1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

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BikeMaine
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#541

Post by BikeMaine »

5speed wrote:bikemaine..when was the last time you emptied out your temp file folder /cache on your computer. Not sure if it may be the cause or not but worth a shot..
Hmmmmm.....
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#542

Post by toolbox »

BikeMaine wrote:
5speed wrote:bikemaine..when was the last time you emptied out your temp file folder /cache on your computer. Not sure if it may be the cause or not but worth a shot..
Hmmmmm.....
Welllll? Did it work :).
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#543

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So, had an evening to myself...got off a couple of hours early, so I had a little bit of daylight to play in. More progress... I'd decided that if I only got one thing done, it would be to finish the altimeter hole. I tried using the Dremmel thing (I need a better name for it) with a cutoff wheel to very carefully sculpt the edges where I needed to. Lots (and lots...and lots) of test fitting, and at least an hour later...she was in :).

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And here they are together...

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Looks like I got the bodywork about where it needed to be...I wanted to leave it a little flat on top to match the shape of the instrument, and it looks like I got it...

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Also decided to get a couple of pieces in primer (well, primer/sealer)... Painting in this weather isn't much fun, but I really wanted to get some of this stuff knocked out. I ended up warming the things up in my garage toaster oven lol. They went back into it so they could be nice and warm while paint dried. Here's the lid ready for paint...

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And after one coat...I might give it one more.

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Also painted that last trim ring...

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I need to flip it over and get the other side, and then it's ready for a color coat.

Also got a visit from this goofy whitetail...it's been coming around my place since last summer, and has no fear of humans. It has an injury on one of its front legs, so I can always tell which one it is...otherwise they all look pretty much the same to me lol. Well, all the deer around here basically don't care about people, but this one actually seems curious...like, I thought it might just come down in the driveway and check out what I was doing :lol: . Anyway, kind of funny...

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It was getting dark when I bagged it. Wanted to put it on the bike just to make sure that after scooting everything up slightly, the fit was still all good.

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It is :). I've always had a hard time getting that upper lid in and out of the shelter...the bracket it on it has to clear this protrusion right in the middle at the top of the shelter...it's a tab where the the two halves are joined by this little metal piece. Anyway, I took a file and removed all the material that looked "extra" and now it'a lot easier to install/remove. And here it is with both lids in...

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I'll have time on my hands tonight, but not any daylight so I'm not sure what I'll be able to get done with it. I'll probably try and get the layout for the switch plate on it, and maybe finish feathering the plastic around the altimeter. Now that the hole is in, I can finish feathering it out which shouldn't take too long. I think I'll cut the hole for the switch plate, and then do the layout for the rivets...I did a test last night with a piece of tape to see how hard it would be to stay parallel to the outside edge of both lids (so that they form a straight line across both lids). It looks like the lower one curves very slightly at the bottom, but not much. Painters tape looks like it will work fine because the curve is so shallow.
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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BikeMaine
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#544

Post by BikeMaine »

toolbox wrote:
BikeMaine wrote:
5speed wrote:bikemaine..when was the last time you emptied out your temp file folder /cache on your computer. Not sure if it may be the cause or not but worth a shot..
Hmmmmm.....
Welllll? Did it work :).
I haven't had a chance to try it yet, the problem has been on my work laptop. School was closed today due to a snow storm.
Also very distracted, helping my elderly father get to Dr appointments last few days, did not get good reports from the biopsy.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#545

Post by BikeMaine »

I'm still loving your work toolbox, keep it up, I can see all the photos on my phone sitting here in the hospital.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#546

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BikeMaine wrote:I'm still loving your work toolbox, keep it up, I can see all the photos on my phone sitting here in the hospital.
I'm sorry to hear about your dad man...I think I speak for everyone reading this that we'll be keeping you guys in our prayers, an hoping for the best...
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#547

Post by BikeMaine »

toolbox wrote:
BikeMaine wrote:I'm still loving your work toolbox, keep it up, I can see all the photos on my phone sitting here in the hospital.
I'm sorry to hear about your dad man...I think I speak for everyone reading this that we'll be keeping you guys in our prayers, an hoping for the best...
Thanks Brother, I appreciate that very much. <><
Kevin
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#548

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Had a "package" waiting in front of my house when I got home last night...

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New shoes for my DD truck...price locally from the Cooper dealer installed was $720. Got these brand new from Discount Tire for $457.00 (delivered)...they were on sale for 10% off. They were even cheaper right before Christmas, but of course that's exactly when I didn't have any money :x . I actually got them on ebay so I would get credit toward ebay bucks...it's not that much, but they do add up. I figure it'll be about $520 total installed...that's what I'm talking about :). I've used Discount Tire for a few years now, and they've been great.

On the bike, it was dark when I got home so I just worked inside. After lots of measuring (and double checking) I got the slot for the switch plate marked up...

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I gotta be honest, I'll be glad when this piece is finished. It feels a bit like every time I add more time to it, I'm throwing more chips on the table...if I goof it up and have to toss it again, it'll be a pretty big loss. I don't care about a $25 part, but the amount of time I've got invested in the thing is...considerable :lol: . I think having already BTDT, it's making me more nervous about it...but it's also making me more cautious. I'm checking my measurements multiple times, and being pretty conservative with my cutting because of it. It'll feel pretty good when I spray that first coat of primer on it though :mrgreen: . Because of all that, taping the thing up took quite a while and I didn't get a whole lot else done. Started thinking about what to do with these things...

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These aircraft switch panels all install with these cam lock things...my thought is to just remove them and replace them with cap head screws. The little round housing thing is crimped into the bottom of the switch plate, which made them very secure...but also very hard to remove :lol: . I think I'll probably end up buzzing them off with disk as carefully as I can, and doing whatever metal finishing is necessary, and then just paint it when I'm done.

Finally, was going to tape up the shelter for primer...started looking at the joints between the two halves of the shelter. I think it was Sagebrush that originally suggested conjoining them, and that idea has kind of been in the back of my mind ever since. Faced with having to probably tape the bottom gasket thing, I think that's what I'm going to do :lol: .

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It's not that big of a gap, and I think if I put some fiberglass mesh behind it, it should be fine. I'll put a blob of filler on the bottom it, and fill the seam on top with enough to feather it out. The brackets on the bottom are removable, so I can get to it easy enough, and it won't matter what it looks like. Top should be easy enough to finish.

Back will be basically the same thing.

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Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#549

Post by Sagebrush »

Did mine with Fiberglass, it really smoothed out the shelter and there is enough flex when done to easily remove the shelter.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#550

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BikeMaine wrote:
toolbox wrote:
BikeMaine wrote:I'm still loving your work toolbox, keep it up, I can see all the photos on my phone sitting here in the hospital.
I'm sorry to hear about your dad man...I think I speak for everyone reading this that we'll be keeping you guys in our prayers, an hoping for the best...
Thanks Brother, I appreciate that very much. <><
Always man. I'm too far away to offer much more than moral support, but you definitely have that...
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#551

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Sagebrush wrote:Did mine with Fiberglass, it really smoothed out the shelter and there is enough flex when done to easily remove the shelter.
That's one of a couple options I'm thinking about...I'm not sure how much of an effect this weather would have on resin setting up? Was thinking about maybe fiberglassing the underside for strength, and then using body filler on top to finish it out. Another option might be using a big gob of PC-7 with a fiberglass reinforcement...option 3 would be to use body filler on both sides, with a piece of fiberglass mesh.
I have some time to think about it...also need to see what the cost of the fiberglass stuff would be...I have the epoxy and the body filler. Getting low on the filler though. I've made that can of Evercoat last well beyond what most anyone would. Stuff never seems to go bad though lol. Being catalyzed, either half seems to be pretty stable in the long term.

More progress... Decided yesterday to go ahead and cut the slot for the switch plate after work. It was overcast, and the light was fading when I got home, but there was enough to get a start. Lacking the patience to wait for more natural light, I grabbed what's basically an LED reading light, and finished cutting. The Wemmel (Wen Dremmel tool thing) worked pretty well, but it started to feel like the cable inside the shaft jacket was binding a little. I think before I use it again, I'll try and give it a clean and lube so it can spin freely. Worked well though...takes forever compared to the angle grinder, but you can get a pretty precise cut with it. Here it is right after I finished...

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All of my measuring looks like it paid off...it's pretty good. I cleaned up the edges with a file, but it shouldn't really need too much more than that. And as long as I was outside running cutting tools, I decided to try and remove the little attachment things on the switch plate...I just got out the grinder and sliced them off.

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The hardware fell out, so all that's left is grinding the stubs flat. I figured I'd probably better do that in the daylight...the plate is aluminum, and I want to minimize any contact with the disk so I don't destroy it :oops: .

And of course, I had to test fit the whole thing to see how it work...the hole is almost perfect, but will need at least one minor adjustment. Looks really good though.

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Remember how I was hoping the "jettison" switch would clear the bracket if I moved it all up? Yea...not quite :lol: .

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So, I'll have to notch the bracket to clear the switch still, but not too much. Once that's cut, it looks like the switch should poke out enough that I'll be able to use the cover on it. And in that pic, if the plate looks slightly cockeyed...it's because it is :lol: . Because of the wonkiness with that switch, it wasn't fully seated...when it is, it sits nice and square and level with the instrument.

And here's something I thought you guys might get a kick out of... So, like a lot of mil-spec hardware, the switch plate has all kinds of info on it.

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Lots of stuff there, but what really caught my eye a while back was what it says by the power connector for the internal lighting...5V. Which got me thinking (as I love to do with this thing :lol: ). I actually tested it out with three AA batteries a while ago just to see if they worked at all, and they did. So, started searching around for a 12-5V converter, and found this from Superbright LEDs.com...

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I think I paid ten bucks for it. It wasn't clear at all how big it was based on the picture on the website...it's smaller than I was thinking it would be (which is good). Last night with the plate in the panel, I sort of patched it all together...

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IT'S ALIVE!! :lol: . Another little Frankenstein moment...

I think it looks pretty good.

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I should be able to tap into the ignition switched hot that's going up to the lid for switching the relay. Will need a ground up there too now. Not sure where to put the voltage converter, but I was thinking maybe here if it will clear the lip of the shelter...

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Seems like it would be best if I could keep it mounted up on the lid, just so it's completely out of the way. I would probably just epoxy it into place. It's too bad there's no easy way to light the instruments...the AI had some sort of internal lighting, so it would maybe be possible to make something work, but the altimeter never did...and there really isn't anywhere to put anything. Anyway, kind of a fun detail I thought.

Got one other thing done on my lunch break yesterday...painted the last trim ring. It turned out really nice.

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I was shining that really bright lamp at it, so the colors got kind of blown out on my cell phone, but you get the idea. In reality it actually looks really good.

Soooo...up next, would be to do the body work for switch plate, and sand down the filler around the altimeter hole. On this one, I decided to do the filler second, because in my head it makes more sense...I can cut the filler to match the precision of the slot a lot easier than I could get a precise cut trying to go through it to get to the metal. It's super easy to grind it down to match the hole though. Shouldn't take much...it's just on the edges/sides to fill the small gap. Then, it's on to laying out the holes for the rivets on both lids, and punching the holes...and then paint.
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#552

Post by robin1731 »

toolbox wrote:
Sagebrush wrote:Did mine with Fiberglass, it really smoothed out the shelter and there is enough flex when done to easily remove the shelter.
That's one of a couple options I'm thinking about...I'm not sure how much of an effect this weather would have on resin setting up? Was thinking about maybe fiberglassing the underside for strength, and then using body filler on top to finish it out. If you do that the body filler will crack. Too much chance for the cover to flex. Another option might be using a big gob of PC-7 with a fiberglass reinforcement...option 3 would be to use body filler on both sides, with a piece of fiberglass mesh.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#553

Post by toolbox »

robin1731 wrote:
toolbox wrote:
Sagebrush wrote:Did mine with Fiberglass, it really smoothed out the shelter and there is enough flex when done to easily remove the shelter.
That's one of a couple options I'm thinking about...I'm not sure how much of an effect this weather would have on resin setting up? Was thinking about maybe fiberglassing the underside for strength, and then using body filler on top to finish it out. If you do that the body filler will crack. Too much chance for the cover to flex. Another option might be using a big gob of PC-7 with a fiberglass reinforcement...option 3 would be to use body filler on both sides, with a piece of fiberglass mesh.
.
Hmmm...might have to give it some thought then. I could epoxy a steel reinforcement under it so it's basically one piece. I guess how well it would hold up would depend on how much the frame flexes...I can remove the shelter without it flexing much at all.

Side note: That picture of the trim ring was bugging me, so I took a couple more on my lunch break...

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And all three...

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That's better :).
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#554

Post by BikeMaine »

Looks great!
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#555

Post by 5speed »

that illuminated switch panel is awesome..
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