Naked Cooley

[GS Jim]

Frame Painted

Frame Painted

Paul K and I went down to Buffalo, NY to take advantage of a sale at Harbor Freight (any excuse for a road trip) and this is what I came with

Makes working on the bike much easier! Anyways, got frame cleaned and re-painted today.

And reconditioned the rear foot pegs bars which had suffered some road rash at the hand of the PO. They were pretty beat up, I hammered them out as best I could, grinded them flat, then filled the divots with home made bondo (epoxy and micro balloons), which gave a nice smooth surface.

after filling

repainted

 

[GSJim]

Nice shop. I wish I could shoehorn a bike lift into my work space.

What paint did you use on your rear caliper and frame? I will be doing some black parts in the next few weeks.

Thanks.

The other GSJim.

 

[GS Jim]

Nice shop. I wish I could shoehorn a bike lift into my work space.

What paint did you use on your rear caliper and frame? I will be doing some black parts in the next few weeks.

The other GSJim.

Thanks GSJim (love that handle ), I'm happy with the new work space setup. It's heated and has an attached workshop (not seen in picture). My friends say I didn't buy a house; rather, that I bought a workshop with a house attached!

I figured the calipers needed as resistant paint as possible, so I used spray can RUST-OLEUM Engine Enamel on the callipers which is labelled gas & oil resistant.

On the frame, I brushed on TREMCLAD "Rust Paint" enamel.
I was originally going to use the engine paint on the frame too, but decided against it when I saw how much masking I would have to do to control the over spray. The Tremclad flowed nicely and left no brush marks, so I'm pretty happy with results.

The centerstand hasn't been done yet, so you can use it for a before/after comparison.

 

[Guest]

Your bike looked so good before, can't believe you're doing a frame up on it. Looking great!! I'll be interested to see how the frame paint holds up. As a note I see some people use that grey water pipe wrap around the frame pieces when they're putting the engine back in to save the paint.

 

[GS Jim]

AZR, I didn't set out to do a frame-up resto, it just kind'a sneaked up on me, LOL. Despite the blown head gasket, I still rode the bike for about 2000kms this season. The bike needed a thorough cleaning because there was oil&gunk everywhere from the blown motor. Since the engine was out being rebuilt, I also had access to bits'n pieces that could use some tidying up, one thing led to another and soon enough I had the bike in pieces all over the garage.

This is by far the most ambitious project I've ever done on a bike, but I'm lucky to have a couple friends in the area who have a lot of experience.

Sam Longo, one of the premier Honda restorers in the area, is helping with engine install and mentioned something about protecting the frame. I'd like to have the pipe wrap on hand - where do I get it (Home Depot?).

Oh BTW, check out this video on Sam's shop - it's the ultimate man cave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpzvK22vzxk

 

[steve murdoch]

Jim, did they make you pay tax and/or duty on the lift on the way back?
Sam does very nice work. I have known him for 12-15 years.

 

[GS Jim]

Hey Steve, yeah they dinged me for 13% GST at the border, but it still came out way cheaper than the same stand at Princess Auto.

Since this ain't my first rodeo, I asked for 2 receipts at the store, one for the lift only and another for everything else that was in smaller bags.

The border guard at the booth, only fixated on the large crate in the back of the pickup containing the lift, so I ended up only paying taxes on about half my purchases that day.

Here's today's little project. The license plate holder's paint was dead and showing a fair amount of rust, so off it came (you have to remove the tail cone and the rear light to free it). A light wet sanding and a fresh coat of paint and it's all back together now. This little project also exposed the ends of the rear frame rail, so now the whole frame is pretty much repainted now.

before

after

 

[Guest]

You can pick up that pipe wrap just about anywhere, Home depot, Home hardware, Canadian Tire, etc... you can get it in a few different sizes I think.

http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=water...w=211&start=0&ndsp=56&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:88

 

[GS Jim]

You can pick up that pipe wrap just about anywhere, Home depot, Home hardware, Canadian Tire, etc... you can get it in a few different sizes I think.

http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=water...w=211&start=0&ndsp=56&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:88

Thanks, will definitely get some. Paul Kahnert's coming over this AM to repolish the swing arm, seeing as my efforts do not quite meets his standards......

 

[GS Jim]

Airbox side panels removal

Airbox side panels removal

I had posted a question earlier bout something that had stumped me. I couldn't remove the rivets securing the chrome side panels on the airbox. An engineer friend suggested I try using a small router bit on my Dremel. It worked a charm, so I thot I'd post it here in case anyone else needs to do this again.

I carefully ground the rivet away starting from the inside, working outwards (I had previously been able to drill a 1/8" hole part way into the center post of rivet). Only took a couple of minutes on each and I was able to remove the side panels without so much as a scratch on them.

Side panels will now be sent to chromers along with the exhaust header clamps.

Pooch is enjoying the rebuild too - well, at least he's not complaining

 

[GS Jim]

Swing Arm & Engine Cases Re-Polished

Swing Arm & Engine Cases Re-Polished

Paul Kahnert kindly offered to "improve" on my polishing efforts today.

Here he is working his magic on the sprocket cover.

and here are the results of his efforts :clap: :clap: :clap:

... and swing arm back where it belongs

Please don't complement him too much, his head already barely fits in his helmet

 

[doubleblue]

No Breaks....

No Breaks....

James makes you work like a dog.... I did get a nice lunch though.

 

[amxsteve]

glad to see its coming along. we will have to get out for a spin in January maybe to the bike show Jan 6th. If our weather is anything like last year it might happen

 

[GS Jim]

No doubt, I rode to the show last year. I might b working at the Learning Curves booth again.

 

[GS Jim]

James makes you work like a dog.... I did get a nice lunch though.

Would never have attempted this resto w/out your help, bud.

You get the first ride when shes back together!

 

[Guest]

What are your thoughts on the frame paint?

 

[GS Jim]

What are your thoughts on the frame paint?

AZR, it looks nice and there are no brush marks. Only time will tell how it holds up. I got parts back from the powder coater and there's no comparison, the pc'ed finish is so much harder the enamel.

If I were doing another full resto and money were no object, powder coating the frame would be the way to go. That being said Paul said he has used a brush-on 2 part epoxy paint that could be a good compromise.

Powder coated parts on left, and parts to be sent to chromers on right

 

[GS Jim]

A little Bling!!!

A little Bling!!!

Got the parts back from chromers and very happy with the results.

The chain adjuster was chromed too and having it back, I could re-install the rear wheel. Note before'n after of same spot. Rear brake stay arm and carrier for the calliper were powder coated by GP Engineering. Also note chewed up rear foot peg which was addressed earlier.

 

[steve murdoch]

Jim, did you use Polishing Depot for the chrome?
The exhaust collars look great.

 

[GS Jim]

Thx Steve, I went to Mayfair Plating, On Carlaw just south of Eastern Ave.
Chuck Kotowick and his wife Nina (pronounced nine-ah) are the owners. 416-461-4435.