Topic: Early Sandcast Found......

[MauiK3]

Hopefully you can get that casing cleaned up without emptying them out. Tough job.

[Stev-o]

... going to try “hydro blasting”!

You will love it.  I had my entire Kawasaki engine [heads, cylinders and case] vapor blasted a few years ago before a total rebuild.

Steve.... a friend had a few castings done locally and they really look fantastic. The block and head are so hard to prep that I’m excited by any option. Did you paint or leave unfinished?

The Kawasaki Triple engines came "naked" from the factory, so I didnt paint, still looks great 3+ years later.
But you'll need to paint the Sandie, not sure what further prep will be needed but have read it is great even if it will be painted.

[BenelliSEI]

Hopefully you can get that casing cleaned up without emptying them out. Tough job.

I’ve done a few and the prep takes forever. Getting the top 1/2 really clean will help.
Here’s a picture of my K0. It turned out pretty well.

[BenelliSEI]

... going to try “hydro blasting”!

You will love it.  I had my entire Kawasaki engine [heads, cylinders and case] vapor blasted a few years ago before a total rebuild.

Steve.... a friend had a few castings done locally and they really look fantastic. The block and head are so hard to prep that I’m excited by any option. Did you paint or leave unfinished?

The Kawasaki Triple engines came "naked" from the factory, so I didnt paint, still looks great 3+ years later.
But you'll need to paint the Sandie, not sure what further prep will be needed but have read it is great even if it will be painted.

Plan is to paint!

[Terry in Australia]

... going to try “hydro blasting”!

You will love it.  I had my entire Kawasaki engine [heads, cylinders and case] vapor blasted a few years ago before a total rebuild.

Steve.... a friend had a few castings done locally and they really look fantastic. The block and head are so hard to prep that I’m excited by any option. Did you paint or leave unfinished?

The Kawasaki Triple engines came "naked" from the factory, so I didnt paint, still looks great 3+ years later.
But you'll need to paint the Sandie, not sure what further prep will be needed but have read it is great even if it will be painted.

Plan is to paint!

I had my K0 engine cases vapor blasted, which was way more expensive than just bead blasting, but I was so happy with the finish I didn't bother to paint anything except the top and bottom cases. Vapor blasting is excellent for sure, but is not as aggressive as bead blasting, so to get the baked on crud off my cases, the blaster first chemically washed everything, then bead blasted it, and then finally vapor blasted it to close the pores in the metal and give it the "sheen" that I wanted.

I don't think you'll be able to successfully blast the bottom end without a complete engine strip John, but reassembling the bottom end is easy peasy, so if it was me, I'd strip it down to completely empty the engine cases, and the benefit is that you'll be able to check all your gearbox bearings, primary chains and tensioner, install a new cam chain, and maybe new main bearings while you're at it.  

[BenelliSEI]

... going to try “hydro blasting”!

You will love it.  I had my entire Kawasaki engine [heads, cylinders and case] vapor blasted a few years ago before a total rebuild.

Steve.... a friend had a few castings done locally and they really look fantastic. The block and head are so hard to prep that I’m excited by any option. Did you paint or leave unfinished?

The Kawasaki Triple engines came "naked" from the factory, so I didnt paint, still looks great 3+ years later.
But you'll need to paint the Sandie, not sure what further prep will be needed but have read it is great even if it will be painted.

Plan is to paint!

I had my K0 engine cases vapor blasted, which was way more expensive than just bead blasting, but I was so happy with the finish I didn't bother to paint anything except the top and bottom cases. Vapor blasting is excellent for sure, but is not as aggressive as bead blasting, so to get the baked on crud off my cases, the blaster first chemically washed everything, then bead blasted it, and then finally vapor blasted it to close the pores in the metal and give it the "sheen" that I wanted.

I don't think you'll be able to successfully blast the bottom end without a complete engine strip John, but reassembling the bottom end is easy peasy, so if it was me, I'd strip it down to completely empty the engine cases, and the benefit is that you'll be able to check all your gearbox bearings, primary chains and tensioner, install a new cam chain, and maybe new main bearings while you're at it.

Terry...... looking forward to having a really clean top end. Sounds like you really got the K0 back to 100% air cooled. Some of the engines I’ve seen were almost blocked solid after +50 years.

Will decide on the bottom when I see what’s in the sump. I had this one running and it so quiet I’m sure the chains are OK.

[Terry in Australia]

Yes John, I built my engine out of parts that I bought from several different sellers so I didn’t have a good engine to start with, so I can understand your reticence to tear yours apart, a lot of folks love the “Engine had never been apart” thing, so you’ll have to decide which way to go when the time gets closer, and as the top end has to come off anyway to repair those damaged fins and do a ring job, you might be better off just degreasing your bottom end really well and painting it in one lump, because vapor blasting could cause catastrophic damage, which should be avoided on something as valuable as a sandy.

[BenelliSEI]

Yes John, I built my engine out of parts that I bought from several different sellers so I didn’t have a good engine to start with, so I can understand your reticence to tear yours apart, a lot of folks love the “Engine had never been apart” thing, so you’ll have to decide which way to go when the time gets closer, and as the top end has to come off anyway to repair those damaged fins and do a ring job, you might be better off just degreasing your bottom end really well and painting it in one lump, because vapor blasting could cause catastrophic damage, which should be avoided on something as valuable as a sandy.

That’s the plan. My shop mate Gary seems to be enjoying scrapping away at it (he spends one day a week in my shop to help with “Covid boredom”). I’m working away at the roller for now, waiting to see how far he gets!

[BenelliSEI]

Cleaned and rubbed down the fork ears and headlight this afternoon. Lots of stains and faded paint, but not a single dent, bend or crack! Despite +50 years of wear, they actually came up nicely. I plan to use all the original body work  “as is”. Too bad the original air box was completely missing. Will keep looking for an original, but they are probably long gone.....

[lash]

Is this close enough?

[Terry in Australia]

Yes John, I built my engine out of parts that I bought from several different sellers so I didn’t have a good engine to start with, so I can understand your reticence to tear yours apart, a lot of folks love the “Engine had never been apart” thing, so you’ll have to decide which way to go when the time gets closer, and as the top end has to come off anyway to repair those damaged fins and do a ring job, you might be better off just degreasing your bottom end really well and painting it in one lump, because vapor blasting could cause catastrophic damage, which should be avoided on something as valuable as a sandy.

That’s the plan. My shop mate Gary seems to be enjoying scrapping away at it (he spends one day a week in my shop to help with “Covid boredom”). I’m working away at the roller for now, waiting to see how far he gets!

Yeah, when I did mine I used a cheap little toothbrush sized wire brush and cheap spray degreaser and was able to get into all the nooks and crannies, before I painted the top and bottom case on the K2 engine, it came up like new. I’ve got a really nice airbox bottom here, but I need to keep it as I had to glue mine back together and I imagine it’ll eventually fail again.

[BenelliSEI]

Is this close enough?

Dwayne...... That’s the finish I’m looking for! Will see you soon. John D.

[BenelliSEI]

Today I built the front wheel. Lovely working with freshly chromed rim, new spokes, and a polished hub. Pleasant afternoon! Also mounted the headlight and front turn signals. Starting to look like a motorcycle. Pictures, next time, after I clean up  the speedo drive, disc, axle and mounting hardware.

[BenelliSEI]

Trued and straight. Original rim with fresh chrome.

[BenelliSEI]

Black tape is the heaviest part of the full assembly.”Yellow Dot” goes there.

[BenelliSEI]

Tire mounted, no scratches!

[britman]

Very pretty----She's going to be a beauty.....

[BenelliSEI]

Very pretty----She's going to be a beauty.....

Your scrambler looks good too. Take care of yourself, you’ll be on it soon. Best wishes! J.

[BenelliSEI]

Poking through parts yesterday and noticed the tool tray is MIA.

Anyone have an extra?

[BenelliSEI]

Front assembly balanced.

[BenelliSEI]

Moved it from the small work table to the bigger platform (bit tricky with no bars, rear wheel or “assistant”). Safely clamped in and tied back the centre stand. Starting to look like a motorcycle!

All the red parts are what was on the bike. Lots of nicks and scratches, but cleaned up well.

[BenelliSEI]

Working on the bits for the rear wheel. All the bearings came out smoothly for a change! Cleaning these bits is tedious! Ready for polishing (the hub flanges and brake plate). Note the correct “two hole hub”. New spokes and freshly chromed rim are ready and waiting.

I wonder if the 4  6 stamp means April 6th? Bike came off in very early May, 1969......

[BenelliSEI]

Replica “black body” shocks. This bike was fitted with huge top shock nuts (17 mm wrench). Need to order the right ones.

[Terry in Australia]

Looking good John, did it have the original shocks on it when you got it? Have you see Arnie's #1000063 engine in the sandcast FB page? As always with Arnie's builds, it looks like new!

[BenelliSEI]

Looking good John, did it have the original shocks on it when you got it? Have you see Arnie's #1000063 engine in the sandcast FB page? As always with Arnie's builds, it looks like new!

Yes..... the shocks were on it. I took one apart and it had zero dampening action left. Both very rusty too. Curious if I can move the preload selector ring from old to new. They measure up as almost identical. Yes, I saw that motor. I’m inspired!