A100-3 Rebuild

paul66 · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2010 11:54 pm Post subject:

Good advice catfish.

P66.

paul66 · Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 1:07 am Post subject:

I'm going to do a little side-project while everything is in pieces.

There is a another thread here discussing the best way to clean aluminium engine case parts. In fact I think every forum has one of these threads.

So, three parts, three methods. These are the before photo's.

If you got anything else you've always wanted to try just let me know. I'm game.

1. Left clutch cover
Method: Straight to polishing. This will all be machine polishing. No elbow grease. A combination of sanding wheels on electric drill and polishing mops on the bench grinder. No chemicals.

2. Left Magneto cover.
Method: Soak in the soup (vinegar=acetic acid)for a week or more. Wire brush every day. Then polish as per method 1. Want to see if the weak acid makes any difference.

3. Right engine case
Method: Chemical warfare. The part is big enough so i'll try a few things. Then polish as per method 1.

(a). paint stripper from the hardware, and oven cleaner from my kitchen. Both of these products are alkaline (ph >7). I wonder which works best. Should also get an bang per buck analysis since both products are essentially the same.

I'm really interested in this one. This is because degreaser is also an alkali, and eveyone has seen aluminium engine cases go to crap once undiluted degreaser hits them. Soooooooo, I've never understood why paint stripper is recommended to clean off clear coatings on side covers. Seems to me that you'll only make more work for yourself having to polish off the oxidation caused by the paint stripper. And I think that may be an oxy-moron...

I am happy to be proved wrong.

(b). muratic acid (HCL). This an acid ( ph<7). I want to see if an acid or alkaline works better. This one I'm a bit worried about. I've got a few old Honda XL cases lying around so I'll experiment a bit before I try it. Dont want the alien blood thing happening. I've got a mate with a pool so I'll get his water testing kit so I can get a measure of the exact PH of each product.

Any Organic Chemists out there?

Paul

paul66 · Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:56 pm Post subject:

Some polishing results. I mucked up the photo's in the previous post, so I'll start again:

1. Left Magneto cover

Method: Mechanical polishing only.

Before:

After 5 mins on 60 grit wheel, and 5mins on 120 grit wheel. You can see the marks from the sanding wheels. All the black marks are from the oil and grease from the inside of the cover. The heat generated by the polishing turned it all to liquid again. It was all over my hands and got on the job. Next time I'll clean it properly first.

After 10mins on 240grit palm sander. Most big wheel marks are gone.

After 20mins on polishing mops. You can still see the bigger cut marks that could be taken out if you went back to the palm sander.

With the NOS cover I bought in place to show how it looks:

Hey thats me!!

2. Left oil pump cover

Method: Soak in vinegar (weak acid), wire brush every day, then polish as per method 1.

I wont bore you with pics. 5 days in the vinegar did nought. Wire brush only took of flaky bits. The only difference in the sanding was that I did a 120grit palm sand before the 240 grit. It took out out more of the big wheel marks. I think it made a difference. Next time I'll do both 120 and 240 for 5-10 mins each.

65mins work:

Method 3: Chemical Ali. Starts on the weekend.

Rest of the project is stalled until I get the frame back. Hopefully tomorrow (Friday) so I can get painting on the weekend.

Paul

paul66 · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:31 am Post subject:

Found this on local Aus ebay this afternoon. A NOS left hand cover. These NEVER come up locally. Odd that it appears the day after I polished mine. Maybe the motorcycle gods are trying to tell me something.

Anyway, kinda dull if you ask me, but then simple minds are attracted to shiny baubles.....

Paul

KirkN · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:03 am Post subject:

Man, you're killing yourself. Hours and hours? Whew. I've polished pieces that looked exactly as bad as yours to begin with. I like chemical stripping of the OEM paint / clear coat, then wet-sanding with 600, 1000, 1500 grit, then polishing wheels with red then white rouge. Not much time at all, really.

Three links where I share the technique that has worked well for me:

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=581992&page=2&highlight=polish

http://www.hondatwins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=618

http://www.hondatwins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=18

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Kirk

paul66 · Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:26 am Post subject:

Must be like falling in love..the hours just seem to float by...

I'm enjoying it at the moment. In fact an hour or so after work in the afternoon is pretty relaxing.

Thanks for the polishing links.

Paul

paul66 · Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:52 am Post subject:

As the wise man once said : "Go Hard or Go Home".

5 hours, no lunch, no beer. The only hiccup was the when I first started spraying. Put some thinners in the pot and sprayed fine. Put in the primer and lasted about a minute before it choked and died. I didn't have much time because I used fast hardener in the mix so I ended up having to use an old gun which spits a bit. When I cleaned the guns later I found that wasps had started building a nest inside the nozzle.

Cleaned and de-greased. A better use for garden furniture than having some slob sit on it and drink my beer and eat my food....

Sanded and taped...

PAINT!!!...well, primer, but I've hit a milestone.

Quick sand in the morning and ready for some real colour.

Paul

paul66 · Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:47 am Post subject:

Was feeling a little blue today.. Maui Blue in fact..

The paint I used was Spies Hecker Permacron. Expensive as sin, but well worth it. It was $A80($US72) for 500ml (1/8th US gallon/17 oz - I think). I dont think I used half. The guy was right when he said I needed 300ml, but I got 500ml to make sure.

This paint is amazing. It flows like honey. Plenty of light coats. You can then blend all the coats to cover up for any mistakes you've made. I reckon I would have used 3-4 rattle tins from the auto shop at $15/can to get the same number of coats, so I figure I'm ahead. And I got the exact colour match. And the paint is still going to be on the bike in 2 years time.

2 Coats of clear over the top.

A quick before, during and after.
Fuel Tank:

A question: I've never sprayed auto paint before. How do you polish it up? Cutting compound first and then auto polish? Any advice would be appreciated,

Thanks,

Paul

CaptCatFish · Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:07 am Post subject:

If its like that I've done (base color coat then clear coat over it), you are done after the final clear coat (other than routine washing and waxing).

If you really want to go for maximum effect, lightly wet sand the clear coat with 1000 grit, clean it well, then spray an additional coat(s) of clear. The show quality cars and trucks I'm somewhat familiar with have as many as 50 cycles of clear, wet sand, clean, next coat of clear.

It looks REALLY good as is. I know I'd be proud of it.................

CaptCatfish

paul66 · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:32 am Post subject:

Thanks catfish. I was a bit impatient this afternoon and picked up the frame a bit too soon. It was still a bit soft in places so now I've got a thumbprint on the frame. It will be hidden by the seat, but at least I can prove ownership if it ever gets stolen.

But to tell you the truth, after cleaning all the oil, grease and crap off all the lower kick stand and cradle pieces today I dont think I want to let it near a public road ever again!!!

Paul.

CaptCatFish · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 1:24 am Post subject:

That's the downside to having a show quality paint job - you never want to ride it for fear of getting it dirty.

I had a Harley Road King that had so much chrome, each hour riding was followed by an hour cleaning and polishing. I sold it and now ride a DR350 Suzuki that hasn't had a bath in awhile.

Of course when I get my Suzuki T500 finished, I may spend a lot of time keeping it clean and shiny. Oh well, I've got to have some release for my obsessive behavior.........

By the way, have you gotten the engine running? How does it perform?

CaptCatFish

paul66 · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:47 am Post subject:

Haven't touched the motor yet. I've got the cylinder back from the machine shop on Friday so I'm ready to go. I dont want to start the motor until I've got a finished rolling frame. If I start the motor I know everything else will stop. Also I'd like to do some polishing on the motor before I put it together.

Here's something for you.

The bloke I bought it from said that he ran pre-mix because he "didn't trust a 40 yo oil pump". I'm a 2 stroke newbie. He said all I had to do was "re-connect a hose". When I pulled it all down I found all the "hoses" were connected, and there was oil going into the carbie like it should. Maybe it would explain all the smoke when it ran.

I've read quite a bit about people running premix and bypassing the factory system, but how do they do it? The Suzuki CCI system seem pretty simple. If you take the inlet from the carbie, where does it go? I havent pulled one of these pumps apart, but if they are anything like the Honda cam-driven pumps there isn't much to go wrong. I'm also guessing that the fuel mix is the last of your problems if the pump dies. At least on the A100 there is a couple of big-end bearings that might get a touch noisy.

Paul

CaptCatFish · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:16 am Post subject:

Every thing that I know and have read about Suzuki's CCI oiling system is that it is totally reliable and provides oil to crank bearings that can't get there any other way (i.e., premix does not get to them because of the crankshaft seals). So pre-mix does little to ensure the crankshaft is properly lubricated and is generally not advised.

If it were mine, I'd make sure the oil pump is injecting oil into the crankcase by disconnecting the oil line banjo connection at the cylinder base for a moment while its running to see if oil is coming out. You'll probably need to "bleed" the oil line between the oil tank and pump to get all the air out.

Note: Most Suzuki manuals advise AGAINST dis-assembly of the pump and recommend replacement if the pump is at all suspect.

I did all the things I've discussed to my T500 and the oil pump is doing its job very well. I trust it completely and will not run premix. Otherwise you will get lots of smoke and fouled spark plugs.......

CaptCatfish

paul66 · Posted: Mon Sep 13, 2010 3:24 am Post subject:

Yeah, it was the plugs!!!.. Smoke I could sorta handle, it was the crappy plug. This whole thing started after I had my daughter on the bike and it died in a paddock and had to nearly carry it back up the hill.

Paul

paul66 · Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2010 2:37 am Post subject:

I'm at the stage where I need to think about stickers and emblems. I need:

1. Round "S" emblems. I've done the usually web searches. Just wondered if any has bought any and where did they get them from.

Found these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Suzuki-A90-K90-AS50-AS100-B105-KT120-Emblem-Fuel-Tank-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem35a939d185QQitemZ230472405381QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

The quality looks a bit ordinary. Also a bloke in Australia does them, but cant find his site. They all seem to run about $50 delivered.

2. Stickers.

Need LHS cover:

RHS Oil Resevoir. I have no idea what I need. The only thing I've got to go on is this blurred image from the brochure from suzukicycles.org

I'm hoping I might get a better idea from this 1970 Suzuki sales brochure I bought from ebay. I wont give the link because I'm embarrassed what I paid for it.

To make me feel better I'm going to ask my brother, who lurks around here, to pull it apart and see if can mount and frame some good pictures out of it.

Thanks,

Paul