Frame Painted

I've got several coats of beautiful glossy black paint on the frame, swingarm, sub-frame, side stand, foot rests, and a few other miscellaneous parts. I’ve got the wheels assembled with their old brake shoes – new ones on order. Forks are painted and assembled minus their oil, which I’ll add when I’m closer to having a running engine. Here’s a shot of the rolling chassis. I’m pretty happy with her so far. I chose to paint the frame myself, rather than powder-coating, because: a) I wanted to do as much of the work myself as possible and b) it’ll be easier to touch up, although probably easier to chip in the first place.

I’m sealing the tank next. Get the caustic chemicals over with before putting on a nice coat of paint so as not to wreck it when they leak all over, which they’re sure to do. With that, and some fort gaiters I’ll be in pretty good shape.

I’ve started making a list of engine parts I MUST have and those I would probably replace if money were no object. I really don’t want to do an engine rebuild a few months after getting it all back together so I’m trying to achieve a balance between expenses and long-term investment/rework. I suppose this is the classic struggle between the wallet and the wrench.

I’ll get some parts ordered and use the time it takes them to arrive to build myself an engine stand, polish up the side covers, and brighten up the cases, head, and barrel. I can’t get the barrel to look as nice as I’d like so I’ll likely paint it. I’ve seen a lot of Cubs with black barrels and I like the way they look. I hesitate to give myself any sort of schedule because I seem to miss every deadline I set for myself but I’m shooting for an assembled engine by the end of May. We’ll see how that plays out.

FINALLY, moving ahead again

I didn't get anything done last weekend as I had planned. I blame the rain but I could have painted in the garage. I didn't want overspray on everything so I opted out. I was busy with a lot of other stuff so I'm using the rain as my excuse for the week.

This weekend I got started early, Thursday actually. I managed to get things setup in the back yard and sprayed the rear sub-frame, sidestand, and pillion support (one of them). They turned out pretty well. I'm using Krylon from a can and am trying to be as patient as possible, spraying multiple light coats with a bit of drying time between each. This method seems to be working so I'm sticking with it. I think I'm going to tackle the tank and fenders using this method too. I'm getting ahead of myself.

Last night I started spraying the frame. I'm being even more careful with it as more of it is going to show when the bike is back together. I sprayed one side and the top last night. I'll be spraying the other side and the bottom later this weekend. It's supposed to rain again here tomorrow so I'm hoping to spray some again today. Who would have thought that RAIN would be hindering my progress HERE, IN PHOENIX! We get an average of 9 inches a year. That's effectively none but it's falling at the wrong times for me.

Oh well. I'm making progress again and feel good about it. I'll get some pictures and will post them soon.

Safe riding.