Wes Cooley - Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

[mskiwi]

We start this thread as the follow-on for the 3 Wes Cooley's I picked up in Tampa in March. Special thanks to Mike Eaton who I purchased the bikes from and his generous help in loading and working with me while I arranged to have them picked up to be transported back to DC.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Bring it on, looking forward to this one.

Bring it on, looking forward to this one.

Waiting ...........

:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

 

[Guest]

^^ What he said.
So what's the story?

 

[mskiwi]

First Things First ... Get the bikes Running

First Things First ... Get the bikes Running

First order was to assess the mechanical health of the bikes after sitting in storage for a long period. A couple of prestart items:

- Compression check - after inserting and letting some light grade oil in bores overnight.
- Remove carbs and examine and clean
- Plug removal then points and coil test
- Replace oil and new filter (always do this)
- New battery (I binned all that came with bikes)

Two of the bikes had been running in last 5 - 8 years so they were logical targets. Misc items such as brake lines, tires, etc looked good enough for a spin around my neighbor hood so were not a problem.

First one checked out so after the oil change ran some gas thru the carbs and she fired up after about 15 minutes of winding the starter. The bike ran a little rough on 3 then 4 and idle was poor with the 4:1 pipe (likely not correctly jetted or simply did not like the pods that came with it).

First test ride was fine and the bike pulled very strongly (missed at low revs but was extremely responsive when I got it out on the road after about 15 minutes). Good enough for now. The full strip down started and this is the candidate for the frame up restoration.

 

[steve murdoch]

This should be a good one to follow.
Isn't it nice having another bike handy as a real life schematic.

Is that a TX500 rear end in front of the S?

 

[mskiwi]

This should be a good one to follow.
Isn't it nice having another bike handy as a real life schematic.

Is that a TX500 rear end in front of the S?

Hey Steve

Yes -- I now have 5 so easy to see where things go. Its a XS650 that just shipped on behalf of my brother who lives in Sydney. Picked it up in Upstate NY about 6 months ago for him. Very original example - ran great and a joy to ride!

 

[mskiwi]

Instrument Cluster Surround Fix

Instrument Cluster Surround Fix

Bike is stripped and have sent frame, swing arm, etc to get blasted and powder coated. While this is getting done I will focus on repairing some items and also do the body work. A couple of small projects that I have completed are:

1. Plastic Repair (instrument cluster, side covers, mirrors and fairing)
2. Tank Prep and Paint
3. Component overhaul (yep - even the dreaded petcock kit fix)

Decided to strip down the instrument cluster first. You will notice some broken tabs, drilled holes, cracked glass, etc. in all 3 in the pic below.

All stripped down:

I have used the PLASTEX Plastic Repair system on a side cover with good success so will now attempt to repair the tabs and surround edge of the instrument cluster.

The first thing is creating a mold from a clean donor cluster. I will build from the underside as the fit is important on this fix verses the cosmetic look on top (this will be textured later when the complete unit is refinished). The reason I mention this is the PLASTEX kit can recreate the texture perfectly if I had applied the mold from the front rather than the back of the cluster)

The molding bar shaped. This can be reused and is simply heated with a heat gun and then left to dry at room temp.

The mold is then applied over the broken section and I used clips to hold in place firmly.

The process is very simple from here. The kit contains plastic powder and a solution and when applied into the mold it creates a repair that is stronger than the surrounding area. You can go on to their website and check out the video that covers the repair process.

http://www.plastex.net/How_To_Videos.php

Here is the repaired section of the cluster from front and rear. It is amazingly strong and a perfect match to the missing contour of the cluster. One the structural repair is done you simply use the plastic powder to fill in the small holes and then sand down smooth (pics do not have this done yet).

Top View:

Underside:

Next project will be to fix a set of the fairing mirrors that have been damaged.

 

[Frank Z.]

Very impressive repair work. Ordering a Plastex kit tonight.
Looking forward to seeing the texture applied.

 

[mskiwi]

Very impressive repair work. Ordering a Plastex kit tonight.
Looking forward to seeing the texture applied.

Hey Frank

They also sell it on eBay -- much cheaper.

 

[Frank Z.]

Hey Frank

They also sell it on eBay -- much cheaper.

Wow, so many applications... this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLASTEX-PLA...Parts_Accessories&hash=item19d0948ec1&vxp=mtr

 

[mskiwi]

Wow, so many applications... this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/PLASTEX-PLA...Parts_Accessories&hash=item19d0948ec1&vxp=mtr

Frank -- same product but I bought the shop kit (black) as found it was a better deal in the long run. Make sure you use gloves and a good mask (this stuff is toxic to use).

 

[mskiwi]

Mirror Repair

Mirror Repair

With the price of a set of NOS mirrors reaching over $900 this year I thought I would take a crack at repairing the mirrors that came with the bikes.
Again I had a good set of NOS on hand as the donor mold for the mirror stem.

State of the mirrors about to be repaired. Once I removed the stems (the glass simply clips off the mirror backing - and the spring and collar washers were removed).

Note one stem has a large section broken off (and was missing completely). In addition the PO has attempted a repair that used a generous amount of silicon to glue in the glass.

Quick use of the molding bar and created the repair mold. In this case I simply used painters tape to secure the mold to the stem.

Attached to the broken Stem:

Here is a copy of the stem once the repair is done -- note the plastic flash around where the mold was. Final shot is sanded and finished stem side by side. Good to go.

 

[Frank Z.]

Great. Thanks, Mike.
Watched a few YT vids of the process. Probably order a gallon or two

 

[mskiwi]

Gas Sender Unit and Petcock Rebuild

Gas Sender Unit and Petcock Rebuild

Ok time for a new direction. Assessing the 3 gas tanks uncovered two tanks that were clean and one tank that had been left with gas in it for approx 5 years. As you can imagine it had turned to varnish and the tank seemed to weigh a good third heavier.

Pulling out the tank sender unit and the petcock called for immediate replacement or overhaul. I like to use coke as a first pass cleaner when dealing with sensitive parts. I dumped both into a bucket and left them there for 2 weeks.

After the 2 weeks I pulled them out and the varnish simply came off by gently rubbing the parts. A quick rinse and then I soaked them in evaporust (great product) overnight. Here is the result:

A quick check on the multi meter is ensure the sender unit was still working and then time to clean the petcock using my ultrasonic cleaner.

While the petcock parts looked clean -the only way to really ensure the passages are clear is to use an ultrasonic cleaner. These can be picked up at Harbour Freight cheap or for $300-$400 you can buy a reasonable commercial grade unit. I use both as the cheap one seems to disappear from time to time when my better half cleans her Jewellery.

Small unit -- use this the most:

Larger unit -- also great for carbs...

All parts laid out with new repair kit.

Rebuilt unit with nice NOS one next to it (yep I have heard the stories -- always good to have a backup plan)

 

[steve murdoch]

Top quality reporting, thank you.
I have a tank float unit that looks identical that will be going into a Coke bath shortly.

 

[mskiwi]

Gas Tank Cleaning and Repair

Gas Tank Cleaning and Repair

Time to clean out the varnished gas tank (it had been repainted with a spray can so no need to retain paint) plus I have a couple of extra tanks from my Z1R and ELR projects that I will do in the same batch. The pant is toast on all of them so they will be stripped to bare metal.

For this type of project I like to use a chemical approach. The first is a cleaning bath then I will attack any rust in the tank. The products I use are cider vinegar, Milk Stone Remover (MSR) and then a rust inhibitor to control any flash rusting. I use a heavy duty plastic bin from any big box store that is a perfect fit for the tank.

GPZ tank soaking in vinegar. It is a 50/50 mix and I leave it in for 2 days.

A quick rinse with the hose and all the varnish is gone. Also all loose paint will come off. I then apply paint stripper and remove all paint and then pressure wash the tank. The last soak is in MSR (50/50 mix works fine)and this is perfect for removing all remaining rust. Here is the product that you can get from most tractor supply companies.

Here are the tanks after I have then applied the rust inhibitor to control the flash rust (this starts almost immediately you pull them from the MSR bath).

The Cooley tank looks good -- just a little body filler and prime and ready for the top coat.

 

[Kiwi Canuck]

Mike, that is some pretty impressive work, lots to learn from you.

And I love the scale you are doing it on, that's almost a production line.

Keep up the excellent reporting and great photos, I'm sure I'm not alone in recommending this thread for 5 stars.

Cheers,

 

[mskiwi]

Quick look at the Britten ...

Quick look at the Britten ...

While I'm in NZ I took a trip to Te Papa, our national museum in Wellington. Getting a quick bite to eat I snapped the following shots of NZ's own hand made Britten - the world beater (yep won in Daytona just like the GS1000 that Cooley/Croz back in 1980). Amazing to see how advanced this design was considering its was developed by hand in John Britten's garage in the late 80's.

Interesting fact -- it was running a Suzuki transmission. Based on its success at Daytona, I thought it deserved a place in my GS1000S thread. Amazing story - a real piece of art.

 

[GregT]

My first day working for John, i was shown a couple of boxes and told there were all the bits there for a new GSX1100 gearbox. On finding they had no manual, my next move was to the local public library where i photocopied the relevant pages....This was the early version of the bike. I believe the later ones like your pic used a GSXR1100 box.
A couple of years later the team heard I'd made a 6 speed GSXR750 box live in an 1100 racebike and asked if it was feasible for them. I said no, too much torque....so they stuck with the 5 speed.

 

[mskiwi]

My first day working for John, i was shown a couple of boxes and told there were all the bits there for a new GSX1100 gearbox. On finding they had no manual, my next move was to the local public library where i photocopied the relevant pages....This was the early version of the bike. I believe the later ones like your pic used a GSXR1100 box.
A couple of years later the team heard I'd made a 6 speed GSXR750 box live in an 1100 racebike and asked if it was feasible for them. I said no, too much torque....so they stuck with the 5 speed.

Wow great moment in time. I would have loved to have been you working on that problem. Nice job - clearly the 5 speed worked fine.