fancyketchup
Condiment Enthusiast
I posted this on another XS forum, but thought I would put it up on here as well. Ive been working on this project since I got back from overseas in January. Ive named it PMPN8EZ(pimpin aint EZ). Its a 78 that I decided to "Triumphize". I really like the new retro Triumphs but I didn't want to spend the money. I was stupid and didn't take any before pictures of the bike when I got it home, but here is one that looked exactly like it(just nicer):
At first I was just going to clean it up and ride it all summer... but then as I started to replace maintenance parts I ended up with this:
So, I decided that I was going to go all out and I sent out my frame for sand blasting and powder coating. I also purchased a Harbor Freight powder coating kit and a kitchen oven off of craigs.
When it came time to do the wheels and swingarm, the oven was obviously not big enough so I made one that I had seen on this forum. It consisted of a roll of sheet metal, heat gun, foil, a cut up cardboard box and some hammers:
A friend of mine dubbed it the EZ bake oven. It worked great, I stuck an oven thermometer in it and got a reading of about 380 deg after 10 min. So I then used some bookshelf mounts and some all thread and proceeded to powder coat my wheels and swingarm:
I purchased stainless spokes and some semi-offroad avon distanzia tires for a "scrambler" look and had them relaced mounted and balanced at Woodys Wheel Works here in Denver:
At this point I cleanup up the engine painted the lower casing and installed all stainless hardware. I plan to eventually rebuild the motor powder coating as I go along. Its so amazing how much easier powder coating is than painting. An once the part cools from the oven it is ready to install, no curing time. Plus the fact it is way superior in durability. Anyways, after I started to get most of the bike put back together, I installed new tapered bearing in the steering head and needle bearing swing arm bearings. I removed the electric starter motor(didnt work) and plugged the hole in the block. I rebuilt the forks with progressive springs and installed new rear shocks:
Then I mounted the tires and started reinstalling parts. What I didnt realize was that every part that wasnt powder coated looks like pure crap. So I ended up powder coating every bracket, engine mount, and peice of metal that I could. I also installed a new nickel plated 530 oring chain and sprockets.
Oh, and yes, I am lame enough to put PMPN-8EZ on the pedestrian slicer(front license plate):
Next up was painting, I decided to go for a british racing green from a Jaguar. Everything was going great till the wire I was using to hold the tank up snapped ruining my paint job. Everything else turned out great though and I will be repainting the tank this weekend.
Sorting out wiring and getting ready to re-do the tank after I messed it up:
Resprayed the tank, applied decals:
This is the semi finished product, Ive ordered my fishhead big brake kit and will be ordering my pipe soon. Ill be riding it for a while like this:
I know its dirty, Im waiting about a month for the paint to fully cure before detailing it out.
At first I was just going to clean it up and ride it all summer... but then as I started to replace maintenance parts I ended up with this:
So, I decided that I was going to go all out and I sent out my frame for sand blasting and powder coating. I also purchased a Harbor Freight powder coating kit and a kitchen oven off of craigs.
When it came time to do the wheels and swingarm, the oven was obviously not big enough so I made one that I had seen on this forum. It consisted of a roll of sheet metal, heat gun, foil, a cut up cardboard box and some hammers:
A friend of mine dubbed it the EZ bake oven. It worked great, I stuck an oven thermometer in it and got a reading of about 380 deg after 10 min. So I then used some bookshelf mounts and some all thread and proceeded to powder coat my wheels and swingarm:
I purchased stainless spokes and some semi-offroad avon distanzia tires for a "scrambler" look and had them relaced mounted and balanced at Woodys Wheel Works here in Denver:
At this point I cleanup up the engine painted the lower casing and installed all stainless hardware. I plan to eventually rebuild the motor powder coating as I go along. Its so amazing how much easier powder coating is than painting. An once the part cools from the oven it is ready to install, no curing time. Plus the fact it is way superior in durability. Anyways, after I started to get most of the bike put back together, I installed new tapered bearing in the steering head and needle bearing swing arm bearings. I removed the electric starter motor(didnt work) and plugged the hole in the block. I rebuilt the forks with progressive springs and installed new rear shocks:
Then I mounted the tires and started reinstalling parts. What I didnt realize was that every part that wasnt powder coated looks like pure crap. So I ended up powder coating every bracket, engine mount, and peice of metal that I could. I also installed a new nickel plated 530 oring chain and sprockets.
Oh, and yes, I am lame enough to put PMPN-8EZ on the pedestrian slicer(front license plate):
Next up was painting, I decided to go for a british racing green from a Jaguar. Everything was going great till the wire I was using to hold the tank up snapped ruining my paint job. Everything else turned out great though and I will be repainting the tank this weekend.
Sorting out wiring and getting ready to re-do the tank after I messed it up:
Resprayed the tank, applied decals:
This is the semi finished product, Ive ordered my fishhead big brake kit and will be ordering my pipe soon. Ill be riding it for a while like this:
I know its dirty, Im waiting about a month for the paint to fully cure before detailing it out.