Engine Completed

I touched up the frame a few days ago as it had suffered a few scratches, etc. after dry fitting various components, welding the oil filter bracket to the frame and a few other mods.  Since the transmission had been previously finished, it was time to finish building the motor.  So, over the past two days Curtis put the motor together.  I mostly watched as he is the Shovelhead "expert" in the family.  Today, the job was done and now it's time to start assembling the bike.

 

Dusty's Motor

Tins are Finished

After waiting 4 days for the paint to set up, today I decided to get the color sanding and buffing completed.  It was tough to take sandpaper to my carefully finished tank and fender.  They were already shiny but, after reading several web sites about finishing motorcycle parts, I was finally convinced to start wet sanding and trust the process.  I started with the tank and was not disappointed with the results.  The fender was next and, although it took most of the day, all the web sites were right...sanding until the parts felt like glass then buffing with a cutting compound made everything sparkle.  Once the dash and fender trim have been chromed and installed, the finished product should be great.

 

 

 Nice and Shiny

 

 

Fender Looks Pretty Good Too

 

Painting Completed

After two full days of applying paint, the tank and fender are finished.  Next will come the color sanding and buffing of both but that will have to wait a few days as the paint sets up.  Probably won't get to that phase until later in the week.  Meanwhile, I still have some touch up painting  to do on the swing arm and frame.  Whether that gets done before the color sanding and buffing of the tank remains to be seen.  Lots of other stuff to get done as well but we're close to the assembly stage.

 

 Tank after 4 coats of color and six coats of clear

 

 

 

Fender after the same number of coats as the Tank (Note the Frenching on both for the chrome bits)

Body Work Finished, On To Painting

Well, after days and days of filling, grinding and sanding, the body work on the tank and fender is finished.  Never having done anything like this before, Curtis and I were basically a couple of blind guys leading a couple of blind guys.  I've become a fan of Bondo and am amazed at its ability to hide a number of "sins".  The plan is to give both the tank and fender 4 coats of primer, 4 coats of color and 6 coats of clear.  Then it will be on to color sanding and buffing.  As of this post, the tank is ready for color application and the fender is not far behind.

Tank with 4 coats of Primer