A forum for stories, pics and updates of your resto's. Be it a barn find, Grampas hand me down or a bike being brought back to it's former glory.If you are restoring it, show us your stuff!
Just some food for thought...if those were mine, I'd seriously think about just keeping the yellow one stock and making a custom out of the basket case...you'd get to save a low mileage original, and feel free to go hog wild on the other one. If you decide to sell, I'd think a stock low mile bike would be fairly easy to unload. Just food for thought...they're your bikes and you should do whatever is fun for you and fits your budget .
Side note: On the paint, unless it's just gotten too thin, old paint can usually be brought back by polishing...just don't get too aggressive with it. Test with a light cutting polish and see if that will do it before moving on to something more aggressive. The paint is probably a synthetic enamel...easy to polish, but will oxidize pretty easily if you don't keep a coat of wax on it.
unfortunately the basket case has been mostly parted out wheels, engine, gauges and some other odds and ends all gone. I was able to recoup the cost of both bikes and a little more.
As far as the yellow paint. My understanding this bike was originally from Texas and must have been in the sun for good bit, the tops of all the panels are almost white in areas. The side panels probably could be saved with some elbow grease but the decals will need to be replaced as there are splits and sections missing.
We will see how this pans out. I have a lot of mechanical work to get through. Maybe I will just sell or trade the yellow panels to someone. I do have another set of panels except the left battery cover. I just don't ever see myself find such a low mile bike again.
The only way I will every recoup or even make some money on it is if I stop now and sell it. I just de-rusted the tank and Red Koted it last night. I guess if someone really wanted they could make me an offer
1976 GL1000 - Basket case and part out candidate
1976 GL1000 - Sulfur Yellow not running YET!!
1978 Yamaha XS750
Bringing an older bike back from years of retirement is not an inexpensive proposition. My '85 LTD was on the road when I bought it in Oct 2015 and since then, bringing it back to a good maintenance state, and customizing for me has not been inexpensive - but I have been able to ride and enjoy it as well. In between work and riding I have put 24,000 Kms on it as well. Mechanically the bike is now where I want it to be, have issues with the FI system, but this can't be helped regardless of age.
I have kept track of the costs and when I look at my spreadsheet, it is not for the faint of heart. If cost is an issue, time to sell and move on. You could also set a budget, amortize the budget over say 5 years, and then sell. Read on another forum where the fellow would buy these older bikes, set a budget of $3K USD for buy and put on road, then ride and sell. Interesting concept.
Good luck with your project.
"When writing the Story of your life, don't let anyone else hold the pen."
I de-rusted the tank and lined it with red kote for good measure. While draining the extra the wind shifted and blew a nice red strip down my shirt, shorts and shoes. Being the impatient fool I am, I didn't change into some crap clothes. Price of progress I guess.
Next step for this weekend. Pain the exterior of the tank. Its not in bad condition but there are some bare spots. Dont want to worry it rusting in the future. I figure Rustoleum will be fine for the exterior.
Received a new fuel filter, sender gasket, Clutch cable and fuel line.
Also I found a very nice set of '92 Sportster Mufflers for $25 on CL.
Honing in on the paint color. I have been looking into custom 1k/2k spray cans. Looks like it may be a good option.
I like this color. BMW Boston Green Metallic with silver accents.
Boston Green Metallic.jpg (6.94 KiB) Viewed 312 times
1976 GL1000 - Basket case and part out candidate
1976 GL1000 - Sulfur Yellow not running YET!!
1978 Yamaha XS750
I de-rusted the tank and lined it with red kote for good measure. While draining the extra the wind shifted and blew a nice red strip down my shirt, shorts and shoes. Being the impatient fool I am, I didn't change into some crap clothes. Price of progress I guess.
Next step for this weekend. Pain the exterior of the tank. Its not in bad condition but there are some bare spots. Dont want to worry it rusting in the future. I figure Rustoleum will be fine for the exterior.
Received a new fuel filter, sender gasket, Clutch cable and fuel line.
Also I found a very nice set of '92 Sportster Mufflers for $25 on CL.
Honing in on the paint color. I have been looking into custom 1k/2k spray cans. Looks like it may be a good option.
I like this color. BMW Boston Green Metallic with silver accents.
Boston Green Metallic.jpg
Rattle can can be a good option for a bike since there's just not much surface area to cover... When I painted my Shadow, I used a black 1K base with a 2K urethane clear. Turned out really nice aside from a fly deciding to land on my tank in my wet clear lol. Thankfully it was in an spot you'd have to be looking for to see. It's really easy to spray, and like any paint job, it's all in the prep. I'd also recommend buying more than you think you'll need... Oh, and if you spray any 2K urethanes, get a respirator rated for isocyonates so you're not damaging yourself.
Quick update. After painting the fuel tank and reinstalling it and seeing the fresh paint against the frame, I decided it will forever bug me if I didn't paint the frame. So I started tearing it down. I only have the front end left to remove. Since powder coating is not in the budget I am going to use VHT roll bar paint. Anyone have experience with this?
1976 GL1000 - Basket case and part out candidate
1976 GL1000 - Sulfur Yellow not running YET!!
1978 Yamaha XS750
Looking good! If you want to shine up the timing and valve covers, it's not that difficult...just a lot of elbow grease. You'd be surprised at how nice they can be refinished...
toolbox wrote:Looking good! If you want to shine up the timing and valve covers, it's not that difficult...just a lot of elbow grease. You'd be surprised at how nice they can be refinished...
Oh yeah, this bike wont see the road until the timing and value covers and intakes are shiny. I just wanted to get the paint out of the way before the temps get too cold.
1976 GL1000 - Basket case and part out candidate
1976 GL1000 - Sulfur Yellow not running YET!!
1978 Yamaha XS750
toolbox wrote:Looking good! If you want to shine up the timing and valve covers, it's not that difficult...just a lot of elbow grease. You'd be surprised at how nice they can be refinished...
Oh yeah, this bike wont see the road until the timing and value covers and intakes are shiny. I just wanted to get the paint out of the way before the temps get too cold.
it is only beginning here.... too dang hot in the summer to do anything
-Rodger- all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you haveGandalf "One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers "it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
toolbox wrote:Looking good! If you want to shine up the timing and valve covers, it's not that difficult...just a lot of elbow grease. You'd be surprised at how nice they can be refinished...
Oh yeah, this bike wont see the road until the timing and value covers and intakes are shiny. I just wanted to get the paint out of the way before the temps get too cold.
Gotcha...painting season is already over here .
Curious to hear what your preferred method of polishing up the covers.
1976 GL1000 - Basket case and part out candidate
1976 GL1000 - Sulfur Yellow not running YET!!
1978 Yamaha XS750
It's just basic metal finishing...I took an ugly old aluminum pressure cooker I got for free and did the same thing to it. Came out like shining like new . With a bench mounted polisher and a couple different compounds, you could definitely turn them into a mirror if you wanted to. I didn't take mine that far, which is fine...I don't want a lot of shiny on that particular bike .
I use a buffing wheel on my grinder.... had a oil filter housing fly across the room so be careful
-Rodger- all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you haveGandalf "One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers "it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS