Stator Polish

Another project completed!

The stator cover was removed, the paint was stripped off then sanded and polished.

Sparks Flying

Today was the day to finally grind down the welds on my intermediate exhaust pipes.

I was a little tentative starting out but once I got started I had a blast. I discovered a few holes in the welds so I will have to take it back and have Mark's friend reweld them. Then the sparks can fly again and the scouring can commence to ready them for chroming.

The current state of my frame!

I also sanded the rear cowl ready for primer but I am still waiting for a stencil and the clear coat to start the painting process. Hopefully I will be able to start painting on Tuesday or Wednesday. I am continually working on sanding and polishing the wheels, it is a laborious job that takes its toll on my hands therefore it must be done in stages.

Another Purchase

Decided that the old lights just weren't going to cut it on the rebuilt bike, so Mark found these for me on Ebay couldn't beat the price $35.00 for all four.

I am still working away on the little parts ;

- painted the underside of the front fender & the inside of the footpeg brackets with alluminum rust paint

- sanded & polished one side of the rear wheel, fingers are already worn half way down

- finally received the new jets for the carbs so I was able to replace the stock jets and button them up ready to go back on the bike.

Productive Day

Another day going gangbusters on the bike tear down.

Mark & I started by removing and labeling the primary tubes of the exhaust. Next we removed and labeled the spark plug wires and the coil pack. Then we were able to remove the wiring harness.

Then we tackled removing the swing arm, the shocks had to come off first then the sprocket cover was removed easily. The chain deffinetly put up a fight but with Glenn's help we finally got it apart and removed.

In order to remove the engine there were a few stubborn bolts but a little bit of extra muscle and I managed to budge them. Thank goodness Glenn arrived home when he did cause the extra muscle was very helpfull. We loaded it into the back of the truck to take it for a bath.

The last thing that was removed from the bike today was the front wheel.

After a short break for lunch we went to Canadian tire and picked up some more supplies

Engine degreaser, high temp paint - clear and black, alluminum rust paint, and grinding/ cleaning tools.

On the way home stopped by The Bikesmith to have him remove the tires from the wheels, because the wheels are getting painted.

We also stopped in at the fiberglass place to check on the results of my rear cowl, dicovered that it isn't fixable - major bummer.

The last task of the day was to clean the engine, took it to the car wash and used the high pressure wand to clean it after spraying it down with the degreaser. Ended up getting completely soaked.

Presents & Persistance

I started my day heading towards Courtenay with Mark and his brother Glenn to pick up the parts I ordered last week. I was pleasantly surprised at the final price.


Purchased : Engine gasket set, Front & Rear brakes, Rectifier, Missing or rusted bolts, Lights for Speedo/Tachometer, Oil filter and Cable luber.

I also picked up a cargo net to hold my extra helmet so I won't get caught in a downpour with no protection for my face.



Next we decided to check out Wal Mart for anything usefull for the bike, found a battery for a reasonable price. I also found some jewel glue to possibly attach some jewels to my helmet and some fabric to use as a stencil for my paint technique.


I took my rear fender to the plastics place thinking it would be an easy job, just soften the plastic and pull it back into shape. Sadly they wouldn't even try it, they sent me to a fiberglass place thinking they could make a whole new one for a reasonable price, not sure if they know what I think a reasonable price is. I decided it couldn't hurt to go talk to the guy, he seemed to revel in the challenge and said he would try and fix it, if it works he said it would be less than $80 if it doesn't he wouldn't charge me anything. I will find out on Wednesday if he is able.


I decided since painting was on hold for a day or two I needed something else to work on, so with Marks help I went to the garage and removed the rear wheel and foot peg brackets. I also picked up the front fork emblem.



Before


After





The foot peg bracket was the first thing that I attacked once I was home. Another round of sanding, sanding, polishing, polishing and waxing. My hands could only handle doing one. I will do the other one tomorrow night.

Before


After
The fork emblem was the last thing on my list of things to do today. Repainted the black background and repainted the HONDA silver.

Getting ready to paint

It is a bigger job than I thought.

It seems like I have been working forever to get the side covers, fenders and gas tank ready for paint. I spent about 4 hours today just sanding all the parts and trying to repair the rear fender. I am not sure how it happened but the rear fender got melted and shrunk 1/2 inch. I thought maybe I could remelt it with a hairdryer but it wouldn't budge, I will have to take it to a plastics place to have them stretch it, hopefully it won't cost me to much money.

The side cover and front fender had a few dents in them so they needed to be filled then sanded.

The gas tank was a challenge just emptying, for some strange reason it wouldn't empty completely from the petcock. The surface around the filler hole in the top of the tank was all bubbly from the gas eating away the paint, that was a challenge getting smooth. I thought the old paint job wasn't too bad but I found a few chips and a couple runs during the sanding job.

A couple of nights ago I cleaned up my shop and set up a paint booth with plastic from the ceiling. As each piece is sanded I am setting in up in the booth. Once a get the final piece sanded they will get primed then painted.

Another Emblem Painted

Saturday Jan 31

After_____________________Before

Another small job done

The Honda Logo for the side of the gas tank, you can't really see in the picture but the black was all faded and chipped, the metal was all discolored and chipped in a few places. So I decided to give it the same treatment as the Nighthawk emblem. I repainted the black and used silver paint to freshen up the wing and HONDA. It will also be clear coated along with the side covers.