Brat/rat first chop

For what it's worth to ya I painted my wheels and am, so far pretty happy. I was using VHT Black Pearl for other trim and accents so I decided I wanted it on the wheels as well. I cleaned them up and squirted the paint then baked them in a 170 degree (F) oven for a couple of hours. Sure, it's not powder coat but it looks pretty good and if it doesn't hold up I'll do powder.
 
I painted the '78 GL1000 Comstars black and then clear over that. Used Duplicolor wheel paint. One tire mounting later they still look good. Really made a difference when I cleared them.
 
Well, everything is disassembled, and I’m waiting on either the seat or the weather to break. I’ve got everything now except for the front break caliper and rotor, the tires and the chain. Here’s everything piled up that will be going on. Hopefully the seat will come in soon so I can hand the frame off. I’m not a welder, and I don’t have a good shop to learn in so I’m getting a friend to fab up the rear hoop and clean up the gouges the po left behind. Left for me to do: the wheels (bearings, tires, paint, maybe new spokes, and truing), the forks (sanding, priming and paint), cleaning up the motor (starter delete, and scrub down), the frame (cleaning up the final welds, prime and paint, neck bearings, and swing arm bearings), reassembly, final wiring (fuse box, switches), sand prime and paint the tank, front and rear brakes.
I’m not expecting it to look like anything special but I am expecting it to be very clean and solid.
The plan has always been to finish this one and start the rebuild on the original motor. I wanted it for a spare motor, but I’m going to end up with enough left overs to just about build a whole other bike. Anyway, one step at a time. I’ll post more as progress is made. As of right now I’m at the mercy of Mother Nature
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Weather is a little better today so I’m charging on. Finished the starter delete on both motors. I tested it out on the first then on the motor I’m using. Didn’t go in beautifully, but it should get the job done. Then I worked on the top triple shave. I’m leaving the ignition mounts so I can add a speedo later on. It should look pretty nice after some sanding and paint. Then I’ve started on cleaning the motor. This thing is a real chore to move around. The S100 works really nice. Now I’m off to the hardware store for some etching primer. Hopefully another update later
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I was able to get the top triple and the fork leg stripped and primed. Took some extra time on the top triple since it’s basically in your face the whole time. Still waiting on my seat, and still procrastinating on my wheels. Once I buy tires I’ll kick it in gear
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Oh, I hear you there..........exactly the way I think, when it comes to stuff like this.

Keep on, keeping on.
 
Ok, so I did one thing I probably shouldn’t have but I’m glad I did. I ordered two seats. One from a Vietnamese company called Texavina and one from a guy in Rhode Island. The Vietnamese seat came in today. I have to say the quality seems better than I expected, and it also came with some extra brackets and doo dads. It also came with an unexpected seat hoop that fits quite well. The seat however doesn’t fit as I had hoped. It’s a little wider than necessary and doesn’t meet the tank well. It’s pretty marginal, but it may be a deal breaker for me. It will work, but it doesn’t pay any attention to detail. Hopefully seat number two from the Rhode Island maker will do it for me. Took some really bad photos in the dark, but open to opinions. Also, the crappy sticker could be throwing it off. Still haven’t stripped the tank, so look past the paint
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Also, this is just me running outside to look at it quickly. So rough mock up is an understatement.



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For what it's worth, for my personal taste I like the first one better, I like the rounded contour more than the flat but that's just me. Both look pretty nice and you've got to do what makes you happy. Use either one and you'll still have a great looking ride.
 
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