New Winter project.

MountainMini

Active Member
Got the forks back together. Started with a 3.8oz fill then played with the amount until I got a good feel(didn't need to much). Used a measuring tape and a dipstick with a tape marker for measuring. Made sure both forks had the same amount. I have no way of road testing it at this time. But I will check it again once I have got the bike assembled. The forks have new seals, new top bolts and o-rings and new 15W Motul fork oil.
image.jpeg image.jpeg
 

Junior681

Member
Looking food. Ill soon be filling my 84 shocks and putting back together. The 84s couldn’t be any simpler, hardly any parts to them.
Keep up the good work!
 

MountainMini

Active Member
You did well to get that bottom bolt out that holds the inner fork in the lowers. It can be a real PITA! My last winter project was an 83 (see pic). Pretty sure the same fork set-up. Mine was really stubborn. Other members have also had great difficulty. Nice touch with the black lowers on your project
image.jpeg
 

69ST

Well-Known Member
Pay extra attention to getting that lower bolt properly resealed. I'd suggest allowing both fork legs a few days, after refilling, to sit upright...before installing them in the trees. That way, if you find any seepage, you'll be spared the demoralizing chore of another teardown.
 

MountainMini

Active Member
Cleaned up the 1977 carb. It was the usual mess before I started. All kinds of leftover gas that had solidified and gummed up. Sorry no before pics. Completely took it apart and gave everything a soak in pinesol. Not too long though. Then got to work on it with carb cleaner and a soft brush etc. Made sure I could see light through all the jets. Poked the holes in the emulsion tube with a thin wire (they were all blocked). Finished it of by blowing compressed air through all the jet and holes. Haven't rebuilt it yet. I will buy a rebuild kit soon. Also will be installing new floats (didn't have any when I opened it up). Going to purchase a new float needle and seat too. The screen on the air cleaner side is in a little bit of a mess.
image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
 

MountainMini

Active Member
When I bought this project it was completely disassembled and in bins. It was missing a few things about 90-95% of the bike was there. It was missing all the steering stem hardware and the top bolts for the forks. So I purchased a new set of everything. Went with this steering bearing kit (no loose bearings)from PhatMX. I'll be assembling it all in the next little while.
image.jpeg
 

MountainMini

Active Member
Punched out the old steering bearing races. Then put the new ones in the freezer to shrink up and I'll install them when they are good and cold.
image.jpeg image.jpeg
 

MountainMini

Active Member
I just used a long 12 in. Punch. I sprayed a little PB Blaster inside the column then punched them from the inside out. Working my way around the perimeter of the old race. Took a few good smacks but it wasn’t too bad.
 

MountainMini

Active Member
Packed the new bearings with fresh grease replaced the old races with new ones. Then installed the steering stem according to the directions in the Clymer manual, no sideways or up and down movement, with a new top nut.Just waiting on my new headlight bracket to arrive from CHP. It's in transit. Then I'll finish off the front fork assembly and actually have a rolling chassis

image.jpeg image.jpeg
 

MountainMini

Active Member
The inside of the frame was essentially rust free. The P/O had done a really good job of stripping the original paint (orange) from the frame. With the spot blaster that I have it works good but big jobs it would be more labour intensive. You can get most of it with the spot blaster on the inside of the frame. It’s a little bit of a reach up where the gas tank is. The nozzle has to be pretty close to the frame for the best results.
 

MountainMini

Active Member
I think I paid 15-20$ for my spot blaster which came with 2 bottles of aluminum oxide blasting media. Then I went and bought a big bag of crushed glass blasting media from a place called Princess auto here in Canada which cost me about 12$. I think in the U.S.A. Harbour Freight is the same type of store. Worked real good for me.
 

69ST

Well-Known Member
I think I paid 15-20$ for my spot blaster which came with 2 bottles of aluminum oxide blasting media. Then I went and bought a big bag of crushed glass blasting media from a place called Princess auto here in Canada which cost me about 12$. I think in the U.S.A. Harbour Freight is the same type of store. Worked real good for me.
Crushed glass is fine. I prefer glass beads but, glass bead has gotten expensive for what it is. Used to buy 50# buckets for $20-25, anywhere; now $80+ is common. Crushed glass leaves a bit more of a "profiled" (roughened) surface but not bad; it creates more dust and doesn't last as long. I'd advise against using aluminum oxide. It cuts rapidly, creates little dust and can last quite a while...at a cost. It's around 8.5 hardness and way too aggressive for this application. It leaves a seriously profiled surface and erodes things like blast gun parts, blast cabinet windows and metal parts.

Media blasting a CT70 frameset, properly, is a time-consuming process. Most of the time is spent covering the details...all the little stuff that gets left behind, unseen until you've pulled it out f the cabinet. There are lots of little recesses, especially inside the frame above the engine. Blasting the tank area is "instrument flying"... impossible to see the entire area without a flashlight and that means during the actual blasting session. It's worth the effort, though. Good prep is the foundation of a solid paint job. Inadequate prep is the foundation of...well...disappointment.

Looking good...
 

MountainMini

Active Member
The crushed glass did leave a little bit of a coating, which came off easily with a wire brush. After I blasted, I turned the blow gun on it and gave it a thorough blast of air. Especially in the nooks and crannies. After I brushed it, It also got a wipe down with methal hydrate.

It would be painful to do the whole bike with this spot blaster. Probably take way to long. Great for getting some of the tough areas were the metal has folds and recesses though. Also good for smaller parts. I did a headlight bucket and that wasn’t too bad. The headlight bucket did have some rust and the crushed glass did a good job of getting rid of it.

Aluminum oxide was about a 100$ for a big bag, pricey.
 

Gary

Well-Known Member
Just want to warn you about blasting on the more smoother areas of the sheet metal frame. It might not happen with the small equipment your using but if held in one spot too long like your trying to get all the rust off a pitted area it can heat up the metal and make it warp making it look like it has the hives. Don't ask how I know ;) but the next car I did I took it to Redi Strip- problem solved.....
 

69ST

Well-Known Member
A K1 frameset usually takes me about 3 hours at the blast cabinet, with half of that spent on small, hard-to-reach areas of the frame, small spots that get overlooked until it's out in daylight and stubborn areas. That's using a 10hp compressor...far bigger than even serious DIY equipment. I limit air pressure, to allow fine control and prevent heating the metal.

Glass bead doesn't leave residue and it's gentle on steel, just aggressive enough to remove rust.
 

MountainMini

Active Member
I have a 5 hp-13 gallon-125 psi max-standard duty compressor. It did pretty good to keep up with the spot blaster. Once In Awhile I had to let it catch up with the spot blaster. I limited the pressure to 90 psi as per the spot blasters directions and kept it moving from area to area constantly.
 
Top