Polishing and Preparation

The four stages of polishing from left to right. 1) The years of weather, heat and cold get you tarnish. 2) Over time a thin skin of crud forms - knock that off with some medium grade wet or  dry. This is the time to also remove any minor dings. 3) Use a finer grade of wet or dry to remove the deeper marks. 4) Polished with a polishing wheel - I polish in two stages: a) I use Porter Cable #5 High Gloss Gold/Silver polish on one wheel - this will get you 90% of the way - it will remove any visible scratches. On my second wheel I use Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish and I polish until the wheel goes dry. You know you are done when the aluminum has a satin look to it. 

A preview of the polished parts on the engine. The green wire is holding the cam chain - its not hooked up yet.

Inside the cam chain tensioner you will find this scary spring - I recommend NOT taking it out. Note the Schmutz - I blew this out with a blast of air, added a little oil to keep the rust away and closed it back up before that spring unraveled in my face.

A little High heat paint on the cam chain tensioners.

The nuts and washers for the heads - one size for the front and one size fore the back. Note the missing dowel pin in the timing chain gear.

Banjo bolts, oil lines and cam tensioner - ready to go