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

[razor02097]

Aw that sucks Brandon... You could see if you can find a good plater you can send the hardware and get nickle.  You wouldn't want zinc anyway it can make some kind of nasty crud when exposed to the road then it rusts    Another advantage when plating you own hardware you can "modify" however you want.  Welding on thicker washers or tapping to a different size  (which would ruin a coating otherwise) etc. etc.

Hmmmm, thats a good point, I might just do that. Seems to me there was a member on here that was looking to get into nickel plating, might just pm him and see what he'd charge. I just don't care for the idea of painting all the hardware.

Brandon

Don't bother painting the hardware as it would act as glue on threads and the shaft and the head will chip when you wrench on it.  Doing a hot blue process may be a better option for bare steel like they do for firearms... although it may be susceptible to rusting if not kept up. 

[manjisann]

I wouldn't paint it until after I had it on and tightened down. I just did a google search and nickel plating looks like it might just be out of my price range  In all honesty just about everything is at this moment. Wish I knew what Honda did for their oem stuff, it seems to have lasted for an ok lenght of time.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Ouch, just called a place and to get the stuff nickel plated it'd be roughly $125, thats an estimate.

I'm thinking I'll just wire wheel the black oxide off of them and coat them wit this T-9 stuff I found while googling the problem. It's a parafin wax based substance that is supposed to do really well and coating stuff you just have to recoat now and then. Since we should be checking the various hardware when we wash our bikes down anyhow, this doesn't seem like that big of an issue to me.

Brandon

[Hush]

Engine is coming along nicely Brandon, but as you obviously don't want to ride anytime soon you might as well send it to me, I'll put some "running in" miles on it for you, I'll send it back when you have finished your frame.....doesn't matter what year that is.

[razor02097]

If you can just get the hardware figured out.  What about trying your hand at home plating?  Try blasting it with plastic media?  I'm all out of suggestions 

[manjisann]

Engine is coming along nicely Brandon, but as you obviously don't want to ride anytime soon you might as well send it to me, I'll put some "running in" miles on it for you, I'll send it back when you have finished your frame.....doesn't matter what year that is.

Har har, it wouldn't work seeing as how it was built to run right side up and your bike was built to run upside down Seriously though, I've just learned in my short little life span that it often takes less time to do it right the first time than to do it half a$$ed and then wish you had done it right.

I got the tank painted and the first round of clear on it. I'll let it cure over the weekend, wetsand, probably airbrush a quick tribal wolf on it, then do the next round of clear. Had a small gnat land it the paint last night, seriously 49 ft sq of surface space and the booger lands in the wet paint. Oh well, it came out ok, but still.

If you can just get the hardware figured out.  What about trying your hand at home plating?  Try blasting it with plastic media?  I'm all out of suggestions 

At this point I am just gonna wire wheel them and coat them in that T-9 wax stuff. It seems to be the least expesive option, and I am curious to see how well the stuff holds up. I may try home plating next year, or whenever I financially recover from this learning experience 

Brandon

[razor02097]

whenever I financially recover from this learning experience 

You will recover financially... but never mentally 

[manjisann]

You will recover financially... but never mentally 

Eh, the mental bar was never that high, so it should be pretty easy  Aside from the strain it has put on my pocket book, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

I have learned a TON about motorcycles and body work/painting. I managed to put the paint on my tank last night with only ever so small of a run in the clear, and that was because I was momentarily distracted and left the gun in one spot too long. I'm by no means saying I am a pro painter, but compared to where I started I am very please with what I have learned and the skills I have gained. Any money spent over the value of the bike I'll just consider as tuition to the school of life and be grateful for the lessons learned.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Well mother nature has intervened and told me I need to update my thread with pics.

I painted my fuel tank last night and felt pretty good with how it went. I new I had one or two minor runs in the clear and some little boogers in the base coat, but all things considered I was very happy. I decided to try my hand at wet sanding today and did pretty good for saying I've never really done it before. I did run into a few booboos that I'll have to repair, but I think I can do so with little or no real problems.

Here's some progression pics from body work all the way through. Sorry don't have any of the primer, base, candy progression.

[manjisann]

I did a round of high build primer, guide coated and sanded it down. I had some pin holes and other body rework that I needed to do, so after completeing that I did another round of high build primer. Guide coated and sanded then sealer coat of primer. A couple coats of Kustom Shop's Gunmetal Metalic paint, three coats of Kobalt Blue Candy, a light coat of Urethane clear, then two fairly heavy coats of urethane clear. Unfortunately somehow I didn't clear one area as thickly as everywhere else and managed to sand through slightly to metalic, and when I was using the nib file I was pressing too hard and chipped it down to the metalic. I've got arrows pointing these issues out.

I'm hoping I can use my spiffy air brush to put a few layers of candy back down on these areas, then clear the hell out of it.

[razor02097]

Lookin good    Can't see the repair at all nice color too

[manjisann]

Aside from those two issues I think this went super well. There was very minimal sanding involved as all the prep work paid off. I'm gonna paint a cool tribal symbol on the top of the tank with the gunmetal paint, I'll be sure to take a pic of that  

I was going to try and refinish the old controls, but since they are made out of plastic I'm not really sure it'd be worth it. I'll either buy new oem repros, or just get updated ones. Unless I have some down time while waiting for something else and nothing else better to do.

While I was wet sanding nature decided to help out with the "wet" part. By and large I can't complain too much about the weather, it's been pretty good so far.

Here is a pic of the progress of reassembling the bike, got the batterbox and airbox back in. I'm waiting on the hardware to come in so I can finish putting everthing back together.

While I was working some kid on a chinese scooter "broke down" in front of my moms place, so I helped him figure out what was wrong, I think his fuel cap was plugged and keeping his gas from flowing into the carbs. I seem to be a magnet for breaking bikes  

So thats the progress thus far. I'm really happy with how the tank turned out and super excited to do the side panels, fenders and trunk.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Lookin good     Can't see the repair at all nice color too

Thanks!! I couldn't care less what most people think, but the members on this forums opinions actually matter   Most people have no clue what goes into these old bikes, but those of us here do.

I'm really happy with how the repair came out. Considering at the beginning of all this I had never used body filler or a Mig welder, I'd say I've come a long way! I was hoping for a slightly darker blue, but this one has quickly grown on me. Can't wait to get it all put back together and get some miles on it!

Brandon

[Hush]

Love that deep blue colour Brandon, you sure you wanna stick a picture on it?

[razor02097]

whats up with the rash on the alt cover?  I missed that part

To bring new life to the controls get them mechanically sound first then spray them with Meguiars tire shine.  Let them sit overnight and scrub them down.  I actually found out that product does great on plastic on accident.  Depending on conditions in your area your plastic parts will remain shiney and new looking for a good long time. 

[manjisann]

Love that deep blue colour Brandon, you sure you wanna stick a picture on it?

I was thinking of a fluffy sheep  I don't know, I have the weekend to decide. Dang it Hush, I was all happy and set, but now the more I think about it the more I think you might be right, less is sometimes more. There is definately a beauty in a well painted but simple color. I guess I can just leave it like this for now, and next year if I decide I want to do something else with it I'll do it then.

whats up with the rash on the alt cover?  I missed that part

At some point in the life of the original bike it was laid down. The parts bike has a couple of nice covers I'm gonna take, I just haven't gotten around to it yet. That'll probably be one of the last things I do before I get ready to start her for the first time.

To bring new life to the controls get them mechanically sound first then spray them with Meguiars tire shine.  Let them sit overnight and scrub them down.  I actually found out that product does great on plastic on accident.  Depending on conditions in your area your plastic parts will remain shiney and new looking for a good long time. 

Sweet, that sounds tons easier than trying to paint them. The insides were really nasty, bug carcasses and grease everywhere.

Now I just have to get the fenders, side covers and trunk done. I wonder if that is going to be too much blue...

Brandon

[Hush]

Sorry............................not!

[manjisann]

I just sprayed the second coat of high build primer on the front fender, after sanding down the guide coat and adding a little more body filler. I wish my metal working skills were better, or that I had some different tools, but I don't so I have to use filler in some places I'd rather not. Oh well, it looks really good and symmetrical and that is what I was after. I'm now working on the filler for the back fender, got to sand it down.

Tomorrow's goal, touch up the gas tank and add a cool looking graphic. I've realized this build has been as much about pushing my limits and learning what I can and can't do, as it is about making the bike look cool and be one of a kind. I'm gonna add the top pic using the gunmetal paint, and then shade some of it so it looks a little more three dimensional. The bottom pic I'm going to do as a repeating pattern down the front and rear fenders, but I'm going to do it more in the ghost flame fashion so you can only see it at certain angles. For that I'll use some blue pearls I bought. I might even edge it in ever so lightly with black, I'll just have to see as I go.

I haven't decided on what sorts of stuff I want to do with the trunk. The side covers I'm thinking I'll do the CB650 with Custom underneath, kinda like the original badges, but using a black border and the gunmetal in the middle, hopefully that will look cool.

Should be interesting to see if I can pull all this off and make it look classy instead of gaudy.

Brandon

[manjisann]

Ahhh the joys of learning. So after spending the better part of 5 hours cutting that top graphic out, I realized several things. One, I am not really good at following lines. Two, which is directly related to one, I am never going to get both sides to look the same. I pulled all the frisket paper off and realized I had probably cut through what little clear was left into the base coat, Damn! The next thing I realized was either I had sanded through the clear and blue in many places, or as it all cured the clear and blue is shrinking past the small flakes in the metalic paint I used. So I have random silver sparkles everywhere. At this point I think my only option is to spray a very light coat of the blue candy over it all again, then do several coats of clear. I'll wetsand it very carefully tonight if it dries enough so that it can offgas overnight. Then I'll put a different graphic on, but I think I'll use black.

Yes I am a slow learner when it comes to self punishment, and no Hush, I don't want to leave it solid blue  .

Brandon

[razor02097]

After 5 hours I would be beating faces in.  You have more patience then I my friend 

[Frankenkit]

Hard to do that when the only face to beat in is your own.  You might get one good punch in, but the bleeding and stuff makes it hard to continue.

Take your time and be patient, Manji. Good things come to those who wait.

[manjisann]

After 5 hours I would be beating faces in.  You have more patience then I my friend

I have no idea where the patience comes from, since if my web browser takes more than a half a second to load I'm irritated  I think it's the knowledge that if I take the time and do it right all will be well and I'll have a nice looking ride.

Good things come to those who wait.

Have you ever made a trip to the DMV??    Totally kidding, I agree, patiences is the only thing that will serve me well.

Ok, so update, I shot another coat of the blue and then shot the clear and I have fish eyes!?!?! Craaaappppp, what got on there. So at this point I've decided it's not worth saving the current paint job and I'll just sand it all back down to the primer and start over. I could try and patch it, but with everything else that is not right with the paint, I think taking a few hours to sand down and start over is really the safest bet to getting the great paint job I want.

My nuts and bolts just came in, so with luck all of them are there and I'll be able to start reassembling the bike even further.

Brandon

[razor02097]

one thing I learned real quick is to prep a surface for paint even if its already been prepped.  F'in paint always runs, sags or fisheyes if you look at it wrong.  You ever though about vinyl decal Brandon?

Probably not first choice but certainly cheaper then having it painted on.

[The_Crippler]

I love that paint color, man.  Love it. 

Here's some pointers for getting that graphic on there.  It's a technique that I've used on computer cases, and might help you out here (link to one of the better tutorials out there):

http://www.mnpctech.com/Paintingflames.html

[SCJIM]

I have to admit thats a real pretty blue