Back to the Future Build - Honda CJ360

[Bullet]

A few issues...

The seat needs reinforcement. The gauge of sheet metal is not strong enough to completely support my weight
and deflects slightly. Its not terrible I just need to transfer my weight to the frame better in the center. I am
going to use some bar steel to make a skeleton for the seat.

I am having trouble getting the rear cowl section to maintain shape. Plus I can't get the bum stop section to match
the cowl section. In particular at the top curve of the cowl. I don't know If I should just get the shape of the rear
cowl to where I like and then make another bum stop section? or use the bum stop section I have and make a new
rear cowl? or salvage both pieces I have? It doesn't help I don't have access to any real metal shaping eqiupment
and can't weld. Any suggestions?

 

[Bullet]

Wow I just got the over 30 day posting warning. Pathetic. Well I have been working just slowly over the last month.
Created A lot of unnecessary work for myself, so that was enjoyable. Here come the updates.

 

[Bullet]

This is the frame I cut to reinforce the seat I had made out of galvanized sheet.
The extra work made me a bit mad at first but not so much anymore. I figure I
can reuse it to make a really good fibreglass seat in the future if I want.

The yellow and red lines indicate the frame rails

Now I just needed to find somebody to help me weld it all together.

 

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In the meantime, I thought I would prep my tank and side panels for paint.

First step was to strip the old paint. I usually just scuff the paint sufficiently to get good adhesion but I thought
I would try a chemical stripper this time round. Turned out to be a TERRIBLE IDEA

Tank and supplies

Pre-sanded all the parts as per the paint stripper instructions

Paint stripper doing its thannng

This is where things went downhill...

 

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Even with a good scraper and multiple applications I just found the paint stripper was not doing a very good job.
On top of that I started noticing a lot of filler. I reverted back to sanding. I started sanding the entire tank to
get down to bare metal. When I was done there was a mountain of bondo dust around me and fist sized dents in
my gas tank. Needless to say I was bummed.

I brought a magnet with me when I was originally looking to purchase the motorcycle. I was told that it won't stick
to areas where filler has been applied. When I checked the bike I thought the tank was in great shape because it stuck everywhere.

Maybe I used too strong of a magnet. If I had of stuck to my usual method I could have continued to believe my
tank was in great shape and been completely oblivious to this damage. Instead I have to add body work to the
"to do" list.

To pull the dents out I realized I STILL needed someone to help with the welding

 

[Bullet]

I didn't want to just sit around while I was waiting for help with the welding. I tried to keep busy.

After recent frustrations I thought I would do some idiot proof work. Here is some cosmetic work..

Shake and spay facelift for the controls. Flat black came out nice.

Prepped with 400 grit then added some highlights with model paint enamel and a steady hand