My XJ on crutches!!???

[Cobia]

Update!! belated as it is...

Didn't do diddly sh*t over the holidays, thanks to family commitments and the wx. Yet, a few days ago I sandblasted and painted the battery box, rear master cylinder, rear caliper, and other misc part for the rear end of the bike in my effort to get the rear end buttoned up. Pics will be forthcoming since they turned out pretty nice.
A good tip worth mentioning is that the epoxy paint from duplicolor that I'm using is truely chemical resistant. After sandblasting the rear MC I wanted to clear out any sand out of the output ports so I pumped it as if you were bleeding it, so I took the cap off to make sure there was still brake fluid in it, it was still full. So I replaced the cover and pumped it clean. Later, after cleaning it with acetone, painting it, and hanging it to dry I discovered brake fluid leaking from it. I hadn't tightened the cover enough. Guess what? I was able to wipe it off with no deleterious effect on the paint!!! Impressive considering what brake fluid does to painted surfaces.
So, anyway, I was further sidetracked by the fact that I had to pull and clean the carbs on my G,....another delay. The story is in the ebay carbs string.
I plan to begin installing the parts on Monday, I'll post pics then.
Thanks

[thecamelman79]

Looking forward to it cobia

[thecamelman79]

Cobia dude,
When ya gonna put up some recent pics?

[Cobia]

Well, it's been five months since I've posted an update on my resto of the XJ. I just wanted to spare you the boring details of wire brushing and painting bolts, running the electrical harness, and other such trivialities. I'm kind of attempting to create an image of the mythical Midnight Maxim. Some of the painting over rusted chrome fork ears hasn't come out as expected but I've got new ones I can paint and install. I also don't have the budget to powder coat so paint will have to do.
So, here are a few pics of where I'm at now.

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The re-installation of that wire harnes was a bit of a challenge....

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I'll keep posting as the project comes along. I hope to get her going by the end of next week.

[Rickrod3]

Looks really Good

[Cobia]

Thanks Rick !!

[bikerphil]

Looks good Robert, it should be a real head turner when you're thru.

[Cobia]

Thanks Phil. Lots of work.... labor of love..??
Can't wait to ride it.
Today I took the petcocks apart, cleaned the bodies with a dremel tool and a
wire brush tip, blew them out, lubricated them and put them back together. They were frozen and nasty from sitting around this long.
I already took the front master cylinder apart and cleaned it, as well as all the lines. Didn't do the rear one before instaling it and now I'm having second thoughts about that. I'll open it up and decide after I see how it looks.
Then I got into the calipers......
Tried to expel the pistons with air pressure... no luck. I eventually discovered that my bleeders were less than ideal, and one was frozen. Got the frozen one out with the help of a little heat, and cleaned them all out so air would freeflow.
Then found the right size bleeder valve that worked with my grease gun and got the rear piston out before I ran out of grease..
Going to wally-world to get grease and brake cleaner for the aftermath.
The grease gun technique works very well. Thanks to whomever came up with it!! I guess the old addage is true, necesity is the mother..... well you know.

[DGXSER]

Very nice work Robert!! Looking forward to seeing it completed! Sharp bike for sure!

[Cobia]

Thanks Don,
I'm just wondering how it's going to look with the tank and side covers in the original burgundy color, and the rest of the bike in black and gold..?? I do intend to paint the frame of the side covers in black as well. Here's what it looked like when I got it. Rode it for almost a year before I was 'forced' to resto it. The PO did a nice job on the tank pin striping.

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I'm eliminating the rear rack, for now, but I really don't like the top of the license plate backboard... kind of a corrugated metal thing.
Well , we'll see how it turns out.
Thanks for all the compliments.

[DGXSER]

I am no Decorator or anything, but I always like that burgundy color. In fact, if I had stuck with rattle can, Banshee would be a burgundy like that. I think the tank itself shows you it will blend with the gold well, and since will have some gold in it, it should end up really nice.

Coming from a guy with no racks or cases on my bike, I can tell you, I am looking for something to be able to secure stuff in and on the bike.

[Cobia]

Yeah, those are my thoughts also, that the gold on the tank will tie in with the gold highlights in the bike.
Chances are that I'll re-install that rack back on the bike, considering that I use them a lot for running errands. I just don't think the paint will hold up real well on a utilitarian part like that. I'll just have to coat it with a hard finish coat.

[Cobia]

Update !!!

I can't believe it's been almost a year and two months since I started this resto/reno.
So with that in mind I got on the ball again and desided to get it on it's own two wheels. Lots of stuff to get there. Had to get it off the mc jack to install the exhaust, the oil filter cover, the sidestand and sidestand switch, etc. Then came the braking system: caliper installation, master cylinders, bleeding, you know. Front mc refuses to cooperate so it'll be coming off again, disassembled, gone over, and re-assembled.
Except for the headlight, the front end is pretty much finished.
Here are some pics.
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I sandblasted the exhaust manifold and the muffler to give the coatings something to stick to. I used a 650 degree ceramic/metal coating for both of them. Hope they stick and not change colors too much. Tried to get a gold color similar to the other paint I used but they didn't have it.

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Next items to attack will be the carbs, airbox, rear signal light fixtures, and side covers. I'll keep posting as it comes along.

[imcgyver]

Hello, I like the MS creation, I have a 80 XS1100 MS and need to do some work on it, My question is what paint are you using for your gold trim and are you using the same paint on the header pipe?
thank you for your time and response.
Ron

1981 XS650 Special II unrestored excellent shape
1980 xs1100 MS needs little work runs great
1981 Honda CB650C runs but needs work

[Cobia]

Ron,
Not the same paint. Although they're all made by Dupli-Color.
On the headers I'm using VHT High Temperature Engine Metallic, Gold Flake.
They call it a 'coating', not paint, because of the ceramic and metal contents.
It's supposed to withstand temps of up to 650 degrees.

On the gold trim, I'm using a Duplicolor Lacquer, Istant Gold Finish. I'm then coating that with a High Performance Wheel Coating in clear. They claim it's resistant to chipping, brake dust, chemicals, cleaning solutions, and heat.
I also used this to coat my chrome fenders since I didn't really want a shiny chrome finish. It gave it a kind of brushed finish.
Bought them all at Advanced Auto.
For the engine of course I used hi temp primer and paint, and for all other parts I used an epoxy paint they recommend for suspension parts. Supposed to be tougher than the regular stuff.