Vapor blasting in bay area

2

2WheelSteel

Member
Hey guys,

Wondering if anyone has any contacts that offer vapor blasting in the bay area (ideally south bay). I did some sand blasting on my valve covers, airbax, and timing covers and am not happy with the overall finish. I have seen vapor blasted aluminum and am in love with the finish.

Thanks in advance!:thumbup
 
NobleHops

NobleHops

Misfit
We can fix that!

DReg350 said:
I have no idea who, or if anyone in the Bay Area has this equipment. I've only recently become aware of it and have only seen it offered by one shop...

Restocycle - Vapor Blasting and Japanese Motorcycle Restoration

But, these guys are in Tucson, AZ. Still, their work looks fantastic. :thumbup
Click to expand...

How cool are you DReg? Very cool. Thank you for those kind words.

I lived in Santa Cruz for a couple of years and was a citizen at SouthBayRiders and a lurker here, hence the login. I am indeed living in Tucson and about a year ago I hung out my shingle to do motorcycle restoration work and yes, vapor blasting. Which is frankly awesome, and I get to say that because I didn't invent it, I just do it :).

For the benefit of the OP, you are far from alone in having glass beaded your parts and having found yourself unhappy with the resulting finish. It gets worse from here for you - the pores of the aluminum are now wide open and that part will get stained and dirty if you so much as think a dirty thought. That's the bad news.

The good news is that I can fix it, no problem, and it's fast and so that means it's a great value for you. Examples:

A Mazda intake:





SOHC Honda stuff (wheel hub is just there for reference on the finish):





Triumph Trident cylinders and head, covers:









Pack your stuff in a sturdy box, well padded, weigh and measure it, and email all that to me, I'll email you back a shipping label for a lot less than you'll get it, I'll do my thing, ship it back. Elapsed time about a week, end-to-end. I'll bill you for it all when I ship, provide tracking when I do, Easy. Shipping from CA is cheap.

Be in touch man, I will fix that for ya :)

Best,

Nils Menten
RestoCycle LLC
Tucson, Arizona
http://www.restocycle.com
http://www.facebook.com/RestoCycleLLC
(520) 308-3705
info@restocycle.com
 
Abyss

Abyss

Anhedonia
I can do vapor blasting for free y0

Cloud-chasing_1_large.jpg
 
auditude

auditude

Wut, bodda you?
NobleHops said:
Soda blasting is awesome, I do that too, different animal - different result.
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Wow! Cool that you're still active on here, Nils. Hope OP gets the work needed; would love to see before and afters as the samples were pretty dramatic.

Never even knew this existed...thanks for being part of teh BARFs :thumbup
 
NobleHops

NobleHops

Misfit
auditude said:
Wow! Cool that you're still active on here, Nils. Hope OP gets the work needed; would love to see before and afters as the samples were pretty dramatic.

Never even knew this existed...thanks for being part of teh BARFs :thumbup
Click to expand...

Thanks man! I'm alive and well :)
 
NobleHops

NobleHops

Misfit
Lucky13xx said:
Learn something new everyday :thumbup

How does it hold up after some weathering? Any recommended seal to preserve the look?
Click to expand...

My first hand experience is limited to about 2 1/2 years, and it looked excellent. Clearcoat is an option, as the factories did, but if this is a garage-kept motorcycle, I'd say a normal detailing once a year with some metal polish will keep it looking excellent indefinitely.
 
D

DReg350

Well-known member
Hey, Nills, I'm glad you surfaced here! Cool to be able to connect. I've still got my first bike - 1962 Yamaha MJ2 (55cc two stroke). Looks allot like a Honda Trail 90. Been thinking about a restoration and found you while looking into it. It'd be a lot easier and look better in the end with a service like yours. Love Tucson. Get there a few times a year. I'll visit you next time. Also, love the name... Noblehops. Go to Dragoons Brewery on Grant. Resurrection. Best saison I've ever had! :thumbup
 
NobleHops

NobleHops

Misfit
DReg350 said:
Hey, Nills, I'm glad you surfaced here! Cool to be able to connect. I've still got my first bike - 1962 Yamaha MJ2 (55cc two stroke). Looks allot like a Honda Trail 90. Been thinking about a restoration and found you while looking into it. It'd be a lot easier and look better in the end with a service like yours. Love Tucson. Get there a few times a year. I'll visit you next time. Also, love the name... Noblehops. Go to Dragoons Brewery on Grant. Resurrection. Best saison I've ever had! :thumbup
Click to expand...

We love Dragoon - I'm a hophead and their IPA is one of the best locally. The beer scene in Tucson has EXPLODED.

Bring that engine and whatever else on your next trip down and we will connect and I will blast that stuff while you look over my shoulder. It's maggggiiiiic.

Then we will go to Dragoon!

N.
 
2

2WheelSteel

Member
NobleHops said:
Pack your stuff in a sturdy box, well padded, weigh and measure it, and email all that to me, I'll email you back a shipping label for a lot less than you'll get it, I'll do my thing, ship it back. Elapsed time about a week, end-to-end. I'll bill you for it all when I ship, provide tracking when I do, Easy. Shipping from CA is cheap.

Be in touch man, I will fix that for ya :)
Click to expand...

Hey Nils! Awesome, this is exactly what I am looking for. I will pack up my stuff and weight out for you.
One more question: What does polished aluminum look like after vapor blasting? I have a stock lower cast AL triple clamp and a CNC AL top triple. I am trying to have them with similar surface finishes.

Thanks
 
NobleHops

NobleHops

Misfit
2WheelSteel said:
Hey Nils! Awesome, this is exactly what I am looking for. I will pack up my stuff and weight out for you.
One more question: What does polished aluminum look like after vapor blasting? I have a stock lower cast AL triple clamp and a CNC AL top triple. I am trying to have them with similar surface finishes.

Thanks
Click to expand...

The machined billet stuff like your top clamp cleans up the best - like new. It acts like different metal. The cast stuff comes out with more of a satin texture. I have a vibratory finishing tank I can run it through that restores smoother parts like this and side covers to a much more stock-like appearance (smoother, shinier). I'll probably run it through that and they will get pretty close in appearance.

Ready anytime!
 
NobleHops

NobleHops

Misfit
OK, time for an update - we have been busy on a number of projects, having fun too.

Did a fun project for a customer with holed XR600 cases: He bought a used set of good cases, had them shipped directly to us and we vapor blasted them and sent them along to him. He was pretty psyched.





Helped a local customer with his cafe build - pulled his engine from his bike, soda blasted it, painted it, vapor blasted the valve and sidecovers, put it back in the bike. He was also pretty psyched :)





Have been dabbling in some automotive work - this is an intake for a Sunbeam (I think?)





These folks were (you guessed it!) PRETTY PSYCHED! :)

Met a very cool cat at a swap meet - an airhead guru. He sent me his transmission case in advance of a tech day he was hosting for a bunch of guys.








And nobody doesn't love a Honda CBX. By 1979 Honda was using some really nice quality metal and it is very much on display after vapor blasting it spotless:









Shall we have Italian? Tasty Moto Guzzi valve covers are on the menu:





Over on the other side of the shop, we are nearly finished with the restoration of another lovely little Honda CB400F:



...and we recently installed a vibratory polisher, aka a 'tumbling tank'. With this we can restore a smoother, shinier finish to sidecovers and wheel hubs and similar parts after vapor blasting that is much closer to the original finish. There's no charge for this service, at the customer's election.



Vapor blasted:



...and then tumbled:



And THAT is what's been going on lately at RestoCycle :)
 
Grissom

Grissom

....................
Those pieces look great :thumbup

With vapor blasting do the threads need to be masked off or plugged?
 
phocup

phocup

Well-known member
Looks great .. just leaving this message here as a reminder to contact you later when I need stuff.
 
NobleHops

NobleHops

Misfit
Grissom said:
Those pieces look great :thumbup

With vapor blasting do the threads need to be masked off or plugged?
Click to expand...

Thanks man, and a very good question I am happy to answer. Every blind passage on a part I blast does indeed get plugged, and the threaded ones get a socket head cap screw threaded into them (I have hundreds, of various sizes). That is hands-down the best way to prevent media from lodging in the threads. Male threads (studs) not really an issue, I can clear those effectively without needing to mask them.

On a part like an engine case I will spend more than half of my time cleaning the part, including all the oil passages, and then plugging them, then I do my blast work, and then I spend that much time again cleaning and re-cleaning them. Heads are the same. Have to be diligent about that.

N.
 
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