Paint

Here are some shots of the tank, frame and side covers. My mom brought down a few boxes of toys she found in the attic of the house I grew up in. This first photos is one of the first paint jobs I did. Matchbox cars with model paint.

Here is the frame which has about five cans of Aluminum color engine paint and two cans of clear coat on it. I added the horns and reflectors just to see how it would look when assembled.

The side covers, with a bunch of color coats, just as many clear coats and about five minutes of some very light rubbing with 2000 grit sand paper. The sanding dulls the clear coat out a bit which was kind of scary, but worth it as you can see in the next photo.

The side covers with two tons of wax and buffing. You can see the reflection of the wall and the the TV in upper part of the covers.

First shot of the tank, about 24 hours after the final clear coat went on.

Another shot of the tank with about thirty very light coats of color engine paint and another 15 or so of clear engine paint. I hope that using engine paint will help protect it from the errant fuel spill. I like the reflection, this shot was before the paint has cured for a week. I will wet sand lightly it with a 2000 grit paper before rubbing it with rubbing compound and then giving it 10 to 20 coats of polish and wax. I am hoping to be able to see a clear reflection by the time I am done.

Rust, Electrolysis and Paint

When I took this bike apart, I couldn't have imagined the amount of rust that had collected on the components of this bike. (Maybe it's because this is my first mechanical endeavor). Most of it has been surface, but the battery box was a little more than surface. 

I found an article about electrolysis and thought I would give it a shot. It worked wonders. Here is a picture and a movie. You can see bubbles from the reaction in the movie. It was a simple process, I took two old iron bolts and attached them to the positive clamp of a car battery charger, the negative clamp went on the piece to be cleaned. I dropped them both in a vat of water and baking soda (1 gal to 1 TBSP) and made sure they weren't touching. Start the flow of electricity at the 2AMP setting and wait a few hours. Voila!

Here is the setup. It is important to keep the area well ventilated, because the reaction gives of hydrogen which is just a wee bit explosive.

This is cool! I turned up the Amperage for the video, but I would not recommend it. If left that way for too long, the paint kind of bubbles off. I am not too sure that it is very good for the metal either. I am going to paint this with undercoating paint if I can find it in an Aluminum or light grey color.

Where did all this grime come from?

Judging from the amount of grease, grime and road tar I have removed from the verious parts of my bike parts over the last few days, I have to assume that the roads are much dirtier than they look.

Here is the final drive, after a good bit of scrubbing. Still have a lot to go.

I have been cleaning, primering and painting bits and piece of the bike and hope to have the pistons honed and in spec this coming weekend. 

The Clutch cover, painted with high telp (1300F) flat black

This is the first color piece, I am using an CAST IRON color of ceramic engine paint with the same type of clear coat. It has a slight yellow tint when it cures, but it is not too bad.

I am going to paint the entire engine a flat black and sand the fins back the the aluminum. Should look pretty cool. Picks to follow.