86 Honda VT750C Restoration log

[tazman9]

Congratulations on a really sweet restoration job. Very cool. Hard to imagine $100 a pop for the carb diaphragms, you would think someone would make an aftermarket piece with that much rarity.

Your exhaust pipes run at a much higher temp than the covers, so discoloring would be unlikely. But high polished aluminum is way cool anyway.

[Mad Jasper]

This am impressive thread. I cannot wait to see the finished project. Also makes me want to try a restoration project, but I have no talent.

Awesome job though. Thanks so much for sharing.


Sent from my Motorcycle iPhone app

[luisr320]

Thank you all for the kind words of incentive. It is hard work and lot$ of money. But it's worthwhile, since I'm starting to finally find that beauty I picked up from the shop almost 30 years ago, which was a real pleasure to ride. At that time the biggest bike I rode was a Yamaha Y10 50cc, a two stroker. That bike really impressed me.

I finished assembling the starter. I tried to get some current trough it to test it and found out why another biker warned us here not to do it like that. Sparks all over the place. But it works just fine.

[luisr320]

Here are the rear shocks full ready to be mounted on the bike:


Here's how they were before:

[Czech]

sweet, they look just awesome. Hurry up I want to see the bike complete - what's holding you back

[luisr320]

Originally Posted by Czech

sweet, they look just awesome. Hurry up I want to see the bike complete - what's holding you back

Actually I'm dealing with a major problem.
I striped the engine paint to the bone. My plan was to paint it with duplicator high temp semigloss rattle can. But after painting the starter with that same paint, which would be a test, the paint starts to chip of so easily that I'm having second thoughts about using that paint. I mean just by looking at it in the wrong way it chips another bit. And this is the starter. I can only imagine the problem would be compound if I try to use that paint on the engine.
I'm starting to consider the possibility of striping the engine open and powdercoating it.
Any ideas?

[Czech]

Hmmm.....did you bake the starter ? After all if it is hi-temp paint it might need to be baked. That's how it will stick to the product. I am in the transformer business and we do it all the time. We paint our tanks first that stick it in the huge oven and bake for some time. The paint hardens and looks really good.

Powder coating is another option, but you still need to bake it. Your call. Since you came this far, I would have it professionally painted with some warranty rather that doing half fast job in you shop with a spray can. Just my 2 censts

[luisr320]

Originally Posted by Czech

Hmmm.....did you bake the starter ? After all if it is hi-temp paint it might need to be baked. That's how it will stick to the product. I am in the transformer business and we do it all the time. We paint our tanks first that stick it in the huge oven and bake for some time. The paint hardens and looks really good.

Powder coating is another option, but you still need to bake it. Your call. Since you came this far, I would have it professionally painted with some warranty rather that doing half fast job in you shop with a spray can. Just my 2 censts

I didn't bake it in the sense that I would have to stick it inside an oven. But even if I do that, I couldn't stick the whole engine inside an oven. Is there a way to do that with external heaters?

[Czech]

I do not want to say no just because I do not know. For the paint to bond a cure properli the whole surface has to reach the same temperature, and I do not think that that is possible with external heaters. Unless you have few of them and they blow a really hot air all over it. Which you might as well stick in the oven.

This one is hard to answer buddy.

[tazman9]

Your shocks look great!

You could most likely make an oven that you could put the engine in. It could even be made out of plywood, as the temp needed is most likely only a few hundred degrees. Use a cheap heat gun or something, drill a hole in the box & insert a thermometer (borrow one from your wife's kitchen). Add a small fan if needed to even temp.

Heat guns are cheap & hotter than a hair dryer.

Heat Gun - Dual Temperature Heat Gun, 1500W