The Mutt

Re: New paint job and engine Refurb on the Mutt - 99.99% done!

What did you do to paint the engine? Did you prep the engine in any way other than cleaning it well? Sand it? What paint did you use? How did you get the fins to shine up? I know it's a lot of questions but I would like to clean up and paint my engine. Also I really like what you have done to the bike. Did you get the Yamaha decal from somewhere or did you get transfer paper and paint it on?

 

Re: New paint job and engine Refurb on the Mutt - 99.99% done!

I cleaned it up with degreaser and a bunch of different size brushed. Then washed it with soap and water and rinsed well to make sure there wasn't anything left on it. Then I just went to the hardware store and picked up some plastikote hi-temp engine enamel. Taped off the parts I didn't want black other than the fins. Once the paint was dry I sanded/filed the fins to the bare aluminum to create the shine.

 

Re: New paint job and engine Refurb on the Mutt - 99.99% done!

Cool thanks!!

 

Re: New paint job and engine Refurb on the Mutt - 99.99% don

So Spring is here(almost)... the bike has been out of storage and I've been looking it over getting it ready for the riding season. I have a few things I was planning on doing this winter but my garage never got insulate like my landlord had planned so it was too cold to be working on.

So here is the list of things I'm seeing that need to be done before riding:

#1 - New rear tire - Long story short, my landlord left a nail filled board under the bike in my garage last summer. Did not bode well for the tire that only had some 400 miles on it. grrr. :evil: Anywho, the local bike shop put the only sport tire they had on the rim for me since I needed a tire fast to ride with. Come to find out by looking over the bike this past weekend that it's a front tire. Says so in big letters on the side. Would have been nice for them to tell me that when they sold it to me on a rear rim! So I've got a new Dunlop GT501 on order and it should be here by the weekend. I will be putting it on myself and then selling the other tire as it has less than 500 miles on it, it's still in great shape.

#2 - Finish the plate mount - I only got part way done with the plate mount last summer. basically enough to be able to ride for the summer and not worry about it.

#3 - New battery box - I'm not liking the way the battery box looks close up. May open it up and just wrap the battery in vynil and clamp it down. Still not 100% on this.

#4 - Shorten and strengthen wiring harness - After looking over the bike, I'm seeing where I cut corners last spring when finalizing the install and put it off till winter. The wiring harness really needs to be shortened due to the shorter handlebars and the moving of a lot of the components under the seat. I may end up completely rebuilding the harness with new wires and connector pins if I can find a source.

#5 - Paint the header wrap - I have the paint and just never did it last year.

#6 - try to incorporate velocity stacks into the pod filters to help smooth out the air flow. It will be a trial and error thing so we'll see how it goes. Tuning this thing has been rough as was expected.

#7 - General Springtime maintenance - Check the valve clearances, timing, oil change, tire pressure, fork pressure and clean and lube the chain...

I have 4 vehicles with "project" status right now so going may be slow. I plan on digging into the wiring tonight to see what style pins the stock connectors use and hopefully find a source for them... As I update the bike I'll update the thread.

Cheers and happy riding everyone! :mrgreen:

 

Got the new rear tire in and wheel mounted. Will be coming back later to re-paint and apply some rim tape in red to help them pop a little more.

Also cleaned up some of the wiring. I was going to rebuild the harness but most of the wires were still in good shape so I decided to just shorten some stuff for now.

and last but not least the new plate mount is on. It's much sturdier than the old model and I will be able to turn the plate vertical or horizontal if I so choose!

Here's a couple pics of the bracket before paint. Sorry for the blurry, low light and a cell phone don't mix!



and the plate and backing with lights... got a little shaping after this but you get the point. Overall I'm very happy with the way it turned out.