Removing Engine Covers

[booger]

For what it would cost me to have the covers professionally painted, I could powdercoat everything on my bike.  

+1, but some guys out there who do the powdercoating aren't what you would call finesse operators. I had some misc parts on my bike powdercoated; rearsets, pillion pegs, headlight ring & bucket, headlight bracket, CW tailchop. The company I went to was a hydraulic specialist, who had a leathery old skinny guy with no teeth working down in a dungeon powdercoating big metal spools for industrial electrical wiring. The only color they had was gloss black. They had a tiny bit of semigloss so I didn't have to pay for more powder as is customary. I had all that stuff done for $20. Thanks to my OCD prep they came out immaculate. I had to beadblast the parts, get screws for threaded holes, and make sure the parts were fully degreased. They just spray and bake. So you can't trust the prep to the powder guy.
Painting involves just as much if not more prep, and to get a durable good-looking finish you will pay a lot more, because painters are finesse operators. Powdercoating just makes more sense to me, and if you can find people that take pride in their work and do thoughtful prep, get ready for an impressive finish. I suggest Figure Engineering in Manassas, VA. They are not the company I used previously.

[junior varsity]

ah...

if you are in DFW (or are in the texas/surrounding areas and would ship), the 'go-to' place is Top Koat, but its a long drive for me (other side of creation, much nearer to fw) and iirc, their prices are a good bit higher than some of the others around.

That said, I use a shop not too far from downtown Dallas called Custom Powder Coating. They did the rearsets, headlight rings, etc for me before and have always done a good job. I've not yet used them for a frame, but am considering it currently.

[Punx Clever]

2yr old thread? NO BIG DEAL!  Awaken ye, thread of yore!

...

Likewise, there seems to be a bushing on the inside of the clutch case... does this need to be removed? Or is only things that would melt/catch fire when being baked?    I suppose I could ask the ol' powdercoater himself (and may later do so), but I figure I can get some information from those who have done this before as well.

Awaken again ye-old thread!

This bushing for the crank... it has a seal in front of it.  Any special tricks to getting this seal to come out? Mine seems stuck pretty handily...

[OT]

I think LT Snyder's 2V book covers all of this?

Click on the "Written" icon at the top...

www.desmotimes.com

[junior varsity]

I've got it - i don't recall it having everything in it like this.  Mostly the more "medium" level stuff.