Posts
131
Joined
6/26/2015
Location
Miami, FL
US
Edited Date/Time
2/9/2022 7:03am
Hi Guys
After finishing all 80cc Mini bikes from 1980, I picked up an RM80D 1983 first water cooled from craigslist a couple of months ago and I been working on that mini beauty since then.
To be honest, when I bought I knew it was in bad shape, but I never thought it was so rough, even the guy I bought it from New Jersey, for who knows the reason after I got it, never replied me again when i send him a couple of pictures of the progress as he asked me for!
I will be posting some pictures of the before and some of the progress
water
After finishing all 80cc Mini bikes from 1980, I picked up an RM80D 1983 first water cooled from craigslist a couple of months ago and I been working on that mini beauty since then.
To be honest, when I bought I knew it was in bad shape, but I never thought it was so rough, even the guy I bought it from New Jersey, for who knows the reason after I got it, never replied me again when i send him a couple of pictures of the progress as he asked me for!
I will be posting some pictures of the before and some of the progress
water
Is that bondo on the pipe in the first set of pictures? I guess that's one way to take care of dents...
The Shop
it needs more sanding and polish after
Cheers,
How is your kid liking the rm80 1979 you restored for him?
Going back to the engine cases, i will give u the details
The first step I do is take it to the powder coat guy to get them sandblast and I will take it back home to inspect them
remember they are aluminum so they won't rust
The second step after inspection will be, removing all scratches and big marks with a Dremel sanding drum 320 grit and then smooth them out with a Dremel sanding drum 600 grit, after that, I will use a scrubber wheel that I bought from Caswell Plating and I do a light pass for final step( don't apply to much pressure on the scrubber because it worn out really quick)
After that it goes back to the powder coat shop to get sandblast again and paint
Metal Parts will be the same method for light details, for heavy details you will have to fill them up with JB Weld the original version
Regards
Martin
The carb is the original and I restored them all the time
The process will be:
Remove all dirt and grease from body parts(not plastic parts or seals) with gasoline first
Second will be dipping them 30 minutes in a carb cleaner solution
Third will be zinc plate and chromate with correct colors all metal parts, also change all rubber seals and gaskets
The last step will be using the scrubber wheel from Caswell to remove all the oxidation from the aluminum body parts and from all brass parts(all jets and other parts)
All my decals are made after been measured and traced from the originals by bdesigns.ca, his name is Brian
He is the best for my OCD problem
Good Luck with your project!
Pit Row
I did and I replied with my email address
Please double check
Can you post up a link of the scrubber you use from Caswells Martin. I thought you were vapour blasting your parts they were coming up so new.
In the pic I am posting up, the Oem Kickstarter and rear brake pedal and carb boot band have a metal finish that has a slightly greenish hue. Have you seen that process?
Keep up the good work,
Cheers
Cheers,
yes I'm using the copy cad and zinc kit from Caswell
Sorry for the delay, I am posting the picture of the scrubber wheel, the system from Caswell that I use is copy cad and zinc
If you check the Kickstarter and fork caps, etc from the rm80 1983 that I am restoring you will see the color you are asking
I don't use the olive drab chromate, i just use the black chromate and I learned after practicing with timing dips to obtain the color I want, or either greenish or black
The other chromate colors I use after the zinc plating process is yellow and clear blue
Going back to vapor blasting, you comment that you thought I was doing that, I will tell you again, there is no blast that will take any scratches or gouges from your aluminum parts, before you paint, polish or use the scrubber wheel you need to sand all of that away, if not you will have a painted, polished or shiny part with all the imperfections named before
Regards
martin
I have been working on the cushion, linkage, and rear shock the last week
I am posting before and after pictures
I have to take the shock to charge with nitrogen before installing the new decal and then it will go on the bike
Hope you like them
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