| Author | Message | ||
     Jumbo_petite |
Thanks and diagram makes perfect sense | ||
| K12pilot |
Ok gents the wheels of progress are moving right along. I had the carpets cleaned at my house today and one of the guys & I got to talking....since I had parts laying everywhere. He turned me on to a powder coater less than 5 miles from my house. No shipping, no driving, no tolls. I took a ride out to talk to them & check out the operation. I was pretty impressed with the work I saw completed & in different stages of the operation. He gave me a good price, and he can do it sooner than I was planning on but I'm happy to get it started. But with all the rattle can primer & paint that is on the frame I can't tell for sure if it is a gloss or satin finish?? I am thinking gloss but don't want to make that mistake. Anyone have any hi res pix of their frame?? Also this is my first time using powder coating, from those experienced, do I need to do to to prep it for them, to have everything go smooth including re assembly?? I am going to source out head bearings and races tomorrow, I figure I would install the races prior to coating...he will tape them off before spraying, I don't think I want to be pressing races in after the fact. Pls correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks, Chris | ||
| Bgbrd |
You might want to reconsider installing the head bearings prior to powdercoating as the frame will be heated to something in the area of 350 to 450 degrees. This may alter the hardness of the bearing races. If the frame is already powder coated the Old powdercoat will be very hard to remove with sandblasting and is better to be chemically stripped then blasted. See if your powder coater can do this for you. It is a good idea to block all threadeed holes and bearing recesses also. Very interesting Buell. You are the custodian of a piece of Buell history. Good luck with the restoration. You'll find all you need to know right here. | ||
| Davegess |
Those RS frames were PC, all threads blocked before spraying and bearings in after. | ||
| K12pilot |
Thank you Gentlemen!! You all continue to be a GREAT resources!! Gloss black finish??? Thank you, Chris | ||
| 1313 |
Gloss black finish??? Most indubitably, gloss! Now there are many levels of gloss, but a good match would be to Harley frames of the era. The chain guard was actually a straight up Harley part, so if you got one that's in good shape - whether it's one that came with the rest of the parts or if it's one you picked up for the rebuild - that should be able to be used as a guide. Thanks for bringing something enjoyable to BadWeB! 1313 | ||
| K12pilot |
Well it's off to powder coating, polishing & plating...1 week for Powder coating & 2 wks for polishing & plating   A little forensic mechanics & I got my color mach.... Well not really.. when I heated the races to knock them out the VIN sticker came off..  Question of the day... What did HD apply to the bare aluminum castings to protect them?? It seems like they clear coated the engine side covers & rocker box covers.    And/or what was done to the inside webs of the side plates?? The side plates as you know, have a grayish paint?? idk between the polished raised surfaces. My S2's side plates.  I am having all the castings bead blasted, and I want to keep them from oxidizing to crap. but also want to keep it authentic. Thanks AGAIN Guys, Ride Safe, Chris | ||
| Greg_cifu |
WHOA, slow down there! Don't go bead blasting all that stuff right away. First off: aluminum oxidizes...that's what it does when it's exposed to oxygen (water, air, wherever). Bead blasting will look good for a little while but, all it really does is expose all the fresh aluminum underneath AND put billions of micro-scratches to hold moisture that will just oxidize again. You want to do the least material removal and damage, while restoring the color and texture of a cast aluminum part. Also: you'll never get those polished, raised areas right again once they've been bead blasted. There is no gray paint on any of that. That's just the rough, as-cast finish that was probably blasted at one point in the production process. That's why it all looks the way it does (bike doesn't appear to have had the greatest of care). After the castings were cleaned and blasted, the raised portions were machined smooth. The only way to reproduce that would be to machine away more material (don't want to go there). You might consider some other lighter media for blasting, like walnut shells. Make it clear that you don't want the polished areas blasted. They could mask them and keep them away from the media, then be hand-polished afterward. | ||
| K12pilot |
Greg, I got you & agree on all points.. I just sent him an email to hold off for now. I did tell him to mask the polished areas. Oxidizing I understand.. it happens immediately on aluminum!! There has had to be a coating of some sort on these parts otherwise they would look like crap very fast. I agree it WAS blasted after the casting, there is no way it is raw casting. Any type of blasting I believe would leave the surface venerable to oxidizing, hence needing a coating of some sort... The bike has been sitting in a garage in boxes for 5-6 years in Daytona Beach Fl. So I would agree it was not in the best of care. What do you think the best direction would be to restore these parts. Especially the side castings. Thanks, Chris | ||
| Greg_cifu |
We certainly have people here who were there when the bikes were built so I will defer to whatever they say. My experience is with my unrestored '92. I don't think my bike had ever been hose-washed before I bought it and I know nothing was 'restored'. I found no coating of any kind of any of those parts.  I haven't done anything to the plates on the RS, though I did clean up the ones on the S2. I removed them and used some of the mild acid wheel cleaner on them, with a stiff nylon brush. Once they were uniformly shiny and bright again, I machine polished the finished edges. This--of course--dirtied the rough areas again. A mild detergent bath removed the rouge and they looked great. | ||
| K12pilot |
Understood. I guess this phase of the restoration will be halted till further investigation reveals more intel, which for sure will slow progress. Your pic does bring up another question... I have saved as many pix of the RS & RSS I can get my eyes on for reference purpose. I see that your foot peg is in the lower/front position.. mine are in the rear.. It seems the RS were in the front hole while the RSS were in the rear. | ||
| Greg_cifu |
I noticed that in your photos as well. Witness marks are everything. It's hard to tell from the photos. Do you see ANY marks on the front or back side of the plates to indicate if the forward holes had ever been used? Yes, RSS got the rear position and RS got the front one...probably as much for passenger foot clearance as anything (no passenger pegs on the RSS). If you look at the RR1200 and first gen RS1200, you'll notice the same thing. If that rear bodywork is indeed factory stuff, I'd be shooting for as accurate a restoration as possible. That would include footpeg position. If there are no marks on the front holes, that's how I would leave it. Just my opinion... | ||
| K12pilot |
I am SHOOTING for a factory restoration. Body work will be the longterm issue I will have to investigate & deal with to determine originality. I am in the process of tracking down the lifeline of this bike.. NOT easy. I figured foot clearance as well.. No marks on rear side..  | ||
| Brother_in_buells |
maybe it could be some clear anodize!? | ||
| Steeleagle |
In the pix of your mockup, the left peg appears to be in the front position. Mistake at the time? Also, I noted that you appeared to have assembled the rear brake cylinder a couple of different ways. Here's a picture of how I received mine. I say it in that way since I ASSUME it is factory mounted with the long connecting rod and extra bracket.  | ||
| Greg_cifu |
Now THAT'S odd. Your RSS has an integrated reservoir? I've never noticed that on other bikes but, I haven't spent much time looking at RSS details. | ||
| Steeleagle |
I have to believe that mine was someone's afterthought, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I just checked my parts manual and there's only one brake cylinder listed and all magazine test articles I have with pictures show the same cylinder (and mounting) as the RS. I'd say mine is an aftermarket. (Note to self!) | ||
| K12pilot |
Steeleagle, Good eye, I did put the left peg is in the front position, must have been real late. I went through my pix & it seems both holes were used at some time on the left side. Rear position showing the most wear. I didn't know where the rear cylinder should be mounted at the time so I was just moving it around to keep it out of my way. The rezzi hose was real long & the clamp didn't seem to line up in any realistic spot. That master cylinder on your bike seems original factory. Here is a pic of another bike I am working on getting in Colorado. An RSS also.  I see RSS bikes mounted with BOTH setups....IDK??   BORROWED PIC^^^ Anyone have any more input on my casting restorations?? Potential progression has screeched to a hault.. Thanks. Ride Safe (Message edited by k12pilot on March 17, 2013) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Toothbrush, Mother's, and patience... | ||
| Essmjay |
Maybe a soda blaster. | ||
| Azrael_cervale |
Any chance we can get pics of the back side of the bodywork? Specifically where the air cleaner should be and where the rs backrest would mount. Curiosity is killing me. | ||
| Steeleagle |
OK. I guess we determined that RSS editions DID come with a rear MC with integrated reservoir from Wisconsin. I took some lousy phone pix of mine, but K12Pilot's pix of OWNER bikes trumps the test bike AND parts manual and my pix won't add any value, other than additional confirmation. | ||
| K12pilot |
Body panels, left & right side respectively..   Here you can see where the air cleaner cutout was to be..  Inside tail section..  Ride Safe, Chris | ||
| K12pilot |
Stripped & ready for powder...   | ||
| Greg_cifu |
Any 'after' pictures? Man, you aren't wasting any time at all. | ||
| Kc_zombie |
Love the angular construction of the "old school" swingarm! | ||
| Bgbrd |
Also note early Buell frames had coped joints and were tig welded by hand. The S2s had less coping and the S3s had almost no coped joints and were mostly robot welded. I also didn't know the RS frames had a main frame and a subframe. | ||
| K12pilot |
A rolling project gathers no moss... Friday will be 2 wks into the build. I have been off the past 8 wks..winter vacation  It is going to all end soon...gotta get back to work  nxt thurs...Maybe...so this will slow me a bit. Snowmobile season ended for me the week I got the bikes. So I have had time to run around & get to the point of some down hill momentum with the project. Polishing & plating should be back next week sometime. The motor is on my bench awaiting parts, heads & cylinders are out getting freshened up. It's Christmas again Enjoy..  Crummy light in my basement..sorry Absolutely Stunning finish!!    I hand polished all the billet, first pass...  The trees have a coating on them...Idk clear anodize... They cant be polished. They will remain as is. I am going to leave some bits and pieces of "character patina" here and there. The Primary, Cam, & rocker box covers were also clear coated at HD, they will be polished...no choice here. No way to get a uniform Satin finish on them. I am WAY to OCD to have "grain" going in all diff directions. I decided to hand polish the wheels also, here is the first pass..  I have determined that the "castings" were polished to some extent. Adjuster plate on left was hit slightly with mothers BILLET polish & some water.  I picked up some fine walnut shells for the large castings That's tomorrows project to see what can be done with them.. Ride Safe, Chris | ||
| K12pilot |
Sunday morning update... So the warehouse I did the mock up is my buddies OLD chocolate factory. Him & I are Squatters in it, He is restoring a 74 BMW 2002 & I mess with all my "toys" there... But at his NEW factory.. He has an awesome set of tools  OK so the castings came out GREAT!!! Blasting media recipe 25# fine walnut shells & 2 double hand fulls of black balsting sand. The walnut shells were going no place I added some sand & wala...perfect blend of abrasive & polishing.   I discovered a small crack in the iso casting so I cranked up his tig than his brother hit it with the milling machine   almost perfect.. you won't see it from your house  The side plates CAME BACK TO LIFE  you can see the easter bunny mold frame in this pic^^  Ride Safe Chris | ||
| Ratbuell |
VERY nice work!! |
