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20 July 2008 | I haven't made much progress in the last week. I have managed to destroy a brand new pair of "mechanics" gloves with carb cleaner, and burned through 2 cans of carb cleaner on 1 carb! Bill from NALOC just mentioned to me that he may be able to throw the carbs in the ultrasonic sink, and save me some time, that would be extremely helpful. I finally found some tires that I can throw onto it, that was some painful research, but Pirelli makes a set that will fit perfectly. I found out from Les Schwab that they will turn my rotors on their lathe for about $30 a pop. I don't know if it is necessary, but with the bike being as old as it is, I figure that I should probably do it. I took the airbox and battery off of it today, and realized that I am in for some serious work when I attempt to rewire that thing. There are wires EVERYWHERE!! My grandfather, who gave the bike to me, got me a little concerned. Last week he warned me that the engine may be seized, and I really did not want that to be the case. As it turns out, after pulling the spark plugs, putting the bike into gear, and turning the rear wheel, the engine isn't seized!!!!! It actually turned quite nicely. And it was fairly easy to do. Well, that is about all I have for this update, hopefully I will make some good progress soon.
14 July 2008 | Well, the muscle car that was being stored in my garage, was given back to the owner yesterday. This freed up my garage to start some work. To begin with, I pulled the seat off, tank off, and this freed up the carbs. I didn't know where else to start, so I pulled the carbs off, and thought that I could just clean them up a bit. Boy was I wrong!! After spending all day, a full can of WD-40, and about 4 SOS pads, I have one of the two carbs ALMOST cleaned. WOW!! That was a chore. I am happy though that I was able to completely disassemble a carb, and reassemble it properly. The jets are all still plugged, and I still cannot get the slides to move. I am gonna have to get some good carb cleaner and keep working to free those things up. Hopefully it happens soon.
13 July 2008 | Yesterday, I discussed with my step-dad (35 yr mechanic, and avid motorcyclist) the best way to go about the restoration process. We come to the conclusion that I should powder coat the frame, swingarm and wheels. We also decided that a good silver paint job, with painted in pinstripes and a good deep clear coat should do the job for the body work. I am not sure what I should do for tires as the size that will be required is rather small, and not really in use anymore. That is one that I will have to think about for a while. I wish I could start tearing the bike down, unfortunately, there is a gorgeous 1969, fully restored Mustang fastback in my garage. Hopefully, that will get moved to it's owners garage shortly. Well, that is all I have for today boys and girls. Keep checking back as this will get updated quite regularly.
10 July 2008 | Well, today marks the first of many days of my restoration process. I have contacted a few people about parts and suppliers. I have also come up with a baseline plan for the restoration. As you can see on either side of the page, this is what the bike looks like shortly after delivery.
