Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Three wheeler polished engine

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the polished engine ?
I like the view of the polished engine but I saw a lot of cars were the polished aluminum of the engine was corroded.

The polished engines look good! But like all polished alloy, you need to keep on top of cleaning them....ask any H-D owner! All part of the enjoyment of ownership.

Is there someone who has tips for cleaning or is it possible to avoid the corrosion?

Thanks
Marcus

The serious Harley world swear by "S DOC 100" http://www.sdoc100.co.uk/ and then blow drying their bikes with large heater blowers immediately after washing together with lots of polishing!

Black/Non-Polished is just soooooo much more practical though!

I prefer the look of the black, more contrast to show off the finer details of the engine and it's not so "blingy"

I opted for the standard pack as keeping all the chrome and stainless shiny and bright as well as the paint would mean spending all the spare time cleaning and shining instead of driving!

It's much like owning a black car. Looks great when it has just been washed and polished but wait a few minutes for dust and whatnot...

As we all have a can of ACF50 lying around in the garage, I wonder whether this could be sprayed onto the polished alloy bits, then gently wiped over? I'm just not sure how this would react when it is heated up, but if a small sample area is treated first, it can't do much damage.

I am amazed how good that stuff is at protecting normal metal parts. I carefully sprayed all crucial parts when my Threee Wheeler was new, including the front hubs and inside the brake discs, which always go rusty in next to no time, and it certainly kept those bit clear of surface rust.

I seem to remember that people with polished panels on Lotus7 type kits etc recommended Windowlene to keep it shining. I think they were polished aluminium too.
Brooklands owners may have solutions too?
Heat would be an issue accelerating oxidation, but someone like Frost may have lacquer type coatings to protect?

Actually, now you've mentioned a polish, I've had great results with Belgom Alu metal polish, which has a preservative to stop oxidation mixed in with it. It used to keep my polished alloy Caterham good for about 6 months at a time, even on the bonnet top which was subject to quite a lot of heat from the manifold.