81 GS550T in Co Sprgs

[cowboyup3371]

I didn't have time to do much more this weekend with the cold temperatures and snow but I did manage to remove the old fuse blocks. Now I need to figure out how to remove these brackets since they won't fit the new one. Plus I don't have room for the new fuse block and relay with them on.

I'm thinking of taking my new grinder and cutting the brackets off but not sure of that yet. Need to get the air box out of there and figure something out.

We'll see how this week goes as far as the weather...maybe I will have a chance to do more.

 

[cowboyup3371]

I took off work early today to take advantage of the semi-warm weather we had in order to work on the bike. After looking at the mounts on the airbox last week, I realized I couldn't install the new fuse block and relay. So I tried to remove the airbox to pull off the old mounts. Unfortunately, I must have overtightened the bolt that holds the box to the frame the last time and couldn't loosen it. I ended up having to cut away at the mounting bracket to get the airbox off:

I'll try to bend it back up and take some JB Weld to it tomorrow.

Once I had it off I took my air cutting tool to try cutting off the old mounting brackets. Although I was on the fence before about getting a new air compressor, I'm not anymore. This was an impossible job as I only have a 1 gallon compressor made more for my nail gun than trying to use that thing. Since I didn't have a cutting wheel for my grinder, I ended up using a pair of pliers to remove the rest and then tried my grinding wheel. This was my first time doing it and although it isn't pretty I think it will work for now:

I'll strip the air box tomorrow and once I get some of that Por-15 than repaint it black. But I think I'll be able to make everything fit now...I hope.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Stripped the air box, starter cover, and valve cover today. I need to go find a wire brush to get into the grooves on the valve cover that my grinder with wire brush won't. I also put new rear turn signals on the bike and tried to clean up dirty areas that I could get to using a wash cloth and some simple green in the spray bottle. A storm is starting to come in so I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I wanted but here's the one of stripping things.

Can anyone suggest how to clean out the front fins of the engine? I found that the gasket I put on some time ago didn't seal correctly in the one corner and need to clean off the oil, dirt, and grime from there. I'm thinking I'll just use some q-tips but wondered if anyone had better suggestions. I'll go do some searching too.

Thank you for looking.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Some hard work there?

Some hard work there?

The airbox and lid should be black, but the head and starter covers should be painted silver to look OEM. Tough to get that black paint off the covers. Go get 'em Boy!
Bill

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks Bill. Probably won't be going OEM in the paint scheme but there's still time to think about it.

 

[cowboyup3371]

So today it's pretty nasty outside but I was able to take the wire cup on my grinder and the wire wheel on my dremel to clean up parts. There is still some paint on the air box but I'm not that worried about it so I'm just waiting on some free money to go get the Por-15 (had another issue come up this weekend needing the extra cash). I hope to get everything painted soon but at least the low humidity and somewhat heat level in the house is keeping the parts good so far.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Painted today

Painted today

The weather warmed up to the low fifties today so I borrowed my Aunt's bullet heater to get the shed to at least 60:

After laying down the plastic over my woodworking bench and putting most of my things on it, I got started painting. Now to be perfectly honest, this is the first time I have spray painted anything so I'm nervous about how I did

Here's the everything after painting. I brought the stuff inside to finish drying since a storm has moved through.

Here's the valve cover up close. I taped off the breather area to not get paint in there so I'll rip that off later tonight:

And the starter cover, valve cover end caps, end caps for the swingarm, and breather cover. The end caps have a finger print smudge on them since I didn't wait for them to get fully dry before picking them up off the plastic. I'll probably have to touch them up later.

And finally here's the air box cover:

I hope to do the air box and swing arm in a couple of weeks after I get some other tools and the Por-15 I'll need.

Thanks for looking.

Edit: Sorry for the quality of pictures, the GF's video camera doesn't have a flash for low light conditions.

 

[cowboyup3371]

So I got a couple more done. Here's the rear bracket from the swingarm to the rear brake on my modified hanger (wire thrown over the rafters of the shed).

And the sprocket cover. I'll probably redo it since I didn't like the way it's looking even after the three coats. So I'll let it dry today and strip it next weekend.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

About spray paint?

About spray paint?

Hi Scott,
Just my suggestion here, that you try Dupli-Color Premium Enamel for the color portions of your bike, http://www.duplicolor.com/products/premiumEnamel/.
But even they say that gas will dissolve or stain the new paint, and you must clear coat it with a 2 part, or 2 K clear if you need it to stand up to gas spills. They tell you right there on their web site.
But they have lots of primers and such. I'm impressed with the amount of development behind their products, they're actually owned by Sherwin Williams.
Bill

 

[cowboyup3371]

So will i need to clearcoat everything I've done today?

I'll look at the Duplicolor for the rest of it Bill thank you. I'm using the VHT paint right now.

 

[posplayr]

If you have some type of toaster oven, alot of guys bake the parts and it makes the rattle can paint hard. Not sure I would worry about clear coating all that stuff. Engine parts will get hot enough without baking.

It is primarily a gas tank that needs clear as it is almost assured you will get gas on it. Pictures are a little crappy but what I can tell , it all looks real good.

What Por-15 product you looking to use?

 

[cowboyup3371]

Jim,
I'm looking at using this: http://www.por15.com/POR-15/productinfo/1GB/ with the Prep and Ready stuff then paint over with the same VHT Roll Bar and Chassis Paint I used today.

On the bar that runs from the swingarm to the rear brake, I had some runs where I have bulbs at the end of each run. How do I go about sanding them out? Do I dry or wet sand it and then do I have to repaint it?

 

[posplayr]

Jim,
I'm looking at using this: http://www.por15.com/POR-15/productinfo/1GB/ with the Prep and Ready stuff then paint over with the same VHT Roll Bar and Chassis Paint I used today.

On the bar that runs from the swingarm to the rear brake, I had some runs where I have bulbs at the end of each run. How do I go about sanding them out? Do I dry or wet sand it and then do I have to repaint it?

I would shy away from that stuff and instead use this. The problem is the one above is UV sensitive and will dull. So it has to be top coated which means sanding and por-15 is hard so it is a BIACH. I had sections strip off of my frame because it would not adhere to the slick surface.

HARD NOSE is super hard and chem resistant and sprays awsome. It looks like powder coat.
http://www.por15.com/HARDNOSE-PAINT/productinfo/HNGB/


For really nice finishes I even top coat it with Clear; they are compatiable paint types.

http://www.por15.com/GLISTEN-PC/productinfo/GPCGG/

Runs can take a long time to dry(if thick) . You could use a safety razor to slice off the most of it , let it dry some more and sand. Else strip it all off again.

Most sanding should be pretty fine wet sand with say 240 grit, 400 is going to be just too fine to get a good bite with the Por-15 stuff

 

[cowboyup3371]

From what I am reading, neither of these two products stop the rust that was already in place from coming back again. Is that correct or am I missing something else when I read the pages. The bottoms of the swingarm and air box have some rust spots on them so, based on what I was told, I wanted to put a base coat down to protect them and then finish with what I'm using elsewhere. Is that still possible with these?

 

[cowboyup3371]

The wind died down for a little while this afternoon so I thought I might try to do some work. So I go to put my painted valve cover on and realize the bolts look crappy so I didn't bolt it on yet. Then I tried to put the air box on and didn't like how it was going back together because the bracket that holds it to the bike frame was bent. Tried to fix it but ended up breaking it off. Figured I'd JB Weld a washer to what was left of it and that won't work because it's still too cold! Oh well, next week maybe.

Phone isn't cooperating right now when sending my picture to my email so I'll try to get it up later.

Here's the picture of the frame mount.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

Aaah I knew I'd seen a project thread of yours somewhere! Good to see you're on your way again

And yeah, I hear ya'... some days you wonder why you ever started doing stuff coz it all just goes wrong...

The good side of that is there are other days where everything works and everything you do is just so easy you wonder why you ever got frustrated before...

 

[cowboyup3371]

Got a little bit of work done today. I put in the new valve cover bolts in that my girlfriend bought for me and installed the air box. I didn't take pics of the valve cover today nor of the new fuse block I put on since I wasn't totally ready for that but here's what I did do.

As I said earlier, I broke the mounting bracket for the air box so I bought a p-clamp (Thanks Steve) and a small mending brace to connect it that way.

Do you think it will be a problem to attach the two grounding straps to the p-clamp bolt? They were originally attached to the mounting bracket one.

Once that was done, the air box still moved way too much for me so I decided to screw it in from the battery box as well.

The battery and air filter both fit in just fine without any changes so I think it will be okay. I will try to find a way to weld on a new bracket later but at least this gets me going.

Also found a company who is sending me a 12mm grease fitting for free :dancing:. They only sell in large groups to other companies but because they had one I should see it next week I hope. I already drilled out the hole and tapped it to a 12mm X 1.50 which is the size of the fitting they said they have.

 

[Redneck]

Way to go Cowboy nice to see your making good progress. I have been stuck with the spend time with the family block this last week. I enjoy my time with them but man I miss my time. LoL. Keep it up bro.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Well, since I ran into the tax issue I now have, I decided I'd better get my bike running again sooner rather than later. Paying 20 dollars a week in gas on the bike is a heck of a lot better than over 100 for my truck so it will free up some money. Therefore, I ordered the sprockets and chain and I'll wait on my fork springs and shocks until another payday or two as I can while also paying the taxman. Also, I sped up on my painting jobs and finished doing some things.

Here are the bowls and footpeg brackets after painting (I have to touch up a spot on each bowl that I missed):

The footpeg mounts are also done and have new rubber inserts:

The swingarm is painted and waiting for a free grease nipple sample to get here hopefully next week:

And finally I started disassembling the carbs so I can paint the tops and bodies.

I intend to get the engine covers and carbs painted now and will wait to do my tank and side covers later when I have the free money. I at least want to get back on the road again though to save a little money. I know my springs and shocks need replacing but they'll do me for now. Hopefully I can come up with the money before Brown County to get them done though.

Thanks for looking. I'll have more pictures this weekend as I finish cleaning up the fuse block area and painting. I should be able to fire up the bike by next weekend.ray:

 

[Ranger]

Here what I did to become tired right now to sleep. I did it fast, didnt adjust lighting to make it look in the original enviornment or any other realistic effects.