Author Topic: T3 California Restoration (Read 36778 times)

All looks great, loving that pile of freshly zinc plated hardware. Some of those parts were originally chromed, right? How do they handle all that, you take them the rust and dirty hardware and they ?(sandblast)? then zinc coat them, or did you have to take it them in clean? The reason I ask is because my powder-coated charged me an extra 50 because my center stand was oily/crudded and he had to give it to another place where they dipped it to clean it first as he wouldn't run gunky stuff in his sandblaster setup - fair enough I guess..

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #39 on:** August 21, 2020, 03:28:32 PM »

None of the parts I sent for zinc plating were chromed. I set those to the side.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #40 on:** August 22, 2020, 04:43:27 PM »

Emblems and trim pieces on! WOW! Are these nice! If I do say so myself.

Groover · « **Reply #41 on:** August 22, 2020, 08:04:03 PM »

Agreed, great paint job!

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #42 on:** August 25, 2020, 08:05:22 PM »

A small but satisfying task completed. The fuel "door" had been destroyed by forcing it off of the tank. I assume because the key was not present.

I found a new door, the locksmith was able to cut a key based on the numbers on the tumbler, the door was painted with the rest of the tins.

Nice to have this complete!

berniebee · « **Reply #43 on:** August 26, 2020, 10:23:40 AM »

Looking really nice!

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #44 on:** August 26, 2020, 04:48:00 PM »

The wheels are some of the grimiest I have seen in awhile. It will make the before and after shots more impressive.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #45 on:** August 31, 2020, 08:05:47 PM »

It still has the manual chain tensioner. I am ordering a new chain. I have a new spring loaded "automatic" tensioner left over that I will use.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #46 on:** September 12, 2020, 08:01:47 AM »

I have made contact with the Brit owner! He still lives in San Francisco and has a successful business in home renovation.

This is what I have learned about the bike so far.

He bought it in (late) 1980, he remembers it to be a used bike about 1 year old when he bought it.

The bike was ridden about 2 years England before moving to the States.

The speedo has turned over once, so there is 112K miles on it. He had the engine overhauled at 80,000 miles.

More to come during our planned phone conversations.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #47 on:** September 20, 2020, 07:21:10 AM »

Before

After

The whole engine will have this appearance eventually.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #48 on:** September 26, 2020, 11:13:46 AM »

A very nice step to have complete. I picked up the frame and other black bits today after blast and paint. Another great job performed by Paintworks!

LesP · « **Reply #49 on:** September 26, 2020, 05:15:59 PM »

Fantabulous Dave.

RD bits on the shelf ?

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #50 on:** September 26, 2020, 06:03:10 PM »

Quote from: LesP on September 26, 2020, 05:15:59 PM

RD bits on the shelf ?

RZ bits.

Craig is also working on this 70 Bonneville tank.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #51 on:** October 07, 2020, 06:36:28 AM »

I sprung for a set of NOS fork lowers from Harpers. The old ones are quite beat up. These new ones have some shelf wear but will be much easier to deal with than the old.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #52 on:** October 24, 2020, 11:55:32 AM »

Now that the Lemans is about as far as I can go until I can ride it I am looking forward to tearing into this filthy beast to see what I have.

Antietam Classic Cycle · « **Reply #53 on:** October 24, 2020, 12:17:00 PM »

What's going on where the studs thread into the crankcase? It almost looks like Helicoils or maybe just o-rings?

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #54 on:** October 24, 2020, 01:18:36 PM »

Quote from: Antietam Classic Cycle on October 24, 2020, 12:17:00 PM

What's going on where the studs thread into the crankcase? It almost looks like Helicoils or maybe just o-rings?

Orings. It seems as though whoever last assembled this went overboard with orings!!

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #55 on:** October 24, 2020, 05:02:36 PM »

Engine teardown and inspection complete. Pleased to report that the crank is on it's original grind and still in good shape - all dimensions within spec. All the front/rear and shell bearings are in fine shape. Camshaft lobes look excellent.

This engine was overhauled when it had about 100k+ miles by Moss Machine in San Francisco. The rings and main bearings were replaced. After conferring with Charlie it seems like these barrels were Nigusil plated by Moto Guzzi. 1980 was the timeframe that Nigusil began. The barrels have a slight magnetic pull.

It appears that the shop used a coarse ball hone when they gave it new rings. The crosshatch is pretty heavy! This also implies that the barrels and pistons have 130k miles on them. I will replace them.

BikeMike · « **Reply #56 on:** October 26, 2020, 09:45:45 PM »

Hi Dave,

What type of paint was used on the frame? It looks very good.

Thanks

Mike

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #57 on:** October 27, 2020, 07:36:09 AM »

Quote from: BikeMike on October 26, 2020, 09:45:45 PM

Hi Dave,

What type of paint was used on the frame? It looks very good.

Thanks

Mike

Mike, I would have to ask the painter. I know he uses a clear topcoat also, but it is not the typical basecoat/clearcoat paint.

Dave Swanson · « **Reply #58 on:** October 28, 2020, 06:08:03 PM »

Now this looks a bit better!!

Antietam Classic Cycle · « **Reply #59 on:** October 28, 2020, 08:39:02 PM »

Nice!

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Author Topic: T3 California Restoration (Read 36778 times)

LesP

Wildguzzi.com

LesP

LesP