Just a pile of parts now

Well - I tried to honor the "do a little every day" thing, plus I was able to free up most of Saturday.

So - here's what's been done.

Removed the swingarm.  That was a huge pain, but the shaft came out intact, so I think I can re-use it.  Also - test fit the seat from Roc City Racers - thanks again Sean.

So - took the picture, and continued to tear everything down.  The triple tree was especially challenging, as it probably has not been apart since 1966.  So - there was lots of pounding with a dead blow hammer for about 2 hours or so, but I got it.  

Then it came to get the triple tree off the frame.  It didn't want to come, so I smacked it with the 3 lb dead blow hammer (the new BFH).  Out it popped, but so did all of the bearings around the triple tree!!  It turns out that there are 22 on top and 22 on bottom.  I was not able to recover all of them.  I ordered 22 new ones.....

While taking the upper spring covers off, I twisted off one of the screws that holds them to the triple tree.  whoops.  Tried to drill it myself to put the extractor on it - whoops again - off center.  Took it to the shop down the street, and they were able to extract it for me.  Thanks again Don and Jeff.  

So, the fork is all the way apart.  The fork tubes are severely corroded.  Alex - you are going to hate me, but they are pretty bad.  They may be beyond saving.  On one hand - I may take them with me to the chrome shop to see if they can do anything.  On the other hand - I've asked the Bultaco Center of Excellence for a quote on new tubes.  

Speaking of the wonderful people at Bultaco.com - thanks again Tim.  You've answered at least 20 -mails and really helped me make progress.  I could not have gotten this far without you guys.

Wheels off - tires off.  I swear these are the original tires.  They are old, dry rot and hard.  It was a bear getting them off.  But - off.  Here's a pic so I remember what the spoke pattern looks like.

So - I'll order new stainless steel spokes from Buchanan's, polish and lace the hubs into my new wheels, and true them on my new truing stand.  We'll see how that goes....

Finally - I busted out the angle grinder, and cut off the rear pegs and the front seat bracket.  I'm going to fab a new front seat bracket to fit the new seat, and I'm going to mount reflectors where the rear pegs used to be (so I don't need to completely grind down that spot.

And so - the little garage is even more crowded, with a pile of parts.

But at least it's progress.

I'm doing it

Tuesday - changed chain de-greaser.

Wednesday - flipped chain over.

Thursday - Removed swing arm (yay!).  Removed rear wheel from swing arm.

OK - so maybe the chain stuff was minimal, but I am making progress.

Pics this weekend hopefully!  By the way - seat came from Roc City Racers - it is awesome.

One thing - no matter how small - every night

I was talking with a car friend of mine who also works on cars, and he's having issues finishing projects too.  So - I'm going to try something that my good friend Mando offered up once.  Do one thing - every night.  No matter how small, just one thing.

So - it begins.  Tonight, I went out and pulled the chain out of the bucket of degreaser.  Dumped out the black degreaser and cleaned out the bucket.  Wow - there was a lot of crap still coming out of the chain.  Put the chain back in the bucket, and put in fresh degreaser.  And there it soaks.

My one thing for Monday.

PS - the brand new Beltor shocks from the Beltor dealer in Spain showed up today.  Very very nice......

A maelstrom of activity from nothing

Well - maybe not a maelstrom.  But - big words sound cool.

I was able to do more work this weekend.  The engine is off the frame, and the chain is soaking in degreaser.


After watching You Tube videos on chain cleaning - I probably should have cleaned it while it was on the bike.  Oh well.  I have a gunk brush, a bottle of degreaser/cleaner and a bottle of chain lube headed this way (thanks Amazon.com).

The engine was crazy heavy to get out, but only 3 bolts.  Luckily, most of them have been soaking in oil for who knows how long, so they broke loose pretty easy.  With the engine on the bench, I removed the flywheel nut, and ordered the flywheel pulling tool.  I'm going to have to get behind there and re-wire the dynamo anyway, so might as well pull it.  Besides, probably need to for the engine case re-seal.

A bunch of parts showed up.  New throttle cable (yay), new clutch and brake cables (yay), new taillight switch (yay), new speedo cable (dang - cable is for a different size speedo than the one I have, so it won't fit - all the way from Spain too).

Sean at Roc City Racers called me - seat is done and enroute.  So - hopefully the next pics I send will be of the seat mocked up and the fiberglass rear fender mocked up too.  We'll see......



The teardown will continue, but the bike is looking pretty bare.  Soon, I'll be painting the frame, and re-assembly can begin!!!

I touched it - no really.....

Wow - no progress in awhile.  Maybe that's why I'm such a bad blogger.

Anyway - got some spare time to work on the Bultaco today, thanks to a visit from Mimi and Pa (thanks Mimi and Pa).  While they were out with the wife and kiddos - I was able to do nothing but work on the bike.

Stripped all the tin off of the frame.  Now it looks really naked:

While I had everything out, I also used my impact wrench on the bolts that hold the swingarm.  They didn't stand a chance.

The other big motorcycle thing today was using POR15's Motorcycle Fuel Tank restorer/coating kit today. That went pretty well.  One bottle of marine clean, one bottle of stuff to prep for paint and stick a hair drier in the neck of the tank for about 2 hours - and then one bottle of coating.  Once I drained the extra coating out, it turns out I only used about 2/3 of the rustproofing paint - but oh well.  So - that's drying and I hope it works good.  The plus side if it works - the kit was about $50, and it only took me about 5 hours to do everything.  Which is way cheaper than I was quoted by professionals for them to coat it.

A bunch of stuff headed this way - shocks, wheels and a speedo cable from Spain.  Throttle, clutch and brake cables from the Bultaco Center of Excellence in New York.  I sent an e-mail about my seat on Thursday, and haven't heard back yet.  I hope I'm not going to be disappointed.

Once I get the new seat - everything goes out for paint!!!!!

And then I can try my new soda blaster on the stuff that's left......