Engine Cover refinishing

I removed the clutch actuating shaft, bearing and seal from the clutch housing and knocked out the sight glass. The glass was nice, but I didn't think it (or its rubber seal) would survive the polishing process.

The stator came out with a good hit from the impact driver - the screws showed signs of being replaced before, so maybe this isn't the original stator. I stripped off the remaining factory clearcoat from all three covers to make the polishing easier, and I carefully removed the black circular emblem from the stator cover.

As for the cover refinishing, I'll admit I cheated. While I'd like to say that I spent two days polishing the covers by hand, I can't. I took them to a polishing shop near my work and gave the guy $60. I figure that's a small price to pay for the hours and hours I would spend sanding and polishing if I did it myself. He didn't do the best job on them, but good enough for a rider.

I placed a new order for sidecover gaskets, a starter cover, sight glass, clutch shaft seal, and I scoured ebay for some cam caps that are nicer than my pitted originals. I also ordered a set of stainless allen bolts for all the covers from eBay. Many of the stock Suzuki bolts were rusty and corroded, and some were stripped out from previous attempts at removal. My experience has been that OEM Japanese screws are horribly soft and strip when looked at with a screwdriver.

Allen bolts may not be perfect, but they work really well for low-torque applications like the valve cover and engine case covers. I already had stainless intake bolts from my oring kit, but now I had them for the rest of the motor. At $35 they're not too expensive, either.

Now to tackle that clutch...