Topic: Mo the 80 CB650 Custom: "As the Spanner Turns..."

[manjisann]

posing to keep track of this, gota go,

Thanks for stopping bye. Good luck on the job hunt!!

Brandon

[manjisann]

So reality finally set in, which is the tank is beyond my level of skill. So after coming to that sobering fact I was fortunate enough to find another tank on eBay from a local shop called Wanted Dead or Alive Motorcycles. I've purchased items from them before and had them fix my CB500 when I ran out of ambition. They are decent folks, and used parts are parts. Their listings are always good, they really strive to point out anything that is wrong with an item. OK enough free publicity.

I got this to replace the cheese grater I'd made of the other tank. I was rather nervous about the lovely body filler job that some po'd done, but figured the tank looked like it had seen some use after and couldn't see any evidence of gas coming up through it so I gave it a shot. $34 later and here she is in all her sad glory. I used a wire wheel to remove the old body filler and it made very short work of that. I can't imagine how a crease like that was put into the tank, it's about half an inch deep! The two thoughts I have for repairing it are either just fill it in like the PO, only do a much nicer sand job, or carefully tack weld a piece of metal over it and then I won't have to use so much body filler. Just had an epiphany, I have that buggered tank, I'll TRY and replicate this crease and patch over it and see how that goes.

Afterwards I'll use MEK to remove the Kreem job, por15 it and start the body work and paint. Crossing my fingers I don't run into any more of these stupid fubars, caused by me or anyone else.

Brandon

[razor02097]

Don't use plastic body filler... use an epoxy type for deeper dents and gouges... Bondo is only good if its less then 1/8 inch thick... even 1/8th is pushing it.  Even better you can get the metal epoxy puddy.  It will provide a good repair and something for the body filler to adhere to.  Make sure you sand with really course paper before putting on the epoxy.

[manjisann]

OK, so one of my bad character traits is I have a hard time deciding what I want to do and sticking with it. After reading about how to remove Kreem from a tank and realizing I didn't have enough MEK on hand and so would either have to buy that or POR15 stripper, I started thinking about my cheese grater tank and wondering if I could fix it. I did some google searching and found an awesome site about mig welding and it shows how to join two pieces of thin metal sheeting by stitch welding them.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/thin-metal.htm

Great sourced of info for us beginning Mig welders. Anyhow this is what I was able to do. I still need to do more grinding with my dremel, but you get the idea. Also need to test it for leaks before I start doing body filler and painting it. This took me probably 4 hours all told to get to this point. On the other side I was actually trying out welding a piece in over a dent to see if I could fix the grey tank I had bought.

Brandon

[razor02097]

nice job


now get to grinding! 

[manjisann]

SUCCESS!!! It took some grinding and rewelding in a few spots, but my tank is leak free!! I posted a question about how to leak test the tank and a lot of people had some great ideas! Here is a link to it in case you want to try any of them.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=54705.0

So next step is the POR15 kit and then body work, paint and hope it turns out! I'm nervous about the body filler as I've never used any before, but then again, I've never really done any of this before!

On a side note, I've realized that if I want to finish this build I'm gonna have to shelve my bobber dreams and sell off the parts bike. Anyone who needs parts for their 650, it's listed in the parts section.

Thanks for looking,

Brandon

[manjisann]

Now that the tank is tight, I started the process of sealing it. The POR15 marine clean was so so, I didn't have a ton of stuff in there. The Metal Ready I was a little disappointed in, you are supposed to rotate the tank so it sits on every surface for 20 minutes or so, HAVE THEY SEEN A MOTORCYCLE TANK?? I made sure that it sat on the area I welded and the bottom so those are the most important parts, and it definately spent time on the other surfaces. It took some time with a hair dryer to dry it out.

While I waited for that I decided to get started on my frame. Got to thinking I should really get my frame done so when I get other things finished I can put them back on the frame. I pulled the VIN plate and the other little tag plates off using a screwdriver and small putty knife. That actually worked pretty well and didn't destroy anything too much. Also ground down a few of the uglier welds, and then made some of my own  I hopefully reinforced the down tubes. I'm going to flatten the welds out a little bit. All in all I think some of the charm of these old bikes is the somewhat rough look of them... sorta.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Took off work early yesterday as it is a nice day and working on my bike is funner (haleluja for PTO, helps fight workitis.)
I decided to grind down some of the welds that are visible on the framewhen the bike is all put together. I used an 80 grit flapwheel and ground them till they were level with the surrounding pipe. I am using USC All Metal to help fill in the gap between the welds and pipe to hopefully give it a nice flowing look. I'm not worrying about the ones on the inside as no one sees them. Right now I'm waiting for the spot putty to dry, hit it with some 320 grit paper by hand, and then hopefully it's on to the other side. My goal is to have at the very least, the first round of primer on the frame by this evening, but I'd like to have the first coat sanded and the second coat on. Having never done this before, I'm not sure how long it will realistically take.

I used my spiffy pressure pot to sandblast the frame down. Unfortuantely my sand blasting booth isn't big enough for me to blast the frame in there, so I had to do it free standing outside. I work a face shield and glasses, but that sand still pelted my face and managed to get into my eyes. I've decided if/when I do another full frame, I'll either send it out to be blasted, build a bigger booth, or buy a air supplied helmet, cause that sucked!!

This is exciting, finally feels like I'm making progress on the old girl, hopefully I can bring out her pontential.

I've also realized that if I want to finish this without going completely and utterly broke, I'm gonna have to scale back my original plans..... for now. I'm just gonna clean up the engine real nice, retorque the bolts and put her back in the frame. It kills me to put the not so beautiful engine back into what will hopefully be a classy looking frame, but I just can't afford to do the top notch job I want to this year, plus this will let me get to riding her sooner! The up side is I'll get to see what if anything is wrong with this engine and plan for that and hopefully pull it and rework it next spring.

I'll post pics of the frame progress tonight.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Got the first primer coat on and it looks pretty good. Have a few minor runs and a few other blemishes but for being my first major paint job, I'm pretty happy with it. I did learn one thing though, if you ever buy HVLP guns to paint a motorcycle frame with buy the touch up sized ones. They don't hold near the material and you'll have to refill them a couple times while doing the job, but they will fit in the frame so much better. Unfortunately my touch up gun only has a 1.0mm tip which is good for mid coat and clear coat. So at least the last coats will go on looking good I hope. I'm really not looking forward to sealing the primer tomorrow. I think I'll call the company that sells the kit and see if I can shoot the sealer out of the smaller nozzle since it is thinned down.

Here's pics of the frame after grinding, sandblasting, puttying and priming.

Brandon

[manjisann]

My little brother and I sanded down the frame and the few runs and sags I had, then the wife helped me wipe it down and hang it in the booth again. Fortunately this time I was able to use the touchup gun so I think I got everything sealed, but I have a few runs and sags    So tomorrow its back out of the booth and sand down the sags then wipe down and hang up. With luck I won't get any sags and I'll be able to basecoat and clear coat tomorrow then I'm done with the frame!! WOOHOO!!!

I've got the body filler on the fuel tank now waiting for it to setup enough I can start working it. Depending on how things go tomorrow I might even get it and the fenders primed!!

On a different note, a good friend called to see if I could help him with some pesky issues on his motorcycle. I haven't seen him in months (he's a long haul driver) and found out through another friend that I'm a little knowlegeable about motorcycles and fixing them. I told him to come down and I'd be happy to look and see what I could find. He needs his for seals redone (pretty straight forward), wants me to fab him some highway bars which shouldn't be too terribly hard, and he was having problems with shifting. I was hoping the shifting issue was from a poorly adjusted clutch cable, but sadly no. He let me take the bike for a spin to see what I was able to figure out. Its a 1989 Virago 750, and I now want a VTwin! I love the sound of the exhaust on those bikes! I rode it around for about 20 minutes shifting up and down the gears to determine what the issue was. Unfortunately I think the shifter springs have gone soft since it will shift up the gears just fine, but when you shift down the shift lever doesn't return all the way so you have to nudge it up with your foot to shift down again. Oh well, I've been meaning to learn how to fix that kind of stuff anyhow, but for the time being I just extended the bar between the shift lever and the shifter to give it a more positive feel. Might also have something to do with his only changine the oil once a year  So this is now the second neighbor friend that has me help them with their motorcycles 

Brandon

[manjisann]

Dear Motorcycle Diary,

I hate painting frames, to many things in the way of the gun or the hose or whatever else!! That being said, I got the sealer, black basecoat, and poly clearcoat on and that clearcoat is some AWESOME stuff!! The frame isn't perfectly smooth, a few bumps, some orange peal on the insides and seat area, but in all honesty, those areas are covered once it's back together so I don't really mind. I have new respect for the people who paint those custom choppers and bikes all the time. I'd love to know their tricks for getting every little nook and cranny.

Just taking a brake to let my feet rest, been on them a fair amount the last few days, but I feel like I've accomplished a lot. Now its on to the super exciting parts the tank, fenders, side covers and everything else!

Brandon

[Soos]

Well with all this heat at least the paint should cure well!

Hey if you find yourself wanting "tester" parts lemme know I might be able provide you a few for loan or purchase.




l8r

[manjisann]

Hey Soos, good to see ya! How's the job hunt going?

Yeah, the weather is ok, but it's too hot after 95 to shoot the paint, otherwise I run the risk of solvent pop, or other nasty stuff. Still trying to decide on a design, keep changing my mind 

With luck everything will work, but as we all know these old bikes often have electrical issues. I may end up taking you up on your offer. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be far enough along I'll have the engine back in and start testing it.

Brandon

[Soos]

PM me if you want to test anything.

And nothing on the job search yet.







l8r

[manjisann]

PM me if you want to test anything.

Will do, nothing to test yet.

Unfortunately it took longer to fix the forks on that Virago than I thought, so I haven't really been able to do much on my bike, on the other hand I did earn some fundage and a bit of street cred!

I've finished the body work on the gas tank, and I think the one side looks almost identical to the other, once it is painted I really doubt anyone will be able to tell the difference. I was gonna prime it tonight, but as of a bit ago it was too hot. hopefully in a bit it cools enough I can prime. Until then I am working on other body work. I also found out when school starts, Aug 26th, so I have to get the bike at least put mostly back together by then! And I will be taking my metal sculpting class this semester, so woohoo!!

I still haven't shot my test panel yet, so I am hopefully gonna get that done in the next few days. Not totally set on a design yet, I'll have a better idea once I play with my test panel.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Shot my test panel to see what combination I want to do. Also painted one of the blinkers gunmetal grey and it looks really good, as well as respraying the frame. The frame has some dust spots and isn't perfect, but since it is mostly covered I'm OK with it. It still looks a ton better than when I first got it. I have decided though that painting isn't my favorite thing. It might be better if I had a booth and mixing area, but since I don't it's hard to keep things clean. Hopefully I'll get a lot painting done next week.

Signed up for my metal sculpting/welding class, so I'm pretty excited about that. Hopefully when I am done I'll have a better grasp of what is going on when I try welding. So far I've done OK by myself, but it will be nice to have someone knowledgeable looking over my shoulder.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Got most of the fiddly little bits primed painted and cleared. The paint job isn't show winning quality by any stretch, but I think when I am done it'll look pretty good.

I'm thinking of painting some of the parts to look like carbon fiber, especially the wheels and swingarm, if nothing else it'll be fun to mess with people  I've been really trying to decide on a paint scheme and I think it's beginning to gel in my brain, should be interesting to see if I can pull it off.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Got my AllBalls Tapered Steering bearings the other day, so as soon as I finish painting my triple tree I'll start reassembling things. I am still trying to decide if I want to sand my frame down just a bit and shoot some more clear on it and get rid of some of the gross nubs and such that always manage to fall in the wet paint. The perfectionist in me is screaming "YES YOU ONLY HAVE NOW TO DO THIS AND YOU KNOW IT WILL ALWAYS BUG YOU!!!" but the realist in me is saying "It looks pretty good for a first time, you can be proud." We'll see which one wins.

Brandon

[razor02097]

I replaced the ball bearings with taper conversion.  Wonderful investment 

Tell the perfectionist to take a long walk off a short pier     get your ass in gear and start assembling   

[Hush]

Just what year were you thinking of riding this bike Brandon?
Assemble and be damned man...........you only get so many perfect riding days in a season, you are missing out big time.

[bucky katt]

Haven't been able to get  anything done on the bike the last couple days because we had a new addition to the family. Meet PJ, scientific name Buildus Interuptus! He's about 4 1/2 weeks old. My moms neighbors cats had a couple litters of kittens and we would play with them when they were in the front yard. The first time I went over there this little guy came right up to me and let me pick him up then fell asleep in my arms while I pet him. My wife really liked him and after she kept saying how much she wished we could keep him and me repeatedly telling her we couldn't afford it (yeah, I can spend oodles of money on a motorcycle be we can't afford a kitten   ) I realized I was being really dumb. We talked to our landlord who is a really good guy and he agreed as long as we promised the apartment wouldn't smell like a cat box.

We were going to wait until he was fully weened in a few weeks but Thursday when we were playing with him we noticed his left eye was really goopy and almost swollen shut. I didn't want my wife to go through having the little guy die before we got him, so I talked with the owners and they agreed to let us have him. Took him to the vet who gave us some eye meds and after just two treatments his eye was tons better. We kept it up for about a week and now he is a happy healthy energetic kitten who loves to nibble on toes (his teeth are very sharp!)

Today I am hoping to actually get a bunch of stuff done so I can post some more progress pics. My goal is to have all the frame and body work done and painted in two weeks. Then it's on to the engine and other aluminum parts to be repained and stuff. I am figuring a month for that barring any unforseem damage with the engine (knock on wood the frame was the only @#$@ed up part!)

(er, sorry forgot to add the pic  )

Brandon

he's BEAUTIFUL! all kittens are though. i remember when Hamish was that tiny, he was just a little ball of white fluff with a brown face, tail and hands/feet

[manjisann]

Hush, I am thinking to the future man, not just this season  But seriously, I think you both are right, the paint will keep the metal from rusting and it looks pretty good, especially on a 30yo bike that even the manufacturers didn't take the time to make look as pretty 

The kitty is about twice that size now and energetic as can be. He especially likes to chew on toes and ankles for some reason, and loves clawing up my leather Doc Martens, good thing they're made well. Came home last night and the wife was all teary eyed because kitty had jumped up and scratched her while she was eating a bowl of cereal. When he gets in that sabre toot tiger mode we just put him down on the floor with a stern NO and he usually gets the hint, but being a kitten he has a short memory. I think he needs more toys to play with to get all his limitless energy out on, and I'm gonna build him one of those kitty condo platform thingies so he can climb it all he wants and look out the window. Overall he is a great kitty and a joy to have around, but gotta somehow break him of his bad habits.

Brandon

[razor02097]

for toys don't spend a lot of money on em.  Be creative, since kitty has a short attention span they get board with a few toys quick.  A ball of aluminum foil is wonderful amusement and doesn't cost much.  Just make it too big to swallow.  Use the laser also when you want to play with kitty.  The ring on a milk jug is also wonderful for toys just make sure to supervise so they don't swallow it.

[manjisann]

What I really want to build him is a cat condo thingy with some platforms so he can look out the window and carpeted so he'll stop sharpening his claws on my shoes. I'm thinking I'll even  attach my old beater shoes so he can claw them to his hearts content. Gotta wait till the bikes done though.

On to bike related stuff. Sprayed more of the little parts that seem to be never ending. Welded up the sissy bar to the luggage rack last night and then sand blasted it. This morning it got painted as well. I'm pretty happy with it, hopefully once I'm all done the wife will want to ride with me. I think it'd be a lot of fun to tour and go on road trips and I know she would love it. I'll have to get one of those communication thingy's that Kit and Mickey have so we can talk.

Also got ambitious and cleaned the engine up pretty good. It's probably not as perfect as kit's but after four hours and 3 bottles of that Gunk Engine Bright, I'm pretty happy with it. I'll be able to see any leaks, and when I pull it to repaint, it'll get a full scrub down and cleaning. So for now I'm happy.  Might even slap it back into the frame tomorrow and start reassembling things.

I'm trying very hard to overlook some of the not so perfect paint flaws and just go with it. I'll save time here and spend it on what I consider the show pieces of a motorcycle, the tank, fenders, and side covers. Thats what most people really look at.

Anyhow, pics of before and after the cleaning. I gotta say, with the engine out of the frame and on a rotateable stand, this wasn't too horrid. Stuffed plastic grocery bags in the exhaust ports and once I blew the frame off with air to remove most of the water, I pulled the bags, blew some air in and a small squirt of WD-40 just in case any water some how snuck in there. Then I stuffed paper towels back in.

Brandon

[Hush]

Looks good Brandon, check for small kittens sucked into the air intake before assembly.