81 GS550T Full Rebuild...In Ohio

[pete]

Oooooh a nekid frame

Don't see one of them too often! Hope the powdercoater can get his mitts on it real quick for ya'.

[cowboyup3371]

With as much snow on the ground as we have right now, it's one reason I threw it in the house. I'll probably call the powdercoater on Thursday and see what I can work out.

Here on the wet coast if you waited till Monday you'd need to blast the rust off again.

[cowboyup3371]

The frame's back from the sand blaster:









I'm hoping I can get it to the powdercoater on Monday - keeping my fingers crossed.

[pete]

Fingers crossed for ya'!

[cowboyup3371]

Yea I'm nervous only because I don't know what to expect but am hoping for a quality job. It's the same place the powdercoater I'm using will send it but they recommended I do it beforehand on my own. More to keep the paperwork straight than anything.

[pete]

Good luck Scott, hopefully you've found a good one who does what they say! I've seen a few on here go pear shaped so it'd be nice to see one that goes as planned for a change...

[cowboyup3371]

Dropped my frame off at the sandblaster today; got a little nervous when one of the guys started talking to me and I couldn't understand a word he said. Found out he is from Turkey and even the guy who wrote up my sheet said he never can understand him. I was assured all threaded holes would either be plugged or taped off so hopefully the job will turn out good; find out more on Monday.

[cowboyup3371]

After putting together my new tool chest, I started in on removing the races from the steering head. The top one came out fairly easy with the dremel - meaning it only took me about 45 minutes or so after my first cut.



However, the bottom one - !@#$%^&*()

Although I read about Flyboy's efforts at removing it using the swingarm bolt and a washer, I figured it couldn't be that much harder to use the Dremel and cutting wheel. After a quick conference about it, I started in on it but quickly realized it wasn't coming out. Several more cuts and still no luck when trying to chisel it out after each one. Finally, I got tired of using my crappy wood chisel (the only one I have that's old and beat up - won't use my good ones) and bought a proper cold chisel. Still having no luck, I asked if Steve would come over and lend a hand. While waiting for him, I re-heated some leftovers for dinner and sprayed PB Blaster in there figuring it was stuck from the grease and grime. Changing the side of the frame I was sitting on, I took a few more whacks at it again. It finally broke free and things fell out before Steve even made it past his local gas station. Of course, he was nice enough to still come over and inspect things so that I knew I didn't mess much up. Fortunately, I didn't and just need to take a round file to the area I cut into while using the dremel.



Now I'll just pack that section with paper towels/tape/whatever and ship the frame off to the powdercoater in the next few weeks.

[pete]

Looks like you're making some good progress, those clocks look good!

I'm waiting for my 'phone to ring at the moment to tell me it's ready to pick up... I'm hoping I can go down tomorrow to get it. That'll make 3 weeks without it and I'm going stir crazy!

[cowboyup3371]

Hey Pete, it's all okay.

So what's the latest on your pipes? Sure will be glad to hear when yours is on the road again.

[pete]

Hey Scott, seems I've been a little negligent and completely missed this thread! I'm subscribed now so will come back later and have a proper read...

[duaneage]

I used a couple of halogen lights to warm up the engine before painting. I left the lights on for about an hour and used a surface thermometer to read the result : 75 degrees. I painted the cases with VHT paint and returned the lights. It was about 45 outside so I did this in the garage and ventilated for the rest of the day.

[cowboyup3371]

The house thermometer said it was 60 degrees outside and www.weather.com said the humidity was at 57% so I chose to lay down some primer on the engine casing. I learned a valuable lesson that this is not like Colorado and I can't just paint without having a better mask even with rattle cans. So I'll hold off until the next warm spell to do much more. I also need to develop an air flow system as there's still a heavy paint smell in the garage. I saw some pictures of fans up against the plastic of a paint booth so I need to figure out how best to do it. Anyone have any suggestions?

Front of the engine



Rear



I'll remove the side covers later after I figure out which way I want to go with the actual engine paint color.

Wright Patterson AFB's auto hobby shop might have their sandblasting cabinet operational next weekend

Wright Patt ey? Thats my old stomping grounds! I grew up in Piqua so not too far.