Brat/rat first chop

[irk miller]

Hey Irk, I noticed the hand-powered drill on the wall in your second photo. Are you Ichiban Moto's secret identity?

Hahaha. That belonged to my great-grandfather. I actually have furniture that he built with that drill.

 

[SquidHunter]

Lol@all. I’m certain there must be something wrong with us, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m definitely telling the wife irk gave me the idea, when she comes home to my rebuild on the dining room table. I can see it now “What!? I put down a layer of cardboard”


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[SquidHunter]

Got a little bit done before it started storming. Working on the wheels.

They are the 48 spoke 16” wheels. Haven’t found a viable replacement rim in the 48 spoke so I’m going to suck it up and make it work. First of all I need the hub separate for paint. PO just painted everything assembled.....terrible job. Also, flat black..... not good for spokes. I’m going with high gloss, and I’m going to leave the spokes metal.

After separating the hub, the angle grinder made quick work of cleaning it up

Tried an angle grinder clamped in a vise for the spokes, but it’s dangerous and labor intensive

Back to the drawing board on the spokes and nipples. I’m going to try some airplane stripper and see if that works


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[Jimbonaut]

Dude. You need the Jimb-O-Matic spoke cleaner. It's a highly specialized piece of kit, but essentially involves clamping a drill in a vise, sticking the spoke in the drill, turning the drill on and then run some wire wool or scotchbrite up and down the spoke. I cleaned up all the spokes on my last CB build that way, worked a charm.

Not sure if you can see much in the pic (ta, Photofucket) but you'll get the drift...https://www.dotheton.com/index.php?threads/montreal-manchild-with-an-81-honda-cb750k.72170/page-24

 

[SquidHunter]

Nice! I may try that. After stripping the paint, there’s a fair amount of rust. I may end up replacing them. We’ll see


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[SquidHunter]

It only took a couple hours with a drill and 800 grit. They came out alright. There’s a little bit of pitting, but it should work for now

Thanks for the tip!


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[Jimbonaut]

Look great, nicely done. Mine were really beaten up and the nickel plating was really roached - the sanding will likely remove the plating so you'll want to prevent these from rusting further. I 2K cleared mine and they came out aces.

 

[SquidHunter]

I was thinking of clear coating them. There are some spokes that are pretty rough. Hopefully I’ll have a new pair of wheels built by later this year, but these should do for now. I think they’ll look fine laced up


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[Maritime]

Wonder if the Caswell plating system would be worth a look to re-plate the spokes?

 

[SquidHunter]

I’m not sure, but their tank liner is amazing


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[3DogNate]

Wonder if the Caswell plating system would be worth a look to re-plate the spokes?

It'd work... but the labor vs buying new spokes and nipples. No way.

 

[Rider52]

Rustoleum makes a stainless steel appliance paint. I've painted some parts with it. It is durable and leaves a nice finish. They also make a professional stainless cover but I have not tried it. I think spokes would look good using the appliance paint.

 

[irk miller]

A set of high quality stainless steel spokes and nipples from Buchanan is in the range of $100 - $120 for a 36 spoke wheel. MikeXS sells the XS stainless spoke kits for $75 per wheel. I question all the effort and expense of buying stuff to plate or coat or polish when getting something that will never rust again is really not that expensive. I used to go through the effort before I realized I was killing myself for not much in return.

 

[whynot]

I second Irk, SS spokes add a nice look.

 

[Jimbonaut]

Sure, but then you don't get to experience the thrill/terror that is the Jimb-O-Matic restoring method, threatening at all times to send a spoke at 1000rpms into your armpit.

New vs restored. Always a trade off.

 

[SquidHunter]

I’m back on a mission. Painting the rear hub/brake drum today, and the swing arm/brake stay. I’m almost finished with the components. Just waiting on the frame and wheels will surely be last.... unfortunately


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[SquidHunter]

Pressed the needle bearings today. Slowly chipping

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[SquidHunter]

Cockpit is coming together nicely. Swapped out the fork caps. Didn’t realize the factory ones had preload adjusters. That explains the unexplained stiffness in the front end. This should be a much nicer ride. Fork oil was perfect

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[SquidHunter]

Here’s an idea of what it will look like. I’m a very visual person, so I employed my boy to help. Shortened the handle bars by one inch each side. Still looking for the clutch lever.

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[SquidHunter]

Retapped all the holes, so the stainless hardware would glide smoothly


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