81 GS550T Full Rebuild...In Ohio

[tkent02]

You are getting distracted. We don't have enough patience for this. Did you finish sanding and polishing the paint or not?

[cowboyup3371]

Wish I could have Stan:

Friday night - repairing network problems but fixed the tach cable
Saturday - Band competition - Daughter's band took 3 in their class but didn't make the finals
Sunday - Fixing computer problems at home but managed to connect the right handle switch, clutch cable, and some other electrical wiring. Still need to go over the wiring diagram and cable routing though again.
Tonight - more work to do after installing a new network for a site in town - waited almost a year to say IT'S DONE FINALLY! Put them on a new T-1 circuit that was installed back in January-ish but didn't get our equipment until two weeks ago (we originally asked for it last August)

Looking super sweet Scott, so did you get anything done on the tank,,,,,,we wait, we wait, we wait.......c'mon man.

[Sci85]

Man oh man is this gonna be a beaut when she's done. Can't wait myself!

[cowboyup3371]

Pays to step back

The tach drive piece arrived today and after checking the brand new cable with it and verifying it had the same number of threads as the one Tom sent, I realized I was a moron. So I went by the garage, loosened the valve cover, and screwed the cable right into place without any issues.

After I tightened the valve cover back down, I realized I needed to listen to what I tell my kids - think about what you are doing. So tomorrow is the eldest's marching band competition in Toledo and I'm going to watch. I'll get back on the tank come Sunday.

[pete]

Great to see you progressing well Scott!

Be patient and stick with the sanding. I really think I didn't sand mine enough and I think there was potential for a better finish but like you I was freaking out a little about going through the clear so I held off.

I'm still happy with it, but next time I'll know how to get it better

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks Ed, Larry, and Tom. Unfortunately work and kids have gotten in the way the last couple of nights so I will try to get back at it tomorrow.

[tkent02]

Don't be afraid of leaving a little orange peel, it's much preferable to cutting though.

What he said. If the orange peel is almost gone it is so small that the polish will do the rest. Flat, smooth and shiny. Go to far and it will be flat and smooth.

[Nessism]

Scott, when color sanding be VERY CAREFUL to stay off the corners/edges or you will cut though the clear and hit the base. Some masking tape on said corners is recommended if you can't trust yourself. If you hit the base you will have to paint again. Not good.

I'd try 1000 grit and then progress to 2000 when almost all the orange peel is gone. Don't be afraid of leaving a little orange peel, it's much preferable to cutting though.

[nvr2old]

2000 grit will not remove that orange peel. I have been wet sanding my MG and have been using 800 or 600 for orange peel. I use 1500/2000/3000 progessively to really get it smooth after the peel is sanded down. Then rubbing compound and lastley polish to get the shine back.

Agreed. 2000 will never cut that out. At least 800 to start with. Sand and check constantly for all the shiny dimples to go away. Using a small rubber squeegee to remove the water to check the progress as you sand works great. If you have at least 3-4 coats of clear, you should be fine. The milky white product you're seeing is just the clear mixed with the water. As mentioned, that's a good thing..it's when you start seeing a milky-blue..that's a bad thing..you've sanded into the base coat.

2000 grit will not remove that orange peel. I have been wet sanding my MG and have been using 800 or 600 for orange peel. I use 1500/2000/3000 progessively to really get it smooth after the peel is sanded down. Then rubbing compound and lastley polish to get the shine back.

[tkent02]

It was suggested I could drop to 1000 grit or even 600 but I'm scared I'll go too far. Heck, seeing the white milky layers after the little bit I did made me feel like I was messing the paint up. But I'm told I need to get it completely smooth. Does anyone else have any advice for me?

The milky layer is a good thing, that's what you need for the shine to come later with the polish. When it all looks that way it's ready to polish.
You need to get most of the way through that thick orangepeel or it will never shine up to a real gloss no matter how long you polish it... Just don't go all the way through the clear. You can use the orange peel as a guide so you don't go through the clearcoat. What I'm getting at is sand until you can just barely see the old orangepeeled surface, then polish. Get the whole tank uniformly that way. If you sand through the clear anywhere, you will have to respray it and sand again to get a good result.

Also listen for a whistle from the sandpaper, that is a small rock rolling around under the paper, it will scratch it the paint up. If you get the whistle, rinse the paper off and use more water.

I wouldn't go to 600, maybe 1000. It won't take that long with the 1000. But I'm not the expert around here.

It can look spectacular.

[Steve]

You guys are a riot, ever think about taking it on the road?

I did.

I'm back.


Deal with it.

.

[cowboyup3371]

You guys are a riot, ever think about taking it on the road?

To add, here's a picture looking at the tach drive. As you can see, it's not sitting in there with enough clearance to slide by the frame. However, the engine sits perfectly fine with all mounting holes lining up properly. This is something I've dealt with every time I removed the tach cable to pull the valve cover off. The motion pro cables would sit in easier than the stock and allow me to bend them...sure wish I hadn't trashed the old tach drive now. I should have just dealt with the tightness of the nut when I would screw in the cable.



So after some time sulking at not having it ready to start today, I went back over to install the clocks and handlebar. I decided I need different screws for the right handle switch and wished I'd taken them with me earlier this afternoon when I went down to get new nuts and washers for my exhaust hangers.

But here's where I'm at so far:



I also started wet sanding the tank using 2000 grit but I'm told I still have a long way to go before I'm ready to buff:



It was suggested I could drop to 1000 grit or even 600 but I'm scared I'll go too far. Heck, seeing the white milky layers after the little bit I did made me feel like I was messing the paint up. But I'm told I need to get it completely smooth. Does anyone else have any advice for me?

[Steve]

I need a facepalm smiley.

You prefer this one.

this one

or this one?

.