My 77 project

[Steeveo]

I picked up a couple of these bikes last summer and was going to do a winter project with it, however with the garage full I never got it started until this spring.



Of course the Vetter gear is up for grabs. I want a naked ride.


The engine was low on compression on the right side and had a real flat spot coming off idle. I had the spare engine which died from a belt failure. So I stripped both and took the best of both to make one.

The mess of a blown engine. Any good parts were not in this pile.



Short block back together. When I cleaned up the bench I noticed the windage tray sitting there in the corner. Well as they say practice make perfect. I am getting better at putting the left side pistons in. Actually it is not to bad once you get your head around that you will not break a ring because of the tapered at the bottom of the bore.













Parts cleaned up and frame and other black were hung and sprayed.





Geezzzz never noticed the cat tracks on the wife 92 firebird......If she see them there will be a dead cat in the neighbourhood. We don't have one but my neighbour's comes in the garage if the door is left open.




My hold up is I am waiting for the gasket set to come in so I can finish putting the engine back together and paint to make it look more presentable.

Oh, figured I throw in a pic of my 82 all dressed up and lookin pretty.

[Roady]

Looks like you got your hands full there.

I see a lot of potential. Would love to have the panniers and mount but Newfoundland is not on my immediate schedule. But who knows? I just got mine running and have been looking forward to a road trip. 8)

We see a lot of frame-up restorations around here.

This is the first inside-out one that I've seen.

Nice work.

Congrats on the pics!

[Steeveo]

thanks I tried to see the edit size button but no go. I'll keep looking.

I would imagine that the shipping would cost a good bit for them, If you decide to make the venture you'll be very happy with riding on the "Rock".

[Roady]

The resize image? checkbox is on the first page just below the Browse box.

The Rock, eh. Would you take me on a pretty good tour?

[Steeveo]

Roady, I think I got it now. Didn't know it was when you first up load the pics. I was trying to edit the ones that were already posted. For sure I will give you a full tour, just take into consideration the size of our province. there are some great sights but there is a vast distance between many of them. Be prepared to spend about a week to take it all in.

Anyone have any success in sanding a painting the chrome fenders? Or stripping them for that matter. I was reading that Oven cleaner will remove chrome from plastic parts but can see it working all that well. Had to clean my share of ovens over the years and the grills never seemed to loose their chrome.

[Whiskerfish]

I would think you could spend a lifetime trying to sand off all the chrome. I feathered the edges where it was flaked back to good clean metal but left a lot of chrome on. The rest I just roughed up with some 400 and then wiped with a deglossing agent. The paint (rattlecan) has been on there for over a year now and seems to be adhering good.

[WingerDave]

I did the same with the rusted chrome air dams on my "81 1100. Roughed it up prime and paint. It's holding up very nicely.

Dave.

[Steeveo]

Good to hear. When I get ready to do the panels and tank, I think I will give it a go.

[Steeveo]

Gasket Kit finally arrived and got busy getting the block back together. Once everything was torqued down, I painted the block with some "hammered" effect paint. And then I put the engine into the frame. I read a lot of post on doing this and I suspended the block on three ratchet straps and used a floor jack. I should have taken a pic of this as it real smooth, adjusting the straps through the frame as I worked it onto the engine.



Now it is time to start getting the other parts ready. I sanded the chrome that I want to paint and cut the front fender down to a size I think I like. Then I put a black sandable prime to them to get then preped for paint.



I put some of the parts back on the frame and removed the valve and belt covers to get them ready for finish work too.

[octane]

Great pics!
Keep them coming.

[Whiskerfish]

Very nice!!!

[mrflamewerks]

Lookin' good. Keep the pictures coming.

[Steeveo]

Okay made some head way in the past couple of days. Got enough wiring done to get the engine fired up and put some more parts together. Cleaned up the exhaust pipes and installed them, the rad and rad protector.

It took a long time to pump fuel up into the bowls of the carbs and get them to fill. Is there an easier way other than cranking?

Also the cheap gasket kit I got off Ebay; I've noticed that many of the "O" rings are not he right size and even when they are they are smaller in regards to the material (thinner) and I don't like them. The paper gaskets are fine. Now for the head gaskets.....I have never had this happen when putting new head gaskets on either a rebuild or just replacing heads, be it outboards (most experience) or automotive. the gaskets leaked water when I first started it up and got it to clear it's throat. At first I figured no big deal you get what you pay for at time and then after running about three cycles through the fan kicking in they stopped leaking. I am still going to re-torque the heads as the gaskets are leaking slightly around one of the oil return (lower part of the head). It is slight but makes me think that the torque wrench I used might be off a bit or the gaskets are just crap.

So here are the updated pics.








As you can see it is coming along pretty good. I will be setting the timing up according to haynes manual unless some gives me a better static timing method. Redoing the front forks with some paint on the lowers. And I hear the the upcoming long weekend is calling for rain. So I plan on preping my pannels, fenders, tank covers and then painting....Royal Blue Pearl Metalic. I aksed my friend (jobber) to add some extra pearl in the mix for some good fade/colour change. I hope she turns out okay.

[Sagebrush]

I am utterly envious of your skill sets. Tear down two engines to make one good one and knows how to paint. Great work! Will be watching this thread with great interest.

[Steeveo]

haha, who said I know what I am doing???

We will see when I take it for it's first road trip. Thanks for the confidence vote though.

Besides I just looked through your gallery. awesome!!! is all I can say!!!