Monster rustoration

[crust]

Next on the list - rust spots on the inside of the tank.
Brief sidetrack - I wanted to see more of the inside of the tank so splashed out £9.99 on a Eurocar parts endoscope. Don't, not sure you even get what you're paying for. The software supplied simply doesn't work. Tried a number of apps, a random USB camera one sort of did.
It showed a lot of the tank with these:

Someone had recommended DEOX - https://www.bilthamber.com/
So I ordered some DEOX and some Surfit degreaser. Washed the tank out with degreaser and then mixed up the DEOX and poured it in. Through the filler cap you could see a patch of the tank with a light coating of surface rust, the DEOX got rid of that just pouring it in
Left it for a couple of hours, swilling it around every 15 mins or so. The results are pretty impressive where the metal was submerged, slightly less so where it was only getting wetted when swilled as you'd expect.
Submerged

Swilled

Overall I'm happy there's no rust to wash off and block fuel filter or rust through the tank.

[crust]

Inside done I treated the tank to a new latch (the old one was held together with wire) even dug out some black bolts for the tank cap rather than the dog-eared chrome ones it had before.



Inside and top of tank done (some repainting to do on underside) it was back to the front end.
First up some shiny new Ti disk bolts – forgot to take picture – Doh! Then on to replacing the horrible rusty bolts holding the caliper together:





Then an hour or so bleeding the brakes, from the top, bottom, pushing pistons in and out, still spongy but I got bored.

[crust]

A few little jobs like replacing the perished tank prop rubber:



Then fit the new belts



Refit belt covers.Smile and call it a day.

And yes, I've decided to 'forget' the oil weep for the time being as the motor may well be coming out in the near future for a refurb.

Next up - refit carbs, oil change and see if she runs. Work is going to get in the way for the next couple of weeks so it will be slow progress.

[crust]

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.



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

Oh well, less to strip off come repaint time.

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.

[Beancounter]

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.

I use Bilt Hamber wheel cleaner, it’s just as good.

[Supermofo]

I looked at Bilt Hamber but looked a bit hardcore for my fairly clean bike. I use W5 Citrus cleaner, but I'd say it was similar (but not as sticky or wet staying) as SDOC. Good to know though

[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 basket's 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.

[weeksy]

Oh!!!!

[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.

[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, as could the engine. Then there's my plans for a plating tank.

[weeksy]

See, it's easy.!!

[Falcoholic]

I love a "cleaning up a clatty bike" thread.

Well done

[crust]

I love a "cleaning up a clatty bike" thread.

Well done

You're going to love the next posts

[crust]

Sometimes I do things and almost instantly step back and think - why the f#@k did I do that.

Last episode I’d stripped and cleaned the swinging arm, shock and linkage, this one was supposed to be:
Strip and clean rear brake, back of engine, start re-assembly. Instead I picked up the rear part of the exhaust and gave it a gentle rub with a polishing block that was sat on the bench in a bowl of stuff to be put away.

“Ooh, that’s coming up OK”, before I knew it there was a shiny patch and the polishing mop was on the bench grinder and a bigger shiny patch.


Oh dear, a while later….



Why - "Oh dear" - well now I've got to do the rest of the system and its got 26 years of crud on it

[weeksy]

Ha ha. Top job matey.

[crust]

Having done the rear section of the pipe I had to do the front section which is a lot longer and has the cruciform bit on the end = aaargh.

Set up the grinder outside with a mop on it to avoid getting polish snots everywhere inside, scruffy gear on and set to it.



That’s the easy bit done.



Not the best but near enough, the stainless is poor quality and I didn’t have the right bits to get in all the corners of the cross-over.

[weeksy]

Fine fine job. Can't wait to see this done

[rodbargee]

Fab thread my 2006 ZZR14 could do with an similar intervention