my first IN OVER MY HEAD project

CMHN said:
In PA its a pain in the A$$. I did it once, had to get my lawyer involved and it cost me $750 in just lawyer fees. The only reason I did it was the car that I needed the title for was worth over $10 grand. You know one of those garage finds. It was worth it, but I wouldn't do it for just anything.
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i dont know if its the same with cars but apparently if a bike is more than 25 years old you can use a title service. so these guys create a fake bill of sale and get the car registered in their name in a state that does not require a title to register the car. they then get a new title after the local dmv runs a title search to make sure the vehicle isnt stolen. the dmv issues them a title and they sign it over to you for a fee. ive heard anywhere from 50 bucks to 180 bucks.

might be sketchy... for a moment or two, at least on the books... that title service owns your vehicle.
 
well contrary to what it may look like i have been busy working on the bikes. ive been riding a lot as well. perhaps too much? i took my bike by a local shop called moto gizmo the other day for them to balance a tire for me and mark (the owner) ended up taking an interest in my bike and adjusted a few things. apparently i was running lean so he adjusted the carbs. god damn what a difference. so much more pep. love it. also he rerouted some cables which i already knew the front end was a mess. he showed me a few tips on cleaning some stuff up and painting. just a few other tips and tricks which will hopefully come in handy while working on cleaning up this engine. all in all it was a pretty good trip and i walked out of there without spending any money other than what i paid for the tire.

this week i pulled everything off the frame. i need to clean it up and repaint it. ive been reading the rattle can thread on here and its been pretty helpful. any hints or tips you guys may have are super welcome. first cleaning everything. how much do i have to strip the frame down? should i have it sand blasted? i want to do it right and have the right base to start with but also trying to work smarter instead of spending all my days hand sanding everything.

i started cleaning up the engine on the K bike today. ive got my work cut out for me and im not really sure how to get a lot of this stuff clean. the fins are going to be a chore. the old owner painted the entire engine black with some terrible paint that did not stick at all. paint is peeling every where and i want that off. i plan on keeping the jugs black but id like the rest of the engine to go back to its original aluminum color. still i need to get the jugs clean and repainted because if i paint them like they are its gonna look terrible. again... any advice for getting paint off in these hard to reach areas would be much appreciated. basically what do i need to do to get paint off of an entire engine?

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sorry the lighting in the garage isnt that great.... we could stand some light in there.

here are a few things i started to clean up. i used 00 steel wool on some of the chrome parts which i probably shouldnt have but i could not find 0000 steel wool and from what i could tell it worked fine. the "swirly" lines that are in this chrome were already there.... any advice for getting rid of them? i realize this is not a DTT quality shine but i dont think ive ever even waxed my car before... haha any advice on cleaning and polishing this stuff would be great as well.

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Great job man... Gotta love polishing. Only cost is the labor of love but it makes such a big difference.
 
sxecafe said:
Great job man... Gotta love polishing. Only cost is the labor of love but it makes such a big difference.
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thanks man, i appreciate it. i am certainly walking in the dark on all of this.
this may be a stupid question... probably really stupid... but i noticed your sXe prefix
so i figured i might ask.... know where i can get some vegan riding gloves? yeah i just
lost a ton of cool points i know. crap. haha
 
Hey some Aircraft stripper for the paint on the motor. You can try the spray stuff if you want, but you'll need like 5 cans and still be frustrated with it. Get the big can of it - works so much better.

Do you have a bench grinder in your garage? You can actually fit a buffing wheel to one and get a mirror finish on just about everything.

Bike's lookin good and glad to hear your local shop is so cool!
 
Big Rich said:
Hey some Aircraft stripper for the paint on the motor. You can try the spray stuff if you want, but you'll need like 5 cans and still be frustrated with it. Get the big can of it - works so much better.

Do you have a bench grinder in your garage? You can actually fit a buffing wheel to one and get a mirror finish on just about everything.

Bike's lookin good and glad to hear your local shop is so cool!
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i looked for aircraft stripper at lowes. they used to have it but apparently they no longer do. at least they didnt have any the other day. where can you get it? i can get a bench grinder. what kind of buffing wheel? are there different types?
 
They sell aircraft stripper at any Advanced / Auto Zone. It's somewhere around $22 a can.

I bought the cheapest bench grinder they had at Sears and a loose cotton wheel. Dont know what the technical term is for it but it looks like a couple rags held together by a disc. And get some rouge too - brown and white.
 
Try Harbor freight out off of St. Andrews. They have CHEAP bench grinders, pads, etc etc. They're tools are shit, but cheap as hell and there is a TON of useful stuff out there. Also the K-mart near Jersey Mike's/Auto Zone/rosewood is a nice place for 0000 steel wool, scotch brite pads, and sandpaper (all the stuff you'll need to get that engine looking better). While we're at it, that lawnmower shop next to k-mart is a good source for high quality inline fuel filters. Oh yeah, that autozone has the aircraft stripper you need. But, that stuff is nasty and it f's you up if you inhale it, so def do it outdoors.

Did you ask Mark about the title situation? That man is a motorcycle genius.
 
Spalding said:
Try Harbor freight out off of St. Andrews. They have CHEAP bench grinders, pads, etc etc. They're tools are shit, but cheap as hell and there is a TON of useful stuff out there. Also the K-mart near Jersey Mike's/Auto Zone/rosewood is a nice place for 0000 steel wool, scotch brite pads, and sandpaper (all the stuff you'll need to get that engine looking better). While we're at it, that lawnmower shop next to k-mart is a good source for high quality inline fuel filters. Oh yeah, that autozone has the aircraft stripper you need. But, that stuff is nasty and it f's you up if you inhale it, so def do it outdoors.

Did you ask Mark about the title situation? That man is a motorcycle genius.
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i did ask mark about the title. he has had to use a title service before and said it costs about 150 bucks. i found a dude for 50 bucks out of detroit and my title should be here this week. perhaps i should start a title service business out of my skate shop... 100 bucks! any takers? haha

i have a million year old bench grinder that might work? its been in the yard under a tin roof for the past few years... haha
thanks for all the useful info. ill go grab that 0000 steel wool tonight. do you think the 00 steel wool would be fine on the aluminum parts?
youve really done your shopping around here huh?
 
You'll want to use a couple different compounds I believe. Do a search on youtube and you'll find there are a bunch of good how-to videos. I just do the broke ass polishing jobs... scotch brite & WD-40, then 0000, then more 0000, then oh god more 0000.

Just make sure you have a strong magnet handy to pick up all the steel wool shavings left behind.
 
Sounds too much like work to me.

I always wet sand my way through the grits - working up to at least 1000 grit. Then the brown rouge on the buffing wheel, then onto white rouge.
 
Big Rich said:
Sounds too much like work to me.

I always wet sand my way through the grits - working up to at least 1000 grit. Then the brown rouge on the buffing wheel, then onto white rouge.
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whats your wet sanding procedure? do you use just water and dish soap?
 
Be sure to use a blow drier or something when attaching the fabric - it will help stretch the vinyl.

And no dish soap, just plenty of water. Keep the part clean so you can see any scratches and keep the sand paper clean since it tends to clog fairly quickly.
 
ok cool. im gonna try to get some sand paper tomorrow. what is the best way to get the frame clean? wet sanding? sand blasting?
 
A little hand soap helps to stop the paper from clogging. You are looking for Wet and Dry and not Sandpaper, but you probably already know that.

Steel wool for a satin finish - WD40 as wetting agent.

Wet & Dry and polish mop for liquid metal look.
 
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