Restoring forks

[Coyote]

I've taken off the forks in hopes of painting the lowers and the brackets between them black. I just had a go trying to get rid of the dark pitted surface with 800 sandpaper (didn't want to use anything too coarse) but it didn't really do much. What grade of sandpaper should I use, or is there another way to get rid of it like using some kind of acid cleaner? Can it just be painted over?

And the top of the fork has a bit of rust. Can this be fixed easily or is it just better to leave it?

[Alive]

I did a set of lower forks last year..... Just sanded them enough to get paint to stick then threw an anti chip coating on that and sanded that to a really nice finish, undercoated and topcoated.... Worked a treat... Oh and I'd polish the rust off the forks... It will come back eventually, but better to slow it down than leave it....

Good luck

[TLDV8]

If you are going to paint the lower's,beadblasting will give a good surface for paint prep.
If the rust is not in the working area of the fork then doing something to stop further oxidation would be fine,given the cost of new hard chrome and grinding if that option was taken.
Some times replacement used forks are less than rechroming, not to mention places like Franks Forks in the US who do new tubes for most bikes with conventional forks.
*
With alloy lowers some folk hit them with 00000 steel wool and then clear coat which is very close to the stock appearance of a lot of forks.

[Crisis management]

With the fork lowers, if you are planning on painting them, then a good primer will fill any minor pitting and once sanded back provide a smooth surface for top coating.

Preparation should be something like this:

Sand with 240 grit wet & dry (always use with lots of water to wash out the paper and keep it clear of sanding waste).
Rinse off well with lots of water (hose) and let dry.
Mask with good quality tape the bits you don't want to paint.
Apply an even coat of suitable primer and let dry (usually 30 to 60 minutes.)
Sand with 400 grit wet & dry (wet again), rinse off...dry....mask.....
Check for an even sanded finish and reprime if neccessary
When you are confident you have a clean smooth surface then apply top coat.

Takes forever to do but unless you put the preparation time in the finished item is crap.

Keep us posted!

With the uppers...as TLDV8 has said...

[riffer]

Dude, come over and see me if you want some advice or to borrow the tools you need. PM me for my address.

I did mine over the Xmas hols. Used 240 grit sandpaper on a random orbital sander - held it between my legs upside down holding the fork - ran the fork over it to sand it up, then smoothed out with Steelo soap pads from Pak N Save, and finished with Autosol.

Here's how they turned out.