Primed

I spent a lot of time this weekend sanding, washing, drying then priming a batch of parts. Prior to this stage I had stripped the paint from them by a combination of methods: chemical stripper, wire wheel on the grinder, steel wool and/or sand paper.

After getting the old paint, grime and rust from the parts I wet-sanded them with 150 then 220 grit paper. After sanding, I washed them all thoroughly to remove any grit and oil.

After the parts were dry I sprayed them with three coats of self-etching primer. I followed the instructions on the can and let them flash for 5 minutes between coats. That was about how long it took me to spray everything so it was sort of a round and round spray session.

I am pleased with the results. Most of the parts are small and don't have a lot of smooth surfaces so I wasn't too worried. The Oil Tank was the part I was most careful with as it will be very visible once the bike is back together.

Since I'm trying to get a rolling chassis done most of the parts are chassis-related. I paid special attention to the hubs as they will be the first parts to be rebuilt into 'like new' wheels. I'm still tracking down spokes but hope to have replacements in hand in a week or two. I'll use the time to get the front rim finished. It's got a couple of bends in it so I'm either going to have to find a way to straighten it or locate a new one.

A few days after the self-etching primer went on I coated everything again with some hi-build primer. I don't have any pictures after that stage but the change was very subtle and probably not something a web-quality picture is going to show.

The final picture here is the oil tank. I was very pleased at the results. There are two small dents in the tank that I'm leaving as they are. I may change my mind later and fill them smooth but I do think the bike needs some 'character'. It's 45 years old. It can't be perfect.

I'm getting the parts back from the media-blaster today so I'll make another update soon with before and after blasting pictures.

The Real Thing

Real progress this weekend! I got the parts I need to have stripped to the media blaster on Saturday. A few days and a few bucks should have them all ready for priming. The fork tubes were chromed but the plating was pitted and peeling in more places than not. They're going to be stripped and I'm going to paint them. Prime for now until I decide on the final paint scheme. Dupli-Color has some chrome paint I may try or I may just go with silver to match the tank and some of the other pieces I'm planning to paint silver.


I also got a litter of other parts sanded and primed. I wanted to get the hubs primed and painted so I can start to build wheels as soon as I locate spokes. I figured I'd get everything I had ready sanded and primed at the same time while I was at it. You can see my little painting setup here. When I'm ready to do the painting I'm going to have to setup a 'booth' inside my garage to eliminate the possibility of dust and to cut the wind. This setup worked fine for the first coats of primer though.

The other task I started, and am still working on, is polishing the rims. I've always heard Coke was a good chrome polish, able to remove stubborn deposits from the surface without damaging the finish, but never tried it. I figured it was one of those things everyone says works but nobody has ever tried so my results would be poor. Well, it WORKS. And it works well. The before and after shots below are my testament. The before picture, mind you, was after a LOT of rubbing with steel wool alone. It did a fair job of getting rid the rust spots but the addition of Coke made a world of difference. Same medium steel wool was used but adding the Coke required much less time and gave much better results.

The first picture was after blotting the coke on the rust spots. The second picture was after a bit of rubbing with the steel wool. Don't get me wrong, this is still not an easy process. It takes a lot of elbow grease to get the chrome shining through again but without the Coke no amount of rubbing got the same results.

Before Coke treatment.

After a good rub down.

I may have located another cub owner/enthusiast who has some old wheels he may be willing to grab a few spokes from for me. I'm trying to arrange a fair exchange. He's in Scottland, which may make things like payment and shipping more complicated. Nothing that PayPal and AirMail can't cure, I suspect.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for pictures of blasted parts and shiny rims next time.

Anyone out there got spokes?

Well, with a new dedication to the Cub and a growing frustration with all things Husaberg I started looking for a supplier for the two or three spokes I need to get my wheels put back together. No luck so far.

There are several suppliers of spokes who can make me new ones, which won't match the old ones. And there are suppliers of sets of old spokes, which will match but I don't need 80 spokes (40/wheel) I only need about ... three.

I sent a couple e-mail messages to different suppliers of used parts top see if they had some old wheels they'd be willing to grab a few spokes from. I'm hoping one of them will have a miss-matched set that I can get a few spokes and nipples from.

In the mean time I'm going to try to get the rest of the rust off of the rims and get the hubs painted this weekend. I got the hubs stripped and they're ready to be primed and painted.
If the media blasting place I found is open this weekend I'm going to get the frame and some other parts to them for blasting so I can get the frame painted.

If I can get my fiance out of the house for a few hours I read a great trick to clean the rust out of the gas tank. All I need is an hour or two with the dryer when nobody is around and I think I'll be ready to seal up the inside of the tank. The process involves putting bbs or sheet metal screws in the tank, wrapping it with a blanket, stuffing it and a lot of towels into the dryer and letting it tumble for a while. We just got a new dryer so I may be heading to the laundromat. It might be cheaper than purchasing a new dryer.

I tumbled the spoke nipples for a couple of hours while I was in the garage doing some other things earlier this week and they're shiny and ready to go. Not exactly new looking but they'll match the rest of the bike that way. If I can't find replacement spokes I'm going to get new spokes and nipples anyway so they cleaning may have been in vain.

No new pictures this time. I've been trying to get the Husaberg through our stupid Arizona emissions test so I haven't been working on the cubbie. I don't think emissions testing is necessarily stupid but the bike isn't spouting blue smoke and burns about ten gallons of gas a year so how much is it fouling the planet anyway?! That's a very long story and I'm still frustrated by the process and my lack of progress so I'll leave it at that.

I took the long way home from work tonight and got COVERED by bugs. Watching the sun set on my way back into town was worth it though. A quick wipe with the Windex and the bugs were gone from the visor. The bike needed a wash before the ride anyway and the weekend is near so a wash is in its near future.

Long post mostly related to things NOT involving my Cub. I hope to be back at it this weekend so I'll try to get back on topic and back to posting more pictures.

A Bit Of A Diversion

It's been a while since my last post and I've not made great progress. I've been sanding and refinishing a few miscelaneous parts but don't have a defined plan of action. I'm a bit hung up about deciding what to do next and exactly how to proceed. I would like to get a rolling chassis finished first then concentrate on the engine work. In order to have a rolling frame I need something for it to roll on so the wheels seem like a good next step.

I think what's causing my delay is the inability to decide whether to order an entire new set of spokes for the rear wheel or just to order the three or four replacement spokes I need. I have a source for the spokes, single or set, and would like to just order the ones I need. My fear is that they won't look like the originals in finish and then I'll end up needing an entire set anyway. I suppose I just need to place the order, get the new spokes, and assess the situation from there. Ok, now that I've written it down it seems like the best way to get things moving again.

The other item that's causing me a but of delay is one of my other motorcycles. I have a 1995 Husaberg FE350 that's been in semi-running shape for several years. Its sidestand was broken for a long time, making trips with it impractical as I couldn't park it without a post or a wall to lean it against. I need to get it past emissions testing to get the license updated and it failed the last time I took it in for the check. I had a friend fix the sidestand and I've done quite a bit of work and money into her to get her back on the road and trail. I really need to get the 'berg finished completely before I can concentrate on the Cub. I've been trying to split my time and attention between them and neither are getting finished.

Plan of action: This week I'm going to get the Husaberg done so I can get her to emissions for another test. If she passes I'm off to the DMV for a new plate and she'll be done. If she fails I think I'm going to have to rebuild the top end - at least pay some attention to the valves. I'm tired of spending money on this bike but when I'm done I'll have a pretty good enduro which I can take out into the desert for some fun. That's what's motivating me to get her back into reliable running order and why I bought the bike in the first place.

So... hopefully I'll be back to the Cub in a couple of weeks. Here are a few pictures of my Husaberg. She was in pretty rough shape before I started working on her but I don't haven any before pictures, just during and after. I've taken her completely apart, rattle-can painted the frame, cleaned and polished things, and put a new wiring harness on her. She's also got a new sidestand and a rebuilt shock. Still needs a new seat cover and she'll be as done as a Husaberg can get.