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  1. #136
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    I stripped the clear coat off the side panels because the polishing wasn't good enough. Interestingly, After soaking the 2k clear just wiped off the blasted inner surface, the outer polished surface was a different matter, had to scrub and scrub and scrub to get it off.

    Then I polished again: Sisal and black, sewn cloth and white and then loose leaf cloth with green. Finish was pretty good, but I wanted better so finished off with a loose leaf Swansdown mop and green compound. Normal loose leaf cloth mops are calico, Swansdown is a finer, softer material providing a better finish. But don't be fooled, all mops, sisal, calico and even Swansdown mops leave streaks in the aluminium, you just have to look closely. You can reduce the streaks by polishing in different directions leaving a cross hatch finish, again, if you look close enough. Polishing with a very soft touch will reduce the streaking even further.

    The compound is what does the polishing, don't use enough compound and all you'll produce is heat. Compounds when running lean will leave little globs on the surface of the material, particularly around holes and edges, particularly green compound.

    I use Silvo as a final hand polish, Silvo has a finer texture than aluminium polishes such as Meguires and Autosol, so provides a better finish. Final polishing with Silvo and a microfibre cloth will also scratch the material, particularly if used in a circular motion. So, take note of the direction in which the streaks run, polish with the microfibre in the same direction, streaks are then less noticeable. These streaks are hardly noticeable unless you look very, very closely and are very, very fussy, not something you would normally notice.

    I've been at it for over 55 years, so I'm very fussy. Here's some final polishing I did today; side panels, engine mounts and a filter mount I made some time ago. Aluminium will never polish up like chrome or stainless, it is a more 'subdued' shine, which I prefer. Nevertheless, it does come up nice providing a good mirror finish. In pic three you can see the hairs on my fingers..
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  3. #137
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    Feb 2015
    Location
    Oz
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    The clear coat on the forks and sides wasn't up to scratch so I stripped them and re polished them. I also re-polished the chain adjusters, headlight brackets and brake backing plate. I might make some new headlight brackets, these ones are looking a little shabby. Brake backing plate came up pretty good with just a quick rub on the mop . The wheels have been sitting on the floor of the study for a couple months now so have lost a bit of their shine. When I've finished with the other bits I'll de spoke and polish up the hubs and rims again. The fork legs in particular polished up nicely.
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  4. #138
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    binned the fuel distributor I was making, too big, and made another smaller one. The design has changed a little: There are outlet spigots either side of the fuel distributer this time which feed the carbs via fuel hoses, the two outlet spigots are joined by a 4.5mm through hole. A line from the petcock feeds into small plastic filters which feed into the two brass spigots on the front of the distributor, via fuel hose, and these feed into the 4.5mm through hole.

    The brass spigots have been undercut on the face connecting to the distributor to allow for an O ring. The brass spigots are a push fit in the distributor so shouldn't leak, the O rings are just added insurance.

    This was about as neat as I could make it and certainly neater than the jumble of hoses, adapters and T pieces I had there before.

    I didn't bother polishing the ends, that was a mistake - looks unfinished, so I'll have to remove it and polish the ends.

    Here's lots of pics (as usual), including the build process.
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  5. #139
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    I've clear coated most of the polished aluminium, smaller bits, just have the wheels to finish. Unfortunately, the clear coat dulls the shine quite a bit. Funny stuff to spray on polished aluminium: I had to spray a very light coat first, give it a few minutes then hit it again with a heavier coat so the paint would pool and flatten out. Still a bit of orange peel though, particularly on the triangular engine mount. The clear coat doesn't behave the same over painted surfaces, just polished aluminium, very disappointed in the finish. I may not clear coat the wheels as they'd be hard to get the clear to pool, there's a very fine line between pooling and a run. Float coating seems to just run and build up on the edges. I'm also thinking of painting the side covers black, they just didn't come up to scratch.
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  6. #140
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    A little premature, but I did a little detailing. Stainless fasteners don't look the best straight off the shelf, so I've started neatening them up a little. Allen heads have striations on the side of the heads and numbers stamped on the face of the heads, so I chucked a heap of them and turned them down a little before polishing. Hex heads were very rough, so they were ground down a little before polishing. I ground and polished the ends of any bolts that were seen as well as removing the excess thread..
    I've only done one side of the bike, tomorrow I'll tackle the other. Then the engine fasteners, a few little ones on the carbs. I haven't done the washers, can't figure out how to hold them without polishing the ends of my fingers.
    The footpeg holes to which I mount the mufflers are 12mm, heads of the fasteners on the inside looked like they'd scrape against the swingarm, so I turned up some brass shim tubes and pressed them into place so I could use 10mm fasteners, they just clear the swingarm.
    Once I've finished, I'll remove the clear coat and just leave the ally bare.
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  7. #141
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    Default Read valve engine breather.

    Reed valve engine breather.
    ​​​​​​​I made this little gizmo yesterday, finished it off this morning with the bead blaster. I was going to polish it, but damn this gizmo looks good with a bead blasted finish.
    Petal was taken from a pit bike read valve and cut in half, two holes drilled and screwed to the base plate. Base plate was tapped M3 10mm deep to take the petal. Not fun tapping this small, but, this time around the tap survived.
    Main body was carved out with an endmill to give the petal room to move and air to flow. Base plate has a channel on the engine side for any oil to run down back into the rockers. Topside was channelled either side to get the Allen heads level with the top surface. Stainless Allen's were turned to make them shiny, I do like shiny baubles.
    Outlet spigot is 16mm with a 10mm hole. If it's not big enough I can take it out to 12mm later on.
    Air from the engine enters the main body from the reed valve is channelled upward, does a U turn and travels downward to the outlet spigot, losing a little oil on the way. Any oil trapped before the reed valve is channelled back to the rockers.
    I'll have to design and build a catch can now, thinking of mounting it behind the downtube between the carbs. But, it's getting a little busy in that area.
    Manual machining only, would love a CNC, but not in my budget, would've made things a lot easier
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  8. #142
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    Jun 2010
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    Bundaberg
    Age
    54
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    3,402

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    Well done; in my youth I persuaded an RS100 barrel to take a reed block from one lung of an RD350LC!

    How about plumbing the outlet hose to the chain so the oil mist helps keeping it lubed? That was a common mod on racers, both TT and cafe! From memory Kawasaki had on the original Z1 as well.
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  9. #143
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    Frowned upon now.

  10. #144
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    Feb 2015
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    I'm in the process of making a couple of new wiring harnesses. I use two harnesses of my own design, simpler and keeps wires to a minimum. One for lights, the other for ignition, horn and indicator can. I had made two before using 3mm cable wrapped in plastic insulation tape, but they were thicker and stiffer than I'd like. In places, space for the harness is limited, hence the two harnesses and 2.5mm wire, so I did them again.

    This time I used 2.5mm trailer cable wrapped in cloth tape. much neater, smaller and more supple, so easier to thread around the frame.

    Much to the dismay of the sister forum members (MWF) I soldered all the terminals. Why? because that's the way I like to do it, been doing it that way for 50 + years without problems. If you prefer crimped terminals, good for you, you do it your way, I'll do it mine.

    This is the ignition harness, just six cables for the first 300mm, then just three for the remaining length. The lighting harness which I hope to complete today also has just 6 cables. at their thickest both are around 8-9mm in diameter.
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  11. #145
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    Jun 2010
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    Bundaberg
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    54
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    Back when I lived in the UK I replaced the OEM harnesses on my CB400F2 and GSX1100ET with ones I made; although they were identical copies I used thicker gauge wires. There used to be a mail order company called “vehicle wiring supplies” who could supply every type of plug and terminal plus every cable colour combination in any length down to a single metre; they were brilliant to buy from.

    Regarding terminals; like you I prefer to use uninsulated ones but I do crimp them first before soldering. When I absolutely have to use insulated ones I solder the cable end first before crimping to give the terminal something to bite into.
    Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.

  12. #146
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    Feb 2015
    Location
    Oz
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    I have crimping tools, which I use all the time, but I never crimp those useless Hella crimps, that is just asking for trouble.
    For blade terminals and some eye terminals I use the Hella insulated terminals, but, I remove the coloured insulated part that is normally crimped, fill the terminal tube with solder and slip the copper cable in, then apply a heat shrink insulating cover over the terminal. Very little heat transferred to the copper so hardening of the copper is not an issue.

    For bullet terminals and the like, I use the non insulated terminals, crimp the copper wire in place, dab a little solder on the joint to provide a good strong joint, then crimp the lugs around the insulated section of the cable. all the flexibility in the world straight out the end of the terminal.

    Soldered joints fracturing or breaking just doesn't happen unless you're a blithering idiot.

    Copper hardens if you let it cool slowly, hence the copper strands exiting a soldered terminal joint will be hard if you take your time. The longer you take the further the heat will travel up the wire thus hardening when it cools.

    For screwed joins as in a trailer plug or terminal bridge, I solder the end of the wire and quench while it's still hot. Thus when you clamp the cable in place via a screw, the copper strands don't break and you get a good strong joint that won't break.

    When connecting a cable to anything via a soldered, or crimped, terminal for that matter, how much cable do you think you'd have after the terminal joint? If you can get anything less than a couple of inches before it enters a harness or wherever the cable comes from you'd be doing pretty darn good. That couple of inches between the terminal joint and where the cable comes from should supply you with all the flexibility you'd need.

    Someone wiring up a trailer, or doing hobby work is not going to spend between $100 and $300 on a crimping tool, that is just ridiculous, unless they have their priorities wrong or have unlimited funds.

    I'm sure those that know everything about everything are probably throwing tantrums around now. But, I don't think back yard hobby people will be launching space rockets or flying airplanes from their backyards. And remember whilst you think you're a genius and know everything about everything there are those that just think your a blithering idiot!

  13. #147
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    Feb 2015
    Location
    Oz
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    I've slowed right down now, I can only manage an hour or so in the workshop before the elbow complains. But, I haven't been totally idle: I stripped the clear coat off the forks and gave them another polish. Pulled the front wheel apart, polished the rim and hub and re laced it. I stuck the caliper together, hoping the pistons would seal, no such luck, so I'll have to,order some new pistons. Still haven't re painted the seat and covered it yet or bought tyres.


    Most of my interest is making stuff, and mostly machining, but being as the bike is all but finished I didn't have anything more to make. So, I thought real hard about it and decided on some air cleaners, pods just don't do it for me. I turned up an aluminium base and a couple of knurled nuts, then beat up a rear plate and polished them. I was going to use the black, stainless mesh to hold the foam in place, but changed my mind, just don't like the look of it, so I'll look around for some perforated sheet and use that.


    I was going to use a catch can for the engine breather, but being as I'll have pancake air filters I'll plumb the breather hose into the filters via a T joining piece.


    I finally decided on a shrink fit for the base of the filter, so did a little experimenting with heating and freezing.: The carb bell mouth is tapered slightly by around .05mm,, so I chucked the carb body and trued up the bell so it measures 57.38mm, then stuck it in the freezer for a couple of days to see how much it would shrink - virtually nothing, .01 mm. Next I bored out the centre of the air cleaner base to 57mm and stuck it in the over at 250C, it expanded by .18mm. So, I chucked the base again and turned the hole to 57.20mm. So if I heat the base to 240c it'll expand to 57.38. That of course won't fit over the bell mouth, because it's not a clearance fit, so a little light pushing in the vice will be required. That should give a good tight fit and just to make sure it won't come off, I've tapped the side of the air cleaner base for a 5mm grub screw.


    So, you'd probably think freezing the carb body is a waste of time as it doesn't shrink enough to make a difference, but there is a good reason to freeze the carb: Bringing the air cleaner base and carb together to press fit them can't be done quickly, so heat transfer will take place and the carb will heat up slowly, if I'm quick enough it should reach normal temperature sometime during the press fit and hopefully the air cleaner base won't cool down too quickly.


    Tomorrow, I'll find out if my plan works, if so, all I have to do then is is make another air cleaner for the left carb.


    Well, it's not quite that simple: A while back I made a fuel distributor block that bolts under the front lip of the battery carrier to neaten up the hoses joining carbs and taps, and also to get a level fuel flow in both carbs. Unfortunately, the distributor block hangs too low, so the filters interfere with the fuel lines, I've made the filters as small a diameter as I can, so another 'narower' fuel distributor block will route the fuel hoses around the filter.


    There is a method to my madness, I've now got more stuff to machine up, Oh happy days!
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  14. #148
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    Feb 2015
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    Oz
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    Well, I finally got around to finishing off the right side filter, and damn it looks good. It gives a nice unobstructed air flows, much better than pods. My plan on heating and cooling didn't work too well, much to hard to handle all the bits and pieces and tooling trying to press them together, so, I ended up pressing together cold.

    Same with the sizing, .020mm press fit was much too much, so after a few tries I got a good fit by decreasing it to about .04mm. And of course my day wouldn't be complete without misplacing parts, I lost the idle mixture screw spring, no idea where I'm going to get one of them from.

    All I have to do now is make an identical one for the left carb from that great slab of aluminium I spent yesterday tracking down, and beat up a rear plate. But first I'll make another fuel distributor block to keep the hosing neat and simple.

    If I can remember, I'll take lots of pics of the machining and fabrication process and bore you all to tears with them.
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  15. #149
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    Feb 2015
    Location
    Oz
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    I did warn you: Here's loads of pictures taken while making a new fuel distributor block. It's little smaller than the first one I made and routes the hoses from petcock to carb nice and neatly, it also levels the fuel on both sides of the tank so one carb doesn't run dry when the fuel level gets low.

    The block is drilled through left to right 5.5mm and has barbs machined on the end to take the 8mm hose going to the carbs. Two 6mm brass barbs are pressed in place on the front which take the hoses from the petcock via a couple of inline filters.
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  16. #150
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    Feb 2015
    Location
    Oz
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    Default A picture fest.

    Here’s the process used making the air filters. I took sizes of the first filter I made and replicated them to the second. This time I took lots of pictures to outline the steps in making them. I cut a 15mm slice off the 101.6mm lump of ally and turned down one end to 97.4mm, then cut a piece of 1.7mm sheet to around 111-mm in diameter, stuck them together and bashed the overhang until there wasn’t one. I have to use my left hand now, as the right elbow complains. Sound easy, but it’s not, out of every 10 strikes, I think I miss about nine.
    Once formed, I mounted it in the four jaw, and turned the overhang down to 3mm, then smoothed out all the scratches and what not with sand paper, finishing off with the random orbital sander with 240 grit.
    Next, I mounted the 15mm slab in the three jaw using the turned down area and drilled through with a 25mm bit, machined the outer diameter to 101.4mm, machined out the centre leaving a 2mm wide lip on the periphery, 3mm deep, then bored out the 25mm centre hole to 57.3mm to fit the 57.4 mm carb bell mouth. .10 mm proved a little tight, .07 would have been better I think.
    I flipped the slab over and mounted it in the four jaw, then spent a couple of hours trying to centre the damn thing, then turned down the inner mounting ring so its 8mm wide and the flat body of the filter 2mm thick. Final step, turn down the inner mounting ring so its 9.8mm deep.
    The cutting tool was then centred., spot on, and used to scribe a line across the back of the centre mounting ring. After removing from the chuck I found the centre point using a calliper, centre popped it, mounted it on the mill and drilled the centre pops with a 4mm bit, then mounted it on the pedestal drill, centred the holes and tapped the 4mm holes with a 5mm x .8 tap. The plate was then turned on its side, and drilled and tapped in the centre of the centre ring at 90degrees to the other two holes on the face.
    The piece was mounted in the three jaw again and using 240 grit any cutting ridges were smoothed over, then both plates were polished.
    The knurled securing nuts were turned up from a piece of 20mm stock, tapped 5mm and then knurled using the scissor knurler. These were mostly done by eye, so won’t be absolutely identical. You’d need a calliper to pick up the difference though, so good are my four eyes.
    The carb body was mounted in the three jaw and a file used to remove the ridge at the beginning of the bell mouth. The face of the bell mouth was pretty rough, so I took the time to smooth that with some emery. The turned piece was located over the bell mouth, the assembly was then stuck in the vice and pressed into place.
    The lead into the bell mouth is flat, so not a perfect shape for induction. You can recess the filter lower on the bell mouth, creating a bit of a lip on the outer periphery of the bell mouth to improve induction, but realistically the improvement in induction wouldn’t be worth the time.
    Both filters fit well and the hoses from the fuel distributor block lead over the filters nice and neatly. Happy with the outcome, except the inner knurled nuts are a little difficult to get to, probably due more to the fact my fingers are fused, but I can turn them with a little bit of messing around, better still, use the wife, her fingers aren’t fused. I’ve yet to get some perforated sheet metal to replace the stainless crap I used to keep the foam in place.
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