Bondo Bondo

Today we tackled sand blasting the rear fender and the gas tanks.  Surprise....the fender has up to  quarter of an inch of Bondo under several coats of paint.  Didn't really see the need for so much Bondo as the fender is in pretty good shape underneath.  Some people just like the stuff I guess.  Rather than waste time paying for sand blasting time, Curtis decided to just blast the areas he needed in order to cut and modify the fender.  He plans on attacking the paint and Bondo with a wire wheel and angle grinder.  Same story with the tanks although not quite as much Bondo.  Those were blasted just enough for cutting and modifying.  We also managed to make up a parts list order necessary to complete the engine assembly.  We keep making progress.

 Fender before cutting

 

Fender after cutting...ready for modification

 

 

 Curtis "blasting"

Who Knew?

Who knew all that chrome was hiding under layers of dirt and rust?  Tackled the sprocket and triple tree today with the old standby: WD40 and tinfoil.  Added a new cleaning product to the mix this time called Evap-o-rust.  Seems to work pretty good.

 

 

Forgot to post that the seat and headlight had arrived from Lowbrow Customs.  Thanks Canada Customs for adding another $46.00 in taxes to the bill!!!  Anyway, they're here and looking great.

 

 

 



Still Cleaning

OKay...we took a week off...rode to Vancouver for the day last Saturday but decided to get back at it today.  This bike won't build itself!  Back to the bead blasting shop today to clean up the brake calipers, wheel hubs and lower fork legs.  As the pictures show, time and money ( $20. ) well spent.  We also cut the spokes out of the rims preparatory to re-lacing with new chrome spokes.  Next up will be new bearings in the hubs then paint the hubs and the brake calipers.  Before that happens there's going to be still more cleaning ie; triple tree and sprocket.

Calipers look good

 



One blasted, one as was 

 Both hubs blasted

Fork legs...one blasted, one not.

And the cleaning continues

Back at it again today with the WD 40, Brake Cleaner and Gunk Engine Degreaser.  The swingarm, originally chrome, was hiding under layers of old oil and dirt.  Part of the chrome has pitted and is beyond help so we will de chrome the whole thing and paint it.  The rear rake caliper (billet aluminum) came up pretty good as did the brake pedal and brake cylinder.  Today Curtis also determined the cylinders and pistons are in pretty good shape so we'll just install new rings and put the motor back together.

Bead Blasting the Frame

Today it was the frame's turn to get cleaned up...and it was a bit of a chore.  It's amazing how many coats of paint and dirt a motorcycle can accumulate in 43 years!  It probably took about two hours of constant bead blasting to get it to the final state.  But, it was worth it as the pictures will attest.  Next on the agenda....cleaning up the swing arm and rear brake components but that's for another day.