TOPIC:

If you haven't painted the tank yet, you might want to consider purchasing a paintless dent removal kit on e-bay, sooner or later it will come in handy.

I did consider pulling the dent but the old bog was pretty hard so I just filled it back up instead of cleaning it out. I also wasn't too sure about the creases around the edges of the dent, I didn't want any cracks to develop when pulling it. Probably would have been fine but I didn't want to risk it.

Basically I'm taking the easy way out on this one: instead of pulling the dent or filling with tin I'm just using what I have lying around and hoping to get a couple of years out of it

Great job on the coil mounting. I looking into those mini coils. Just more for the look. What did you install over the plug wire as an exterior sheath.

I can only hope my engine turns out looking that nice. Doubtful the turd polishing will go that well!

Mikaw wrote: What did you install over the plug wire as an exterior sheath.

The boots came with the coils and the sheath over the wire was pulled from the original wires before they went in the bin.

Skidmark wrote: I can only hope my engine turns out looking that nice.

Looking at the photo from earlier today, the head already looks better than mine did. That crankcase should clean up fine as well

Nessism wrote: The head bolts that install down inside the cam chain tunnel area ARE stretch bolts. I bought brand new ones for my 750 and they would not reach the minimum torque as listed in the service manual before serious yielding occurred so I stopped short to avoid breaking them.

Going back to this. When I put the head back on the last time I cleaned all the oil off the threads and torqued two new bolts up incrementally (22.5Nm, 25Nm, 27.5Nm, 30Nm). Each increment required about 30°. The front one tightened up without yielding but the back one went through about 90° when gong from 27.5 to 30Nm (a pretty stressful 90°). I was curious so I backed it off and retightened incrementally. The second time it tightened up normally so it had definitely yielded and it wasn't the threads giving in
Technically I should have replaced the back bolt as they are single use. I'm pretty sure it will hold until the head is back off next winter. Interesting that both times I have put new bolts in only the back one has yielded.

Last piece of the puzzle done today: painted the tank and side covers. The room I have been using wasn't available so I rented a room for a couple of hours.



The results are a lot better than I could have got in the other room. The lighting alone made a huge difference, not to mention the ventilation and heating system. You can see that I didn't quite get the lines right with the bog on the right hand side of the tank (look at the reflections), but it's good enough considering what it looked like after sandblasting.











Everything is safe back in the garage now (stressful drive home). Will leave it for a couple of days before I put the cap, petcock, etc. on.

I'm impressed! I have never tried painting with the exception of rattle cans. Great job!

Thanks. To be honest, using a spray gun is so much more forgiving than a rattle can. I really struggle spraying with a can but using the gun I have only had two runs on all of the parts for this bike. I hadn't done much painting before this project - just the brake callipers and an engine cover on the hornet.
I find painting a lot easier to deal with than polishing - that may have something to do with patience though

Great work on the painting!

Couldn't resist today - I very carefully put the badges on the side covers and tank. They're back off the tank (as is the cap) until I put it on the bike, but the side covers are staying on.
Paint is pretty close to fully hardened and should be fine on Sunday - supposed to be fuel proof after 5 days so should be pretty good after 3. I'll be putting the tank on the bike on Sunday as it will be a year to the day since I pulled up on the bike. I won't put any fuel in the tank til later in the week, though. Not taking any chances

A year to the day since I bought the bike home. Need to wait a few more days before putting fuel in the tank, but all the resto work is done.