NC24 Stripdown

[Spoonman]

The NC30 frame would certainly be the easier route alright.

That price has certainly pricked my ears up - looking forward to pics.

Looks like I'll be shifting my GS500 today all things going well - assuming it goes, the funds will pay for everything on the current parts shopping list, and a chunk of the paint work which means this project will be taking a major jump forward timewise.

Put the 24 motor in an NC30 frame, it's not hard to do at all.

I'll get you a pic of the can / link pipe and see what you think, I was thinking around £30.00 as I just need to space, it cost £160 + 30 for the pipe if i remember rightly.

sounds a little deeper but not louder, has a nice sound. I just dont' have a bike to fit it to anymore (having a major clearout of stuff!)

[Spoonman]

Story all.

Right, got back into the workshop for the day today and got the last of the heavy cleaning done.

Got the exhaust cleaned as best as I can manage in place - was gonna stip out the engine & take the whole thing down but decided I'm too lazy too be bothered.

Also discovered that my existing downpipes & collector box are in outstanding condition!




However, the same cannot be said of my right side engine casing & front rocker cover. The rear rocker cover & the stator cover aren't as bad but could use a lick all the same - not picured below is also the front sprocket cover which is in the same league as the first two.






I've another '24 engine sitting to one side at the moment so the plan is to take the above covers from it and send them for repainting along with the fairings - when I get them back I'll switch them out with the ones shown above and send them off for painting & refitting to the other motor.

Now - a questions - what's the best tool/substance to return this linkage to it's former glory?



There are a few parts such as the rearsets, lower fairing stays, & sidestand which could benefit from the same kind of agressive treatment.

In any case, I also got the swingarm cleaned & refitted as well as stripping, cleaning & rebuilding the rear hub, and cleaning the rearshock. Inspection of the rearshock reveals it to also be in great condition functionally so not need to send it off for reconditioning which is nice.

SO - here's how she's sitting as I left her this evening.






Getting to the point were I'm gonna start needing parts to go any farther but tomorrow I hope to get a good look at the parts that need agressive effort as mentioned - then it's time to start stripping the forks & front calipers in anticipation of a parts order.

More news as I get it.


PS: no - I did not clean the chain, thought about it, but decided I'd just get one of those do-hiks for the job next time I see one... wayy to much effort for something that I'm just gonna but gunk back onto straight away anyways...

[Neosophist]

I've not forgotton about the exhaust, i'll get you a picture this week.

You could have the linkage stripped and zinc plated.

As for the aluminum rear-sets you just need some good aluminium cleaner.

Solvol Autosol is good stuff, you need to put in some elbow grease but you get a fantastic result.

You can paint the engine covers yourself!



PJ1 Engine and case paint.

You rub them down and spray it on the bare metal.







Dead easy to use and once it's dry it looks like factory. Only about £6.50 a can, which was enough for rocker tops and side - cases.

The haze you see in the pics is condensation on the covers.. was damp and cold when they were took, but they look mint now :-)

[duncan]

I like your black side covers.They are a lot better than mine.Where did you get that paint from?I was tempted to paint mine with smooth hammerite.I like the idea of no primer or undercoat.

[Spoonman]

Excellent - haven't ever tried painting bits myself beyond very rudementary rattlecan jobs.

What's the best way to rub down the old paint - wirebrush or wirewheel? or would that be too aggressive?
Might just do the same thing with the lower fairing stays and the sidestand too and get some of that rubber finish spray paint for them.

Will give the Autosol a go on the rearsets and see how I get one, think I have some in there as it is... guess I was just hoping there was an easier way.

As for that linkage - not really worth sending it away on it's own so I might just take whatever paint stripping method is suggested to it too and seal it with clearcoat or something.

[Neosophist]

Wirebrush and scotchbrite.. I left some of the old paint on, just rubbed it well down so I had a nice level even surface to paint to.

You can apply fastblack to bare metal though

Fastblack is runny so apply it in very thin even coats and build it up, take your time and you get excellent results.. once it's dry and hardened its very durable.

Satin Case Paint

Gloss paint

There both £5.50 a can.. I used to gloss. it's great stuff

PJ1 website

Click Products ->Paints -> Other Color Options ->PJ1 Engine and Case paint for more info

Unlike other paints, PJ1 coatings are specialized. Please follow the simple instructions to yield the best result.

Step 1: Clean surface and remove rust, wax, grease and dirt. Lightly sand gloss surfaces.

Step 2: Ensure can, surface and ambient temperature are between 70° and 95°F (24° - 35°C). Shake can vigorously for one minute after mixing ball rattles.

Step 3: Test a small area to ensure compatibility.

Step 4: Hold can upright 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm) away from surface being sprayed. For larger wrinkles, apply heavy coats each in a different direction (horizontal stripes then vertically) Get all coats on within 30 minutes. Do not retouch after it has dried.

Step 5: Clean spray button immediately after use by turning can upside down and pressing spray button until no paint comes out.

Step 6: Dries to touch in 2 to 4 hours. Dries completely in 72 hours.

[Spoonman]

&*^%!!! Have to redo this whole post on account of a dodgy internet connection!!

Anyways - here goes:

Cheers Neo for the paint advice - will gather those bits during the week and give that a shot mid next week I expect.


As for todays effort, well:

I stripped the forks and recovered the old bushes - the inners look ok but the outers are showing signs of wear.



In the process of stripping the forks however, I was paying less attention that I should have been when I removed the damping rod from the left fork (the one with the alleged "anti-dive" system in it) - so now, does this little part at the end of the damping rod go this way:



or this way:



I suspect the latter, but better safe than sorry.

I've also run into a problem with the right leg in that the damping rod won't drop all the way down and out the bottom of the stantion (I've been putting everything back together loosely while I wait for the new parts to arrive). In any case, it's stuck at this point:



I've tried rattling it around, I've put the spring in and compressed it, I've put the bolt in and pulled on it... nothing seems to be working. I seem to recall having this problem the last time I stripped the forks too but can't remember how I sorted it out (although I suspect it was by brute force & ignorance). Any advice appreciated!


SO - once I'd finished mucking with the forks, I turned my attention to the front calipers which were a bit of a state to be fair.

I used a rattle gun on an air line to remove the retaining pins & the retaining pin caps which took out all but on of the caps without any hassle. The offending cap then got a visit from an impact driver and relented. All in all, the pins and caps are in good nick but I've ordered a few spares for the sake of looking at them rather than looking for them.

Pins & pads out, the calipers looked like this:



The pistons came out easily enough using the closed system (popped one pair, clamped the line, then popped the other) although once removed, they revealed the fluid to be in an awful state.





However, the application of my trusty toothbrush and some Halfords Brake cleaner sorted them out in fairly short order. It's actually the first time I've ever used brake cleaner to clean brakes... and by heck that stuff does not f*ck around does it?!? I couldn't believe how quickly it cut through all the junk!

So the calipers are now sitting pretty, wrapped up in surgical gloves along with all their individual parts until the new seal kits arrive. The master cylinder & lines are hanging up over a bucket for the next few days until I get time to strip them down - most likely on friday (herself is off tomorrow so I'm on call & I've a wedding thursday) so will prob throw another few pics up then.

laters.

ps: @ Neo - still interested in that can when you get a second.

[Spoonman]

Right - quick update.

...I've done f*ck all since the last post as I'm back to work now. So things are gonna slow down on the build from here on out.

However - what is happening is this:

- I've gotten the case paint and the tools to strip back the paint on the covers.
- The new fork bushes arrived but they're too tall (standard Honda 37mm bushes) so they're with a few pals with a machining shop to get trimmed down to size.
- The new decal kit arrived. The colours are good, and all details are accounted for, but the scaling is off.
- I've shifted my trusty old GS500 so that's paying for the tank and panels which are going to paint in the next few days along with the decal kit I've got. The dude doing the paint also knows a guy who does decals, so if he can do better than what I've got, I'll get him to make up another set.
- I still can't figure out what the f*ck is going on with that stuck fork though - the anti-dive I've got sorted, but the other one is doing my f*ckin' head in! I found a few reference photo's of the forks and I can't even see that little nylon buffer b*st*rd in them anywhere!


On another topic, what is also happening is that I'm finding myself constantly day dreaming about injecting that spare '24 motor (can anyone tell me why you couldn't just convert the carb bodies to throttle bodies please??)(and yes, I'm aware of all the peripheral sensor trickery involved in getting the system to work well - it hasn't put me off )....

...and there's a dude in cork selling a '30 chassis, rear subframe, and rear exhaust manifold for not a lot of cash so that's more than slightly tempting too. (It's soooo hard not to start sprinting on ahead of myself! )


oh - and Neo, I'm still interested in that linkpipe & can if you're still looking to get rid of it.

laters!

[Neosophist]

I found it out the other day.. I remember I cut the middle out of the can... about 3" of metal.. i'll see if I can put it back together.

Either way your welcome to it for price of postage.

Erm... fuel injection isn't too difficult if you have the money to throw at it, you can't do half a job.

Check out http://www.jenvey.co.uk/ over in Bridgnorth (abotu 10 miles from me)

They'll be able to make you some throttle bodies up.

It's been done on an RC30 before

http://www.durbahn.de/RC30-injection-manifold.htm

Check out there.

You'll need an Inginet or somethign similar (programmable) to actually use the injectors too, you could adapt a HRC map etc and base your programming off that.

To be fair theres a lot more things you could throw at the motor before Fuel injection would be warranted, so unless it's proof of concept you'd better invest your money in somethign else :-)

Check out the F3 NC24.. 73bhp 400 class racer :-)

[Spoonman]

For postage I'd take it just for the linkpipe so you can consider that sold in any case. Cheers!

As for the injection et al, it's more of an end goal than an immediate effort - looking into a LOT of possibilities for this engine - but yes, there would be a lot of more fundamental work done before I'd be going after FI.

I found both those links in my reading alright - the reason I was asking is just that I was curious as to why you would go to the effort and expense of building custom TB's and associated mountings and linkages when the carbs themselves could, as far as I can figure, suit the purpose in themselves...?


Anyways - I also got into the workshop for a few hours yesterday. Got the right side caliper rebuilt and ready to rock and the master cylinder as well, then realised I'm a seal kit short so the left hand caliper will have to wait until the next order.

Also had another look at that fork - eventually lost the rag with it and went the brute force route. Anchored a slide hammer into that nylon b*st*rd and went to town. It came out first strike - it's just a tubular piece that sits on the end of the damping rod and mates to the bottom of the leg. I imagine that's why I've not seen it in any photo's - it's usually jammed in place at the bottom of the fork leg. Regardless, it's all sorted now - brute force is the way forward.

I'm not sure if it's meant to, but it appears to have a taper at one end which is why it jammed up into the stantion in the first place.

Another thing that I've noticed is that I appear to be missing the second, smaller spring in the other fork for the anti dive system. Will have to try and order one - not that I've ever noticed it's absence before now but just on principle.


In any case, enough meandering; I'm setting up a space to spray the relevent covers etc... later this week. There are a few bits on the motor itself that I can't really get at while it's in place, so now I'm also considering taking it out after all. Looking into building a jig to hold the motor now so that I can take the frame off from around it rather than trying to lift it from the frame.

Also need to get a dremel and some smaller polishing bits to get into the little spaces for paint prep.






....why do we do this to ourselves??

It's like and involutary vow of poverty.