Project: 700ES Winter Rebuild

[nater]

See my intro here, but I'll rehash for those who didn't see my original post:

I have a 1985 GS 700ES purchased this spring for $300. I realized I didn't have anywhere to park it or work on it, so built this during the summer:

And this is the bike:

The plan right now is to go back to the original white with blue decals. I'm hoping to capture my progress here, and hopefully build on some of the great 700/750 threads by jwhelan65, SVSooke, tejasmud, etc.

 

[nater]

I've got a few things in-progress that need updating to get to where I am now. First off, just about every piece of plastic on the bike was either cracked or had broken tabs. First, I drilled a hole at the end of each crack to relieve the pressure:

Then plastic-welded the back and front of each piece:

Finally, filled in the weld with some PVC cement and sanded it smooth.

Unfortunately, the PO decided to put about 10 coats of thick black paint directly over the original graphics, so everything needs to be sanded down through the graphics (this is ongoing if you can imagine that)...

 

[nater]

The petcock was dumping gas into the carbs regardless of the bike being on, so a new one was in order. At the same time, the tank was full of rust so decided to clean it out.

Used the POR15 kit to remove the rust, metal-ready to prep the tank and coated everything with the POR15. Also, most of the components inside were covered in a layer of rust, so dipped those in a vinegar solution:

This ended up being a terrible idea...the acid ate through the fuel level sensor and this needed to be rebuilt .

The completed tank (with some extra POR15 on the top) ready to be stripped and prepped for paint.

 

[GateKeeper]

Progressing along nicely....

 

[SVSooke]

Nice,yep I'm along for the ride to

 

[morrison]

Subscribed. /
What was the vinegar solution that ate the level sensor? I need to clean mine up as well..

 

[nater]

Thanks guys.

Subscribed. /
What was the vinegar solution that ate the level sensor? I need to clean mine up as well..

It was mostly white vinegar with a splash of water to soften it...probably 4:1 if I had to guess. You might get by with doing half and half, but the old rusted float pivot just disentegrated after a day of soaking. Maybe just keep a close eye on it?

 

[BigD_83]

Subscribed...looks like you are building off a decent base. Can't wait to see how this one turns out.