First Paint

Over the last couple of days I've been getting back into the project after building my new workshop so the first thing to do was finish cleaning the engine cases in the blasting cabinet. I'm quite happy with the results using just Sodium Bicarbonate (and a little bit of elbow grease).

I managed to miss a few spots but got them with a scotch brite pad and sandpaper. 

The new paint is still tacky so the engine build will have to wait for that to dry but should be ready for the day after tomorrow. Here are a few pics of the main cases and right engine cover with fresh paint.

Before blasting.

After blasting

After paint

Now I've never built the internals of an engine/gearbox before so I'm a bit nervous about it but I have a Haynes manual and the local bike shop is just down the road. I'd like to complete it myself though.

Workshop

With space at a premium I've had to put the bike project on a short hold in order to build a new workshop. It's a 12ft x 8ft shed that was bought new online at the bargain price of £429. So now after a weekend of dismantling a 5ft x 5ft rickety and rotten old shack and putting together my new man cave I will be ready for the next step in the project which will be getting the engine cleaning finished.

Still a little bit of work to do inside to make a workbench then it's full speed ahead on the MT50.

What Colour Scheme?

I have decided on black as the new main colour for the MT50. I am not yet decided on the secondary colour. Maybe you could give some input by leaving a comment as to which scheme you like. Have a look at the pictures below and give your opinion.

Soda Blast WIN!

After a few days of waiting for various bits and pieces, the blasting cabinet arrived and I have set it up and made some headway. It seeks I was using too much pressure and too wide a nozzle. 40 PSI and a 4mm nozzle seems to work rather well, but the soda I bought was food grade so it loves to cake and doesn't flow as I'd like. It slows the process down but it works and the results will speak for themselves.

The blasting cabinet/case is only small but it's big enough for the jobs I intend to do. It includes a pick up hose, blasting gun, straight air connection hose, 4 nozzles, air filter, a few plastic covers for the lid and a fluorescent light.

While in use the visibility is pretty bad even with the light on but apparently this can be solved by using a vacuum cleaner to remove the dirty air. The cabinet does have a tendency to blow the dust out through any gaps but the vacuum cleaner should create enough suction to solve that issue too.

The before shots show a ratty and dirty engine case and the engine number. Really not a very good look for a restoration.

The after shows the other engine casing and the engine number plate part way through cleaning. Much better but still not perfect. I'll take the majority of the mess and old paint off on the first pass and then return to get any spots I've missed. The process is a lot more time consuming than I had anticipated but that's fine. I'm time rich and money poor.

I'll be doing the rest of the cases tomorrow and will show the finished items. Now I just need to decide whether to get rid of the casting seams. I think I probably will.

Soda Blast Failure

If you've read the last couple of posts you'll know about my trial with building a soda blaster, well it really is turning into a trial!

Yesterday I tied to use my DIY setup but the pipes in the hardware seemed to just constantly clog up so I'd strip down to see if I could find the issue but the soda would just fall back out the wrong way. I gave up.

Today I started with a fresh mind and thought about using a wider hose but the only thing I had available was hose pipe. I cut A 3 foot length and jammed a large funnel in one end as a make shift hopper. I drilled a 6mm hole about 2" away from the opposite end and jammed the nozzle from my compressor blower into it. This worked to a certain extent but the soda was coming through way too fast so I tried altering the funnels nozzle diameter to reduce the flow. It didn't really work. so back to square one with that. The hose has about a 12mm diameter which I think is far to wide and any soda that comes through just lacks the necessary force to clean the paint from the aluminium engine case.

Tomorrow with a fresh mind again I'm going to try reducing the hose nozzle size to see if that helps. I have ordered a proper blaster tool that fits onto the compressor hose and has a feed for the soda but it could be a few days before that gets delivered and I'M IMPATIENT.

I had a small amount of success with this machine and it did clean a small area but I used about 2kg of soda and it took a loooong time so not viable.

The bare aluminium is the blasted area so it's working but not as efficiently as required by a long shot. 

The bearing puller arrived and although cheap at £26, it looks like a decent enough piece of hardware for the jobs I'll need it for. Here is the link for the one I bought.

Each day brings new challenges and sometimes they kick your arse. Today my arse got kicked but tomorrow I'll get up and try again.

The Main Strip

Today I was feeling enthusiastic so I got the majority of the parts off the bike. I left the wheels and suspension in place for now. Hit a few minor hitches, main one being the completely tin worm infested fuel tank.

A brand new replacement is £350 so I need to find a much cheaper option. Once I've blasted it I'll know more about the condition and whether I could possibly repair it. The carb is quite a state too but could be saved if the choke can be removed, but it's stuck fast.

I have cleaned most of the parts up and got most of the gunk, old oil, muck and mud off them. They're all going through the blaster next week so they'll look even better again. 

I really wish Honda had made the tank out of the same steel they used to make the rear fender. I'm also wishing I had a decent workshop. Maybe a workbench or 2 would be handy.

The bike is now in it's final stages of strip down but I won't be taking the wheels and suspension off the frame until I'm ready to send it for powder coating. It had a good pressure wash earlier but is still quite dirty with a fair bit of built up crud in the nooks and crannies. When the frame is cleaned up I'm going to look into blocking up or bonding some of the nooks when the majority of the crap gathers just to make future cleaning easier.

On the positive side the rear shocks although a bit rough looking are in pretty good working order so I think I'll be keeping them and tidying them up. The bushes have expectedly perished and will need replacing and the wheel bearings are very loose but these things are easy fixes compared to putting the engine back together.