The restoration has begun... Now the questions!

I found and purchased an interchange manual, just got it downloaded about 10min. ago... My latest order from CMSL/Netherlands arrived today with "all" of the parts that I had ordered, no discontinued parts this time! A bit of relief, as this order actually took care of all external bodywork bolts, screws and rubber washers, etc...

Still sanding bodywork, which brings me to this question.... I purchased a tank sometime ago that is in great shape with just a cooter smidgen of surface rust inside... I mean it is so minute that I am thinking about not even bothering with trying to get it out... If I were to try and remove it though, what would you guys do or use for that? And any precautions? Thanks!

 

Where did you find the manual? Thx!

 

Here is the link:
Honda USA Motorcycle Spares Part Cross Reference Manual : eBay Motors (item 250355775321 end time Mar-07-10 11:47:14 PST)

Hope this helps you!

 

Great job you are doing there. Can't wait to see the next pics......

 

I have been getting my panels sanded as time permits... I honestly wasn't expecting the time/labor involved in sanding these panels... I have sprayed bikes before but the plastic was always in great shape already and just had to scuff the panels enough to get fresh primer/paint to adhere... NOT with this project, Holy S**T! And to think I am only in the first phase of sanding... I have many grits to go yet!

I went and picked up my repair supplies for the fiberglass and plastic repairs that are necessary to bring the bodywork back up to snuff. I picked up the usual fiberglass for the main fairings and I was able to pick up some plastic repair kits... I have never used this stuff and am hoping it works out alright. My tail section really needs some work and between the old one and one that I picked up off of Ebay, I should be able to make 1 good one, we'll see!

Here is what I picked up at Space-Age Paints in Mesa...






I figured I would start on the tail section first and see how the plastic repair kit worked... I had to reattach a couple of tabs at the top of the tail section towards the front... Got the plastic cleaned up and epoxied the tabs back in place...







There were some spots on the inside of the tail section that were about worn thru from rubbing and I decided to repair these first with the plastic repair kit to see how it would work out... I scuffed up the plastic in the worn areas and cleaned it with body prep and proceeded...




So far so good... You essentially pour out the amount of plastic filler powder you will need to fill the area you wish to repair and smooth it out and spread a couple of drops of the adhesive, only enough to cover the powder, and then give a shot of accelerator and you're done... wait a couple minutes for the heat to subside and go on with the refinishing... Easy enough!

Now, at the front of the tail section is where it get's a little dicey... My mounting holes are gone... so....... I have to actually do some surgery... I start by eyeballing and picking a spot where to make the mating cuts...




I cut the tabs that I am going to mate to the tail section I am using and clean up the edges... then make the appropriate marks on the tail section to cut off... here's where you need to pay attention and cut SHORT of the marks as you will need to final sand and fit the piece by hand so that it fit's snuggly... a little time consuming but worth the effort! Once you have done that simply put the piece in place and add a couple drops of superglue to hold the piece in place while you use a dremel tool to carve /hog out a V-notch along the seams, that's where you are going to apply the new plastic material...





Now that you've done that simply clean the plastic again and pour out the powder, smooth, add drops, and.... repeat as necessary.




Give it a good sanding to level the repair with the existing bodywork and refinish as necessary...





I did the insides of the tail section first, it just doesn't follow sequence here... I usually will make my repairs to the inside and work to the outside for strength...




As a side note... I will look at the mounting holes and how they line up with the holes on the frame and if need be I can then fill in the holes and redrill them so they are not wallowed out like they appear now...

That got my tail section back into shape and I just need to finish the sanding and start paint prep... The products worked great and I am looking forward to making the rest of the repairs to anything plastic, like my left side cover...

I'll get started on the main fairing soon and will get the updates in as soon as I can...

Ok Guys, 'til next time...

 

That looks awesome. If you have any extra powder and some scrap plastic I'd really like to know how strong the repairs are. Like mate 2 pieces and after curing try to break and see what happens.

 

Excellent work!

 

Your work is inspiring Salvo! Makes me think I should dive into restoring mine instead of selling it....I just wish I had the time to dedicate to it that it needs and deserves!!

Keep up the good work!

-Paul

 

I have been working on the main upper fairing the past several days and thought I would drop a couple of pics... I started by grinding out the bad areas and then on the inside of the fairing I added epoxy and fiberglass... I used the epoxy where I didn't necessarily have to "rebuild" the fairing...



Sorry guys, I thought that I took some pics of the epoxy on the inside... They weren't on the camera when I uploaded the photos to my Photobucket account... The above pic and a couple other spots along the sides of the fairing were where I used the epoxy on the inside... I then added fiberglass to the underside of the mirror mount holes. I wanted to make sure that the fairing was rebuilt sufficiently in those areas and I think that just using the epoxy would have been prone to cracking again, even though the epoxy is designed to flex a bit...







I then let that dry for a day and then proceeded to the outside of the fairing... Again grinding the areas that needed repairs and adding epoxy as needed. The epoxy seems to be a great product, easy sanding and excellent paint adhesion.















I still have to add some epoxy to the lower area of the mirror mount holes, I didn't want to add to much at one time to prevent heat damage as the epoxy heats up just like fiberglass...

I'll take more pics of everything after it's all sanded back to shape, before I spray it, inside and out...

I got an update on my engine rebuild from Dave Dodge, he said everything is going very well and the machine work is on it's way back, my cases go out for powdercoating this next week and the engine should be ready for pickup at the end of April.... WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!! After that happens I will be able to get the engine and frame mated back together and then FINALLY get the project back onto the build table having installed the forks and swingarm and getting the wheels and tires into place as well!!!

Jamie, if you are reading this, I hope that the rear shock rebuilding is going well also?!

That's all for now folks, I'll keep you posted!

 

Thank you for the post. Top notch work as usual!

 

Very cool story and great updates! Can't wait to see the finished product. Those 1000's are cool. Great to see a full teardown and your determination to get stock parts back on it. :thumb:

 

Looks good. Pretty typical damage on used R fairings. I love fiberglass, so forgiving. I just did a ton on my RC45 tail. I really like the plastic repair. I too am curious about the shear strength. Sometimes you can fix a part that is hard to pull apart (tensile) but easy to bend and break.

 

Next time I am out in the garage I will see what kind of a test I can whip up on some plastic and the repair kit and see what the results are like. Of course, I'll keep you guys posted!

Hey Humvee, your real close to home, we'll have to hook up for a ride when it's finished... Maybe hit "The Pavillions" on a Saturday Cruise night!!!

 

Sounds good. I've never done the Pavillions. Heard about it, but never been up there. Buddy of mine from the west side has been talking about it. How's the engine coming?

 

I am trying to get my V4 going also and it is the VF1000R.
The pulse generators are interchangeable between the F model and the R model.
The black boxes are NOT interchangeable.
The shop manual has simple easy to understand tests for all of the switches and other components.

 

The engine is coming along great according to Dave Dodge Motorsports... I should be able to pick it up at the end of April! He is doing a complete rebuild/blueprint in what he calls his Stage 2 package. That includes the rebuild, the cams have been hardwelded and reground with more lift and duration, the rockerarms have been hardwelded and reground, the heads have been ported and polished along with having the valves and seats ground to work with the cams, springs and retainers to match the cams installed, the transmission has had the gears back cut, and the carbs have been rebuilt and jetted accordingly to match the cam/intake and exhaust work, oil system modification, the cases and valve covers have been sent out for powdercoating, etc... I am really anxious to get the engine back, it will be a great day in the whole project and my wallet a whole lot lighter!!!


Hey duB, if you are still looking for a gas cap...

"Send it to me, I'll unlock it
Kidding, as captb said, depressing the rubber should bring the key (rotation) in the "get out" position.
Where did you get it? It looks new.
I was told it was discontinued (for vf1000f) and this one looks the same.
The rubber of all the ones I have is dried out.

duB"

I just saw this...

http://www.davidsilverspares.co.uk/parts/part_103828/

 

Sounds like the engine will be sweet! I know you'll be happy to throw away the last sheet of sandpaper, I don't mind painting but getting to that point seems never ending. I'm done for awhile after the VFR resto and a couple classic Pattern planes I restored, enough stripping, sanding and painting to hold me a couple years. About 50 razor blades to strip my Meridian glass and carbon ultra thin fuse.

 

What if I could ask does Dave charge for a stage ii job> and thanks I woiuld like to send my engine to him..

 

mrich, my estimate from him was for everything listed above and the misc. parts/gaskets, a lot of which I haven't included in my posting, was right at $4000.00... My starter ended up being bad, he had an extra one there, so that adds another $100.00... That is as of right now... I am sure that the final bill be probably be a little more...

OK Everbody, The class on Hillbilly Engineering is in session!!!!!

For everyone that wanted to know more on the strength of the plastic repair kit that I used to repair my tail section, well, I went out to the garage and did a test today... I took a couple pieces of the same plastic from my spare parts tail section and cleaned them up, sanded some straight edges and wiped them down with alcohol. I then sanded a beveled edge just like I would have done on the bike and proceeded to glue them together...





I let them dry for a bit and went to the vise in the mancave and installed it in said vise... I wanted to try and use a torque wrench to see if I could get some sort of a reading, realizing that this was kind of a longshot and full of extreme silliness!( which is actually right in line with hillbilly thinking!!! ) It wasn't going to cooperate!

This is just a shot of the wrench I was going to use...



So... I just grabbed a pair of needlenose pliers and proceeded to grab hold and start prying downward... I actually got almost 45 degrees from vertical which really isn't to shabby and took a little effort to get there... I pulled slowly and didn't try to "shock" the plastic/glue joint by rough housing it...


It broke fairly cleanly...




Then it dawned on me... Any good hillbilly worth his firearms has a "Trigger Scale" laying around... aah haa! Let's try that! So I mocked up the other piece in the vise and got the scale hooked up to the top of the plastic and proceeded to pull slowly... The scale bottomed out at just over 8lbs of pull and then snapped... it might not seem like much but when using the scale I was surprised at just how much the plastic/glue joint did resist breakage! It broke very cleanly!





You can see the difference between the two... The pliers on the left and scale on the right...



OK Class.... In my own Hillbilly opinion, I would say that the plastic repair kit is worthy of your consideration for repairs!

 

Thanks for the info I might do that if I can get the extra cash up Thanks Mike R in Calgary..

Nice scale impressed me.