Jim's 1980 SG Miss September

[Jim]

Tank Paint.... continued.
First off, I kept referring to the primer yesterday as epoxy. It's not, its a 2 part urethane primer sealer. Anyway.... just thought I'd throw out a few pointers on prepping for the topcoats. You'll remember that the tank was stripped to bare metal and then I bondo'd the dings I could see or feel. But bare metal isn't the best medium to detect defects. Primed the tank yesterday and 3 dings stood out like sore thumbs on the gloss primer. There were more.... The way to find them is to take some 400 paper and a block of wood... yeah, block sanding. You do it dry and just lightly hit it to knock off the high spots...

I'd already laid some glazing putty in the 3 dings I'd found yesterday.

As I sanded them down, other depressions appeared...

The red arrow is a depression unseen just above the obvious one. White arrow is another. On the black circle the 2 bare metal spots sanded on either side of the putty means that whole area is depressed slightly. The white circle is a shiny spot that the paper didn't touch. Yup another ding. More putty, then back to the block sanding....

Contrast that with the left side and the top. A light sanding and no shiny spots. Perfectly straight.

After all the putty is good, I'll reshoot them with a thick coat of primer, then repeat the light block sanding to see if I missed anything... then the whole tank gets wet sanded with 600... and it'll be ready for paint.

This folks.... is why a quality paint job ain't cheap.... many time consuming steps.

 

[2XSive]

When I painted my tank and side covers earlier this winter, it was maddening how many times I had to sand and re-prime. Each time would seem to uncover another small ding or low area. Patience and persistence definitely pays when you want a good paint job. Then just when you think there is a perfect clearcoat laid down, bam, a bug or dust particle shows up....more wet sanding, rinse, repeat.....

 

[shawnkva]

Jim,
What are you spraying the paint and primer with? HVLP?

 

[Jim]

Jim,
What are you spraying the paint and primer with? HVLP?

Yeah..... gravity feed.

 

[shawnkva]

Thanks Jim. I may change my mind and give it shot myself. That will be another $400 - $500 in my pocket for other parts.

 

[Jim]

More Tank...
Got all the glazing smoothed out. Shot a coat of fill primer on it for the last of the pinholes. I'll sand most of that off just prior to the sealer coat. 35° and light snow today, so... yeah, no painting today. Supposed to get back to the 60's Tue.

 

[MaxPete]

Yup - coming down cats and doggies here too - and cold.

 

[2XSive]

Jim - this is off topic of your paint job. I have a couple questions. I noticed you switched to pod filters. Did you re-jet your BS34's? I plan on doing the same and checked Mike's. They have main jets but I didn't see any pilot jets for the BS34, plus they don't look to be genuine Mikuni. Mine are running stock jets now (132.5 main / 42.5 pilot). Searched this forum for the best source for genuine Mikuni jets, didn't seem to find a good source. Any advice?

 

[gggGary]

Jim - this is off topic of your paint job. I have a couple questions. I noticed you switched to pod filters. Did you re-jet your BS34's? I plan on doing the same and checked Mike's. They have main jets but I didn't see any pilot jets for the BS34, plus they don't look to be genuine Mikuni. Mine are running stock jets now (132.5 main / 42.5 pilot). Searched this forum for the best source for genuine Mikuni jets, didn't seem to find a good source. Any advice?

Been happy wit dees guyz http://www.nichecycle.com/ncs/categ...-category/jettting-tuning/genuine_mikuni.html ship fast and just charge first class parcel rates for small orders like $3 shipping for a handful of jets

 

[Jim]

I got my jets from Niche Cycles. They're genuine Mikuni parts.
I bumped my mains to 135... figuring it would be a good baseline to start with. In retrospect.... with the Commando's and pods, maybe I should have started up one more size and one up on the pilots. Anyway.... won't be long now and I'll know where to go from here.

 

[2XSive]

Many Thanks!

 

[2XSive]

Sorry for the pestering. Ordered some jets - great website and bookmarked it. Now, thought it best to double check and confirm which Unipods to order. Looking at these.....do they look right or is there a better source? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OO0X9A/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[Jim]

I'm probably not the guy to ask about the pods. I paid way too much for mine. Thought I ordered 2 for a "certain price." Turns out that price was for just one.

 

[2XSive]

I'm probably not the guy to ask about the pods. I paid way too much for mine. Thought I ordered 2 for a "certain price." Turns out that price was for just one.

Understood. Thanks. Did some further research and looks like these will work better and a bit less expensive: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GZMZKC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A1TFBK3C7LO58P&psc=1

 

[Jim]

Well, been ponderin' this for a while now.... Buddy of mine has been pestering me for ages about the SG. He's offered me a stupid amount of money for it... more than I can pass on. He's coming to pick it up tomorrow.

 

[gggGary]

WHAT???


Hey I got an idea; you should build an XS with "isolastic" engine mounts.

PS I ain't "liking" that last post of yours!

 

[Jim]

WHAT???


Hey I got an idea; you should build an XS with "isolastic" engine mounts.

Yeah... was thinkin' that's next. Prolly start back on that one this weekend.

 

[gggGary]

You know it's kinda traditional for the builder to ride his creation for at least a "Little" for -ahem testing and quality control purposes.

 

[azman857]

Well. It looks like he's funding the next new and improved project bike.

 

[GLJ]

Well, been ponderin' this for a while now.... Buddy of mine has been pestering me for ages about the SG. He's offered me a stupid amount of money for it... more than I can pass on. He's coming to pick it up tomorrow.