbrite wheel initially, then a fine one. I couldn't get an even finish with the fine so went back to the medium which looked better but still wasn't perfect. I did manage to get all the scratches out. Also they looked too shiny, hence the anodising. Next time I would try using a polishing wheel and compound for a more even finish then anodise them. While you've got the sleeves off, take the opportunity to polish up the stainless ends and link pipes as it's easier without having to worry about the ali sleeves. The ends need to be riveted back on again with stainless rivets, but the guys who modified the baffles have done that for me. It's actually real easy to do. It sounds like you are close by so if you fancy giving it a go and want a hand let me know. If you weren't modifying the baffles then there's probably no more than 2 hours work there tops. They are being riveted back on today so I'll post a pic up tomorrow of the finished items. My apologies to the op if I've hijacked your thread. Hopefully somewhere amongst my ramblings you've got the answer you wanted.
Gilps, thanks for the reply,I have Scorpion stainless on mine due to the baffles rotting out on the originals plus they were a v.good price, looking at stripping mine come the autumn and very useful to know there is a decent anodiser locally and they do a good job at a reasonable cost. Mike
Cool, we've got a few owners in the area then, if everybody has a working vehicle at the same time we should meet for a pint.
After all this hard work getting it looking nice you don't think I'm going to actually ride the bloody thing do you?
Finally, got cans finished and back on the bike. I'll fire it up later and see if I can get a video with sound linked up somehow. Anyhow, here's how they look
Managed to take a video and upload it to YouTube. It's not very good though and it doesn't really capture the sound fully, but here it is They are certainly louder than standard but quieter than the open race cans that were fitted previously, but overall I'm pleased . It's running a bit rich now so needs tweaking, and I think I'll need a bit of sealant at the joints.
