82 850GL Resto...here we go

[Good Times]

De-Rusting the Suzi

I am working on every piece to make it right before it goes back on the bike. I have read about vinegar as a de-ruster so I "borrowed" my wife's 1/2 gallon of apple cider vinegar over the weekend and have been letting some parts soak. I started with the lower triple cover. It was completely rusted underneath. I didn't take a before picture but it looked much like the inside of my headlight bucket.



After soaking for a few days I hit it with scotch brite pad and the rust literally just wiped right off with no effort. I wound up with this:


I think it didn't even have to soak for that long. I taped it off and sprayed it with a little primer and paint to seal the surface.


I wound up with this:


I've also been soaking rusty bolts in it as well and with little effort they are cleaning up nicely. I hit them with a wire wheel to shine them up after soaking and then spray them with a little WD-40 or rub them with a little 3in1 oil to keep the flash rust form developing. It's working so far.

[Guest]

Mate that attention to detail is going to make you end up with one superb looking motorcycle

[Good Times]

I have to tell on myself. I was buffing the chrome out on that piece and it got caught on the wheel and did a few revolutions adding some character marks. I'm sure the new emblem will make it look fine though.

It was one of those times when the first reaction is to count all your fingers to be sure they are still there. lol

[GateKeeper]

Ouch !!!!!!

[Guest]

Haha, I've done that more than a few times myself. Never fails to scare the heck out of me. And I'm with Pete, she's going to one fine ride when you're done.

[Good Times]

I have the headlight bucket, right front signal bracket and some chrome bolts soaking right now. I pulled a handful of bolts, nuts and washers out this afternoon and started going over them lightly with a dremmel/wire brush to shine them up.

I'm sitting there thinking, "Man, am I really going to shine every single bolt on this thing." Then I thought, "Yep" and kept on going.

I am more conscientious of my edges and angles when polishing now with the big wheel!

[GateKeeper]

Hey GT,,,,I did the same, cleaned and shined up each and every bolt.....and then I went and purchased all new Stainless Steel bolts to replace all the ones I spent time cleaning and taking to the wire wheel....LOL

[Good Times]

Hey GT,,,,I did the same, cleaned and shined up each and every bolt.....and then I went and purchased all new Stainless Steel bolts to replace all the ones I spent time cleaning and taking to the wire wheel....LOL

That's funny! I am actually going to be replacing the mounting screws on my electrics with SS allen heads so I'm not doing anything with those.

You should sell your old ones.

[Good Times]

Soaked in vinegar for three days, rubbed with a scotch bright pad, a little primer, paint and voila:

Before:


During:


After:

[7981GS]

Outrageous results!

Eric

[Good Times]

snabin frabin grappin drappin...!!!!!

I have two case bolts that are stripped. One was like that previously and one was the result of me discovering that the torque wrench I borowed didn't work. I will tap and go up a size on the bolts.

Went to Lowe's on the chance that they might have them. Nope.

Went to my "local" Ace Hardware (30 miles away). Nope. But I did find out from Ace that there is a large fastener store not far from there.....open Monday - Fridays. Well, they can still call themselves "helpful." Picked up some weather strip for the battery box and back home.

It's funny how the little things hold you up isn't it?

Back home and I decided to work on the gauges. I have #5 gear indicator light out and would like to replace it. When I first got the bike I tried to get the case open but the top screw would not come out. It just spun in place. Since it was recessed I couldn't get anything in there to pull on it either. I just left it for another day. That was today.

I sat down and decided to drill the screw out since I'm going to a fastner store next week anyway. No sweat right? I started drilling and all of a sudden the screw head turned sideways and disappeared. This is in the recessed hole mind you. I thought, "Great. At least now I can get the back off." Nope still stuck on like the screw is still there. I wound up having to break the case to get it off.

Here's what it looked like at that point:


Can you guess from this picture what the problem was?


How about now?


That's right. Some igit put another screw in the hole and the head was stuck just spinning and wouldn't come out. This one little thing caused a lot of frustration. Can't tell you how many revolutions of the screwdriver I spent trying to back that thing out. I couldn't believe it when I got it out.

Time for a new case.

[Dogma]

Nice results with the vinegar. That's similar to what I got when I did the same on my '80 850L using Evapo-Rust. (I also did the insides of the mounting brackets.)

[Good Times]

Nice results with the vinegar. That's similar to what I got when I did the same on my '80 850L using Evapo-Rust. (I also did the insides of the mounting brackets.)

Thanks Daniel and Dogma.

I decided to try the vinegar before the evapo-rust just because of the price and the fact that my wife had it in the pantry.

I'm pleased. The evapo-rust is much faster I'm sure.

[Good Times]

Still doing some odds and ends until I can replace my stripped case bolts on the clutch case and oil pan. I'll head to the fastener store tomorrow and should have them in soon after. Then it's time to put the motor in the frame and start getting the ol' girl back together.

As for last night and today here's the report:

A sort of before and after pic for the shocks. Used the ratchet strap method to get them apart. The springs are soaking to get the rust off the inside:


Before turn signal and crispy crusty headlight bracket:



After soaking in vinegar, hit with a dremmel wire brush and sprayed with clear:



I'll also start polishing the forks before long.

[Good Times]

Stopped by Clarksville Fasteners today and picked up a bag of awesomeness.

Allen Head Stainless for all of the following:

motor mount bolts
rear master cylinder bolts
carb lower gang screws
2 small bolts under the upper triple tree
electrics panel screws
found two M7 bolts to replace my stripped case bolts.

$24 for the whole kit and caboodle.

Still have the carb upper gang screws and acorn nuts for the gauges to find.



Can't wait to get them on!

I also found out that they do custom stainless brake lines. I'll have them make me up a set and let you guys know how much. I asked him to give me a ball park for a 15 inch stainless brakeline. He said $30. Perf.