My Seca quick refresh…..

I have owned my Seca for nearly 6 years and 18,000 miles and I realized at the end of last summer that its age was catching up with it. It had been in storage for the 10 years prior to me buying it so when I got it was in too nice of stock shape to mess with. Well after last years cross country trip and it spending 2 years (and winters!) in an apartment parking lot it looked like a 26 year old bike. So I started planning in the spring what I would do for its “cosmetic rebuild.” Well we all know how well planning works and sure enough the project was pushed back until it looked like it wouldn’t take place until next summer. Then at the beginning of August I was doing a delivery for work,,,, to the powder coater,,, and the guy that runs the powder coat shop told me he would coat everything for $100 if I brought it in sandblasted. I went home and pulled the bike apart that weekend and got to work with the blaster, only to have the nozzle wear out and not be able to find a replacement. Sure enough the only pro that I could get a hold of wanted $250 to blast everything, so much for the powder coating. It was now up to me to paint the bike.

I went with PJ1 epoxy paint for the frame and misc. metal parts, Rustolium plastic paint for some of the faded plastic parts, PJ1 high temp paint for the engine, and NAPA 2 part automotive paint for the bodywork. I didn’t do much mechanical work, just new front pads and steering stem bearings, new turn signals are going on as well. I still need to make mounting brackets for the front signals and figure the carbs. out. The bike has always run a little rich, now that the carbs have been cleaned in an ultrasonic bath it runs very rich (lots of black smoke!). I may also go with some black Yamaha decals on the tank and black 750 decals on the side covers but I haven’t found any yet.

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, I really could use a better camera. Anyways I am pleased at what I was able to rush through in 3 weeks.

 

That's a Hall of Fame job.

Nice looking bike. Great work.

 

Fox, you have done yourself great credit with the work you turned out. And to make lemonade out of lemons is great too. Sorry about the blaster, powder coating would have been a great deal for you. Still, excellent work, she really shines now.

 

Hey, Fox!

How's it run???

 

Thanks for the complements guys.

lol, well if you don't mind black smoke pouring out the exhaust it runs great! No, really I need to pull the carbs off and check the float adjustment, the #2 carb. is now overflowing just a little so I know that one needs to be adjusted. I will also drill out the pilot screw caps and adjust those. Is there anything else for adjustments? I think the slide needles are non-adjustable. I hate taking these carbs on and off; there is no easy way to do it.

Before the teardown it was running a little rich and would let out a puff of black smoke when I would get on the throttle hard. Now for the 1 minute I have run it since assembly it would have black smoke coming out the whole time.

 

Nice job, just wondering did you pull everything off of the frame, or leave the engine on it, and if so how hard was it to strip the frame down of all mechanical components to paint it?

 

I took everything off, basically the only thing I left together was the engine but I did remove it from the frame. It wasn't hard to strip it all down, getting the carbs. on is probably the worst part. The engine is heavy though (duh), I was able to remove it by myself but installing it was much easier with the help of a friend.

As always having a good set of tools helps a lot.

 

Inspiring me to do the same with mine, originally I had been going to just do the tank, but the more I look the more I notice things on the frame, and even though I got the chrome to buff out nicely on my engine, the deper parts eaither need to be chromed, or blacked out, like you did.

If you don't mind me asking, how long from start to finish did it take, and cost for everything? I'd be doing hand sanding, and I also have a maxim 650, but looks a lot like your bike.

 

Well let’s see, I bought….

3 cans of PJ1 Fast Black epoxy paint… $25
2 cans of PJ1 Fast Black engine paint… $17
1 can of Rustolium plastic paint…. $5
1 pint of NAPA automotive paint…. $20

(I already had the automotive primer, hardener, clear coat, and thinner)

Steering stem bearings…. $40
Turn signals… $25
Mirrors… $15
Grips…. $10
Front brake pads (already had)

Oil…. $10
Air filter…. $10

So the total spent is around $180 plus the paint that I already had, man there is no such thing as cheap is there. If this is your first time using automotive paint like it was mine you don’t need much, the little pint that I bought is probably enough to do 3-4 bikes after you add the reducer.

I generally work on fixing up old ATVs so I am always trying new paints out. I have heard good things about the PJ1 but this is the first time I have used it. My initial impression is that it is better then normal spray paints but so far it has not impressed me. Next time I will give por15 (www.por15.com) a call so see what they suggest. I have used there brush on epoxy paint and it works great.

As for time, it took about 3 weeks working on it a few nights a week and a days worth on each weekend. Then saying up until 2am the last two nights so I could get it done before leaving for school 8O . Taking a guess I would say it took 60-80 hours? I did take the time to clean every thing that came off; the wheels themselves took about 7 hours to clean, paint and re-polish. I was only able to sandblast the swinger, brake stay bar, and about 40% of the frame, after that I hand sanded to remove rust and scuff the old paint.

I am not expecting it to last as long as the original paint did, but as long as it looks good for the next few years I can do it better next time (or get a new bike!).

 

Thanks for the info bud, I'd hate to give my bike up for a few weeks atm, but once winter rolls around I should have my hands full.

 

Yes ... there's something really nice you can do with the Tops off and the Diaphragms OUT.

Refinish and Polish the Diaphragm Piston Bores.
Changing the strips of finishing paper very often you:

Sand the Inside Diameter of the Bore with 1000 Wet-O-Dry using WD-40 as the wetting agent.
The 1000 "Loads-up" fast ... so, change it out at lease 6 times for each Bore.
Folo with 1200
Then with 1500 ...

Do some Special Tuning and Buff those Bores to a Mirror Finish with a Dremel Buffer and Number-6 Jewelers Rouge.

PURR-formance! With emphasis on the Purr!

Tape the Drill so it cannot penetrate more than 2mm.

 

Sounds like a good plan Rick. I think I will have my brother mail me the extra Seca carbs he has at his place. Then I can get them all ready for when I go home from college in a month.