“Garage built, shed built”... stable built!

I’ve almost finished the sanding on my swingarm although I’ve been sidetracked a little due to getting myself a bench polisher.

7CEBFCE5-822E-4574-A0EE-EC7FA3B8AE39.jpeg


I snagged the stand off of eBay, from a town not far up the coast for just £15. Pretty happy with that. I liked the idea of being able to get in from all angles.

A5AA7E4C-1AB5-431D-9E0D-C823F2C62FE3.jpeg


So I followed the advice given in the polishing thread in the tech section on the bars I’m using for my build. They’ve been sandblasted and then worked up through various grits with wet sanding.

Only the left and side has seen the polishing mop so far, I used brown compound on a sewn wheel before finishing with white compound on a slightly looser sewn wheel.

2EBD4CCA-E47A-4B3B-B6C4-13871C8B45E3.jpeg


I think I’m happy with this finish? Any feedback would be hugely appreciated as always guys!
 
Like I said I think I’m happy with this finish, I don’t think I want to work through any different compounds to get things any brighter.

Do I just want to use WD40 or similar products to keep clean?

I have Blue Magic but if I use this won’t it brighten the finish?
 
Yes, it will shine it up more, but it will also help protect it. It has wax or some sort of protective additive in it. And then, as Jim said, you can wax over that with normal wax.
 
Not sure what you guys have across the pond... I use Turtle Wax Original.

717457500.g_400-w_g.jpg
 
Blue magic isn't super fine, about the same grit as Caswells white compound.
I like to leave a brush finish on some of my fork tubes using a blue dico wheel then maintain it with Blue Magic. Love the effect.
 
Any of the time I’ve managed to spend in the stable recently has been on the bench polisher, I’m slowly creeping through polishing what I have so far, rather than bore you all with individual photos I thought I’d post a photo when I have a little collection.

I’ve realised I never posted any phots of my swingarm after all the smoothing of metal.

04664C27-E467-4146-9DDD-A4F50478B5A1.jpeg
5D4A5D6E-DD46-4860-8773-187CED2D1181.jpeg
449D5E4A-2F0C-4754-8781-86349E1137E8.jpeg


I still need to figure out where the brake stay bracket needs to be mounted but I think this can wait until I’m at ‘rolling chassis’ mock up stage???

Cheers for looking guys!
 
I still need to figure out where the brake stay bracket needs to be mounted but I think this can wait until I’m at ‘rolling chassis’ mock up stage???

Yup, I'll be interested to see how you deal with that. Not that I intend to bring my TX750 swing arm up to anywhere near the standard you have - probably just have that bracket attached and then a lick of black paint.
 
Yup, I'll be interested to see how you deal with that. Not that I intend to bring my TX750 swing arm up to anywhere near the standard you have - probably just have that bracket attached and then a lick of black paint.


I’m not 100% sure but I’m assuming I need to of mounted the wheel, brake calliper & brake pivot before I can re-attach the bracket?

Slightly annoying if this is the case because I’m dying to move to the next stage with filler!
 
Do you have the old swing-arm to measure off? Did I read that you're gonna use a Cogito disk - do you have the brake arm? I wouldn't think the bracket position is mm critical - it will just affect how the caliper sits, whether it's at exactly 12 o'clock or not?

But I know you want to do it properly!
 
Do you have the old swing-arm to measure off? Did I read that you're gonna use a Cogito disk - do you have the brake arm? I wouldn't think the bracket position is mm critical - it will just affect how the caliper sits, whether it's at exactly 12 o'clock or not?

But I know you want to do it properly!

I don’t have the old one swingarm, I do have the brake arm though and I kept the bracket I removed from the top of the arm.

I suppose I could ask on here for measurements and advice as wether it’s as simple as just fitting the bracket where one would usually sit on a swing arm for a disc brake hub?

I am using Cognito hubs front & rear.
 
Last edited:
Ummm, a lotta forces go thru the brake stay. I'd be one to advocate having the rear wheel stuff mounted, brake stay mounted to that, and the stay bracket mounted to the dangling end of the brake stay. Then, swing the stay into position so that it's other end is at a 90° angle to the axle, the bracket setting on the swingarm. That'll get you the proper position, and the correct angle of the bracket on the swingarm, so that the bracket isn't setting crooked. Try to get the brake stay in a straight line, so that it's not getting side/bending forces, but still clearing the rear tire by at least 1/2". Tack weld it there...
 
Ummm, a lotta forces go thru the brake stay. I'd be one to advocate having the rear wheel stuff mounted, brake stay mounted to that, and the stay bracket mounted to the dangling end of the brake stay. Then, swing the stay into position so that it's other end is at a 90° angle to the axle, the bracket setting on the swingarm. That'll get you the proper position, and the correct angle of the bracket on the swingarm, so that the bracket isn't setting crooked. Try to get the brake stay in a straight line, so that it's not getting side/bending forces, but still clearing the rear tire by at least 1/2". Tack weld it there...

Cheers TwoMany!

That’s exactly the information I was just about to try and search for, I’ll have to curb my enthusiasm to get the body filler on there and wait until I can mock things up properly and see where the bracket needs to be.

When I cut off the bracket I tried to cut it as close to the swingarm/existing weld as I was comfortable too without risking nicking the tubing so hopefully it’s reusable?
 
Heya, BTM.

...When I cut off the bracket I tried to cut it as close to the swingarm/existing weld as I was comfortable too without risking nicking the tubing so hopefully it’s reusable?

Hope so. Think about the fore/aft forces, approaching 1,000 lbs, trying to bend that thing fore/aft, and weld its ends appropriately...
 
I`m also getting ready to relocate the brake stay bracket to the topside of a drum brake swing arm to use a disc set up. I`ve used a .050 cut off wheel to remove the bracket and there is still enough left to weld properly. I assembled the caliper bracket, caliper, brake stay rod and bracket as a unit, made sure nothing was in a bind, then tack welded the bracket in place. 2M has some great advise!:thumbsup:
motor mount 003.JPG motor mount 004.JPG skid plate 001.JPG
 
Any of the time I’ve managed to spend in the stable recently has been on the bench polisher, I’m slowly creeping through polishing what I have so far, rather than bore you all with individual photos I thought I’d post a photo when I have a little collection.

I’ve realised I never posted any phots of my swingarm after all the smoothing of metal.

View attachment 153463 View attachment 153464 View attachment 153465

I still need to figure out where the brake stay bracket needs to be mounted but I think this can wait until I’m at ‘rolling chassis’ mock up stage???

Cheers for looking guys!

When the factory welds are ground down, can this weaken the swingarm in any way?
Or are you only grinding added welds you appled?
 
Back
Top