GS450S neaten up

[pete]

Nice progress there Wally, looks like all your bits are in pretty good shape there too.

[herostar]

Nice work!

This website has decals if you want a factory look... I'm not sure if they ship international though.

http://www.reproductiondecals.com

[wally]

thanx guys!

Hero, I had a look at those, but the design is completely different to what we had available here. Plus, I can get it remade through one of my suppliers for about 1/5th of the cost of those ones. That is the downside to when your currency is not as strong...

[wally]

Been quiet for a while - public holidays and a 2 week vacation stuck in between.

I have managed to spray all my parts black (about 3 coats or so). Now I need to sand them smooth (seeing as I paint by trial and error) and prep them for clear coat. Will have decals made up soon and then the seat re-upholstered and once all that is done I will have a look at the electrical stuff.

Sooooo... I am still around, just not much to report.

[pete]

Been quiet for a while - public holidays and a 2 week vacation stuck in between.

I have managed to spray all my parts black (about 3 coats or so). Now I need to sand them smooth (seeing as I paint by trial and error) and prep them for clear coat. Will have decals made up soon and then the seat re-upholstered and once all that is done I will have a look at the electrical stuff.

Sooooo... I am still around, just not much to report.

Now Wally, it's all well and good to be absent then pop up and give a quick progress report... but we demand pic's!

Good progress by the way...

[wally]

I don't want to...the painting is bad...

I first have to see if I can rescue it, or if needs to go to a pro...
It just very rough - think my air pressure and gun settings were incorrect.

Loads of flattening to do...

[pete]

I don't want to...the painting is bad...

I first have to see if I can rescue it, or if needs to go to a pro...
It just very rough - think my air pressure and gun settings were incorrect.

Loads of flattening to do...

Aaaah I get ya... my first coats of pearl red that went down were shocking too... all mottled and bad because I didn't realise how controlled and even the spray pattern needed to be for pearl paint, so next day was sand back and go again...

Have a look through my paint thread to get the expert tips from the guys on here like Dale, Larry, Johnny Drummond, etc. I would've been lost without them...

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=182912&highlight=painting+450

[wally]

Still nothing to show, but I pretty much got tired of my bad paint job, the endless sanding and nothing going right...

So I dropped it all of with a guy who will essentially redo my tank and finish off what I started. I hope to get everything back after the weekend. Luckily my prepwork was good, just my painting that was shoddy...

Will get the decals made up next week and then the seat reupholstering and then all together again!

[wally]

Got painted parts back yesterday and it looks super cool (despite my bad cellphone pics...)





getting the seat done this week, along with getting decals made.

hopefully all together by next week!

[pete]

Oooooh shiny! Nice

Definitely looking forward to her coming together!

[wally]

Got the fender and tank back on (spot the future cafe racer under wraps next to it ):


After the tank was back on I noticed fuel dripping out the petcock...
Tank off again, cleaned up, used some Red Devil gasket maker as extra seal between petcock and tank and that sorted it out.

Noticed the throttle had too much play and realised is mount the throttle holding plate on the carbs the wrong way around, so tank off again...

I had the battery tender on whole morning, struggled to get her firing up and always stressed in the back of mind "what if I installed something incorrectly after cleaning the carbs..."

But she fired up late yesterday afternoon!

Also experimented making up some rubber mounts for the handrail on the tailpiece.

Old ones are trashed. I couldn't find anything close, so bought a sample rubber spacer, cut in half and used my el-fakey Dremel to make a slot in it. Looks the part, but needs some test fitting and fine-tuning:





Old one to the left, test one to the right:


I also dropped off the seat on Monday to get reupholstered and recovered with the exact same std stitching pattern, etc. Decals are being made today.

[pete]

Nice work Wally, glad she's running again!

Nicely done on those rubber mounts too. Mine were shot as well but I forked out for some new ones from Suzuki (they're still available). Weren't too expensive...

So what's the cafe racer under the cover then?

[wally]

when you live on the bum end of the world with an unfavourable exchange rate, everything becomes expensive!

The unstarted cafe is what I really want to get started on, but I figured I have to get all the current projects done. It was part of the deal when I bought the black GS. Already stripped, but with all the parts there - or at least the ones I would need. Basically 2 x 450 GSes for the price of one!


So the black GS is nearly done, then the 2 x 1950s Fridges to get resprayed, then the cafe racer!!!

[pete]

when you live on the bum end of the world with an unfavourable exchange rate, everything becomes expensive!

The unstarted cafe is what I really want to get started on, but I figured I have to get all the current projects done. It was part of the deal when I bought the black GS. Already stripped, but with all the parts there - or at least the ones I would need. Basically 2 x 450 GSes for the price of one!


So the black GS is nearly done, then the 2 x 1950s Fridges to get resprayed, then the cafe racer!!!

Yes, true! Stan (Flyboy) and Andre (Matchless) have the same issue...

I'd forgotten you got two 450's in the deal... and yes very keen to see the second one... so hurry up and finish the others already

[ndaugbjerg]

Wally,
That looks great. You've inspired me to dial up the tempo on my project.
Niels