First Street Bike Project - with a few questions

[Guest]

Yeah, noticed that welding splatter too. I don't have a grinder (one of the tools on my wish list). But, Once the black is on it you won't even notice it. I know I didn't until it was this clean.

And yeah Flyboy, I'm taking it to the powder coat guy tomorrow. No worries, it's so cold now, the air is very dry which is why it's in the garage and not the house.

Should have it back in three days. Can't wait!

Sci85

 

[GateKeeper]

brslk and Flyboy are right on the money about the weld splatter

Sci85, just grab a file and file down those splatter bumps, you will like the frame much more if you at least file those down....most will actually just pop off, if you hit them even with a chisel

I don't have a grinder, but had a file kicking around, and went at all the splatter I could find, and any another sharp edges I could find, it really will make the frame much more nicer

 

[brslk]

brslk and Flyboy are right on the money about the weld splatter

Sci85, just grab a file and file down those splatter bumps, you will like the frame much more if you at least file those down....most will actually just pop off, if you hit them even with a chisel

I don't have a grinder, but had a file kicking around, and went at all the splatter I could find, and any another sharp edges I could find, it really will make the frame much more nicer

Alright... how do you guys get by without a grinder!? I have 4 at the moment but usually I have 5! I hate changing wheels.

I'm gonna have to start a "get GK and Sci a grinder charity" thread.

Get a cheap horrible freight or a crappy tire grinder! you need these!

They are the most used tools in my garage.

Wanna cut something off? Grinder with a zip wheel...
Wanna shave something? Grinder with a grinding wheel...
Wanna modify something metal? Grinder...

Keep the guards on, wear safety glasses and gloves.

Oh! and the wire wheel on a 4.5 inch grinder does wonders!

Bruce.

 

[GateKeeper]

@brslk, your absolutely right.....a grinder is a must have, so far I have been lucky and have had no use for it, yet....

I had access to a full machine shop (my brothers) but we have had a disagreement, so I no longer can go there, unfortunately a lot of tools are there, everything from hand to air drills,grinders,ratchets, to mills and lathes, and welders, not to mention 2000 square feet of space, but hey life goes on, and I really don't want to start buying tools that I will probably not use again in another 20 years...

Hey I bought a bench grinder, so I can at least polish the parts at home.....

 

[Guest]

Well, dropped the frame off at the powder coat guy this morning. Will get it back tomorrow. I can't wait...In the meantime, following my "get something done each day" motto, I hit the upper triple clamp today. Paint was tough to get off. Had to use stripper and a brass brush then the wire wheel but it finally came out pretty nice. Here's the before and after...

Before:

After:

Will post up the frame pics tomorrow.

Sci85

 

[GateKeeper]

You missed a spot......

Just kidding, looking good....looks just like mine.....

 

[Guest]

Dude, made me look haha! But it's just the shadow from the pic. Whew...

Sci85

 

[GateKeeper]

since you couldn't find mine here ya go

and I posted the link to the pics back in my build thread

 

[Guest]

Much better. Looks so shiney I think I'm going to leave mine like this until I get the bike back together and see how it looks.

Sci85

 

[Flyboy]

Yeah, be a devil, take the buffing wheel and polish to it.....you know you want to

 

[Guest]

Yeah, be a devil, take the buffing wheel and polish to it.....you know you want to

Hehe, yeah I do Flyboy...

Well, got the frame back from powder coat today. Tell you what, while I can appreciate the low cost, DIY way of doing some things, when you spend the money to get it done right all i can say is wow. It's a thing of beauty and no pic can really do it justice. Deep black shine is just gorgeous. Wish I had the coin to powder coat all the time

Anyway, will be getting the little bike completed and up for sale next few days and then I'll get to work on the engine. I think I'll let the frame just sit in my living room for awhile and just admire it

Some before:

And the after...

Sci85

 

[GateKeeper]

Ya so what's so special,,,,,it's black.......:hand:










Just kidding, that is really nice.............................me jealous, very much.

 

[Guest]

But it's S H I N E Y black GK!

Sci85

 

[GateKeeper]

I don't want to play anymore.......lol




how do the spots that had the weld splatter look, does the powder coat cover em up, or make em stand out ?

.

 

[Guest]

I took the advice and asked the painter to remove them and he did for me. Looks much better but that particular weld still looks like it was done on Friday at 4:59pm.

Sci85

 

[brslk]

I took the advice and asked the painter to remove them and he did for me. Looks much better but that particular weld still looks like it was done on Friday at 4:59pm.

Sci85

It looks awesome. **** like that bothers me but 99% of the people don't even know what weld splatter looks like.

Bruce.

 

[Flyboy]

Very nice, a good powder coating job is very hard to beat. :dancing:

 

[GateKeeper]

check your holes or should I say the threads in the holes, (where applicable) if too much powder coating got in there the screws won't go in, you might have to chase em with a tap, or trying just the screw itself to clean up the threads, do this now before you start bolting things back on.....

Heard about this issue so many times on American Chopper....

 

[Guest]

Hehe, yeah I think i too remember a few episodes where things didn't fit right after it came back from powder coat haha. Used to love that show. My fav now is cafe racer!

I ran a few screws just to check and so far no issues. Thanks for the heads up reminder.

Now, with so much to do, not sure what to tackle next...

Sci85

 

[Guest]

Well crud. Got the little CR80 back together on Friday. Started right up but....it sounded horrible. I think one or both of the main roller bearings are bad. Now I'm gonna have to pull the motor and split the cases to try and fix it. The worst part is this means work on the Zook is stalled until I get this thing fixed as I need the funds for the GS. Dang it!

Some good news though. Got my missing caliper and distribution block in the mail today along with a new set of front and rear bearings. They even included the hoses which was cool so it's not all bad I guess...