My 83 project bike....

Ok I am going to try to keep this thread going on what I do to the 83 I bought a few weeks ago. I have never done a "project " bike before so I dont know if this will be carried to completion or just be another thread lost in the vastness of the internet..
either way I really do want to get this bike going and ride it.
SO with out further BS here is what I got...

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After I pulled the tank today

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Blown fork seals...

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fuse pan... one melted and one was wrapped in a gum wrapper...

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just another shot from above. I puleed the air cleaner and it was pretty clean... No mice had been in there.
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I have a differnt tank and side panel coming and once I get the tank clean and good gas in it I will see what it going to do..

Good luck man, looks like a lot of cleaning work!

Ah...that sure brings back memories of resurrecting my '85. I wish you the best of luck.

[image: View Post]chickenofsea, on 04 April 2010 - 07:10 PM, said:

Ah...that sure brings back memories of resurrecting my '85. I wish you the best of luck.



How did that go?
Lee

You have a bad look in that picture....questioning where to start?

get it all pressure washed and cleaned up first, then take various portions of the bike apart and detail it and you'll soon be there. keep us up to date with pics. :warranty:

[image: View Post]Hobie1dog, on 04 April 2010 - 07:22 PM, said:

You have a bad look in that picture....questioning where to start?

get it all pressure washed and cleaned up first, then take various portions of the bike apart and detail it and you'll soon be there. keep us up to date with pics. :warranty:



HAHAHA Kind of a WTF did I get my self in to look??? But it is something I would love to see through.

Some one on a very nice looking mid 80 VFR rode by my house today but he did not see me trying to wave him down. haha Probably thought I was some nutjob.
Lee

Looks like fun. Where in NH are you?

Looks like a very good base for restoration.
I second the question "Where in NH are you?".
I'm in north/central MA, about 25min south of Rindge NH.

[image: View Post]Turbocharged314159, on 04 April 2010 - 08:57 PM, said:

Looks like a very good base for restoration.
I second the question "Where in NH are you?".
I'm in north/central MA, about 25min south of Rindge NH.



Turbo, I am about 10 miles east of Rindge. You are not far from me at all.
Kel, ou are a ways away...

[image: View Post]683, on 04 April 2010 - 07:28 PM, said:

Some one on a very nice looking mid 80 VFR rode by my house today but he did not see me trying to wave him down. haha Probably thought I was some nutjob.
Lee


:offtopic: If the guy was naked, it was Timmy on a borrowed bike. :laughing6-hehe:

Still waiting a few parts to get started and the weather is for crap and the garage is cold but I have got the fairing off and accumulated a few parts I need. I got a replacement tank that has a shitload of rust. I figure I will write that off as a test bed for messing with old gas tanks....

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Original tank on left, replacement on right. Replacement is in rough shape.

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Hot wired swtch??? new ignition switch on the way.

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Two pictures from the "replacement tank" Lot of rust...

A little more digging.. I pulled the front wheel and the front fender.. want to clean all the plastics and the forks need new seals.
It is apparent from the amount of oil on the fender and forks that the seals did not start leaking when I tightened the staps bringing it home but had been leaking for awhile.

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Did a little clean up.. a can of degreaser and some pressure washing..
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Dumped the gas out of the tank...
Gas????
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[image: View Post]683, on 26 April 2010 - 06:46 AM, said:

Dumped the gas out of the tank...
Gas????


Looks like turpentine to me... :biggrin:

S100 Engine Brightener will make that motor look like new, it's worth every penny. :fing02:

yep prety much it is turpintine..
here is a bit of todays progress/disapointments

The exhast system seems totaly screwed. Both cans are rusted through and the "muffler" under the engine has about 4 or 5 holes in it.
Not only do I need aftermarket pipes but also a header too...

here are parts that fell out of the cans.
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my finger is actually in the muffler.. it has a hole clean through...(I almost typed my finger is in the can but I know where that would lead) :laughing6-hehe:

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the muffler/collector/ what ever you want to call it has multiple holes.
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where the cans meet the muffler are shot too.
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The good news is I got a nice set of foot controls including the steps to replace the cobbled up mess that is there..

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at least I still got my GS to ride...

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I picked up a switch off a diffent bike... not quite the same mounting and about 12 inches less wiring.. I made it the correct length by splicing in the old cable from the bad switch.
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Today I also took off the back valve cover to see what was in side. I found scaring on just one of the 4 lobes.. Every thing else look "ok" but what the hell am I looking for.. I bumped the wheel till I had cycled all the valves a few times but I saw nothing that seemed odd..

Scared lobe
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over head view

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and another

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I met Seb last weekend and picked up and old exhsut system that he was going to pitch. It was a good to meet Seb and Yoshi and check out all the bikes in the garage and ride with them on some of awsome roads. The system collector looks right but I think the cans are from a 500.
Getting impatient I decide to try to start the bike this week. I got it to fire with some starting fluid but that was the extent of it. I need to check the fuel pump and make sure it is working and I am having issues with the starter switch. I have to push it multiple times before the bike rolls over.. I put the jumpers on the other side of the relay the starter works fine so that tells me nothing wrong there.
I did not get it to start so next weekend I will look at the fuel pump and go from there.

I had to take apart my ignition switch to clean it out and lube it. It solved all of my electrical problems, specifically the taillight issue I was having. The brake light would come on but the running light did not. That specific wire supplies power to many other components. I tracked it down to the ignition switch as the only possible solution. When you take it apart, I seem to remember a small ball bearing and a spring that popped out at me, so don't do this job on a gravel driveway or any place small parts will get lost. Have some contact cleaner, a small brush, and some dielectric grease handy. I also used some WD40 to lubricate the mechanism as a whole. The Clymer manual for the 500 has a procedure for taking it apart and putting it back together but I was able to wing it on my own.

Cleaning out all the handlebar switches can be tricky. I had some of the same issues as you on that front too. Seems I had a spider or two made a home in the housing and intermittent contact was the result. If you have a digital camera then I suggest taking a pic of the internals upon disassembly so you can remember how they go back together. I had a bear of a time getting the left side switches back the way they were supposed to go. There is only ONE way to put that switch housing back together. The right side wasn't that bad.

Greg

Still not starting. got good spark and putting gas right to carb.. It should fire...
Starter switch worked with no issues today.
any advice? besides taking it to a shop? I realy dont want to pull the carbs.
lee

Welcome aboard and thanks for working to save a classic.

I am afraid that with the look of that gas from the tank that you have no option but to pull the carbs and clean them.

[image: View Post]cornercarver, on 28 May 2010 - 05:01 PM, said:

I am afraid that with the look of that gas from the tank that you have no option but to pull the carbs and clean them.


:+1:

Kinda surprised you haven't done that yet.

hey im from the laconia area! i have the same bike too haha, good luck welcome to the forum, make sure not to take the plenum off of the carbs when u pull them haha i made that mistake and it made it sooo much more of a pain in the butt to get the carbs done

Yeah I am pretty chicken shit about pulling the carbs apart... alot of it is just the time it is going to take me..and the potential to dick them up.
I actualy went back out last night and dumped a mixture of gas and sea foam carb clean staight in to the carbs and got it to run multiple times for 4 or 5 seconds.. of course with out the exhaust is was loud a hell... hahaha. my wife said is it always going to be like that to which I replied.. yes.. haha
Now I got to get it to pull gas from the tank..

It's going to start easier with the exhaust on. Do you have just open heads right now? :3:

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 29 May 2010 - 08:45 AM, said:

It's going to start easier with the exhaust on. Do you have just open heads right now? :3:


Yeah just the old collector right now. I was going to try to swap that out this weekend..
Maybe I will do that tomorrow while BBQ.

So being the impatiant type and not wanting to spend all summer working on the bike before I ride it I found a working VF750 with a parts bike.. So for now I can get one on the road and ride and from two make one.
The running bike has a home painted tank till I get the original cleaned and sealed.
The parts bike motor only has 9 k on it compared to my original project bike which is in the 35000 range if I remember correctly.

I have to get thru the issues of vin number verification since there are no titles for either bike.



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Oh boy, you're in for it now!! :cheerleader:

Very nice.....just make sure you have at least one in working order prior to selling the Beemer for garage room. :biggrin:

I am still curious about the carb cleaning of the red one...how did that turn out?

[image: View Post]cornercarver, on 12 June 2010 - 11:06 AM, said:

Very nice.....just make sure you have at least one in working order prior to selling the Beemer for garage room. :biggrin:

I am still curious about the carb cleaning of the red one...how did that turn out?



I never got to the carb cleaning.. Work has been relentless and the last thing I got time to do is come home after 9 to 10 hours of that and work on the bike with all the reat of the stuff I got to do.
I probably should as it would probably be good for me.
I think what I will do is take the carbs off the parts bike cause they look like they have been exposed to the weather and see how it goes.. If I dick something up then It is not that big of a deal.
Lee

So the story continues. I went out to kill time and mess with the bikes. The parts bike was closest to the center so I though I would pull the dip stick and see what the oile looked like...

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this does not look good.

So I wanted to tun the engine so I pulled the alternator cover...

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So once that all drained I pulled the right side engine cover..

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I bet I took a gallon of water out of that lump...
Glad I didnt pay anything for it. It was thrown in with the other as a parts bike.. I think I will pull the engine and this winter for fun will pull it completly apart just to do it..
I can see water and rust on the top of the pistons and I can not get the bike to turn with a socket.

I got a feeling that it is pobably junk but I done have enough expereince to say untill it is ripped apart..

Wow, what a mess! :mellow:

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 13 June 2010 - 03:40 PM, said:

Wow, what a mess! :mellow:



yeah it was, I got the mess cleaned up and got out the blue running bike. I changed oil and coolant and started it up and let it run,, it was smoking like an old Destroyer but that cleared up after about 5 min. I rode it up and down the drive way.
What a strange feeling bike after riding a GS for 4 years.
The third run down I used the back brake... that was it for the joy ride.. Brake is locked up...It was getting late so I put it up for the night. I will pull the back caliper this week. I need to trailer it to the local gas station for a VIN check. The COPS in a our town do not do this as a serviic any more so I need to trailer it to the inspection station.

3 bikes... 3 bad rear calipers... all are locked up with rust..
3 bikes 3 sets of forks that all need rebuilt...

[image: View Post]683, on 22 June 2010 - 06:20 PM, said:

3 bikes... 3 bad rear calipers... all are locked up with rust..
3 bikes 3 sets of forks that all need rebuilt...


I have a good rear caliper, PM me. Have fork parts too.

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 23 June 2010 - 06:30 AM, said:

[image: View Post]683, on 22 June 2010 - 06:20 PM, said:

3 bikes... 3 bad rear calipers... all are locked up with rust..
3 bikes 3 sets of forks that all need rebuilt...


I have a good rear caliper, PM me. Have fork parts too.



I cant send a PM for some reason.. What are you doing Saturday? Nan and I are planning on riding saturday. We can maybe ride all the way over or we can meet in the middle.
I got the rear sets off the bike for you... I will bring them along and we can swap?
Lee

[image: View Post]683, on 23 June 2010 - 11:29 AM, said:

I cant send a PM for some reason.. What are you doing Saturday? Nan and I are planning on riding saturday. We can maybe ride all the way over or we can meet in the middle.
I got the rear sets off the bike for you... I will bring them along and we can swap?
Lee


Sounds good. Not sure yet if I have anything going on Saturday, but I'll keep you posted. Maybe I can talk Nan into another ride on the Speed Triple? :cheerleader: :laughing6-hehe:

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 23 June 2010 - 11:57 AM, said:

[image: View Post]683, on 23 June 2010 - 11:29 AM, said:

I cant send a PM for some reason.. What are you doing Saturday? Nan and I are planning on riding saturday. We can maybe ride all the way over or we can meet in the middle.
I got the rear sets off the bike for you... I will bring them along and we can swap?
Lee


Sounds good. Not sure yet if I have anything going on Saturday, but I'll keep you posted. Maybe I can talk Nan into another ride on the Speed Triple? :cheerleader: :laughing6-hehe:



hahaha probably.. I rode it and she rode my GS last time we were out riding....

[image: View Post]683, on 23 June 2010 - 06:02 PM, said:

hahaha probably.. I rode it and she rode my GS last time we were out riding....


That thing is F-U-N fun. I do have something to do Saturday morning that will keep me from venturing too far - I remembered that my county has their *annual*(yes, only once a year!) Hazmat waste removal day from 8am - 12pm. I have about 5 gallons of used coolant, jars of used brake fluid, few gallons of fork oil, and a bunch of burnt out 8' fluorescent light tubes that need to be brought over there. Used motor oil goes to the local dealer for their heating system. I try to be a little responsible with that stuff...

Did you have anything particular in mind?

Ok I am ready to put the bike on the road.. I will register it today and put the plate on Monday when I get back..

Here it is, good enough for this season.. I want to do more over the winter.

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just to kill time I pulled the carbs from the flooded parts bike..
What a waste..

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parts bikes

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Did you end up getting the forks done?

[image: View Post]683, on 29 July 2010 - 10:35 AM, said:

just to kill time I pulled the carbs from the flooded parts bike..

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Perhaps a good chance to test out the potential of the Pine-sol cleaner method

[image: View Post]YoshiHNS, on 29 July 2010 - 12:28 PM, said:

Perhaps a good chance to test out the potential of the Pine-sol cleaner method


:+1:

[image: View Post]YoshiHNS, on 29 July 2010 - 12:28 PM, said:

[image: View Post]683, on 29 July 2010 - 10:35 AM, said:

just to kill time I pulled the carbs from the flooded parts bike..

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Perhaps a good chance to test out the potential of the Pine-sol cleaner method


soda blasting maybe?

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 29 July 2010 - 10:45 AM, said:

Did you end up getting the forks done?


Got the parts, havent had time. Hopefully in a week or two.. The set on the middle bike looks pretty good.

as for the carbs I and going to take them apart just for the practice and experience.

http://www.vfrdiscus...greaser-thread/

I got it all road legal with plates and insurance and put 50 miles on it today. First thing I had to fix was put the new gas cap on that I had bought. The original on the tank would not seal and gas splurged out the front under braking.
I also need to pull the gauges and change out the dash, the tach stops at 4000 and the brace it bent causing the fairing to not seat right and the left bar to hit.
It runs good and the super trap exhaust sound good...... at least on the bike with a helmet.
I got some oil dripping on the pipe that I need to track down.. it maybe just some from the chain that I had loaded up on it to get it nice and flexible again.
I ran it up to almost 110 and it was nice an smooth with no issues I could detect..
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[image: View Post]683, on 03 August 2010 - 07:04 PM, said:

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You look surprised - didn't know the old girl had it in her didja? :laughing6-hehe:

Now the real question; do you trust it enough to ride it out to my place again? :warranty:

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 03 August 2010 - 07:14 PM, said:

[image: View Post]683, on 03 August 2010 - 07:04 PM, said:

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You look surprised - didn't know the old girl had it in her didja? :laughing6-hehe:

Now the real question; do you trust it enough to ride it out to my place again? :warranty:


I wasnt to suprised that she would rip right along, look at all the races these bikes won back in the day..I was just glad it didnt go 5 miles and then blow up.... I dont think it is a matter of trusting the bike... I dont think my fat ass could ride it for 3.5 hours each way.... My GS is much more comfortable...even with an exhaust system strapped on the backseat.

How did the rear sets turn out? Did they clean up ok?

Hey that's awesome!! Who says beat Interceptors can't come back? Nice job. I'm jealous.

[image: View Post]683, on 03 August 2010 - 07:54 PM, said:

How did the rear sets turn out? Did they clean up ok?


Haven't touched them, been working on the other bikes... :beatdeadhorse:

I took the beast out for a 250 mile run through the back roads of Vermont yesterday and came away with a few impressions and a few things to fix.. First thing is the front breaks, while they work they are spongy feeling and vague.
Next is suspension, the broken up pavement upsets the bike in a unsettling way and when hitting the curves hard it wallows. I have done nothing with the settings so I maybe able to get rid of some of that with minor work.
Overall it was a fun ride but my wrists are still hurting. The seat was ok, not as bad as I thought it would be but it was nice to stop every hour or so.
I am used to riding a BMW with a telelever front end that does not see much change when breaking in a corner� not this bike.. breaks applied in corner make the bike want to stand up and breaking late and taking breaks off mid corner had the opposite effect, the bike felt like it wanted to fall, a few time I felt like I had to jerk it up a little mid corner..
I will need to revisit my riding style back to how I used to ride 25 years ago� hard in to the corner, mash the breaks, hit the apex and pin the throttle�
I really love the howl of the V4 through the Supertraps cans� I still need to get a working tach on it. I pulled one of the junk bike but wasn�t thinking and set it face down and the needle disintegrated in to about 12 parts� old plastic�.
It was a fun ride and I am glad I did buy and take the time to piece this thing together and plan to continue working on it over the next few months and this coming winter.

Good Luck with it, they become infectious, my more modern biked friends keep telling me to get shot of mine and get a blade,,, but nah its cheap fun and somthing to fiddle with in the garage :)

one month after shoulder surgery I can do some work so I got a good start getting it stripped down and ready for this years work.
Rebuild the front forks, add a rear shock from a 2000 CBR 600 RR, new tires, chain, maybe sprokets, turn signals, paint and more an more and more cleaning.
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More cleaning with the help of a sand blast cabinet I got last week at Harbor Frieght.



Brake brakets

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Valve cover.. Clear coat bubbling, I polished one but but I can not spend hours trying to bring it back like Seb did

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After 20 mins at the blaster.


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I like the bead blasted look.

looking great!

Just noticed you live in the Granite State as well. Thinking there is enough of us for a group ride when this snow melts.

Looks like fun I have the same exhaust on mine. Gotta love the trapps.

[image: View Post]VIFFER93, on 26 February 2011 - 06:06 PM, said:

looking great!

Just noticed you live in the Granite State as well. Thinking there is enough of us for a group ride when this snow melts.


There are definitly enough of us up here for a get together...Look forward to it.
Lee

[image: View Post]BillyZ, on 26 February 2011 - 06:41 PM, said:

Looks like fun I have the same exhaust on mine. Gotta love the trapps.


I just took them off the bike today and got one off the extension pipe. They are rotted to hell inside...

[image: View Post]683, on 03 August 2010 - 07:04 PM, said:

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How did I miss this?!?!?

LOOKS NICE!

Looks like you're getting to the pretty parts. :fing02:

Havent done much, to lazy and hating the shitty weather we have been having.
I did have my Front forks rebuilt by Sebspeed. Cant wait to try them out. He welded shut and polishe the air assit hole so I dont have to monkey with that.
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I bought a shock from a 600 RR off ebay and looked at Jamie's website and got some idea's and then got some aluminum and used a friends Bridgeport
and modified the rear. It is in the bike for fit only right now, need to get the right bolts and spacers.

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put the statror cover, valve cover and engin case back on after bead blasting them

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Next I need to install the forks and then put the wheels on just to roll it so I can get it back to the garage vice the basement.
then keep pecking away at it. Paint, cleaning, new tires, new chain and sprocket, on and on...

Good work bud. :fing02:

Force yourself to do it now while the weather's sucky. Then reap the rewards once it finally clears up! :beer:

I should have it ridable in May or june and then keep working on painting the other set of plastics, powder coating various items (I bought my wife a new stove so I could the old one a a powder coating oven) I want to powder coat the rims among other things. Now I wished I had taken the motor off and redid the frame but I may do that down the road with one of my spare frames..
speaking of riding I am headed out to meet Nan..the weather is supposed to suck for the next week and a half.

[image: View Post]SEBSPEED, on 01 May 2011 - 09:43 AM, said:

Good work bud. :fing02:

Force yourself to do it now while the weather's sucky. Then reap the rewards once it finally clears up! :beer:

Nice work. I like the flat look of the bead blasted valve covers..

I would have sprayed the bead-blasted aluminum parts with some clear coat because it's going to oxidize quickly when exposed to the environment.

There is some nice durable clear-coat made for aluminum car rims, I think Dupli-colour makes it. Be right back

(disappears into the internet)

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Ahh yes, here it is: http://duplicolor.co...s/wheelCoating/

[image: View Post]Veefer800Canuck, on 01 May 2011 - 11:20 PM, said:

I would have sprayed the bead-blasted aluminum parts with some clear coat because it's going to oxidize quickly when exposed to the environment.

There is some nice durable clear-coat made for aluminum car rims, I think Dupli-colour makes it. Be right back

(disappears into the internet)

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Ahh yes, here it is: http://duplicolor.co...s/wheelCoating/



Good point. I used "diamond clear coat" found at Eastwoods.

http://www.eastwood....-gloss-set.html

Don't know it is any better, but I read good reviews on it.

[image: View Post]VFanatic, on 01 May 2011 - 11:48 PM, said:

Good point. I used "diamond clear coat" found at Eastwoods.

http://www.eastwood....-gloss-set.html

Don't know it is any better, but I read good reviews on it.



Oh, 's all good then! :fing02:

Can't wait to see the finished product. I had a VF750 from 1984 to 1986. Red/white and with chocolate cams.

[image: View Post]Veefer800Canuck, on 02 May 2011 - 12:59 AM, said:

[image: View Post]VFanatic, on 01 May 2011 - 11:48 PM, said:

Good point. I used "diamond clear coat" found at Eastwoods.

http://www.eastwood....-gloss-set.html

Don't know it is any better, but I read good reviews on it.



Oh, 's all good then! :fing02:

Can't wait to see the finished product. I had a VF750 from 1984 to 1986. Red/white and with chocolate cams.




I had thought of that then spaced it and now they are on with Gasket sealer. Maybe I can mask off around them and do it later.
lee