Drew's 850 L Restoration

[jsandidge]

Looks great - is that the VHT SP-127? Did you prime it too? Funny cause I'm blasting mine today and with any luck will paint tonight or tomorrow night.

I picked up the SP-127 and the VHT engine enamel primer from Autozone today. I don't have an oven that will fit my engine and it says it needs to bake at 200? F although it says the heat from the engine will also curious so I need to get the engine there shortly after I paint it.

Forgot to reply to this thread but I also ended up cutting my in and ex ports with the CNC at work out of PVC. So far they are working great, thanks for the idea!

That is the VHT SP-127. The pics were taken in the shade, it looks a little brighter in the sun. I skipped the primer, since I blasted the motor. I borrowed some hanging heat lamps from work to do the curing. I'll post how those work out.

[jsandidge]

Heat lamps

So, the highest I could get with the heat lamps consistently was 160 degrees. One spot did get to 175. I'm sure if I took the guards off of the lamps and lowered them more, it would have gotten hotter. Didn't want to do that since I still have masking tape on the covers and cams. Fire wouldn't be a good thing. The can says 200 degrees for 20 minutes, and I went 160 for an hour. That will have to do until I get the motor back in the bike.

[mikerophone]

Curious how yours cures/hardens with the heat lamps, mine will be internally cured once I get it painted and carefully back into the frame, which I am also touching up.

Blasted mine out in my circle last night (neighbors love me, I'm sure but last time I soda blasted some carbs, the grass nearby dried up) and wasn't able to get all the paint off, the desiccant in my in-line drier became consumed and my poor HF compressor didn't sound too good and was really hot running non stop. I have access to a screw compressor at work, it's just a matter of getting the motor down there as my trailer has a 3.5L Honda V6 strapped down right now. Might just sand and use the primer, but I'm worried about heat containment..

[jsandidge]

polishing cases

Had a little time in the garage today, so I started polishing cases. Only got 1 finished, but did get started on the clutch cover too.

Before:



After:

[BanditRE]

Wow, nice work! I just got done (sort of) refreshing my GS850. I polished my cases as they were ratty looking and I had a few weeks to kill before a few parts came in. I thought they looked great, I went with a brushed aluminum look. Well, I thought they looked great until I started looking at this thread! Wow. That's a lot of shine!

I'm catching up here.......the frame, wheels and calipers turned out great too. Nice restoration, sir.

[Guest]

Wow ! Those engine cases look like chrome. What did you use?

[Nessism]

Wow ! Those engine cases look like chrome. What did you use?

Yeah, please detail your process.

[jsandidge]

Yeah, please detail your process.

Lots of hand sanding. I start with red scotchbrite on a 3" pneumatic polisher. This gets rid of the grey oxidation. Next, I get rid of the micro-pitting and any nicks or gouges. I've done it with 220 wet, but it's a lot of work. So lately, I've gone with 100 dry or 80 wet. Follow that with the 220 wet to get rid of the sanding scratches. From there, it goes pretty quick progressing through finer and finer grades of wet paper. 400, 600, 1000, & 2000. Then, I hit it with the buffing wheel using the red tripoli bar then the white rouge bar, cleaning with alcohol after each step. Last, protect it with Wizards power seal.

[jsandidge]

Motor in!

Yeah! Reached a milestone today, the motor is in! I took my inspiration from this guy. (Just had to try it).

My jig was modified a little from his design, but basically the same thing. My installation went a little smoother than his too, since I kept the upright shorter so I had plenty of frame clearance. Only took about 5 minutes to get the motor in and rear motor mount bolt in place. Couldn't have been easier.

A few pics for your enjoyment:

[mikerophone]

Awesome. That is a milestone - and a major one at that!

I hope to have mine in a little later this week. I just use a ratchet strap and a come along slung up over the rafters and slide it in from one side and then support it with a jack while I switch the back strap up over the frame to the other side. That method is slick though I might try it sometime..

[growler]

Nice work! I love that guy's videos.

[jsandidge]

New arrivals!

Looky what showed up today! I'll polish up the final drive pumpkin and powder coat a few more parts before I mount them. Getting kinda ancy now!

[mikerophone]

Those are sweeeeet! How much?

[jsandidge]

Those are sweeeeet! How much?

$214 + $18 shipping. I've read good reviews on them. If you want to try different spring rates, they give you 2 free spring swaps.

[mikerophone]

$214 + $18 shipping. I've read good reviews on them. If you want to try different spring rates, they give you 2 free spring swaps.

Not bad and the swaps make it an even better deal, thanks for the info.