OldRed project

[TheBigRed]

OK one month wake up and check in... where is Old Red now?

:P

Same place as last month.

With things that have been happening in life lately, money is very tight, even though I have a little more time to work on it, I just don't have the money.

I have found out though that my father-in-law works at a place that does powder coating, so I think I'm actually going to go that route once I get the frame back from being stripped. However I don't have the money at this point in time to do that.

Engine is pretty much same situation. I need to get it cleaned up really well, and figure out what I'm going to do about it. Plus I'll have to get the jug's honed to match the one size over piston rings that I have sitting there.

*Sigh* Though I do have my eye on yet another front fender on e-bay that will match. If it doesn't go to high I may try to sneak it into my budget somewhere, then sell the worst of the two that I have.

Wow, that is an awful lot of typing to say that there has been no progress.

I may start tackling some of the more elbow grease intensive parts sometime here. (like making those front forks shine...)

Amos

[Hoomgar]

This is having a familiar ring to it :roll:

I hope you have much greater success rate than I have so far bro :?

Keep the faith!

[TheBigRed]

This is having a familiar ring to it :roll:

I hope you have much greater success rate than I have so far bro :?

Keep the faith!

Yeah, I know.

I know things should turn around eventually. Just right now it isn't gonna happen within the next couple of months.

*shruggs*

Time will tell. I've debated picking up yet another 550 engine that I could throw in that will get it running in the meantime while I recondition the engine. Dunno though, it's going to be a little while till I'm even ready for that thought process.

*edit*
Ok, I'm starting to get motivated to start back in on the things that I can do.

If I get a chance I'll post some pictures of a few of the smaller items that I've taken care of so far, and start working on more of the pile that is out there. (talk about cleaning electrical connections.. what fun)


Amos

[Anonymous]

looks like something out of occ the finished product should look great hey any one know if the tank and handlebars from the 550 will fit on the 450

[TheBigRed]

Progress...

Progress.. At long last...

Hey Everyone. Finally made some progress today.

Was getting tired of having to dodge the swingarm that was hanging in the garage, so I pulled out the POR-15 directions and went to town.

Here are pictures of how it looks afterwards:


Top of the swingarm. (POR-15 is still a little wet, but I'm pretty sure it will still reflect like this when dried)


Chain guard mount:



Chain Side:


Whole swingarm top:


That's all for now.

Stay tuned for more.

Amos

[Hoomgar]

You weren't due for a thread wake up for 2 days yet. You went and got some work done and beat me to it :P


Good job man. It looks great! Now does it look like there is enough left to do the frame or would an entire frame project involve 2 bottles? I know we had talked about that and were wondering.

[TheBigRed]

You weren't due for a thread wake up for 2 days yet. You went and got some work done and beat me to it :P


Good job man. It looks great! Now does it look like there is enough left to do the frame or would an entire frame project involve 2 bottles? I know we had talked about that and were wondering.

LOL... I know I wasn't due for an update for a bit, but it had still been far too long. I've got some other items to work on here as well to prepare for getting ready to put it all back together.

Not enough left to do the entire frame. I only used like half of the bottle I had to put the two coats on the swingarm. Used what I had left in my paint bucket (they tell you not to use the stuff straight from the can) on some rust spots on the truck bumper. But, I'm not worried about not having enough to do the rest of the frame.

I've discovered that my father-in-law works at a place that does powder coating. Sooo.. If I can talk Jodi into it that may be my Christmas present. (powder coating the frame that is)

If not I will try to scrape up enough cash to pay for it myself. For now though I still have yet to get it back from the guy that is sandblasting it for me.

(I need to call him by the end of the week and find out the status)

*edit* Just a side note. before the POR-15 had a chance to fully cure after the second coat (it was dry to the touch at this point though). I just was a bit leary of getting bolts through all the holes and into all the threads. So I chased the threads with the appropriate bolts etc and was able to push out quite a bit of the POR-15 product that had found it's way in there.

So if you use it, make sure you also take note to do this. */edit*

Amos

[BriTXbike]

Re: Progress...

Progress.. At long last...

Hey Everyone. Finally made some progress today.

Was getting tired of having to dodge the swingarm that was hanging in the garage, so I pulled out the POR-15 directions and went to town.

Here are pictures of how it looks afterwards:


Top of the swingarm. (POR-15 is still a little wet, but I'm pretty sure it will still reflect like this when dried)

So I'm looking to repaint my swing arm also Amos since the PO had a battery that puked acid on the arm and has caused some considerable rust corrosion. I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about POR-15. Did you strip the arm and then paint this on with a brush or how did you apply it? It looks rather durable but this is the first time I have seen it.

[TheBigRed]

Re: Progress...

So I'm looking to repaint my swing arm also Amos since the PO had a battery that puked acid on the arm and has caused some considerable rust corrosion. I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about POR-15. Did you strip the arm and then paint this on with a brush or how did you apply it? It looks rather durable but this is the first time I have seen it.

From everything I've read it's a great product. Actually supposed to be chemically resistant as well (if memory serves correctly).

Here is a link to their FAQ:
http://www.por15.com/faq.asp

Personally I stripped as much of the paint off as I could get. Used a paint stripping wheel attached to a drill. Took me a bit to get it and about two of the paint strippers. After that they have a couple of other products they recomend to use before painting, one is a degreaser the other etches the metal so that the product can get a good bite. (This is why this product claims to be able to prevent rust, because it actually bonds with the metal creating a watertight seal) After that I didn't get around to painting it right away, but it hung there for a few weeks till I actually got to it.

I painted it with a brush, and it turned out Ok. There are some spots where you can see some dust got in the paint, and some runs in the paint as well. However, I'm not to concerned about them as who is going to be getting that close to look at the swingarm.

As I just stated above, they recomend using the other products that they have do prepare the part before painting. Which if you go to their site and start looking at prices you will notice the price could add up quickly. However, and I would recomend, they have a "Super Starter Kit" which is supposed to be just enough to get you to try it to see if you like it. The kit was more than enough to do my swingarm. They recomend 2 coats of paint, as such on the swingarm I only used about half of what came in the "Super Starter Kit". (They claim it is enough to cover 12 Square feet) And the kit only costs $15 + shipping.

If you want any closer pictures I can take them for you.

Also Here is a link to an information sheet on the product if you are interested in reading further about more of the details of how it actually works
http://www.por15.com/uploads/files/por15sum.pdf


Amos

[BriTXbike]

Thanks for the info! yeah I was looking at their website this morning and looked at that start kit. I wasn't sure how much would be needed but I think you answered that question. I love pictures myself. The ones you have look pretty good but I can't really tell since it looks pretty dark.

my email if you are so kind to pics: britxbike@hotmail.com

[TheBigRed]

Another Update. WooHoo.

Ok, not much of one, but I picked up my frame from the guy who was sand-blasting it for me. Pictures are below.

Next step will be to see how much it's going to cost to have it powder coated along with all the other little bits (didn't bother to picture the motor mounts which pretty much look the same).

After that I guess I really need to get to work on the engine. It may be some time till I'm able to make a whole lot of progress in that department though, as I still need to remove the old gasket material and sort out the parts of 3 engines to make one good one.

Alas, here are the latest pictures. Enjoy!











Amos

[Hoomgar]

Bare metal rusts fast buddy! Get something on it ASAP!

[dcaswell]

Amos

That looks great, but at least get the metal prep stuff on that frame and keep it dry. Living room would be good

Dave

[TheBigRed]

Bare metal rusts fast buddy! Get something on it ASAP!

That is the plan.

I need to talk with my father-in-law and see what the cost is going to be. Then I hope to get it done asap.

I need to get the bearing races removed first though, and according to manual, it requires a special tool. Grrr..

Going to go post a question in tech section about powder coating.

Amos

[Hoomgar]

Wakey wakey
The spring bug is biting already bro.
What's your bike status mate?