I recently purchased a 1992 XLH 883. The cases have a satin finish under a clearcoat. Over the years, the clearcoat has rubbed off in spots to leave a nice shiny aluminum finish. I want to strip all that clearcoat. What would be the best way to do this?
Thanks,
Shorty

 

pop the cases, take them to a boat propeller shop this winter .
(when they are not so busy)
or you can spend a lot of time with 600-800 grit sandpaper , then follow up with a polishing compound such as jewelers rouge....

 

Boat shop may be a good way to go, but we don't have any around here. When I did my wife's Sporty ('91 1200) several years back I did the sanding thing. Took a while, but when finished, and hit a few times w/ Mother's aluminum polish, they looked better than new. We eventually chromed 'em, but for the time we had 'em polished they looked good. You will, however, have to re-polish from time to time...

 

I think any good paint stripper will take it off, but would recommend taking the cases off so you don't get it in places you don't want it. If you don't want to take them off, mask them off carefully, then use the stripper sparingly....
Clean them up with very fine sandpaper, 2000 grit or better. Buff them out with rouge, or some good metal polish. "Autosol" makes a good polish. A buffing wheel on a drill, or small grinder will do for the final polishing....