250es Resto Update No. 3

[atcmatt]

Well its been a while so i decided to give you all an update on the old girl (atc250es). Its taking me a hell of a long time mainly due to the lack of money and lack of time.

I have a fair few parts in at the honda dealer that need to be picked up. Mainly seals and a few little iddy bits. I have split the engine and all the crankcases, clutch cover, and head has been sandblasted back to bare metal. I am still deciding what to do with them. Paint or something?

I have got all engine bearings and diff and rear end bearings out. They are all ready to be taken to a bearing shop so i can buy new ones. Same goes for all the seals. Will a bearing shop carry fork seals?

I have taken the fork legs apart and blasted all the rust off the springs and all the inner parts (some idiot dident run oil in em) and painted it all up then rebuilt it all. I am still waiting on my seat cover to some in thanks to Ric Hassler. (just hope the guy who he orders thorough hasnt ripped him off) and btw its not Rics fault!

I have got some alumium colour paint for all the parts like the diff, fork bottoms, brakedrums, hubs etc. I just need to borrow a spray gun and then im good to go. I still need to get the tires popped off the beads so i can sand the beads and get em put back on without tubes. Ill prolly paint the rims wile the tires are off also.

I need my fork tree, tank and side panels to be painted in a honda red ppg paint. I already painted the tree but i really am not happy with the colour so im gonna do it again. I am ordering an electroplating kit tomorrow so i can get to plating all my fastners and fittings.

I have got some pics for you all just too see what has been going on. I just wanted to let you all know that the project isnt dead and i should have a rolling chassis within a month!!! :TrikesOwn

Here are some pics for you all,

Matt

[atcmatt]

And a few more. What do you all think i should do to my engine cases? As in to preserve them from erosion and gettign dirty? The 2nd pic is of my "SHED" (its actually my sisters cubby house but i took it over to store my parts). And the 3rd one is of the fastners and parts that need electroplating. And the 4th pic is of my header....i think it looks ok with that gloss stuff but i might try get some dull stuff and i need a new header too, this one is full of pin holes!

Matt

[BIG BAD RED]

matt you could have atleast taken the cylinder studs out for me....believe me a silver engine on a big red is not the way to go...it makes it look like everyones spray job...paint the engine silver..and everything else red...all with it still in the bike and all...

[renotrikeguy]

I think your doing a great job with your restoration. Have you thought about just clear coating the cases? As for the tires, I used a grinder to cut mine off the rims. I didn't have any other way to dis-mount them.

Nice to see a younger person trying to breath life back into a trike thats older than he is :D

[atcmatt]

Hey Cody do you mean paint the Head red? If so thats just gay. I want this bike to look stock standard. Thats what "restoring" is about, bringing it back to its former glory. If i wanted it custom i would paint things diffrent colours, but i like it stock standard. Why do you want the studs out? Ill take em out but how?

Thanks for the kind words Chris and thanks for that package :D

Whats everyones opinion on my head? Should i just leave it like that or will it get dirty? Im not sure so let me know what yall think.

Matt

[smokinp]

Great job matt!I have been waiting to hear from you,I didn't know where you went but anyways that will be a very nice trike when its done.
Whats everyones opinion on my head? I think that if you just leave it then it will get dirty,I dunno maybe some clear coat on it but it would probley just burn off so I don't really have any advice....

[Lots_Of_Nothing]

anything will get dirty, painted, blasted, if it gets hit with dirt it'll be dirty, i knew of people who just sandblasted there engine and ran it like that forever with no probs, its not like it is going to rust or anything, (aluminum doesnt rust)

[ric]

Hi Matt

The last resto I did engine wise was on an 82 ATC250R, I painted the head and the whole engine package with a gun-metal grey paint 'cos I didn't like the factory red treatment.
As for your cylinder head I would probably just leave it ala naturale, that is just as it came out of the blasting booth. Every now and then after you finish riding it, give it a squirt with Inox or WD40 and it should keep looking like new. The rest of the engine can be painted in silver to match the original. I found some aerosol "Silver Wheels" spray works pretty good, once that cured I followed up with a coat of "2-pak" clear and made it look really trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro hot. That was on an ATC70 engine case by the way

[atcmatt]

Thanks for the advice Ric, can always rely on you :D

Might just give that a go. Where can i get this ppg "2 pack" paint from? I need red and a fair bit of clear. Will the clear go over the top of "Kilrust" paint?

Thanks mate,

Matt

[ClayW]

Hey Matt,

I would be carefull about putting that automotive clear over spraycan paint. Might make a BIG mess. Yrs ago we painted my cousins truck. He had used some Krylon primer on a few rusty spots. Didnt think much of it and finished preping the truck and started to prime. It burned thru the krylon and fish eyed all over the place. We had to stop and scrub these spots down with a heavy does of laquer thinner to get it all off. I painted my Engine case silver with a coat of clear. I left the head bare metal. I fugured that the engine is air cooled, and if I painted it, it would hold the heat a little more than normal. All those fins on the head help it stay cool. Paint just insulates it. Any way I will have to post some pics of my 87 Big Red before long. Almost have all of the factory stickers ready to go on the trike. Got the tank side stickers and tank warning sticker and the trunk sticker. The side covers stikers will be made shortly. Man. Its been some work. I turned down $1400 us dollars today for it. Got $400 in it so far.

ClayW

[yamaha_warrior_king]

that looks really good man, keep it up :D

[Russell 350X]

matt, that looks really good. i cant wait to see the rest of it.

[MTS]

man that looks nice ...as for the tires you dont need to spend the big money to sand blast the bead on the rims just wire brush them down real good and paint them also take the 2 pice rim apart and replace the O-ring in the middle of the 2 pieces with a slightly bigger one and it will seal and stayd seald for ever....dont cheap out and use siocon it dont work ;) you can get the orings at the plumning store or hardware normally :)

[atcmatt]

Thanks Guys, Im pretty sure these 250es rims are all one piece units. I went out to honda today and ordered most of the rear end bearings and seals, prepare yourself 327 BUKS!!! Aus money ofcourse. I felt sick, but i must have them to get her going again. My motto, you only live once.

Matt

[MTS]

oh my bad...i didnt know...just assumed that they where...but still the fist half applys :D also..wouldent it be cheaper to get the sizes/numbers off the berings and seals and then go to the automotive place around there...not shur what you have but for me its always cheaper to go though bumber 2 bumber or comarcial bering er sumin just my 02. cents :P

[atcmatt]

Yeh i did take them to a bearing shop first but he could only do a few of the bearings and a few seals. He said that the rest were weird sizes and that i would have to go to a motorbike shop for them. Honda must of done this for obvious reasons (to make money, the bastards)!!!

Matt

[MTS]

dam honda lol...thats odd that they couldent get them but whatever..lolo