82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project - Finished

Ok Guys,
Me and Salty Dog (My Father) have been tinkering around with "Naked boy" a 82 XJ1100 Texas bike with 23K on the clock. For the longest time it sat in the garage with nothing done to it. When we first brought it home we pulled the carbs, cleaned them, installed a fresh battery, rebuilt the fuse box, and fired him up.
Ran ok but we had the low spark problem and only wanted to start when you let off the button. So back to basics, from the plugs all the way back to the TCI cleaned ever connection and ground up and coated everything with di-electric grease, and tried again. (Still weak but better) It was rideable.
So with a 1 gallon gas can hung from the bars and no seat on the bike Salty Dog heads down the drive way and first gear it screwed. (Rat-a-tat-tat) like a machine gun going off. So shifting up into second he continued the ride. Pulled like a frieght train! But with with first gear gone and 6 other bikes in the stable it seams like the naked boy might end up and a parts bike do to the lack of confidenece in the first and second gear fix, and the lack of willingness to part with an a hundred buck for a new gear.
She sat in the corner for a couple of months (actually behind the buffing wheel) (OMG that thing got covered) put it out of our heads for a while. Then over many cups of coffee and a few beers we decided to attack 1st gear with the dremel fix. We flipped her over, followed the instructions on the XS11.com tech tips, and slapped her back together. Much to are surprise it didn't just work, it worked Fantastic!, and best of all "No more Russian tractor" 1st gear slips in just as quite as 5th.
Although we still had a weak spark issued to deal with. So we went after the harness again. We swaped out a known working set of coils and TCI from the "Naked Boy's" sister "The Fat girl" or her full name "Black Betty the Fat bitch" (A full fairing with bags 82 xj1100) Double checked all the connections and tried again. The TCI an coils didn't fix it but going through the wires again did slightly increase the spark. not enough though to call it fixed. During our rebuild process I plann to completely reconditon the wiring harness, as i'm sure its just a matter of a connection needing to be fixed that I couldn't get to while on the bike, an we also are serouisly thinking of new after market coils as the stockers weren't all that great to begin with.
So first gear fixed and spark solutions well set in our minds, the bike sat again with us wondering what we wanted to do. Tune it and leave it dirty and ride the hell out of it next summer (Free & little time) , Fluff & buff? ( a winters worth of detailing and cleaning and not really acheiving a beutiful bike- pretty cheap) or a completely tear down cleaning, scrubing, buffing, polishing, painting, & wiring down to frame and back up in which we would be proud of ever detail. After which we would truely have a naked clasic beast that would not only be amazing to ride, but would draw attention from every one we run acrossed in are travels? (Lost of time, Lots of Coffee, and more money then we really want to spend)
Below you will find a short video of what we decided to do, it's only the start and I will post pictures occasionally for you all to follow along with, but we have deffinatly took our first steps.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9hepIzxiRkI?hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9hepIzxiRkI?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hepIzxiRkI

We started at 12:30 and were drinking coffee by 4:30. and as you can see we took are time doing it. I even installed some new grips on the fat girl!

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Looking forward to seeing some pics of the work in progress. What are you going to do with all the left over parts? I'm interested on the saddlebags.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

I hope to not have any extra parts but God knows when I'm putting it back together I'm sure to say "now were the F*(&^ does that go?!?!" There are no bags on the "naked boy". His sister the "fat girl" is a full dresser hence the names. I bought both of them at them same time and they are the exact same bikes, one dressed, one not, so I thought the names and sibling relationship were appropiate. the Fat girl is nearing my short term "Fluff and Buff" completion goal, and the hope is once I'm down with "naked boy" we can have 2 XJ's for different moods. One for cruising and one for twistys. I hope to have him well completed before spring comes around.
Also on a little side note we have come to the conclusion that the naked boy has more then likely got a big bore kit in him do to the very strong consistaint compression #'s we got. and the fact then when I put the synch sticks on him he decided he wanted a good slug of murcury and sucked it all up at 400 rpms (very good vac). When doing the first gear we learned that someone has already been inside him before. We found a New second gear that was factory back cut. clutch basket had been off before (retaining washer show signs) and the head and case has been split (hardening gasket sealer driped along the case and heads) also during his test ride he had GOBS more power then his sister did.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Cool video looking forward to updates

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Hey guys,
I decide to start with something small Yesterday. The rear Fender. I only got one before shot of the under side so I'm kind annoyed by that, Just gotta learn to be quicker with the Black Berry I guess.



Before - Underside of fender.



After - Underside of fender - Salty Dog (Dad) had done some research on the net about using electrolysis to remove rust from steel. So after scrubbing with Dawn dish soap (note Dawn dish soap is the single most useful thing in the garage) for some time there was still allot of rust and gunk that would not let loose. 10 mins in the tank and a little scrubbing and OMG 95% of the remaining material let loose. (freaking neato)



Left Hand side of fender



Right Hand side of fender



Rear view shot of fender - Every thing came down to parade rest. Ever bolt was soaked and scrubbed, ever piece of rubber was soaked with back to black, electrical connections were cleaned and die-electric applied. and everything got a nice coat of wax before re-assembling.



Top side of Rear plastic half



Bottom side of Rear plastic half - Washed {Dawn dish soap it Great stuff) Back to black was brushed in - Buff - And the Black colored turtle wax was applied to seal it all in (neat stuff)

I also decide the day before the tear down to Restore the YICS emblems on the side of the Cases



Before and on the bike - This was one of the better looking ones.



Why only do one, when you can do them all and get a rhythm going.
(I could kick myself this morning though as I remember there is one more set on the parts bike in the trailer that needs to be done. - oh well)



I also decided to go ahead install a pair on the Fat Girl because her side covers were oh so shiny.



And of course "Naked Boy" less tank and seat before we started the tear down.

Hope you guys enjoy,
Now time to pour another cup of coffee, fire up the heater, and pick another random part to play with.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Very nice work and names. How did you do the yics covers?

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Pulled them off the bike with a chisel. striped them to bare metal, Straighted out the dents, black 500 degree paint, little tiny artist brush, red model paint on the letters, and a coat of lear 500 degree and back on with 3m dbl sided tape. I did 7 badges start to finish with dry times in 7 hours cleaned the garage and talked on the phone between dry time. painting the red with the artist brush is the really time consuming part. So pull up a chair, get a cup of coffee and take your time . Its really time consuming for such a little peice but I think the results speak for themselves. It really finishes the covers off. I also masked of the covers when I polished them and cut out the black ring and leter with blue painter tape and painted with high temp black.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Well we continued on picking two more small parts to clean up and degreased and pressure washed the engine and frame.

I started with the tool box and license plate holders. In an Attempt not to lose any nuts and bolts. I am leaving and cleaning up pieces in chunks as they were removed from the bike. It makes it allot easier to remember how everything goes back together.

Before Shots on tool box.
When I split the plate holder apart it was covered in light rust. Chrome polish and a tooth brush made short work of the clean up.







All shined up. Mother's Back to Black brushed up and sealed with Black Turtle wax really does a nice job on these plastic pieces. The metal Bracket got a soaked in the electrolysis tank and a couple of coats of paint applied. the License plate bracket cleaned up great with Chrome polish and a dip in the tank.









Air Box before Shots - It was heavily scratched and gouged on the top and bottom. and discolored pretty good.







Even though it was just an air box I couldn't resist myself and had to strip it apart and clean and ever little nook and cranny.
I am less the excited with the results on the clean up of this, but hey its just and air box that only 2 little stops are visible when assembled.

Air box after clean up









Mean while Salty Dog took advantage of the warm 42' day and used gel engine degreaser on the motor and frame.







He soaked, with degreaser, scrub, and washed, then did it again, and got some amazing results. most of the engine Gray paint was in great shape, except for what was on the fins.









Now after cleaning He found something weird. A whole in the rear casing. Its not perfectly round so it doesn't look like it was drilled or done on purpose. Any body have any ideas what it might be from? A flaw in the casting?





Here are some good link on rust removal through electrolysis.

http://www.rickswoodshopcreations.com/Miscellaneous/Rust_Removal.htm

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22621&highlight=Electrolysis

Till next time -Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

what did you end up using to seal your metal so that it wont rust again? i was planning on doing it inside my gas tank and try to clean it up...

looks good...

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

On Aluminum I use turtle wax, on steel I used "Ospho" then paint. on the inside of the Gas tank we simply used "Ospho" 2 coats swirled around the tank. And when it goes back together a fuel filter will most deffinatly be installed just incase. The idea being is the tank should not rust as long as you keep fuel in it. We have creamed tanks before and have had mixed results not to mention the extra cost.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

My 1100 has the exact same hole in the casing stuck a wire in it did not seem to go very deep not sure what its there for. Looking good keep the pics comming

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

With Christmas so close and last minute shopping to do. I really did have much time to work on the naked boy today, I did remove the rear swing arm, tires and shocks though. I couldn't stand it and had to go after one of these shocks. Its worth noteing that while the upper casings are still aluminum they are very hard, much like the XJ's side covers. Polishing on these are very slow and tedious. Hence the fact I only got one finished.
Before Shot


After Shot


L8R - and Merry Christmas guys -Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Happy new year folks,
Well the work on the Naked Boy has been a little hit or miss lately, and when it has been done. nobody seemed to remember to break out the camera.
But i did take some after shots that you guys should appreciate,

Lately we borrow a buzz box welder and welded up a cracked center stand an a small spot in the frame.

Ground down and cleaned up some sloppy existing welds, and sand blasted the frame.

Here's what it looks like after salt dog applied the first coat of paint on some of the larger items,



At the same time we picked up a soda blaster from harbor freight, plugged off all the hole (yeah I know soda wont hurt inside the motor but whatever) and proceeded to blast the motor. then I removed the other covers, gave it a scrub bath with dawn dish soap, filed square all the fins with a file, Sanded the YICS logo on the valve covers smooth, Dried and gave it a acetone bath.

I really hope to get a coat of grey on the motor tomorrow, but its going to be 65 out so a ride may be in order first.











Note the engine stand we made and the dowels sticking out of the lower front motor mounts. This is a perfect pivot point that as you can see lets you tip it up and down and allow you full access to top and bottom of the motor. "Salty Dogs Design"

I will also say that i am only moderately impressed with the soda blasting, It leaves a good surface for starting to polish and does an OK job of removing the paint, but it had no were near the "magic" quality that I've read about so many times. We had a 15lb blaster from harbor freight 60$ a 50lb bag of soda 50$ and rental of a compressor to handle it 35$. so at 145$ plus tax you may be able to get it done professionally and with there access to better equipment, you might be happier with the end results.

Happy new year guys!

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

So that's what people mean by using your noodle! Lookin' good so far.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Talking to Janedo's owner today and he mentioned the engine mounting system you designed. looks like a good use for an old worn out B&D work mate.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

One more time into the Breach Boys!

Well I accomplished 2 things today. Went on a couple of short rides on an absolutely gorgeous 65' day in North Carolina "hard to believe its January, and got a coat of Rustoleame 2000' flat aluminum paint on the motor.

First I rewashed the motor down with acetone and a tooth brush making sure ever thing was pristinely clean the using a combination of duct tape, blue tape, and exacto knife I painstakingly masked of all the wet case areas, holes, valve cover, and everything else I didn't want to clean paint up from. Once again the tipping feature of the stand came in real handy allowing me to paint the entire thing at one time.

Heres the motor with no paint and prepped.


Starting to apply paint




Completely painted







Next I plan to mask off everything to paint the lower jugs Gloss Black and paint the valve cover with Black crinkle paint, but that will have to wait a couple of days

The one thing I need advice with is the lines following the jug split masking black from gray on the stock XJ seem to be a real pain the butt to follow and make look sharp. Have any of you done this and learned any tricks that worked good?

If your enjoying this then Stay Tuned! more to follow. If not them I'm sorry for bumping your threads to page two!

-Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

I also have a old heavy duty bread rolling cart undeneth the stand. The Stand is worth it's weight in gold if you are going to try something like this.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Quite the job of masking everything with the tape :wink: . You don't worry about painting in those temps???

skillet

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

wow, first time i saw this, love these types of restores, you and wiz both do this very well

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

When are you going to put the engine back in to the frame?

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Hmph

good question

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

OK fellas its been a while since I last posted and I have accomplished a couple of things.

Lets start with polishing a FUBARed side cover
The cover was first sand blasted and looked like this



I then put is on the buffer with some black to survey the damage



Those gouges don’t look all that bad in pictures but the are a good 1/8 inch deep



Hard to see but that horizontal line is actually a small split. I pinned it over and sanded it down with the rest

As usual when I’m typing these things up I wish I was quicker with the camera then I am. I forget to take pictures after sanding with the random orbit sander. Depending on the depth of the scratch you may want to try using power tools to speed things up. Also spend more times with lower grades to make the higher sanding and polishing go faster. I usually go 100 (power tools) 220, 320, 400, 600, 1200, buffer. Noted too keep wet sanding on the lower grades until all the scratches and pits you want are out before you move up to the higher grades. Nothing is worse then doing all this work then to start finish buffing only to find a scratch that wont buff out and you have to start the process over to get it out.

Here is the piece after buffing and washing in dawn.



and after 220



after 600



after 1200



and after buff



After you buff it you will have to wash the wax from the buffer off. At this point a soft tips tooth brush will scratch the surface and leave it looking hazy. Use a 100% cotton rag to minimize scratching. Then coat with turtle wax.

On a earlier day we painted 2nd and 3rd coats of 500 degree engine paint on a couple of pieces followed by a good heavy coat of clear 500

Frame



Please if you do this remember to tape of the label on the neck!



Final drive



Center stand



Swing Arm



Next with a big Sigh and a refusal to remove perfectly good jugs I went about the laborious task of of taping off the jugs. 3 hours later, lots of little pieces of tape, and an exact o knife this is what I ended up with.







Now came time for the paint. Mind you at this point I was actually afraid to apply it, for fear I missed something, and the thought of semi gloss 900 degree black caliper paint running down the motor scared the hell out of me but I pushed on.







Next I waited about an hour and started peeling the tape off for the unveiling.



The side cover is not done. I just hung it on for effect. I sat done smoked a cigarette, drank my coffee and admired it for a good 10 mins and went to bed.

Next I decided to tackle the valve cover. I had previous soda blasted it. So I took it to the sink, washed it in Dawn dish soap (God I love this stuff) and then used a tooth brush and gave it an acetone bath. Followed by more exact o knife and tape work.



I applied I used VHT wrinkle paint and applied in 3 heavy coats 5mins apart. It goes on smooth and shiny and think. Mine ran which turned out not to be a very big deal later. I hung a shop light and flood light over top of it to get a surface temp of 80 degrees for 2 hours. After about an hour it went from smooth to wrinkle in about 5 mins, and Idecided to pull the tape off before the paint got hard. After pulling off the tape alittle paint was on the polished bits, So with a rag pulled tight dipped in acetone I wipped it clean “Thanks Wing Nut for the idea”. I then put it on the kerosene heater like salty dog suggested. After about an hour it looked like this.









I stuck the laser temp gun at it and the heater was putting out exactly 200 which is what you are supposed to bake it at but the top was only getting to 140. The woman in the house refuses to allow engine parts in her oven so I decided to get creative. Using a piece of 14” aluminum flashing I bent me up my own easy bake oven





Shot the thermometer in there after 20mins and it was a perfect 200 degrees! Just goes to show ya what you can come up with when you need to.

After a full hour in a half and a perfect 207 degrees I took off the cover and the wrinkles had tightened up nicely





Also remember the paint sags I mentioned earlier? Well about an hour after I stuck is on the heater (before I thought of the easy bake oven idea) the paint was skinned up pretty good and I was able to gently push down and kinda “slide” out the big lines. Now that it has been baked I can't even see those previously yucky lines!.

Next I've ordered some VHT flame proof 2000 degree satin clear paint from amazon for 7 bucks a can (cant get anything higher then 500 local) and I need to finish polishing the remaining side covers, make gaskets, reinstall, paint with clear, turn the motor on it's side and set the frame over it. Paint will be here Wednesday so I'll probably post again Thursday.

Till next time guys, Keep the shiny side up and the rubber down!

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

I've learned over the years that if it's 40 degrees and rising you can paint as long as you can move it inside to cure overnight that is :wink:

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

REALLY NICE WORK!!!

skillet

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Thanks Skillet between the time spent on the bike and the posts it's really a labor of love (or insanity?) and all your guys comments really do help to make it worth while.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

nothing better then a good winter project to keep you busy wont be long and it will be back together

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

You did a really great job. I'm impressed with the side cover, didn't think it would come out that nice after the sandblasting. I bet your arms were really tired after all the sanding. :wink:

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

OK so I made a little more progress today polishing covers, and Salty Dog and Wing nut installed the last shim needed a (275) in the valve cover and buttoned the top shut.

Here's the before picture on the shifter cover, mind you it is clean and has been scrubbed with dawn dish soap, it's just stained up that badly.



Then after some sanding, and more sanding, then some buffing and more buffing, here is the final result.



Next came the clutch basket cover. The single most difficult piece on the bike to polish. I'm glad its behind me now and I’m happy with the results. I started wet sanding on it before I remembered the camera but hey we all know what dirty side covers look like.



And now for the money shot! I have learned one thing doing this is that I would rather polish the paint any day of the week .



Salty Dog also painted and clear coated the timing cover and plate, and fixed some bad wiring. So the only piece left to polish before motor assembly is the alternator cover which will be done tomorrow.

Thanks for all the compliments guys and I’ll try to keep the pictures coming.

~ Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project started

Hey guys he is the last engine piece that need to be polished before the engine reassembly can be finished. Check with Amazon the Clear 2000 wont be here till Thursday now so between painting and drying it will probably be the weekend before the motor can go back in the frame, but hey with 4” of snow on the ground it ain’t like I’m try to ride any time soon. So in my usual style here is the before shot. It was stained and scratched pretty good and the sand blasting gives a nice base to start with.

Alternator cover before.



I also am finding it hard to find lower grit 80, 120, & 180 WET/Dry sand paper but I found out today that the mesh drywall sanding screen really works well preventing loading of the paper and you don’t have to worry about the glues falling apart like with regular sand paper.

Here what it looked like right before buffing, wet sanded from 80-1200



Here's the final product.



Next on the list is to paint the black rings and Yamaha on the side covers
Install the restored YICS
Paint the motor Clear
Install all thee side covers
Polish the foot peg brackets and paint black strips.
Then install the motor.

Till then guys
~Camel

 

Motor done

Here it is boys,
The motor is back together.
The VHT 2000 degree clear came in today and we applied 3 coat in the heated garage. Waited about an hour and started stripping off tape and installing the covers back on.
Salty dog took the port side and I took the Starboard side.

Then I started cleaning up the garage a little and Salty-dog went through the old pics to determine where all these little freaking clip went and routed the wires to where the belonged.

Hope you enjoy.











Tomorrow we plan on cleaning up the motor mount brackets and installing the motor into the frame.

Wish us luck!
~Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

PHENOMENAL build! Those side covers blew me away! Very inspiring guys, keep up the great work!

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Motor looks GREAT!!!

skillet

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Why is it every time I think a piece is in good enough condition just to buff I end up at the sink pissed off an hour and a half later sanding away?

I seem to do this all the time and you would of thought I would of leaved by now.

Conclusion:
I've you spend more the 10 mins at the buffer then you probably didn’t sand it enough first.

Well as it turns out the motor didn’t go into the bike today. As we were scrounging up all the pieces needed to mount it in the bike we realized that there was no way in hell all those dirty ass bolt were going into that pretty motor and frame. So Salty Dog fashioned an miniature (5 gal Bucket) sized electrolysis tank. And I hit the buffer.

Here are the foot peg brackets I polished and painted the black stripes into.



Here a handful of the bits and pieces that Salty Dog cleaned up and then clear coated. Hopefully the motor can go in tommorow, but hey as somebody pointed out, why rush it.



Later yall
~Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

A Mile Stone Has Been Reach!

The mating of frame and motor has now been completed.

It actually went together smooth as silk.

With the oil filter removed we laid the motor over on the Starboard side onto sponge so as not to scratch up all the shiny bits, and put more blocks under the fins and clutch cover to keep the motor nice and steady.





Then with Salty on the head and me on the tail we finessed the frame over the motor and inserted all the mounting bolts. Not a single scratch to frame or motor during the operation.





Then we lifted her back up right. Put a short stool next to her. We both lifted him up and set it on the stool to get a new hand grip. With a new grip and a lot of motivation we lifted him up and on our patented bread cart caster, refurbish black and decker work mate engine stand. (and to think we were going to throw this thing away a couple of months ago?)

Once in place we put two short blocks of 2x4 under the frame rails so the oil filter and pan would be off the deck. Then took some foam pipe insulation and put it on the frame were it was resting on the 2x4s. Salty dog took some more pipe insulation and cargo straps and wrapped them around a horizontal frame member on the rear and around the motor mount in the front, and lightly ratcheted them done to the stand to keep the bike steadfastly secure.

Next we started to attach all the little bits and pieces we had already cleaned up to the bike, remembering to get that PITA air box in first.







We still have a lot of work ahead of us but it is moving along quickly. I think Salty is going to tackle the wire-ring harness clean up (he's forgotten more about electrical then I’ve ever learned) and I'm going to stick to cleaning up shiny bits and pieces.

We made a hand shake deal today that no matter what we are doing however small “No dirty parts go back on the bike with out a proper cleaning and possible paint first”

We still need a Starboard side Side cover for Cheap if any one has an extra one they want to part with or trade (I have a 82 xj650 parts bike and some other odds and ends laying around)
A drive shaft boot
Upper fork tubes
Starboard side heat shield for pipes.
Right hand wire cover on handle bars.
Little black caps that go in the swivel on the handle bars.
Maybe a set of coils if we can't get these ones to work right

I know I can buy most of this stuff but if any of you have it I would prefer trading.

Be safe, and smile because summer is right around the corner!
~Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

doing a great job keep up the food work. When your done come to my house i have a whole water buffalo motor to polish i have all the tools and buffers.
Bet that sucker was heavy and bulky to get back upright and on the stand

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Hey Guys,
Been puttering around with a few things the last couple of days but not really anything major that warrants the eye candy photo shots.

First off let check out some electrolysis. AKA “Salty Dog's Mad science Lab”

Here's a before shot of the headlight bucket.




Next we need a DC power source (a 15 amp battery charger works great) the higher the amperage the better.

Then we need a tank big enough to hold the crudy part we want to work with.
Followed by a anode that works for you part. The process works mainly line of sight. So the more you can surround your part with out touching it the better, although that's not to say it wont work in the blind spots, just not as well.

We used a piece of steel mesh bent up to fit the tank elevated by a couple of 2x4 block. Steel only. Galvanized Steel, and stainless will make a nasty witch’s brew that might damage or discolor your part.
Then you fill it with water and baking soda.
This is about a 20 gal tub and we use a cup of baking soda in it. We also used scalding hot water, I don’t know if the water temp really makes a difference because it still work hours later after it cools off, but I do know it hurts like heck when you gotta get your hands in there to insulate a part from your anode.



Next we place our part to be de-rusted in the tank making sure to insulated it for your anode either through suspension or plastic or wooden spacers.



Fill the water up to submerge the whole part connect you positive terminal to you anode and your negative terminal to your part. If you get this backwards then you will be putting rust and all other kinds of crap onto your parts. Although flipping is backwards and adding dye is also how you anodize aluminum which I might experiment with later on.

A couple of second later you should see bubbles racing to the top. The bubbles are hydrogen being released from the water.

Youtube “exploding hydrogen” for some quick amusement



Straight steel can be left in for days with little problems if you want, but hardly necessary. Although Chrome needs to be done in short bursts especially if its thin. It can start to remove the chrome if left in too long, as we found out with a grab rail for the xs750 tripp.

Remember guys while the cavitation and bubble will move the material away from the part for you the idea here is to just get the rust to lose its bond to the steel which happen quickly. So my suggestion here is to soak it for 15 mins, scrub loose all the stuff that has come loose, and then soak it again letting all those little electrons get to the parts that were covered up by the crude you just removed. Then scrub and soak for another 15 mins. After which you will have some parts that look like this.







We then clear coated the inside to help preventing re-rusting. If you dont it will be rusty the next day.

It also works great removing paint!

Check out the rotor below. And any body who has tried to strip off this paint knows how hard it can be.





Thanks to Salty Dog “AKA Dad” for working out all the kinks to this.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

doing a great job. I thought you were supposed do it outside tho. Soon comes the fun part. Getting all the wires back in the smaller headlight and getting the headlamp in is a pain in the but

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Blah blah blah.
It makes the garage smell like fresh laundry. To freaking cold out there. beside, from watching the up tube vids I really dont think there is that much of a danger with the limited amount of gas we a producing here.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Welcome to another episode of Salty-Camel's Garage.
Next on the agenda: get the front end on.

But its far too nasty just to wipe it down.



So I striped it down to it's basics and picked one part at a time to work on.
I soaked all the little parts in acetone, cleaned up the axle, and washed everything in dawn.

While rinsing the speed-o dog down with acetone the black started to come off so I decided to polish it verses paint. (I loth painting)



Next I went after the calipers. I pre-sanded and filed everything down before I painted to make it easier to removed the paint later in the spots I wanted to keep bare. Then I disassembled them cleaning out the barrel, then washed and soaked them overnight in Dawn because they were covered in oil. I hung them up and sprayed them with 3 coats of VHT caliper paint. Sanded and filed them back off after they dried and reassembled.





I also decided to file off the final drive slashes while I was at it.



Time for the rotors.





I used electrolysis to loosen the paint and scrubed off with a brass wire brush.



I then taped them up and used and exact-o knife to cut out the radius.






Finally I painted them with 3 coated of caliper paint.



Wheels, wheels, wheels,
This picture makes it look sooooo much cleaner then it was.



close up.



I chucked a 3 inch buffing wheel in a drill and went around and around. Then I took a 220 sanding disc and sanded smooth all those fly cutter marks on the swirly wheels hopefully making them easier to clean later.



Then I used Back to black and a tooth brush to bring the black back out of the rims.



Well..... Hanging the front end will have to wait as I still need to get a good polish on the forks. (probably a day long project on it's own)

But,,,,,,,,,,,,

Meanwhile on the other side of the Garage “Salty” was busy installing the harness back into the bike.
His comments on the subject at the end on the day? “Boy... there aint a lot of room in there. . “

Brains looking for a bucket to go in.



Coils dialed in, refurbed, and ready to go.



Rebuilt fuse box with new clips, solder joints, and shrink tube.



Great Job Dad!

Tune in next week to see : “How to polish your forks” “Getting a fat rubber in the rear.” and “Where the @@@@ does that go?”

Seriously guys Hope you guys enjoy the build as much as we do.

~Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Looking good, headlight bucket and fender look new. Can't wait to see the rest.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

I'm sure we will take a bike road trip in the spring up to Cary to see Wingnut's son. Should we bring Naked boy and Fat girl by to introduce yall?

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

I said it before you dont live to far from me you sure you don't want to come by and finish mine lol I probably have more polishing stuff then you lol would be easy with all your energy

If you keep it up it will be to pretty to ride

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

http://mapq.st/fEREnz

If this is your deffination of not far then I would hate to go on a road trip with you!

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Didn't think you would take me serious lol Road trips are fun when there is no planned destination.
Actually the polishing part is the fun part you can see your work paying off. Just have to get my virago carbs put back together and back on so i can sell it for more room. There is something about working on a bike that you hate so much that takes all the energy out of you like my virago. No matter what you do to it your hands will be hamburger and everything is twice as hard as normal bikes except adjusting the valves
I am definitely going to try the electrolysis on some of the parts on mt water buffalo. Looks like you used 1 of those totes from walmart never thought of them

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Sounds like we might have a spring meeting in the workings, I'd love to see the bike is person. Apex is right next to Cary. PM me when you are planning the trip.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

Hey guys one more thing down, many more to go.
Even through I should be working on cleaning up the shocks and rear wheel, I'm kinda on this electrolysis kick and so I decided to go after those crusty looking pipes hanging up on the wall after the kids went to bed yesterday.

Not much to talk about here just a lot of pics. Which I will let speak for themselves.

Before:

























Filling up the tank:


Now before anybody says anything about it.
Yes I know the bottom of my pipes are connected upside down in the pics.
By the time I was done it was about 3 in the morning and I was out of coffee and tired. When I loaded up the pics I immediately had a head slap moment and figured you guys would get the point any ways.

Below is the finished product using my normal process, dip, scrub, dip, scrub, dip, scrub, wash. I next took them over to the buffer, and used turtle wax chrome polish to finish them off.







Still need a right hand heat shield if any one has one for trade or cheap.



















One thing to remember that I’ve leaned is that electrolysis is not a magic bullet. All it does is helps to reduce the bond of rust to steel. You still have to mechanical remove the rust with a stiff, brass wire brush, liquid soap, etc.

Today, Salty Dog took and sprayed the Y-collector, the cross over pipe, and the back side of the pipes with 2000 degree clear. Basically spraying everything that is not visible from standing next to the bike and cant easily be reached to polish down the road later on.

Next for these pipes it to fabricate up something for the rear baffle. The PO I guess decided he wanted a Harley and didn’t just punch hole in it. He quite skillfully I might add cleanly cut out the whole thing. I was wondering if any body had some rusted out old pipes that they would like to donate for the project that I might be able to salvage a baffle from? Thanks in advance.

Till next time.
~Camel

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

i am curious how well the clear sticks to the chrome after time keep us posted

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

I dunno if its gonna stick, but if i dont do something then I am positive the rust WILL stick to it

I painted the headers on the 650 with the same brand/temp range paint (just black vs clear) and its been on there for a season now and has held up well so far. So heres to crossing my fingers.

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

hope it works good. I have done a lot of bolts with clear after wire wheeling the rust off and they do not re rust

 

Re: 82 XJ 1100 "Naked Boy" project -

wow, this is surgical... i really love this... looks better than new...