Monster rustoration

[walkingpictures]

Going well Simon,I meant to subscribe to this thread before but being old and senile forgot all about it...

Good luck with the rest of it

Kimbo

[crust]

Cheers, Kimbo.

Got a bit of time today so:

Working on the bike in the garage I noticed the first clean hadn’t got all the gunge off, so today it was back into the garden for a more in depth scrub and to try out a new cleaner.

First off was a good pre-wash soaking with SDOC, then a wash and hose down, wasn’t really getting the job done, so out with the new stuff -Surflex HD from Bilt Hamber.

Splashed some into a bowl added some water and scrubbed an oily area with it, bit of a hose down and WOW!!! All grease and oil gone. Right then, this stuff works, so out with a selection of brushes and away we go. That stuff rocks, got all the gunge off from behind the sprocket cover, sidestand bracket the lot. Very impressed.

[crust]

Had to laugh when brushing down the patio afterwards, silver speckled patio.



Oh well, less to strip off come repaint time.

[crust]

Then back into the garage and on with it. Oil and filter done, airbox on, airbox off, fit starter solenoid back on base of airbox, airbox back on again. Coils and ignitions boxes back on.
A few other bits fitted, day done.

Next: Clean air filter and finish off airbox and electrics. Repaint underneath of tank, new fuel filter and refit tank.

After that its rear wheel off and clean out inside of swinging arm, shock off for clean and check, clean and re-grease suspension linkage.

[crust]

Had an evening free so did some more, unfortunately phone was flat so no pictures ☹

Stuck the airbox back on, coils and new motobatt battery. Hmmm, lets just spin it over and see if there’s a spark, yup, got sparks, let’s see if it runs.

Hold on, lets see if the oil’s getting through as it will be dry up top. So, off with the vertical exhaust valve cover, plugs out and spin it over, no oil, give it longer, still no oil, give it a lot longer, still no oil.

Ok, there’s a problem. Oil pressure out and a quick stab of the starter, great – oils flowing, not so great there’s now a small puddle on the floor. Stick in the oil pressure test gauge to see what pressure we’re getting. Pressure’s about right, steady and a few seconds later there’s oil in the vertical head. Must have been an airlock.

Petrol in, couple of twists of the flat slides and nothing. Try again – nothing. Lift tank, look down carb throats – no air filter fitted at moment. Twist throttle and no squirt from the accelerator pumps. Undo float bowl drain – nothing. Undo fuel pipe by petcock – nothing. Give the fuel pipe a good blow, ah – sound of bubbles in tank and we’ve got fuel. Another airlock.

Couple of twists of the throttle and we’re in business, good squirts of fuel from the accelerator pumps down the inlets. Ignition on and she’s away – vroom – well actually rattle, jangle, rattle, jangle etc. The clutch baskets been filed back a few times and the slides rattle, so it does sound like a proper bag of spanners.

Result – we have a runner, call it a night.

[crust]

Another stab at it today.
Front’s done, motor runs – time for the rear end.
So, wheel out and yup, it’s cruddy, even after two good washes. I want to check the shock and suspension bearings anyway.



Try to undo bottom shock bolt which is done through a hole in the side of the swinging arm, stick the allen key through and urrgggg, nope not undoing, double urrrggg and SNAP! Ouch, that’ll be the ball end of the allen key snapping off in the bolt head.

Bolt buried deep in swinging arm

Ball end nicely snapped in bolt head.


Exhaust is coming off anyway so I’ll tackle the shock bolt when the arm’s on the bench. To get the exhaust off it should be split, so, undo the clamp. Nope it’s not having that, bolt is rusted in and allen bolts rounds off



Not exactly going to plan so far.

[Pedro]

Good luck sorting that out Simon, prob would have been easier if ya looked after it better!

Lol

[crust]

Out with the angle grinder, off with the bolts head, tap an old knife blade into the clamp to open it, bit of wiggling and a gentle lever with a long tyre lever and the exhaust is off.

Now for the swinging arm pivot, this’ll be a swine, it’s never been out before. Undo the pinch bolts, rubber bungs out, give the drift a gentle tap and IT MOVES!!! A few gentle taps and the pivot bolt is out.

Lift the arm and shock onto the work top. A touch with a strong magnet and the broken bit of allen key is out – too easy.



Grind the remains of the key flat and try again, ooh, that’s in tight, going to need a longer lever. Give it a spray with penetrating oil and go for a coffee. Took a serious effort with an old fork stanchion on the allen key to get it to undo.

Hmm. Bolt is well corroded.


The bit of bent metal sits in a groove in the arm to make the nut captive, also means you can’t get a spanner on it to undo it.

[Pedro]

Nicely done!

[crust]

Pile of pieces to be cleaned, so out with the brushes and Bilt Hamber Surflex



Chain guide – dropped this in the degreaser bucket to marinade



Suspension pivot before:



After



Swinging arm



Shiny arm



lins



😊lins



And the chain guide, a bit yellowed by time but at least now you can see it’s yellowed.

[crust]

Next…..

Clean up the back of engine and frame area. Re-assemble and MOT. Then, the open road.

And plan for the next stage….

There’s a pair 0f 944 pistons on a shelf in the garage with spare barrels that just need boring and plating. A 999 triangular oil cooler to go under the horizontal pot. The frame and wheels could do with a repaint, etc etc. Then there's my plans for a plating tank.

[Darren69]

Has the Ohlins been leaking? There was a lot of crud on it and they don't tend like neglect and are prone to leak if not rebuilt periodically. It's probably worth checking or get it serviced.

[crust]

I don't think it's leaked, it felt ok when I bounced up and down on the bike.

You're right though, it could do with a rebuild as it's done quite a few miles and is 20 years old or so.

It was a bit cruddier than normal as I've been spraying it with GT85 from time to time to make sure it didn't rust in the damp garage

[Darren69]

Originally Posted by crust

I don't think it's leaked, it felt ok when I bounced up and down on the bike.

You're right though, it could do with a rebuild as it's done quite a few miles and is 20 years old or so.

It was a bit cruddier than normal as I've been spraying it with GT85 from time to time to make sure it didn't rust in the damp garage

That's probably what it is then. I would say that its probably worth getting it re-sprung too for your weight at the same time. It looks like you have a lot of pre-load on that spring. They do seem to be soft as standard, mines the same. I think they're sprung for bantam weight racers not normal people!

[Mr Gazza]

Originally Posted by crust

I sprayed mine black. It looks less like plastic and hides the chain goo.