Anyone know where I can get some crocus cloth for working on my Lotus crank? 1000 and 2000 grit would be nice to see if I can polish it up. retail outlets would be nice, but I'm just not sure who would have it. Thanks!
Ron,
Try your local NAPA store. If not, ask a machine shop.
I guess if you want to polish your Lotus crank, that's OK, but most guys would rather have their knob polished!
I think that you will be there forever with 1000 or 2000 grit and it will produce a surface finish far finer than required. A strip of wet/dry 800 grit paper (used wet) pulled around the crank will get you very close to the RA (say 10-12) of a new crank and will knock down any high standing burrs that might otherwise remain from a 2000 grit pass that might mess with your shiny new bearings. If you must then you can clean up with 1000-2000. As a reference, a 15 micron tape abrasive used in automated crank polishing produces results similar to a #600 grit paper. Check out the info at the bottom of this page from Federal Mogal:
If you are not in a rush I can drop a sheet of each (800, 1500) in the mail for you tonight to experiment with. This is what I used on my crank after a similar incident and have not had any problems (yet!). Just PM me your address as I have probably lost it.