Author Topic: My first sohc project (Sept. update. - Finally paint! w/ pics) (Read 21557 times)

greenjeans · « **on:** March 26, 2007, 09:55:24 am »

Here she is in all here glory.... 11k miles. Been lonely in a garge since 1985. everything was there - compression checked out fine.
Didn't run, but I wasn't concerned - previous owner parked when the carbs / tanks started leaking and bought another bike with the
intention of cleaning her up someday.... 20 some years later, I was able to "take it off his hands" for 300 bucks

greenjeans · « **Reply #1 on:** March 26, 2007, 10:03:29 am »

I cleaned it as best I could with simple green and a little elbow grease and took a break. After staring at it for what seemed an eternity, i started taking it apart. I have 50 or so of these little parts bins a neighbor had given me...finally put them to use. i just kept going until I was ready to get the motor out. If you have an engine lift it makes it very easy.... just took the oil pan off for clearance and it came out easily. 1 man operation. It will only come out to the right of the bike (when sitting on it)
I just ran a rope through the upper motor mounts - front and back and yanked it out.

greenjeans · « **Reply #2 on:** March 26, 2007, 10:11:26 am »

After giving the motor a good cleaning - again with the simple green, I figured I give her a nice coat of paint. I stripped the old paint off
with some "aircraft remover" paint stripper - VERY GOOD stuff - just be sure you wear some good gloves and some eye protection, that stuff will burn your skin.
After reading the multitude of posts on engine paint, I settled on VHT flat aluminum. Couldn't believe the difference. hers the before, cleaned & painted versions.
I just purchased a buffer at the local sears and am planning on polishing the cam covers & cam chain cover as well as the side covers.

bwaller · « **Reply #3 on:** March 26, 2007, 10:13:08 am »

Another good find, well done. I suppose this means we'll have to hate you too.

greenjeans · « **Reply #4 on:** March 26, 2007, 10:28:02 am »

Now on to the frame.... Again I used the "aircraft stripper" brush on paint remover. I had started with the grinder & a wire wheel, but that quickly took too much time.
I hit the bad / rusty spots with the wire wheel after stripping and finally sprayed it down with some rust converter... (I think it's just phosporic acid in a spray bottle) but it reallly does the trick. I gave the frame another bath with some good 'ol dawn dish soap and dried it out with the heat gun and a blower. After all that, the frame was really in good shape.... It seemed a shame to paint it. I considered shooting clear on it and leaving it - but I wanted a little color so I wiped it down with some acetone and sprayed it with some self-etching primer. I settled on a final coat of a metallic gray that is supposed to mimic an annodized aluminum color.... had to put down a base coat of a very shimery metallic silver folled by the transparent silver/grey. I think that I may have put a bit too much of the final color on....it seems a bit bland to me after staring at it for a while. I' still on the fence with the color.

greenjeans · « **Reply #5 on:** March 26, 2007, 10:46:36 am »

Had the Saturday off so I figured I'd tackle the carbs... picked up some new gaskets needles & jets and went to town.
I soaked everthing over night in a gallon of carb cleaner after I took them apart. I did take some pics to show the order of things in case I forgot how they went back together. Anyway, after soaking them over night in the carb cleaner and cleaning them with some simple green and a tooth brush, I couldn't believe the difference.
The only problem I had was "un-sticking" the throttle valves... they were stuck with nasty stinky old gas etc. Even after soaking them I had to spray some penetraing oil on them and heat them up with my trusty heat gun to get them to break loose..... Worked very well - try that instead of a screwdriver etc....
I ran some brake parts cleaner through every nook, crannie and hole I could find untill I was satisfied that everything was as clean as a whistle.... after close inspection, I didn't really think I needed to change the needles and jets since they look fine, but I went ahead and did it anyway since my kit came with new o-rings etc. One less thing to worry about. The pictures weren't really needed..... If you look carefully and think logically,( I only had a few beers in me by this time) , those carbs only go back together 1 way.... After i reassembled, I decided that I was going to polish the bowls & top covers.. While I was at it I polished the brass nuts, and the bowl plugs as well.... I haven't taken pics the the polished stuff yet - that made all the difference in the world.

My new buffer is now my new favorite toy. I'll post pics of polished stuff later.

By the way.... the bike came with an extra set of carbs -though incomplete. I'm still missing a "leaf spring" that holds the jet in place in the float bowls....
Anybody have one they could sell me?

greenjeans · « **Reply #6 on:** March 26, 2007, 11:18:27 am »

Still thinking what to do with the seat... I'm going to go cafe inspired theme... I was inspired by this clean machine. Anybody know where I could pick up a beauty of a seat like that one? But, since this in on a budget of elbow grease, paint and the necessities, I'll probably have to fabricate my own. Drawing inspiration from the other pic. This site is fantastic.

greenjeans · « **Reply #7 on:** March 26, 2007, 11:21:51 am »

Well, I wish to thank the keepers of this site.... It has inspired me.

Off to polish and put new seals on the forks & brakes..... will take some more pics and updates later.
Then it's on to the wheels....

cleveland · « **Reply #8 on:** March 26, 2007, 11:24:28 am »

Very nice start!

ProTeal55 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 26, 2007, 11:35:11 am »

Quote from: greenjeans on March 26, 2007, 11:18:27 am

Still thinking what to do with the seat... I'm going to go cafe inspired theme... I was inspired by this clean machine. Anybody know where I could pick up a beauty of a seat like that one? But, since this in on a budget of elbow grease, paint and the necessities, I'll probably have to fabricate my own. Drawing inspiration from the other pic. This site is fantastic.

Nice bike in that pic. Looks like the one I rode into work this morning

That seat is made by a company called Gularri outta Italy. You can find them on Ebay once in awhile, and allot more often on Ebay.UK (for some reason). I have seen them go for around $200 in ok shape to upwards of $1000 in never installed on a bike condition. I will say they are solid seats, look great, and def. make these bikes look killer...

jalfonso · « **Reply #10 on:** March 26, 2007, 11:41:41 am »

Everything is looking good. Make sure you post pictures of your polishing work.

silver fox · « **Reply #11 on:** March 26, 2007, 12:11:47 pm »

Looking good. I like the frame colour, wish i'd thought about it before doing mine black $:-\$ .
Keep up the good work, and keep the pics coming

kgreb · « **Reply #12 on:** March 26, 2007, 02:27:23 pm »

ProTeal,
What did you use for paint on your tank? It looks like a texture finish of some sort.

kgreb

doug_id · « **Reply #13 on:** March 26, 2007, 02:38:47 pm »

Looking great....this will be fun to watch!

Enjoy and good luck!
Doug

greenjeans · « **Reply #14 on:** March 26, 2007, 06:29:05 pm »

Quote from: doug_id on March 26, 2007, 02:38:47 pm

Looking great....this will be fun to watch!

Enjoy and good luck!
Doug

Your's was one of the first posts that I read on this site.... Definitely got me going.

greenjeans · « **Reply #15 on:** April 09, 2007, 03:45:39 pm »

Some updates with progress....
tackled the forks...got some new seals and oil at the Honda shop for project "elbow grease"
I have found my vise and a pipe clamp invaluable for getting the bolt off the bottom of the fork legs
That's a handle from a plunger that is inside the fork tube... the clamp puts just enough pressure on the internals so you can get the bolt out.

greenjeans · « **Reply #16 on:** April 09, 2007, 03:51:14 pm »

Some more photos before & after of parts.....
I have found that my craftsman buffer with buffing wheels and a wire wheel (fine) makes old rusty parts shine like new.

greenjeans · « **Reply #17 on:** April 09, 2007, 04:22:40 pm »

Wheels and tires..... project "elbow grease" as I've named her will be done on a tiny budget.... safety related items (tires, bearings, fork seals, brake/carb rebuid kits) are about it... besides a couple of gallons of Simlple Green and some rattle cans for color....everything else will be elbow grease and a good cleaning. Hopefully when I'm finished, I'll only have about 800 bucks (original purchase included as well as the buffer) spread out over 3 months in her
I found these chen shin tires with a good vintage look (especially the front) for less than 90$ including shipping, tubes and rim strips!
I soaked the spokes in some carb cleaner and gave them a good cleaning with some beers during a Maverick game... kind of a pain, but it's free... the rims were just too badly pitted to go with chrome, so I hit them with the wire wheel and gave them a couple coats of paint...I actually like the way they turned out. I was a bit nervous when it came to putting the tires on - wasn't sure if I'd scratch them or not. After getting quotes of 30$ each wheel to mount and balance, I decided to do it myself. Actually went smoother than I thought. I used NO tools - just my heels. I put them on my dog's bed and with some lube forced them on with my heels....(I've changed many a mountain bike tire without tools, so I figured I could do a motorcycle tire the same way) My heels were sore the next day.... The spokes & nipples looked almost new - couldn't believe the difference.

greenjeans · « **Reply #18 on:** April 09, 2007, 04:33:20 pm »

Finally got everything for the chassis, cleaned and ready for installation.... at least it looks like something now... Hopefully this week, I'll be able to get the covers for the motor polished and get the cam chain and valves adjusted before I set it back into the frame....
Again, I have found that a fine wire wheel (brass) mounted to my buffer is the best for cleaned dirty rusty bolt heads etc....

doug_id · « **Reply #19 on:** April 09, 2007, 04:34:01 pm »

Wow...everything is looking so nice!

You must have a huge can of elbow grease!

greenjeans · « **Reply #20 on:** April 09, 2007, 04:38:00 pm »

Doug, your post lead to this.... It's all your fault

doug_id · « **Reply #21 on:** April 09, 2007, 04:40:39 pm »

Quote from: greenjeans on April 09, 2007, 04:38:00 pm

Doug, your post lead to this.... It's all your fault

Lol...I wished I had the energy to polish like you did!.

greenjeans · « **Reply #22 on:** April 09, 2007, 04:50:20 pm »

Are all the photos coming in ? I'm only seeing the tops of them on my browser...I'm still living with dial-up... maybe that's the problem

Sam Green Racing · « **Reply #23 on:** April 09, 2007, 05:01:47 pm »

Pics are fine, looks like it's coming on well.

Sam.

Sam Green Racing · « **Reply #24 on:** April 09, 2007, 05:04:14 pm »

Quote from: ProTeal55 on March 26, 2007, 11:35:11 am

Quote from: greenjeans on March 26, 2007, 11:18:27 am
Still thinking what to do with the seat... I'm going to go cafe inspired theme... I was inspired by this clean machine. Anybody know where I could pick up a beauty of a seat like that one? But, since this in on a budget of elbow grease, paint and the necessities, I'll probably have to fabricate my own. Drawing inspiration from the other pic. This site is fantastic.
Nice bike in that pic. Looks like the one I rode into work this morning

Nice one Joe

Sam.

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Author Topic: My first sohc project (Sept. update. - Finally paint! w/ pics) (Read 21557 times)

kgreb