Well it's that time of year again here in Michigan, so might as well do a few things to the Seca. I'll be going over quite a bit this winter, so I'll update the thread when I get some progress made.

For now:

As it sat the first day of bringing her home.



That's also the way it looked most of the summer. Didn't do too much to it cosmetically, just went through the necessary maintenance items to make it reliable and safe for the season.

As it sits now, after valve clearances checked, and lots of parts getting cleaned. Good news is that all of the engine-to-carb boot screws came loose without too much fuss. Sprayed them with PB Blaster, went out the next day, and it was like they were just snugged down a week earlier.



The tins are getting repainted. The blue that the PO had put on looked awesome, but he didn't pay for good clear coat. So after a fill up and slopping a little gas on the tank that didn't get wiped off for the 5 minute ride home, (note to self, add a towel to the pack) the tank is in need of a new spraying. I'd show you a picture but they get deleted when you leave the camera where the 6-year-old can get ahold of it.
So a picture of the sidecovers will have to do for now.



Since the gas cap had to come off for the new color, might as well rebuild that since the old seal was pretty dry. Almost as hard as plastic, not even sure how it sealed the gas into the tank going around the corners.



And The petcock worked perfectly, but it was dirty, so why not clean it up and pull all the rubber out of that and put new seals and diaphragms in. That way I know it won't fail on me in the near future. Might as well, right?



And this is the final few steps of rebuilding the MC.



Still to come are:
New shims
Carbs
Refinish the carb holders
Tires
All new bearings, just because I don't know when these ones were replaced.
All new brake pads, shoes, and hoses. Hoses are only about 6 years old, but they aren’t stainless, so might as well do ‘em up the way I want.
Finish the bodywork and repainting of the tins.
New gauges
Lots of polishing and small misc parts like grips, new allen screws all around, all new cables, etc.

Will give y’all an update whenever I get another step done.
Oh, and my March 15th deadline should be no problem to achieve, needs to be done by April for the motorcycle school at Grattan Raceway.

I do like that pussy.

Nice job on the MC cover. What's your address, I'll send you two more to do.

devo, only one problem with that, I'm outta caliper paint after doing the MC and calipers, but got plenty of enamel for the letters LOL

Thanks to Wiz, I had to go back thru the thread. Wasn't quite what I was looking for. Nice job on that cover, of course we'll expect the same work on the whole bike now and everybody else's for that matter dang it.

Actually decided to go a little bit of a different way with the cover.



I think it will go better with the overall look I have in mind....if not, oh well, it was only about 2 hours worth of work.


EDIT: (sorry about the blurry picture)

Yeah Wizard..... nothing like a nekkid bike and a little pu.......

Well, Christmas time means Dad has to wait on his motorcycle parts. I did get a new carb bowl for the rack though, so I just need to get four new non-chewed up drain screws.

Pulled the clutch pack out yesterday while I was making room in the shed for Santa's presents. Good news, looks just about brand new, not even a memory print on the plain plates. Bad news, I don't know that for sure, so I'm adding friction plates and springs to the list I'm building for Len.

So without too much to do 'till I get some parts for re-assembly, I decided to start cleaning things up getting it ready to refinish.

Soda blasting won't do much for the badly pitted carb hats, which are going to get sprayed anyway, so starting with the sanding/polishing process:



Why not polish the idle screw while I'm at it



And I finally found my buffing compound for the Dremel




Larger parts will wait a few days, I think Santa's bringing the old man one of these.
www.harborfreight.com/..._18107.jpg

yeah wiz I like it too!
I wish my MC cover looked so good man, dang I almost wanna quite riding it and do some of that..........nah another time.

skw, I don't blame ya, if I lived in FL I'd ride every day but Hurricane Day! LOL

I'm about to fire that cat, btw, the damn thing isn't catching the mice.

Besides that, I have a better looking kitty in the house, AND, she makes me coffee while I'm freezing my butt off out in the shed.

I ride in the cold too but thats what I call cold. You guys get a form of winter that i cant begin to imagine. anything lower than 30 shuold be against the law. I can deal with 100 plus no problem.
"they say" being closer to the water makes the temps feel different and I can tell you this, last night as I approached Escambia Bay on I-10 east my leather was almost too much, once I got over open water 3 stoies in the air the temp dropped AT LEAST 15 degrees instantly.
I couldn't make it up there man

Last night when I was pulling that clutch pack it was about 30*...I actually had to put a sweatshirt on over my tshirt when I went out there. Only took me about an hour.

When you're use to the cold it's not that bad.

But when you're use to the cold, even that "dry heat" out west is still too damn hot.

Ok guys, had a couple people PM me about the MC cover and the paint used.

So I thought I would include the response to the last PM here so you guys know all my little secrets.

Here ya go:

tskaz wrote:

I used DupliColor Brake caliper paint for the MC, Gloss black. I will be using the same paint, but in red to match the new color of the bike, on the front calipers. Then, while that is curing over the next 3 or 4 days, find some Testor's model paint. I prefer the Model Master line because it's better paint, but bought regular for the red since I didn't need very much. You can buy either enamel or acrylic. The plus side of acrylic is that you can clean up the edges of the letters by just wiping the cover with a wet cloth. The advantage of the enamel is that it is more durable, and since I ride rain or shine, I used enamel for durability. Neither of these will resist brake fluid, but that's really not a concern for me since I've not once spilled brake fluid on an MC cover six feet away from where I fill it. You just have to remember to use a dry cloth to wipe the cover, not one that you have already used to wipe up brake fluid. I suppose if it was a really big concern you could spray some caliper paint into a disposable bowl and use that for your paint. For the painting: use toothpicks as brushes. I use a knife to shave the end of the toothpick so that it fits nicely into the letter. Then dip into the paint on the underside of the lid. You want as small of a drop as possible on the end of the toothpick. Then just drop the paint into the letter, a magnifying glass is useful here, and repeat until the letters are full. If polishing the cover like I did, do all of your polishing before the painting. Then after you paint, let it cure for 3 or 4 days, then just re-polish with the last grit sandpaper you used, under running water, and the letters will come out crisp and clean. My dad used to own a buffing and polishing business and I've been pretty much doing this stuff since I was 12, so if you have any questions about paint or polishing just send me a PM. Then if you can't get it figured out, send it to me and I'll help you out.

dude I was just looking at your bike ( likey by the way) did those crash bars come with it and the pegs? I want some

The crash bars did come on it. I ditched the highway pegs shortly after I picked her up. They were cheap POS. Haven't actually decided yet if I want to put the crash bars back on.

I didn't like the feel of the highway pegs, but that's probably because I grew up racing motocross, so the rear-set footpegs feel natural to me.

Due to the good paint job, but crappy paint, that the PO had sprayed on there (didn't hold up to gasoline), and the fact that I now have to repaint, I decided to go with Chevy Flame Red. The same red used on factory Corvettes. And I WILL be using some gasoline-safe clear.

Still looking for the factory rear fender for the Seca, but I can add that later as I'll be keeping that black.

And, of course, there's the never ending search for the original headlight.....will be a "work in progress" next summer I guess.