busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 I finally bit the bullet and decided to do this project right, and pull the engine. I do EVERYTHING on my own, so I did the proven lay the bike on it's side method... Worked great... 1 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 (edited) Once the engine was out, I wanted to soda blast it and get it back to fresh aluminum. Repaint the top end. Then pull all the covers and polish them back up like new, and check the bottom and top end before I put everything back on with new bolts Edited December 17, 2016 by busa1300 7 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 Thanks... Realizing the tank I had was just too far gone for a ratrod look, I started the search for another 78 tank.... Soon I realized there were non to be found.... On one occasion I had found a complete C model, that was about the same condition as the one I was restoring on craigslist....Except this one had a much better tank He wouldn't sell just the tank, but would take $350 for the whole bike....so that weekend I drove almost 2 hours after arranging to pick it up. I got there and the bike was gone (his story was someone stole it the night before....) Soooo..... After about 5 months a nice clean (externally) 78 C model tank popped up on Eblag....I didn't care where the bid would go, I was going to get that tank, because I was not going to try and buy a whole bike to get one. 2 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 After getting the engine cleaned up and ready, I started thinking I am at a point where I need to decide how deep I really want to get into this. I couldn't put that engine back into the frame and just bolt it back together.....I had gone to far.... It had to be a COMPLETE nut and bolt restomod.....a direction I had never gone before with a bike. So after I got the tank, I became motivated again to get back onto the project and soda blasted my exhaust. No rust anywhere (all those years in a desert) but was scraped up in a few spots and a few small dents.... It looked good....but....not good enough. That was the last straw. This was not going to be a nice quiet stock looking bike, it had to have a header. 1 Quote
nick65 Posted December 17, 2016 Posted December 17, 2016 (edited) Do you want to sell the rusty tank? Edited December 17, 2016 by nick65 1 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 I'll probably just hang onto the tank as decoration in garage.... It really is rusted BAD....holes even in the top, it's still full of scale inside, and any more rust removal will probably turn it to dust. With the renewed interest after getting the blue tank, I thought I'd play around with it a bit to visualize my next move. I had a front end and rear wheel from a 86 GSXR1100, that I wanted to test out on the GS....just to make sure I was going to go with the wire wheels (and decide what to get for tires for the wires) I really liked the GSXR look on the GS, but I needed a bike with wire wheels.....so the GSXR parts went to my GT750 project. 2 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 Collecting more parts for the project A pair of Japanese home market 1994 final edition GSX1100S shocks And a Yoshimura oil cooler from Japanese auction site also... Quote
busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 New tires for the wheels....I made a commitment to the spokes. Avon 150x70x18 and 110x80x18, much better than original sizes .....a bit modern yet oldskool.... 2 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 17, 2016 Author Posted December 17, 2016 I picked up a set of 1983 GS1100E forks and a steering damper off a drag bike for the project.... And I lucked out and found an original paint matching blue tail piece, so it was time for a dry build to see if I was going in the right direction. I also had to put the front end together to figure out how to set up the steering damper. The paint on the frame was OK....but I decided after I welded up the mount the frame needed to be blasted and powdercoated next. 2 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 Yea...... I guess it helps from getting pics deleted..... 1 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 Stripped the bike back down after I welded up the damper bracket, and took it to get sandblasted and powdercoated. Made up a table to work on it, and now I am almost ready to start bolting things back together.....almost.... 4 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 I did say NUT and BOLT restoration.... Something I have seen on fully restored show only bikes.....and wished my bikes could look as fresh But I ride my bikes and have always thought it to be too much work to do every bolt, just to let them degrade with time/use.... Until now... I couldn't bolt the clean new looking engine, into a spotless frame with the bolts looking 38 years old 9 Quote
Rustynail Posted December 18, 2016 Posted December 18, 2016 Looking great, really like the blue and spoked wheels 1 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 The day finally came... Engine going back where it belongs.....I'm finally making some progress here on this I put the engine in the same way I pulled it out.....But I did ask a friend to stop by to help me get it off the floor and back on the table. 4 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 Time to start bolting things back together I'm starting to feel better about all the time and money I've wasted on this now.... 4 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 (edited) Next, I had to get the bike up in the air a bit to get the suspension back up under it. It's almost looking like a bike again PS.....I had to stretch the rear footpeg/exhaust mounts out a bit to clear the GS1100 arm Edited December 18, 2016 by busa1300 7 Quote
strima Posted December 18, 2016 Posted December 18, 2016 She looks fucking lovely, top job!!! 1 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 I soda blasted the GS1100E forks, then stripped them down and cleaned them up. Did a total rebuild with all new seals and bushing, went through the antidive, cut springs and added spacers, then topped off with 15w oil 3 Quote
busa1300 Posted December 18, 2016 Author Posted December 18, 2016 2 minutes ago, strima said: She looks fucking lovely, top job!!! And it finally rests on it's own two feet again...... 6 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.