Hey guys just thought id give you an update on the project since I haven't really been posting that much recently. Once again its at a bit of a standstill with only minor events happening. The most notable of which is that the tank has been stripped and prepped (i will probably have a separate post for this later). Also another magazine has arrived which will eventually be scanned.
When their is more news ill keep you updated but i expect progress to be slow for a little while longer.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Magazine Article: Motorcycle Weekly, May 1983
Thats right I've found another one. You know the drill by know, click on the link which will take you to the high resolution scans.
That would be this link here!
Monday, May 23, 2011
VT250F "Silver" part 16: panels are now painted
Ok so last time we saw the panels they had ben given a coat of primer and a hit of spray putty to get rid of any scratches and dents.
Most of the panels didn't need much work, just a light sand to get rid of any rough over spray. The side covers and rear fairing however did need a lot of work to get them nice and smooth. Using 800 and 600 grit sand paper I basically just concentrated on the areas that needed smoothing over until I could run my finger over and not feel the scratch. This took about 2 hours to get all the panels done, but it was well worth it.
After the panels were sanded they were hit with another coat of primer and then lightly sanded again. This was done to try and get as good a finish as possible.
Once the panels where wiped clean the painting begun. Since I did all the prep work it was Dad who ended up spraying the panels (which is fine by me since he as a lot of experience doing this). Two coats of black where applied and then two coats of clear on top of that. The clear coat was a bit strange in that we didn't thin it out as well as we should have first pass and ended up getting a spiderweb effect. But thinning it out further eliminated this.... to be honest it was kinda cool.
But anyway thats all their is to it, the panels are now painted. All thats left is to strip the tank and then prep and paint it... oh yeah and the mudguard, also need to paint the mudguard.
Until next time.
Most of the panels didn't need much work, just a light sand to get rid of any rough over spray. The side covers and rear fairing however did need a lot of work to get them nice and smooth. Using 800 and 600 grit sand paper I basically just concentrated on the areas that needed smoothing over until I could run my finger over and not feel the scratch. This took about 2 hours to get all the panels done, but it was well worth it.
After the panels were sanded they were hit with another coat of primer and then lightly sanded again. This was done to try and get as good a finish as possible.
Once the panels where wiped clean the painting begun. Since I did all the prep work it was Dad who ended up spraying the panels (which is fine by me since he as a lot of experience doing this). Two coats of black where applied and then two coats of clear on top of that. The clear coat was a bit strange in that we didn't thin it out as well as we should have first pass and ended up getting a spiderweb effect. But thinning it out further eliminated this.... to be honest it was kinda cool.
But anyway thats all their is to it, the panels are now painted. All thats left is to strip the tank and then prep and paint it... oh yeah and the mudguard, also need to paint the mudguard.
Until next time.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
VT250F "Silver" part 15: repairing the gauge housing
When the bike was pulled down we noticed an unfortunately large crack on the back of the gauge housing. Luckily you can pick up a fiberglass kit from most hardware stores so thats what we decided to do.
The first kit we got had a slight problem... in that it was completely useless, the resin had turned bad somehow. But fortunately the replacement can was all well and good.
"yeah its not supposed to look like that"
Now fiberglass repair seems to be a straight foreword process. But I was a little skeptical that the crack could be fixed. That being said the result was better then i thought possible. I would strongly recommend you follow the instructions on whichever kit you purchased and trust it to work. They seem to know what they're talking about.
"the excess was trimmed and made to look neat with a razor blade"
After the repair had finished setting the freshly painted cover was reattached and bingo. Gauge housing finished.
The first kit we got had a slight problem... in that it was completely useless, the resin had turned bad somehow. But fortunately the replacement can was all well and good.
"yeah its not supposed to look like that"
Now fiberglass repair seems to be a straight foreword process. But I was a little skeptical that the crack could be fixed. That being said the result was better then i thought possible. I would strongly recommend you follow the instructions on whichever kit you purchased and trust it to work. They seem to know what they're talking about.
"the excess was trimmed and made to look neat with a razor blade"
After the repair had finished setting the freshly painted cover was reattached and bingo. Gauge housing finished.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
An interesting use of contact paper
Anyone remember contact paper? you could get it in a bunch of colours or clear and use it on your school books so you didn't have the plain colours everyone else had...
Well anyway turns out the previous owner of the rear seat cowl liked the brand paradise but didn't have any of their stickers. So what did they do, cut out an ad from the paper and use contact paper to stick it down of course.
"they went to the trouble of cutting the paper around the letters edge... I thought this was a real sticker"
"I keep thinking of passiona when i see yellow letters :s"
I love finding out things like this, same with the AGIP stickers on "red" its just cool to find out little marks left by others on something I now own. Oh yeah if you know what "paradise" is based of the pictures seen above let me know. Better yet let me know or if if I find out ill let everyone know.
sounds good.
Well anyway turns out the previous owner of the rear seat cowl liked the brand paradise but didn't have any of their stickers. So what did they do, cut out an ad from the paper and use contact paper to stick it down of course.
"they went to the trouble of cutting the paper around the letters edge... I thought this was a real sticker"
"I keep thinking of passiona when i see yellow letters :s"
I love finding out things like this, same with the AGIP stickers on "red" its just cool to find out little marks left by others on something I now own. Oh yeah if you know what "paradise" is based of the pictures seen above let me know. Better yet let me know or if if I find out ill let everyone know.
sounds good.
VT250F "Silver" part 14: prepping panels for paint
Greetings all, been a while I know but the project had to be put on the back burner for a bit. Anyway this post I'm basically going to show the first stage of how the panels were prepped for painting.
The first stage was pretty simple, the panels had any stickers removed, then where wiped down with some paint thinner to get rid of the sticky residue. They where then sanded down to give the etch primer a better surface to adhere too. After sanding another wipe down with paint thinners to remove dust and then they where given a light coating of primer.
Since pictures speak louder then words here they are, before and after style!
Primer revealed a couple of things that need to be fixed mainly a scratch on one side cover and a crack on the radiator cover mounting hole, both of which can be easily fixed.
"the scratch"
"the crack"
Next step will basically be the spray putty, paint and clear coat stage. Later.
"all ready to be painted the darkness that is black... was thinking about camouflage for a bit though"
The first stage was pretty simple, the panels had any stickers removed, then where wiped down with some paint thinner to get rid of the sticky residue. They where then sanded down to give the etch primer a better surface to adhere too. After sanding another wipe down with paint thinners to remove dust and then they where given a light coating of primer.
Since pictures speak louder then words here they are, before and after style!
Primer revealed a couple of things that need to be fixed mainly a scratch on one side cover and a crack on the radiator cover mounting hole, both of which can be easily fixed.
"the scratch"
"the crack"
Next step will basically be the spray putty, paint and clear coat stage. Later.
"all ready to be painted the darkness that is black... was thinking about camouflage for a bit though"
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Optional Radiator Fairings
Bit of a find the other day! I was at the wreckers trying to track down a replacment throttle tube (they didnt have one) disappointed I thought "alright lets see how lucky I am today" and asked if they had the optional radiator fairings. The gentleman behind the counter looked at me and said "what do they look like?" to which I replied "Ummm"... After 10 minutes of searching goolge on my phone I managed to find a pic and then he managed to go out back and find the fairings.
"the reference picture"
Unfortunantly they arent in great shape, one of them is missing a piece on the lower corner and both of them have a bit of light damage where they bolt onto the frame. Luckily the light damage should be fixable, the missing piece however may require some creative thinking... which I havent done yet but I have a bit of time on my hands to work out a solution.
"the result, you can see the missing chunk of the fairing to the right of the picture"
Once again the guys at Two Wheel Wreckers in Osbourne Park, WA came through, If you need some parts and your in the Perth area I cannot recommend these guys highly enough. Go to the links page If you want to check out there website or grab there contact details.
"the reference picture"
Unfortunantly they arent in great shape, one of them is missing a piece on the lower corner and both of them have a bit of light damage where they bolt onto the frame. Luckily the light damage should be fixable, the missing piece however may require some creative thinking... which I havent done yet but I have a bit of time on my hands to work out a solution.
"the result, you can see the missing chunk of the fairing to the right of the picture"
Once again the guys at Two Wheel Wreckers in Osbourne Park, WA came through, If you need some parts and your in the Perth area I cannot recommend these guys highly enough. Go to the links page If you want to check out there website or grab there contact details.
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