81 GS550T in Co Sprgs

[cowboyup3371]

Not a whole lot tonight, just took some Simple Green to get off the major grime from the sides of the wheels. Has anyone actually cleaned up the area where the tire sits as well? Would doing so make the tube or tire seat better?

[Flyboy]

Hi Scott, yes cleaning the inside would certainly be beneficial, the crud in there surely leads or cotributes to chafing of the tube in long term, so getting rid of it can only make life easier for the tube, ditto for where the tyre bead mounts.
What you can also do is wrap some electrical insulation tape around the inside for the tube to seat on, to help prevent chaffing, old trick, not where the tyre seats though.

[cowboyup3371]

Thank you Stan. Tried to a little tonight but wasn't getting much off so I'll work that section with the sand paper when I start on that tomorrow.

[cowboyup3371]

Well, as usual life got in the way this week and I didn't get as much done as I wanted. I did strip what old paint I could (ran out of my stripper I bought last year) off the wheels and spent much of the afternoon/evening trying to sand the rest down. I'm glad I did because whoever owned the rear wheel before me put both a blue and a black coat on. The blue was showing through in spots so I figured I'd like to start over.

So this is where I'm standing so far (any heavy lifting done by Cheyenne who also helped sand).

After the last round of stripper:



After some sanding with 120 grit. The front wheel looks great as it only had a black coating but the rear wheel is a good struggle.





More sanding tomorrow. Stan, what kind of a polishing wheel did you use? I might try to find one after sanding with the 120 again tomorrow and then some 320

[Flyboy]

Scott, sure is looking good, they are going to look stunning when you are done.
I used 120, like you, then went to 320 grit and then I used spiral sewn white cloth buff on my hand drill with some red rouge, the results speak for themselves.
You can also use pink or black rouge, I know Chuck is sold on the black rouge and his stuff is also really nice.
Although the black rouge is a rough to medium and the pink and red are fine, so better for finishing.
The little buff and the bar of rouge are dirt cheap and you could probably get both for under $20.
Just be warned, if you are going to use two different compounds, never share the same buff, buy one buff for each compound.
I didn't bother stripping the rims completely to bare metal, I figured the paint has been on there for 30 years and not gone anywhere, so after a once over, I was happy that the stuff that stayed behind was going no where.

How are the ribs coming on?

[SVSooke]

I'd do 400 then 1000 wet sands before I polished.The black stuff Chuck uses is not the same as the regular black bars that I use.I have a 3 step process:
Step 1 Sisal wheel with fast cutting,aggressive black bar.
Step 2 Full(Spiral)sewn with a intermediate brown bar,it's called red but looks brown.
Step 3 Loose wheel with white bar for a real shine.
Wash the residue off after each step,ask me how I figured that out
Sometimes I will just do step1 or 1 and 2 if I want to have slightly different finishes.Mostly I do all 3.

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks guys. The ribs are slowly coming along although several times last night while sleeping and starting this morning I'm getting sharp pains along the front over my heart area. It's not a heart attack pain due to its consistency so maybe I just overdid it with the sanding (using my right hand to sand and left to hold wheel). But I don't know.

Thanks for the information. I'll see if this - http://www.harborfreight.com/14-piec...kit-98707.html will work out for me.

[pete]

Thanks guys. The ribs are slowly coming along although several times last night while sleeping and starting this morning I'm getting sharp pains along the front over my heart area. It's not a heart attack pain due to its consistency so maybe I just overdid it with the sanding (using my right hand to sand and left to hold wheel). But I don't know.

Thanks for the information. I'll see if this - http://www.harborfreight.com/14-piec...kit-98707.html will work out for me.

Pain's not good Scott! I'm allergic to pain myself...

That polishing kit should be the goods by the looks. Those bars of compound look the same as I what I've been using for my case covers etc.

[cowboyup3371]

Mother nature decided it's winter time and put us well below any temperatures I could use to do any painting. I also found out I'll have to get a faster drill than the one I have now to do much in the way of polishing because I'm just not sure I want to do it by hand. (am still thinking about it).

So, this is where my wheels are sitting for a bit.



However, I managed to get outside to pull apart the forks. Using that special tool was very helpful although I thought I was going to break my allen wrench tool (t-handles wouldn't work so went back to my combo set). I managed to get them apart though.

The oil I drained out of them looked pretty nasty so I wish I had bitten the bullet a long time ago. But, at least I have some new springs to put in and I hope the forks themselves will be okay. I also realized why I originally wanted to buy new dust covers with my seals as I found one of them to be torn. I'll look into buying them in a couple of paydays after taking care of Christmas first.







I didn't see any serious pitting but I think I found a couple of small gouges I might have to sand out. I'll take a rag, wipe them down, and go from there.

Now, if I could just get a 60*+ day on one Sat or Sun I'll be happy.

[pete]

That's nice progress Scott! I hear you loud and clear on the weather front too... certainly helps with painting when the weather cooperates

As to the drill for polishing, yes you definitely want some sort of tool to help you with that. Polishing by hand is a right royal PITA... although to be fair I'm also quite impatient with it...

[cowboyup3371]

Tried polishing the wheels today and not sure if I did it right but they look okay. I'll post pictures of them after I try to paint IF the temperatures hold tomorrow like forecasted. Supposedly we'll have sustained winds of 40 mph and gusts to 60 with temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s tomorrow when a storm system starts to come in.

But, here are the fork lowers after trying to polish:

[cowboyup3371]

It actually climbed above 60 degrees today so I took advantage of the weather and after cleaning out one of sheds and fixing a toilet, I started in on the wheels. Spent some time taping them up and then before the high winds started ran outside. I sprayed the first coat in the grass before the winds started but quickly moved them into the shed and finished things there.

I think they turned out pretty nice and don't plan on changing them for now, at least until I put the tires on. My thoughts will be for the brake rotors and calipers to remain black while possibly leaving the fender the chrome color it is now.

I know you can't see yourself in the chrome of the wheel but I'm not worried about a fancy shine right now. I do wonder though if I should run a rag around the edges as I saw tape marks.

Taped and ready



Painted and waiting for the tires



I'll try to get the wheels down to the shop this week; got done too late to safely get there today.

[Flyboy]

Ok, ignore my question in your other thread, just found the answer.
Niiiiice Scott.

[Etcheberri]

that s a pretty interesting blue!
would you have a closer view?

nice work on your project sir

[cowboyup3371]

Not yet but I can get one. It's a Ford Dark Blue by Duplicolor Can number DE 1606. The carbs are just the Ford Blue by Duplicolor