Author Topic: A Tenderfoot's '75 750k (Read 20397 times)

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #25 on:** October 25, 2010, 07:11:36 PM »

Well my carb gaskets still havent come in. I only ordered them last wednesday and off of ebay so it may be a while. Really hate seeing my bike just sit there.

But I went to the local bike collector and picked up a decent tank and he threw in free handlebars.

I am cleaning them up at the moment, does anyone know if my handlebars have the wires run through them or can I just swap these out ? They're Euro handlebars and have some holes in them already.

I have been working on knee dents in this spare tank. Very tedious. The videos online make it look like its real easy, but I have already put a couple hours into them and they're still not up to standards in my opinion. The inside of the tank is really rusty as well. I have tried to get as much loose rust out as possible. And I picked up some Evaporust. I also got some paint stripper at Autozone but it didn't do much. My dad recommends calling some chrome places to see how much they will charge to soak it in their acid bath. Maybe that will take care of the rust as well.

I have all the materials to bondo and prime the tank after the paint and dents are done. I am hoping it looks really sharp, but if it doesn't I will just turn it loose on eBay. People pay out the nose for that sort of thing, even unfinished. If the rust wasn't so bad inside I would have just sold it as is, because it was in really good shape. I took the tank badges off to sell or save regardless.

I will post some pictures as it starts to look better. It is painted brown so the pictures aren't coming out well at this point anyway.

I also ordered a side cover from Frankenstuff, and it looks really nice. I was worried the quality would not be very good but I am very pleased. I am going to wait to prep it and paint it until I know how this gas tank works out.

I have been considering making a fiberglass seat myself but having never played with fiberglass before the $105 job from airtech is looking more promising at this point.

I ordered the fork seals and gaiters but they havent come in either. Next on my list are LED turn signals and housing as well as an integrated tail light to go in whatever I end up using for a seat. Tapered bearings are on the back burner until I read up more about them.

Probably good that nothing has come in yet as midterms have started and I have no excuses to not study enough...

Stev-o · « **Reply #26 on:** October 25, 2010, 07:25:15 PM »

Personally, I do not think a rusted tank is worth the time, money & effort to get it up to snuff.
Turn it loose and buy another!

Really? · « **Reply #27 on:** October 25, 2010, 07:35:44 PM »

Don't spend ALL your money, lol. I have had to stop myself many times cause I would spend myself broke.

There are a few different ways to clean the tank. I hear "The Works" is a good cleaner. After you clean the rust, you will want to seal it with something (Por15, Kreem or something like it). I hear a radiator shop will soak it and seal it. There are people you can send the tank to and they will cut the bottom open, clean it right, close it, seal it and send it back to you. It can be a couple hundred bucks though. The job is not fun at all.

I hear good things about frankendude's quality.

You have taken on a big project with the knee dents. Spikeybike has done some I think. He is perty talented with metal and welding.

Checkout HedNuts build thread for the seat. He did one using a bucket as a mold. Turned out really well. He has a nice tail light setup too.

It almost always takes too long for stuff to arrive, mental thing I think. TAS is very quick on getting stuff to you.

Pay attention to the midterms, the bike can sit a bit.

Greggo · « **Reply #28 on:** October 26, 2010, 04:40:31 AM »

I've used 'The Works' before, and it 'worked'. You have to neutralize the reaction with some baking soda and water after it does its thing. Then just dry it in the sun (if there's any of that left where you are) or there's a few chemicals you can use that eat up the leftover water.

Really? · « **Reply #29 on:** October 26, 2010, 06:19:47 AM »

Here is a link for the tank cleaning and lining. I have not used him but it will give you an idea what I meant about cutting open the tank. I got thelink from the forum.

http://www.gas-tank.com/bike.htm

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #30 on:** October 27, 2010, 08:02:00 PM »

Thanks for the tips guys. I got through my midterms. Not too sure how I did on that German...

I picked up that tank at the scrap yard and have been banging on it. I have noticed that the petcock is on the opposite side. I know this means it is earlier than my bike. I started looking and almost fainted because I thought it might be a sandcast. I dont think it is though. It doesnt have the ridges underneath the gas cap, but when I was taking the paint off I noticed on the underside it looks like it used to be a sparkly red... It looked to be in pretty good shape before I started pounding on it. but after removing the paint, I saw that it had been in a pretty nasty wreck. About 10 inches of the front right is bondo'd up. I should have just sanded and primed it and put it on eBay.

before

anyway, I only paid $20 for it.

I have started putting on the body filler and think it might actually work out.

you can see that I had to make the dents larger because it started to buckle. I am doing very thin layers of body filler and sanding in between.

But I noticed it is leaking from underneath where the badges were on the left side. I had rinsed it out to get some of the crap that was knocking around inside out.

anyway, my question at this point is, what, if anything, can I do to stop the leak without having to scrape of all the bondo I have already laid on it.

still waiting on all my parts to start coming in. Turned on the petcock today to see if the old gasket had swollen up to correct itself, but no dice.

Really? · « **Reply #31 on:** October 27, 2010, 08:33:42 PM »

Good question. My guess is that the fuel will find its way through the holes and under the bondo. Then it will probably lift. But if you line it, you may get lucky and not have that issue. I do not know how big the holes are. It may have been better to have the holes welded and then applied the bondo. Usually when you strip the inside of the tank, you get more holes. I know I did so I used the same lining stuff (Por15) on the outside (bottom) with some fiberglass sheet. So it is sealed on both sides, inside and out. I do not need bondo though.

If anything, you are teaching yourself how to make knee dents without much cost. So, it should be interesting. Maybe I should do that for the hell of it. I would like to learn how myself.

seaweb11 · « **Reply #32 on:** October 27, 2010, 08:38:41 PM »

Quote from: anti-johnny on October 27, 2010, 08:02:00 PM

But I noticed it is leaking from underneath where the badges were on the left side. I had rinsed it out to get some of the crap that was knocking around inside out.

anyway, my question at this point is, what, if anything, can I do to stop the leak without having to scrape of all the bondo I have already laid on it.

Nothing.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #33 on:** October 27, 2010, 09:06:04 PM »

I have some evaporust. I guess before I do anymore bondo I am going to clean the rust out of the inside and then do some por15 or another sealer on the inside. I dont really want to put too much money into it as it is just a practice tank. So I may just finish and put it on ebay for someone else to worry about. of course listing that it has a leak and needs to be lined.

People complain about sanding bondo, but I dont really mind it. Having done many woodworking projects I kind of like the sanding process.

The dents were going to be much smaller but the thing buckled up pretty far up the side. This did give me the opportunity to try different hammers and techniques of getting the metal to move.

It really is just an experiment so I cant be too upset that the tank is leaking. It did only cost $20. I also got some experience with using the paint stripper and sanding on metal which I havent done before.

Stev-o · « **Reply #34 on:** October 27, 2010, 09:09:31 PM »

Por 15 kit cost about $50, you sure you wanna dump more money into that tank?

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #35 on:** October 27, 2010, 09:23:39 PM »

in that case, I think I will just finish the bondo and move on to testing my painting skills as originally planned. I will probably end up putting it on ebay for cheap. Or paint it crazy and hang it on my wall. Or I could mail it to my little brother. He would probably dig it for a few years. put some cafe racer stickers on it. Boom christmas present from your cool brother.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #36 on:** October 30, 2010, 05:35:13 PM »

Sometimes I really hate living in this small college town. I have received my fork seals and side cover painlessly, as well as a cool little 750Four patch from eBay, but the gaiters, gaskets, and bike cover are MIA. I figured its eBay so it may take a couple weeks. But its almost been two weeks and I got the fork seals from Japan in just a few days. Checked the shipping times and I should have received the whole lot monday.

This has happened pretty regularly. I typed up a complaint to the Post Office, FedEx, UPS, and my landlord. That may have been over kill. It doesn't help that google maps has my address about a mile off.

I should have just got the gaskets from Honda. Tried to save a few bucks and lost two weeks of nice riding time.

---
I am pretty sure that I messed up pretty horribly on the bondo with that spare tank. Trying to smooth it out, the edges crack off. Not sure if its my consistency with the hardener or what. Kind of disappointed but it is my first time so its not too big of a loss. I went ahead and primed it to see how the plain metal looked. Its not bad. I dont know if I am going to run get some spray putty filler and try to clean it up or just practice the rest of the painting.

Johnny5, I believe is his name on the forums, will put in nice looking dents for a little over $100. The time I put into screwing this up could have been spent picking up a couple shifts at work to pay for that. I dont think I am going to do that just yet, if at all.

I have been compiling a list of parts to order, but the whole shipping fiasco makes me worry. Maybe its time to look into a PO Box. I dont have a lot of experience to draw from with domestic issues. If anyone has any anecdotal advice in that regard I am open to it.

/rant

Really? · « **Reply #37 on:** October 30, 2010, 06:24:59 PM »

Use people like TAS, Z1 and Parts n more for what you can get. TAS's customer service is off the hook, Z1 ships fine but talking on the phone is bothersome to them in my experience and parts n more you have to give it an extra week or two since they are in Canada.

If it has taken too long on some stuff that should have been to you, time to cut it off and cancel the transaction on your card. Many people get ripped off and lose cause they wait too long. Seriously!

I figured seals were plentiful in the states. I think gaiters or caps are hard to come by at the moment. i think I read that on a thread recently.

Who cares about the tank in a sense, as long as you had some fun with it and you learned. You will be able to post back to someone about it in the future. I know Johnny5 has had a bike in the BOTM a time or two. It should be good stuff. $100 bucks is not bad considering what you have learned about it considering the time an effort.

PO Shmee O. You might still have issues with vendors sending to a PO box. Use the three vendors mentioned above and issues should be at a minimum.

Use the bad seller/good seller forums for what it is worth. It will give you an ease of mind.

I remember when I was a newbie here. I feel like I am one or two of the people that kept up with me with responses like myself to you. MCRider and Mystic1 were two of the biggies during my tenderfoot times here. You are my first and it is kinda kewl. Check out MCRider's build thread, he is deep deep deep in his current build. He has also been around these bikes since they came out. I still drool over his tire/wheel combo. He even uses cryo type stuff on many of his parts. The dude is a perfectionist!

Anyway, I have said, enough, lol. Prolly had too many Bookers n rocks tonight too, lol.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #38 on:** October 31, 2010, 04:53:55 PM »

I appreciate all the help and tips I can get. Ive mentioned it before, but this is only my second bike and the first one didnt ever need anything much as it was only a few years old. It is easy for me to panic so having the forums as a foil is great. I am kind of a rambling idiot when it comes to this old grease machine I purchased. But when I get something into my head, I have to follow through. So there she sits in my parking spot.

It would be great if Texas were a bit smaller and the few of us here were closer together. I would like to get some people to take a look at it. And perhaps even tutor me in some bike fu. I am hesitant to take the forks off when the other parts come in because I dont want to have it sitting outside over night precariously balanced if I have to get a part I messed up.

the problem with my mail probably isnt the people sending me things, but instead the fact that the people that deliver the mail around here dont like to put in the time to hunt for my apartment. Google maps has my location pretty far down the street, and there are another set of apartments right next to mine that look exactly the same but are in fact another address all together. I dropped off a letter to my land lord asking to get some numbers for my apartment to face the street. Probably futile. I may just start getting my stuff shipped to a friend that lives in an apartment complex. My apartments are just two buildings with 6 apartments. You would think that might make it easier to get mail but the numbering isnt consecutive. eh... I also live across the street from the dog pound. Not a lot of apartments in my price range around here. anyway, enough of that. I will definitely be looking toward the companies you listed from now on, at least for quality.

well today:

took off the "good" side panel and started to strip it. Discovered several layers of old paint and primer and a pretty severe crack held together by rubber cement. This spray can paint stripper worked on the first couple layers but I think the cover is a lost cause. I think I am going to order another one from the gentleman on this site. His seems thicker and sturdier anyway.

Round IV on trying to degrease the engine, frame, and other miscellany. I am afraid I will find an engine leak somewhere. There is an inconceivable amount of goo on this bike. But no spots on the cement after being parked, so hopefully if there is one its small. It may be a leak somewhere in an oil line, the oil level looks pretty low. It is hard for me to say as I have never had a bike this old. I am starting to think this bike will have to come apart to get a proper cleaning. The gunk engine degreaser took off about 60%.

this thread is starting to look like a diary instead of a bike project.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #39 on:** November 03, 2010, 12:48:11 PM »

put in a request for refund on my gaskets. Spent some more time complaining on the phone to fedex and usps. My jacket finally arrived from leatherup. Had to walk down the block and get it off someone else's doorstep. sheesh.

I think I will get the gaskets ordered from honda today. If theyre too much then I guess I will go with Parts N more, or the local shop. It is starting to get chilly outside and I want to ride before it gets too cold.

So in my spare time I am messing around with designing some gauges. These are rough but I think I like a couple. I didnt design the gauge face template. I found it on this site, cant remember who mocked it up. I am working with another member to get them more professional looking. Just passing time.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #40 on:** November 03, 2010, 09:24:20 PM »

gaskets finally came in. Were having a cold front right now but I am going to try to get them on tomorrow. I have put off ordering anymore parts until I know how much I am going to need to spend in case the carbs need a go through.

I think I am getting closer to my style. I am going to clear off the ticks at the bottom and try to make the words on the bottom more clear. I am thinking a cthulhu theme for the bike. feedback appreciated.

This one might work out too. Kind of a retro morbid look. I could do the bike maybe black if I went with these gauges.

I am pretty terrible with photoshop. I am working on finding a place that can print something. As well as a place that could do some vinyl decals for the tank as well. It is kind of hard for me to find some tentacle stencils in high enough resolution though. Working on it though.

HedNut · « **Reply #41 on:** November 04, 2010, 06:42:28 AM »

Damn computer!! I can't see your pics in the thread!! But from the sample you showed me! I can tell they're gonna rock.

I'll be following this now!! Cheers!!

goaarongo · « **Reply #42 on:** November 04, 2010, 08:48:29 AM »

Nice designs on your gauges. I did a custom print on a set I did, but nothing that cool. Kinda makes me wish I had been a little more ambitious...

Keep up the good work on your bike. Gonna look great I'm sure.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #43 on:** November 04, 2010, 02:57:41 PM »

got my gaskets installed, no more leak out of those. took it to get some gas and it died. gas coming out of the airbox, no heat on pipes 3 & 4 . hoping that its just that the thing was sitting for two weeks. No time today to rip into it but I know what I am doing tomorrow.

Thanks for the props on the gauges. I am going to work on getting them higher resolution before I get them printed.

in non-motorcycle related news, I finally found a study abroad program for german. filling out the paperwork tonight and putting in the first payment tomorrow.

Stev-o · « **Reply #44 on:** November 04, 2010, 06:16:58 PM »

Congrats on getting the study program. Germany?

HedNut · « **Reply #45 on:** November 05, 2010, 03:41:55 AM »

Wicked! I'd love to get into abroad.......

education program. I'm excited for you....hopefully you can take your project with you?....carry-on! ahah

Cheers! And Congrats!

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #46 on:** November 05, 2010, 11:28:59 AM »

The study abroad is in Vienna. I am excited about it. I am hoping to get a government job after graduation and abroad experience is a big boost. I went on a solo backpacking trip a few years ago, which is what motivated me to go back to school. I have been looking for an abroad program that applied to my major since I started at this school and this one just started and works out perfect.

Well I finagled around with my carbs some more. Took the bowls off and moved the floats around to loosen em up. That seems to have fixed my leak issue. Huzzah. No leaks while the engine is off or running.

But I have quite a bit of smoke coming off the engine. This happened before and It looks like it was just degreaser that was burning off. here is a video. It doesnt really smell like exhaust, but I am a little stuffy at the moment. It doesnt get any worse or shoot out more when I rev the engine. Hoping its just some degreaser burning off.

And this video is to show a noise that I have when it is idling. It is hard to pick up in the video but I am not sure what it could be or if it is normal on an old bike. Idle is around 1500. There is also a little smoke coming out of a tube that is hooked to the oil tank... cant really see it in the vid.

I also have a question about what my oil pressure gauge, check it out in the vid and let me know if that looks alright. The movement not the gauge itself, It was cracked when I bought the bike.

I am thinking I should do an oil change. Not sure when the last one was done on the bike. What synthetic do you guys recommend?

Really? · « **Reply #47 on:** November 05, 2010, 12:27:45 PM »

Kewl on the school thing!

The engine noise sounds like clutch rattle. Something normal in these bikes but have read it can be reduced. Some have been able to remove it. So, valves, timing, ignition system and carb sync have to be good. Some have also added an extra clutch plate from a gl1000 I believe. It couls able what is called the primary chain behind it, it may have stretched a little. Louder pipes might cover it up, lol.

Prolly just the degreaser left on the bike with regards to the smoke.

Can't help with the guage, never had one of those.

Oil? heh, check out some of the oil debate threads but not too many, you do not want to get consumed, lol. I just use Valvoline non-energy conserving. Prolly does not matter on these bike because i think it is a dry clutch. My other bike has a wet clutch so I have to use it.

Be prepared for that filter bolt! There are a few threads about how much of a PIA it can be to get off. I have seen one thread where the guy cut the filter housing off - yea, a bit extreme.

Greggo · « **Reply #48 on:** November 05, 2010, 01:49:49 PM »

+1 on the clutch rattle. My 500 does it too. They all do.

Pull the clutch in and out while sitting in neutral and see if the noise goes away.

Anti-Johnny · « **Reply #49 on:** November 05, 2010, 04:39:10 PM »

As long as its not something that is going to explode underneath me when Im on the road...

I have a month or so until I have an area to do my painting. All the easily accessible parts will come off and painted. I am looking into how long it would take me to take the whole thing apart in order to get the frame powdercoated, or at the least cleaned really well. I dont think I will have enough time over winter interim to get that done.

anyway, time to kill, so I shopped up some more stuff for the gauges and found a sweet design for the tank. Etsy.com is a great site. its like ebay but for art. I do not know what kind of vinyl this particular guy uses but I think it will work. If not I have an art major buddy that says she can help me autocad something slick. still worrying about colors

I also have this image that I messed with. Not sure which is better. I cant remember where I got this image though, so It may not be an option.

these were worked on top of an old picture. I have fixed the headlight and have new side covers. They all look better if you open them up in a new tab.

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Author Topic: A Tenderfoot's '75 750k (Read 20397 times)