Sunday, June 24, 2012

Of frames and engines...

Well, this has been a positive weekend for Project Crossbow and all the hard working staff (ie. me, haha!).

As mentioned in the previous blog entry, the frame, swing-arm and sundry bits and pieces were in for blast and powder-coat at Precision Coating Services in Seven Hills. I was informed that they were ready for pickup and I drove out there on Friday arvo. I was one happy chappy to get them home and see the lovely transormation that had taken place. Everything looked brand new again.
All the bits back home. All holes still plugged.
Close-up of steering-head... nice!
Me old mate JB 'Feels Good' about it, too
I had a bit of fun removing all the bolts, covers and plugs used to protect areas I did not want coated. It is nice to have the skeleton of the bike back in the shed and ready to get parts bolted back onto. I finally feel like some progress is being made.

Next job for the weekend was the engine (and gearbox). I had it zero-totalled at 68,000km and it now has 90,500 on the dial, so that's 22,500 km done in a bit over 4 years. There was no way I was gonna pull this baby apart just to be able to have the cases blasted clean. Also, I am making a bike I want to ride, not show, so a clean engine is all I need. Therefore the rest of my spare time in the man-cave was spent de-greasing the engine/gearbox and then scrubbing with various wire brushes.

Degrease, blow-dry, scrub. Repeat.
I am actually quite happy with the result. Sure, it could be better, but after a few weeks, months, years of use, what difference will it make!

A huge improvement over what it looked like before. Me happy!

That is about it for my weekend's efforts. The only other part to show is the dash setup that I am going to use in place of the big rubber car-type dash the LMII came with originally. I bought it through Stein-Dinse.

Simple and tidy... heaps better than original LMII dash IMHO

So, what's coming up next? I am waiting on the return of the Borrani wheels. Once they are home, I can get them shod, add bearings, carriers, discs etc. Then it will be possible to get the engine and suspension back on the frame... exciting shit, man!

...and one final conundrum: what to do about the mufflers. I am thinking of getting the whole setup HPC coated. However, the mufflers have small rust holes. I am thinking that these could be repaired, then coated? A new set of Lafranconi mufflers can be expen$ive. Any suggestions? Lemme know if you do.




Holy mufflers, Batman!

Stay 'Tuned' ...

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

What's happening? An update:

Okaaaaay... Time for an update on the project.

I have been stumblin' and bumblin' along with a few bits of progress made.

1. The frame and associated bits are at the powder coaters and should be ready for pickup this week. I ended up going with Precision Coating Services at Seven Hills. They are able to do all blasting and prep, as well as the coating and seem to have a pretty good reputation. I will post pics and a report asap I get the stuff back.

2. The Borrani wheels... I deliberated quite a bit over what to do with these as far as preparation for use goes. They were in pretty good nick condition-wise, with nice straight rims and very few nicks. However, there was some surface grit, grime, etc. and the hubs were quite darkened. I am not in any way wanting a concours-type bike, as I wanna ride it! But I do want to start with the wheels in a good (and safe!) condition. That means a pull-down to hub, spokes and rims; something I am confident in doing. HOWEVER, there is no way I am confident in re-assembly. Therefore I decided to bite the bullet and get the job done correctly by the professionals, and as such have shipped them off to Ash's Spoked Wheels in Brisbane. They will be getting a vapour blast for the hubs and a clean and polish for the rims and spokes. They will be ready in a couple of weeks and I will report back here with pics.

3. The fork lowers on the MkII are normally painted black. Over the 30+ years on the road, the paint on these had become chipped , worn and dulled. I decided that the not only was the paint to come off, but they were then to remain bare, as I think this will suit the overall look that I am seeking for the bike. So off to the local hardware store I went. Add one can of stripper and a few hours of elbow grease later: no more paint!

No more paint, plus added new dust covers
4. Now, for the biggie, as far as applying elbow grease goes: the engine/gearbox.
I am definately not inclined to pulling down a motor just to be able to get some blasting done. I don't need a 'new engine' look that badly, haha! My plan therefore is to just scrub the bastard clean, and stop when I have had enough (which could be very soon!). Here is the setup, after one afternoons's work. It consists of the engine on a stand in a kid's wading pool on a dolly. Thanks to fellow Guzzisti and champion all-round bloke, Marcello Forestieri for the loan of the engine stand. Much appreciated.

Wish me luck!
Well, that's about it for the moment. I will be back soon to report on the frame and wheels.

Stay 'tuned' ...