polecat

AAAAArrrrrggggggg Just got back from Failing my MOT Rear Back Tyre below 1mm in the center rear back pads less than 1.5mm headlight aim too low advisory long travel of brake lever front and back and chain too loose Anyhoo rather than faff about I just said" Sort it out please" and walked home ! If you leave it where it was MOt'ed then you don't pay for a retest so that was one reason and the other is I did not fancy riding it with a dodgy back tyre Funny thing about the tyre is it was huge tread except bang in the middle where it was Low then there was a big flat spot with no tread so he suggested someone may have had a BIG skid on it at some point Anyhoo at least the alignment was bang on and that had been my main concern Let you know what the bill is when I go pick it up later

I have enjoyed the odd car restoration in my time and this one looks a lot of fun. I would say a BMW like that is worth doing and will be a lot of fun when complete

Big day Tomorrow ...... MOT If (when) It passes I intend to over the next few days Fit New mirrors,Stainless steel radiator guard and tank protector. Just waiting to get it legal and Paint should be Dry enough next week to cut and polish so Any inspections welcoome after next week Fozzie I Hope there will be no more restorations and Mrs Polecat will Double that

Finished off the fazer today and its 20112011 Refitted the Fuel tank parts last night working after dark So I could not really see the bike too well. This morning I put the fuel back in carefully Fitted the old mirrors as the New ones have not arrived and Put the key in and it started first press of the button !! OUT OF THE DARK AND INTO THE LIGHT Few photos of the bikes first journey out of the hanger It still needs a clean (got a bit dusty in the garage) and I am not going to polish it until the paint is about a month old. Spent the rest of the day trying to widen the entrance to the hanger as it is VERY tight

In that case I did not like my number so have changed it TC - 01 Littlecat - 02 Mealexme - 03 iWannaGoFast - 04 Augustburnsred - 05 Stu - 06 mojo - 07 iiisecondcreep - 08 Susieque - 09 techno - 10 Bogof - 11 rennie - 12 yorbandit - 13 Keith565 - 14 whitedevil - 15 Silverspring - 16 nman1 -17 Rebel Rach - 18 Green - 19 GOG - 20 Bonniebird - 21 Throttled - 22 Tango - 24 Boothy - 25 Voodoo - 46 Decor58 - 58 Polecat - 101

Thanks m8 I have relaxed since painting it and worked out the "Flecks" were coming out of my respirator which seems to be breaking down Anyway you can only see them if you use a magnify glass,being overly critical of my own work I have decided to stop using a magnify glass Once I cut it down with compound a bit it will be really nice .... no runs,sags and not too orangy so it could have been a lot worse I am really looking forwards to seeing it on the bike .... but must be patient and let it dry over the next few days

The big day arrived and I must say it has been stressing me out slightly waiting for the right weather and trying to decide which final lacquer coat to use. First off I decided the decals I had put on were not exactly right so I peeled them off and put some diferent ones on Then This morning I did some test spraying with the diferent lacquers I have collected to check for compatibility/drying times ect. The Halfords fuel resistant crazed up when I sprayed over it with a second coat on my test piece which put me right off it. My trusty brand lacquer was like several tins with 20 % left in each so I did not want to risk running out mid flow so I decided to use a Trade brand lacquer I bought (cos it was cheap) I test sprayed my sample and it seemed ok so I bit the bullet and after cleaning over the tank started to spray it. For some unexplained reason some little white flecks were appearing as if by magic on the surface as I sprayed so when I finished the first recoat And it was touch dry I brushed off one of the flecks and it came off (Not sure where they were coming from ) I gave the tank two more light coats of clear lacquer and then hesitated wether to do another but resisted the urge Know when to Stop Anyhow I Left the tank to dry for an hour then moved it into the house (Workshop) to cure a little faster. While I had a spare hour I decided to dismantle the "Spray Booth" and clean up the consevetory which I found Highly satisfying ,Knowing the painting is now finished was quiet a relief actually as spraying in November is a bit Nuts and very stressful ! Here are a couple of pickys of the tank in its final paint (this is the side where the dent was ) It Just needs a rubbing compound and polish next week when its dry ! but I may fit it to the bike first.

TC - 1/2 Littlecat - 02 Mealexme - 03 iWannaGoFast - 04 Augustburnsred - 05 Stu - 06 mojo - 07 iiisecondcreep - 08 Susieque - 09 techno - 10 Bogof - 11 rennie - 12 yorbandit - 13 Keith565 - 14 whitedevil - 15 Silverspring - 16 nman1 -17 Rebel Rach - 18 Green - 19 GOG - 20 Bonniebird - 21 Throttled - 22 Polecat - 23

Today it rained so I was a little put out with my intention of painting the tank so I took it out in the rain and wet and dry sanded it then spent a good 30 minutes putting the decals on Tommorow I really hope to get the final lacquer on as the forcast is fairly good I think my new wing mirrors came today but the Postman decided not to use the doorbell and shoved one of them red cards of doom through the letterbox

Basicaly what you need is a trough full of water at one end of the garage with a canopy which is ducted by a fan and as the air is sucked around the trough it then catches any dry paint in the air and somehow helps maintain a constant dew point (not sure how) You also need Air fed respirator if using two pack paints (as one should to do it properly) Heating should be constant and originatiing from the opposite side to the water trough (pretty sure halogen heaters would be ok as you would get the heat and light ) You need all round lighting really and dust proof walls and ceiling (or polythene sheet stapled to walls and ceiling ect) I Do not intend to do enough spraying to warrent building a spray bay but if I had the space I Might build one for bikes specificaly and Spray bikes for a little hobby / money on the side

No that is about 30 minutes after second lacquer coat ..... Tommorow I leave it dry then the day after I will rub it down with soapy water and 1200 grit wet and dry then Dry it off and apply decals I will then paint it in a further 2 coats of clear lacquer (or halfords fuel proof lacquer ) So got the day off tomorrow This job is all rush and panic or waiting for paint to dry

Thanks for that Wait till you see it cut and polished That may be the stuff I just bought I do not feel confident in it as I said and the more I read, the more likely I will take my chances with fuel spills

Another exciting (stressy) day in the Project ......... Today was dedicated to painting the fuel tank and was not without its problems Firstly when I turned over the fuel tank to paint the top I noticed 2 lines where the undercoat had indented while resting on the washing up bowl so I had to spray some primer into the lid and let it go thick,then I used it as a stopper to fill the two lines and rubbed down when dry. The other problem was when testing the HALFORDS fuel resistant lacquer It "Blushed" as soon as it hit the test piece,this is basicaly where the lacquer goes milky which usually points to the temprature is outside the range of the dew point and the propellant in the tin condensates when it hits the surface. It was never a problem with my usual lacquer same temprature ect so I left it and in about 15 minutes it cleared,so I am not too sure about it (it would take a brave person to spray this on your shiny tank ) I have also heard of many other problems with this halfords lacquer,like it wont dry,it lifts,it yellows,it blisters the paint underneath (Will decide later if I use it or not ) So I finally took the bull by the horns and sprayed on my 3 coats of base coat which went pretty well really so waited about 20 minutes and then sprayed 2 good coats of my usual clear lacquer,quiet heavy as it will have to be Wet and dryed (Wet) to level the lacquer for decals and top lacquer (Halfords or non fuel resistant ) Just a few photos to give you an idea of the Finish, note the paint is by no means totaly flat at this point and the lacquer coat is quiet heavy for sanding in the final stage. I am happy with the result of the dent repair as I could not remember looking at the tank which side it was on so had to look at old photos

While playing with my Fuel tank (waiting for paint to dry) I decided to paint the fairing frame (by hand) I then refitted the front mudguard, Took the light unit out of the old fairing and the indicators then fitted them to the New one. I then fitted the New Fairing to the bike also the inner panels and windshield then connected it all up. BE GONE EVIL BLUE

Today I completed the bottom of the Fuel tank Slight cock up though ...... I decided the only way to paint this ere tank was to paint the underside first then flip it over and do the top when the underneath coats were all dry and finished. I turned over the tank (fortunatly sitting on a washing up bowl ) and the remaining fuel started to leak through the filler hole on the top side (now underneath ) so hoping that petrol will not melt a washing up bowl, I carried on spraying regardless, I made up my mind as I listened to the petrol dripping into the bowl that If I fancied a smoke I should maby go outside First picture : Final undercoat on the bottom of the fuel tank Second picture:2nd base coat applied Third picture : Second lacquer coat Just for Info ..... You must apply the lacquer coat within 30 minutes of the base coat, so plan ahead !

Now that is FUNNY But this thread is for WORST so tango is disqualified

Tank goes into the Spray shop ....... First picture is just to show you my sample piece that I use to spray each coat I do on the real panel, the advantage is you can touch it to know if the real panel is dry and also check for any reaction between coats on the sample rather than your shiney new one. Tank ready for spraying having been really well degreased with spirit and then gone over with a tack cloth 1st coat red primer 2nd coat White undercoat 3rd coat grey primer The advantage of the three diferent colours is if you need to rub down you can see how far you have gone, ie if you see red after rubbing down the grey then your nearly through the undercoats and need to back off Final picture is tank all ready for Base coat tomorrow ....... Fingers crossed ! Btw The Fazer tank is a bloomin tricky shape to paint but I can assure you it is all painted underneath as well !

The grits I used for the tank "dry" wet and dry obital sander for the 80 grit then hand sand 120,180,240 and finally 320 grit. These are some pictures of the dent A-Z So you can see how I approached it. First sanded off the paint to reveal the shape (high and lows) then sand it to key the area to fill tap out the high spots in the top of the dent Cover dent in larger area of fine 2 pack filler leave to dry 3 days sand to shape with orbital using 80 grit hand sand to 180 grit then Spray the filler with red oxcide and as it drys look for darker patches which show holes in the filler Fill said holes with more fine filler and leave to dry rub down again by hand using 120,180,240,320 grit feeling and looking as you go You need to feather the filler well into the metal and also where you remove paint from the tank (as I did where there were some small paint chips ) Dent disapears wet the area with spirit to see how it looks Let it all dry ready for paint

Spraying Tank day ....... I removed the tank from the bike and emptied out the fuel,then took out the fuel filler andI went to work on the sanding including the dent area.

Is is a home built conservetory made from glass and wood with a polycarbonate insulated roof (transparent) So I would class it as a Cold garage with benefits ..... ie It warms up quiet a lot with a little sun on the roof Thanks for the comment on the painting but can I just say that this Project is all about Home painting a bike on a tight buget. Although my painting is going ok it is by no means perfect ! You can make it pretty good once you finish by cutting and polishing, but need to have painted a fairly good surface to use this option. The only way to get a really good spray job is in a heated ventilated booth using a proper spray gun and good quality paint. I am using a makeshift booth with no ventilation and Rattle cans The main thing to remember is this paint job is doomed to fail as far as a proper job goes (lack of temprature control, overspray from lack of extraction, cheap quality paints with a fixed spray patten, lack of space to name a few ) so what I am trying to demonstrate is that Anybody can get an adequate paint job on their bike at home for under £150 I spray painted for a living for about 4 years and I Belive Spray painting is 40% equipment and 30% knowledge(how to fix it when it goes wrong is useful) and about 30% Skill So you are already at a big disatvantage doing it on the cheap to start with If you gain a fair bit of experience playing with spare panels then anyone can acheive acceptable results using this method in a very short time. Once I rebuilt an MGB GT and sprayed it with rattle cans "Old english white" on my drive one summer and it turned out pretty dam good to my amazment

It is certainly a nice day out To Cornwall Your most Welcome anytime

After playing with the mudguard for an hour or so I decided to fit the tail piece to the bike to make it easier to polish (you don't have to hold the panel ) The tail went back nice and easy until I noticed that two "fairing fastners" were missing from underneath (must have come off before I got it ) fortunatly I had just bought a packet of them from hEbay which were exactly the right size although meant for a renault car. I rubbed down the fairing with 1200 wet and dry and once it was dried off I noticed the outside temp was well over 16c so I made a snap decision to slap on the final clear coats (maby a bit rash but I am feeling a bit stressed with the weather situation ) I sprayed a full coat of clear,waited 15 minutes then applied a final coat,waited 30 minutes then rushed the fairing into the nice warm house ! Had to order some bolts for the rear grab handle as they need to be allen type ..... noticed online that the grab handle I bought for £15 on Ebay was £276 on a Yamaha parts site un the UK !! (More evidence of why it was a write off ) Having toyed with the Idea of covering the scatched wing mirrors in Carbon film to make them look posh,I decided to bite the bullet and just buy a new set for £30ish More than enough for today Plan for tomorrow is paint the fairing frame and get the tank sanded down and primered up (at least) Weather outlook ............. Sunny

Today I Started polishing up the panels...... First useing a cutting compound to remove any surface inperfections and then wax to buff it up. I discovered that unlike a car it is hard work doing this off the bike so I have decided in future to do all that polishing stuff when it is all fitted back on the bike For Demonstration purpose I took some photos of the Front mudguard for them that are thinking of doing a simalar job ....

Whats Green and Hard? A frog with a flick knife A man saves his wifes life after a road accident by giving her blood some years later they are going through a messy divorce and she has already had the house and the Harley so he turns to her Lawyer and says" 6 years ago I gave that Bitch my Blood,Now I want it back !!!" At this his wife pulls out her Tampax and throws it across the room landing in his face "there you are you can have it back in monthly instalments" Moral of the story is ........you never get anything out of a woman without a string attached

Stage 6 : What can go wrong and how to put it right