250es Resto Update

[atcmatt]

Gday all,

Been working on my 250es a fair bit. Polishing things, cleaning things and painting etc. I took everything that is black and is metal on the bike to be powdercoated the other day and it should be ready next week. Cant wait.
I still need to get all the fastners coated with something to stop them rusting again. I have a few pics i have attached so you can all see what ive been upto. I have the 87 250es wire harness off which i rewrapped and cleaned, i am using the 87 one cause it has more outlets and the horn connections (pictured). I am going to clean up the fenders and then put the cracked ones on for now until i can afford some new ones. I have ordered some tank stickers for when i get the tank back from the blasters and they should be here in a month or so (surface post). I need to do a bit more blasting and polishing on things like the brake drums, shock etc. Should take me a week or two but itll be done one way or another. The bike is coming together pretty well so far, but still a long way from finished.

How well does powdercoating hold up?
Is there a way to get the engine back in the frame without chipping the frame paint?

Enjoy...

Matt

[atcmatt]

And here is the pic of the Horn connections for anyone that is interested...

Matt

[atctim]

Matt,

You will have a hard time getting the engine back in without scratching the frame. I went through the same thing when I re-did mine this winter. I just touched it up when it was back in. Are you powder coating the frame?? If so, that stuff is hard and it won't scratch like paint. Makes me wonder how they did it at the Honda factory without touching up all of those frames.

atctim

[atcmatt]

Yes Tim, the frame is going to be powdercoated. It wont scratch as easy but it will still scratch considering a motor weighs about 50+ kilos.

Matt

[rob0781]

i put the motor in my old yamaha without scratching the frame it's easy to do just take your time..

[smokinp]

Looks good matt,keep us updated.

[marshallfester^australia]

MMMMMMMMM looking real good Matt,The only problem I have found with powder coating is that when its chips it usually comes of in a large flake, its tough but when it lets go it wants to come of in a chunk. When I put the motor back in the 200es I wrapped light cardboard around the areas where the frame may have got knocked and that seemed to help. Have gone back to 2 pac paint to see if it last longer than the powder coating. Keep up the good work.Regards Fester

[cliff2302]

the main problem with powder coating like marshallfester said is that powder coating chips off. and once it does, your down to bare metal. thats why i dont like powder coating. If you prime your frame with some metal etch primer, and the paint it blac you'll be much better off. this is my opinion though, not facts or anything. god luck with your resto though.

[200xalltheway]

looks great!! keep us updated. :D

[atcmatt]

Thanks Guys.

I decided to go the powdercoat because last time i painted my 200es with spray paint out of a compressor it was crap and once the water gets in somewhere it starts to bubble. I figured that the powdercoating would be cheaper in the long run anyway. Labour and paint costs of spray painting would be well up with the powdercoating. Im goign to do this resto proplerly so it wont have to be torn into for a longggg time.

Fester,

Have you got any pictures of your 250es yet? Have you done any work to it yet?

Later,

Matt

[marshallfester^australia]

Hi Matt, no to both of those Questions, have been busy away from the farm and had to head up to the big smoke for a while, but I must admit I am impressed with the progress of your 250es! I will change up a gear and get moving on sending some photos of the old Pig to you when I get a chance, but beware they will be uglier than my first wife's mother..................Regards Fester

[atcmatt]

Great Thanks Mate!

I need some help in what i should do with my fuel tank. I need t ohave it painted before i put the tank stickers on when i get em. I don't want to paint it crappy and then put the stickers on and have the paint peel off cause that would be a waste. Do you think it would be worth having it powdercoated? Or should i just use autopaint? When the stickers are on can i do a clearcoat or three over the top of the stickers or do i put the stickers on last?

Oh also what is 2 pac paint? Mix paint?

Thanks,

Matt

[marshallfester^australia]

Hi Mate how are you, I see your problem about the tank and I feel it is one of the most important seeing parts (cosmetic wise) on the trike, when I had my panel shop we use to deal a lot with car and bike yards doing up there second hand gear and they always maintained " Put a shine on the top part of the car :Roof, Bonnet, Boot, and paint the wheels and you can sell anything, and the same goes for the bikes"! and as much as I didn't like dealing with these sharks they where right. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first thing to do is make sure the tank is in good condition inside, no rust or scale and the seams are in good shape, if they look average contact me and I will hunt down the name of sealer that you can place on the inside of the tank, if there are no major dents you can start sanding back the tank to bare metal, I prefer sand blasting for the less paint on there the better the finish. If you have any small dents do not try and knock them out! Just get a hammer and tap lightly around the dent so it pushes the metal down slightly so you will not have any hi spots when you go to fill it with bog (plastic filler). You will need a plastic applicator to place the bog on the dents and a 2 mixing knives to mix it up on a old car window or a clean bit of tin, be careful mixing it for to much hardener and it will go of on the board not enough and you will have to get the old hair dryer out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will have to sigh of for I have to be up at sparrows fart tomorrow but if you want me to I can carry on with the prep of the tank tomorrow night. DO NOT BE FRIGHTEN of by what I am telling you, it may sound a lot but all it takes is trail and error and at least you can say YOU DID IT!!! Regards Fester P.S you can get most of the gear from K-mart or your local hardware :beer

[atcmatt]

Thanks Fester.

I think i know what the plastic filler stuff is. Dad used it to fill a dent in our surfboard and he also uses it to fix holes in the farm watertank. The tank is being blasted now so all i will need to do is get some of that stuff and start filling the holes. I should have my powdercoated parts by end of this week. I will take some pics and put em up here on the weekend. What type of paint do you recomend using to paint the tank? I also want to put a clear coat on top of the stickers when they are on so the corners dont lift up. Be great if you could explain more about this platic filling stuff cause the more i know the less mistakes ill make! Also, while im thinking of it, is there many pigs up your way at the moment? Jack All down here!

Later,

Matt

[edog]

Good luck on the resto.

[renotrikeguy]

And hurry up so you can start on my 250es... :D

[atcmatt]

Ok Chris, Pay for my plane ticket and accomodation/food and ill do it!

Matt

[Bumb]

CAn u do mine next.??????lol that would be a short project

[atcmatt]

Maybe a new lever, tire and a new set of fenders for you Blaine, youd be set! Your red is one nice machine.

Matt

[marshallfester^australia]

Hi Matt,sorry for not getting back last night, farm life you no what it is like! Ok we finished of the last email talking about BOG (plastic filler) for the tank, what does is it covers the dent so it fills up the low spot and makes it even with the rest of the metal to make a nice straight finish, when the ark use to float around during my apprenticeship we also use to fill dents with lead (lead wiping) but this is to slow and to costly now days. Bog is like mash potato you put the amount you think you need onto a clean board and then put a small amount of hardener in it and mix like hell until it becomes a uniform colour, then with the plastic applicator put it on to the dented area and try and place as neat as possible, once the bog is dry rub back with 36e dry sanding paper but if the dents are small start with 80 grit and then smooth of with 150 grit. There with be a lot like talcum powder floating around while you are sanding and this is called BOG DUST, it will make you sneeze,cough, and make your eyes water so try and use a mask and goggles if you can. The best way to see if the tank is straight enough when you have finished is to run your hand lightly over the area you have repaired, feel it in all directions and if a area fill"LOW" place a bit more bog in that area and some times it pays to re put it over all the area you have repaired"lightly"and re rub down. Do not leave and heavy scratches on your work for you will need to much spray putty and all that will do is sink back (more about this latter.)---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ok we are now happy with the tank and we want to paint it, MMMMMM what sort of paint. The first sort of one and the cheapest and easiest ones to use is Acrylic paint, this is an air dry paint that is pretty easy to put on a job and flashes of the spray gun in two to five minutes (Touch Dries) can be sanded back with 1200 wet and dry and compounded up to a nice shine, disadvantages is it will scratch and mark easier than 2 Pack paint, and can sink back if not placed on properly.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ok the next one is 2 Pack Paint, this is a chemically inducted drying paint that goes as hard as any other paint (well for the automotive trade any way) on the market, its tough and gets a great shine and finish on it second to none.Disadvantages are, flaming expensive, flash of time is a bit longer and harder to spray-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------So Matt tell me witch one you would like to use and I will map out what you have to do and what you will have to buy, I would prefer you to use the Acrylic if you are a first time sprayer, but that is just my thoughts.------------------------------------------The pigs have been coming out of the state forest (which borders our farm) looking for water and better feed because of the dryer than dry season we have been having, our first real rains have just started and I have noticed the pigs have been pig rooting up in a area we call the dairy, so will be of with the 44 Merlin, dogs, and pig in the bush (my 250es) to see what we can find. Will wait for your reply. Regards Fester

[atcmatt]

Gday Fester,

Thanks for getting back to me. Im picking up my stuff from the powdercoaters today so i will have some nice looking parts. I think i will go with the automotive spray, only because ive never used 2 pac paint. Should i spray it on out of a rattle can or out of my compressor? Would it be ok to clearcoat over the top of it after the tank stickers have been put on. Just for the extra toughness?

I have to run, school time. If i get the parts this arvo i will post em up for you all to see.

Much Appreciated,

Matt

[atcmatt]

Ok thought i would update on my resto.

Weekend was pretty busy, cleaning the carby up (how do i get all that damn dirt off?) Lubed up the choke and accelerator cable, cleaned them then stashed em with the other cables. I painted up the tripple trees over the weekend, had 2 undercoats, 2 red coats and then about 3 clearcoats, well see how she holds up. Did a fair bit of blasting, engine mounts, some plastic parts, brake things, etc, got some undercoat on em then a coat of black. not too happy about the platic parts that i painted so i might blast it off and do something else with them. Engine mounts look ok, just hope the paint holds up ok. I took all the bearing races and seals out of the diff and rear end brakes ready for some blasting/painting, only one prob i came across was the water seal on the rear brake drum wouldent come off so i had to cut it. Is it still available from honda? or could i get it from a seal shop?

Im going through a heap of sand, ill tell you that. Off to the hardware this week sometime for more sand.....

Help me decide what to do.....polish the rear brake/hubs/diff or just paint it?

I took the shock apart so i can blast it and clean it up a bit, think i might paint the spring red and the metal parts silver. What do you think?

Another thing i am having trouble with is the shaft in the diff that connects to the drive shaft, for the life of me i cant get the nut loose on the end, i have tried jammin it with a screw driver but to no avail.... Is there a trick to getting it off?

Once all this rear end stuff is blasted and painted im going to start redoing the tank and order some seals. Maybe paint up a few other stupid fiddly bits.

Just thought id let you know what was going on, i will get some pics during the week sometime...

Best be off, and remember :TrikesOwn

Matt

[marshallfester^australia]

Hi Matt, as promised I will carry on with the prep to painting your tank, we left of last time with sand blasting the tank then repairing any dents and then feathering the tank back to making it nice and smooth with 150# dry sand paper. I recommended to you if you where a first time sprayer to use Acrylic over 2 pack and you have chosen to do so, so we will get on with the job.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You will need to primer the whole tank with 2 to 3 medium coats of primer remembering where the tank has been repaired, leave about 5 minutes between coats and try not to put them on to wet (the paint will look like orange peel) or to dry ( will be dry and rough appearance) leave for 15 minutes and then carry on to our next step and that is to apply the spray putty.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The spray putty will be thicker that the primer for this is to FILL any scratchers and small low spots in the repaired areas, apply 3 coats to repaired areas the same procedure as the primer, leave for 24 hrs allowing the solvents to disperse to stop sink back and rub back with 320# Wet and Dry. When rubbing back the spray putty use water and a clean small sponge to keep the job clean, use a circular motion when rubbing down the job instead of a back and forward one. Clean down the job so it does have no dirt or residue and make ready to reapply primer to the spray puttied areas.-------------------------------------------In the next few nights we will be getting ready to apply the paint." REMEMBER " the key to any good spray job is PREPARATION. Regards Fester p.s if it was me I would paint the hubs, they would be easy to keep clean. :beer

[atcmatt]

Thanks Fester.

Im going to save this post somewhere soon. I think im going to leave painting the tank till last, or one of the last things. Do you think i should apply the paint out of a rattle can or do it out of a compressor?
Is this spray on putty available at hardware stores?
How tough of a finish do you think i will be?

Thanks,

Matt

[Beentinkerin]

I was wonderin how the powder coats holds up I Know oil and rust check saturated to the metal works well here on the coast.

[Mike_Ham_250R]

Dude this thread is coming up on 3 years old..

[atcmatt]

Well three years down the track and the powdercoating is still holding up very well..

Matt