RobgvxStandard MemberPosts: 25
Joined: Jun 2011
Joined: Jun 2011
Right, I'll try and go through what I did to the family Dax.
First off, the bike was stripped down to the bare frame. All the red and silver parts were painted by a bodyshop friend of mine. He didn't blast them first but just prepped the surfaces by hand. I gave him the paint name/code for the Candy Red although no idea if what he came up with was actually correct. For the silver parts I just asked him to do a nice bright silver. I wasn't too concerned about the colours being 100% original but rather that they be 'nice'. He's familiar with ST70s and I'm quite happy with what he came up with.
The decals were sourced as a set from EBay. My bodyshop friend applied them, following a positioning guide that I sent him to explain what went where. He did these on top of the red and then clear coated over them. so the edges are protected.
The motor was completely stripped to the cases and all bearings and seals removed. I then bead blasted the cases, cylinder and head and they were painted in silver and black by the same guy. Bit of hassle to ensure all the media and grit was out of course.
All the black parts like the stand, seat base, battery cradle, rear light etc were powder coated in satin black. New footpeg rubbers, kickstart rubber, grips, new kickstart and rear brake pedal, plug cap, fuel hoses, new OEM exhaust, air filter, air box and end caps. The motor was actually fine but we put in new seals, new bearings, rings and a few other small parts.
New exhaust as I said, new grab handle (it was missing), new pillion pegs and rubbers and rear brake pedal and rod.
The shocks are pattern parts which I'm not happy with. The old shocks were fine apart from the red painted cover part which was rotten. However this is discontinued and hence I have perfectly serviceable standard shocks that I cannot complete because of that one part. I bought a used pair of shocks off EBay hoping to use the covers off those. They were described as good condition, but actually were bent and rotten too. Waste of money. So I ended up having to buy these ones. Why don't the people who make pattern shocks make them look like the original ones...?
New chain and sprockets.
The carb was ultrasonically cleaned by a friend and it came up beautifully. New screws and new hose clips. There shouldn't be nuts on the bolts attaching the carb to the inlet but they had stripped out and I really didn't think it was necessary to go the Helicoil route when some dome nuts did the job.
The wheels were split and sent to my friend for manual prepping and painting in the same silver. New tyres and tubes obviously. The tread on the original tyres was still really deep but the rubber was quite perished. New fork boots.
The fork legs, as well as many of the fasteners and other metal parts were plated by myself. I used a 'replica chrome' plating kit from Gateros http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Replica ... ng-Kit.php It is fiddly and time consuming but satisfying and quite a lot of fun. It's not true chrome plating but rather a bright nickel. I used it on the brake arms, axles, axle nuts, hose clamps, gear lever and really, any steel part that I couldn't or didn't want to replace. The colour is a bit more yellow than true chrome and if this was a concours restoration then it wouldn't have been appropriate. But it did the job and was considerably cheaper than getting the stuff professionally chromed.
Many of the other fasteners were replaced, either with OEM parts, or stainless steel, which I polished on a buffing wheel. Stainless bolts are available from Screwfix for next to nothing although they don't have every size and they're not the exact shape and style of the Honda ones. Prime example is shown on the front wheel. The split rim bolts are standard Screwfix stainless ones, polished up, but the captive nuts they go into on the other side are a weird size so I had to re-use these, which I re-plated.
If you wanted to go really berserk then there's always Probolt who peddle some seriously cool, but expensive, nut and bolt porn in aluminium, stainless or Ti: http://www.pro-bolt.com/
Seat base needed repairing and strengthening before powder coating. The seat cover came from EBay and is acceptable. The decorative seat studs were re-plated by myself. New battery, new rear light lens.
Front light unit was replaced but handlebars (which I replaced when I first got the bike 25 years ago) were still fine and came up nicely with some polish. New speedo and front brake cables (I think), and new chrome strip on the frame spine. Horn was fine and just needed painting.
That's about it fellas.
First off, the bike was stripped down to the bare frame. All the red and silver parts were painted by a bodyshop friend of mine. He didn't blast them first but just prepped the surfaces by hand. I gave him the paint name/code for the Candy Red although no idea if what he came up with was actually correct. For the silver parts I just asked him to do a nice bright silver. I wasn't too concerned about the colours being 100% original but rather that they be 'nice'. He's familiar with ST70s and I'm quite happy with what he came up with.
The decals were sourced as a set from EBay. My bodyshop friend applied them, following a positioning guide that I sent him to explain what went where. He did these on top of the red and then clear coated over them. so the edges are protected.
The motor was completely stripped to the cases and all bearings and seals removed. I then bead blasted the cases, cylinder and head and they were painted in silver and black by the same guy. Bit of hassle to ensure all the media and grit was out of course.All the black parts like the stand, seat base, battery cradle, rear light etc were powder coated in satin black. New footpeg rubbers, kickstart rubber, grips, new kickstart and rear brake pedal, plug cap, fuel hoses, new OEM exhaust, air filter, air box and end caps. The motor was actually fine but we put in new seals, new bearings, rings and a few other small parts.
New exhaust as I said, new grab handle (it was missing), new pillion pegs and rubbers and rear brake pedal and rod.
The shocks are pattern parts which I'm not happy with. The old shocks were fine apart from the red painted cover part which was rotten. However this is discontinued and hence I have perfectly serviceable standard shocks that I cannot complete because of that one part. I bought a used pair of shocks off EBay hoping to use the covers off those. They were described as good condition, but actually were bent and rotten too. Waste of money. So I ended up having to buy these ones. Why don't the people who make pattern shocks make them look like the original ones...?New chain and sprockets.
The carb was ultrasonically cleaned by a friend and it came up beautifully. New screws and new hose clips. There shouldn't be nuts on the bolts attaching the carb to the inlet but they had stripped out and I really didn't think it was necessary to go the Helicoil route when some dome nuts did the job.
The wheels were split and sent to my friend for manual prepping and painting in the same silver. New tyres and tubes obviously. The tread on the original tyres was still really deep but the rubber was quite perished. New fork boots.The fork legs, as well as many of the fasteners and other metal parts were plated by myself. I used a 'replica chrome' plating kit from Gateros http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Replica ... ng-Kit.php It is fiddly and time consuming but satisfying and quite a lot of fun. It's not true chrome plating but rather a bright nickel. I used it on the brake arms, axles, axle nuts, hose clamps, gear lever and really, any steel part that I couldn't or didn't want to replace. The colour is a bit more yellow than true chrome and if this was a concours restoration then it wouldn't have been appropriate. But it did the job and was considerably cheaper than getting the stuff professionally chromed.
Many of the other fasteners were replaced, either with OEM parts, or stainless steel, which I polished on a buffing wheel. Stainless bolts are available from Screwfix for next to nothing although they don't have every size and they're not the exact shape and style of the Honda ones. Prime example is shown on the front wheel. The split rim bolts are standard Screwfix stainless ones, polished up, but the captive nuts they go into on the other side are a weird size so I had to re-use these, which I re-plated.
If you wanted to go really berserk then there's always Probolt who peddle some seriously cool, but expensive, nut and bolt porn in aluminium, stainless or Ti: http://www.pro-bolt.com/Seat base needed repairing and strengthening before powder coating. The seat cover came from EBay and is acceptable. The decorative seat studs were re-plated by myself. New battery, new rear light lens.
Front light unit was replaced but handlebars (which I replaced when I first got the bike 25 years ago) were still fine and came up nicely with some polish. New speedo and front brake cables (I think), and new chrome strip on the frame spine. Horn was fine and just needed painting.That's about it fellas.