Other, misc

July 2016 - Some progress has been made on the fork sliders - I found that they had been painted sliver at one point, and then just the outside side stripped and polished (a little).  Thus all the old paint had to be stripped and the sliders cleaned.  Polishing began with steel wool and Marvel's Mystery Oil; then some fine grit sandpaper; then white aluminum compound on a buffing wheel; then some Blue Magic polish followed by a microfiber cloth for buffing.  Whew.  I've stopped short of a mirror polish, and am very happy with how they have come out.  Both photos below are the same, except for one using a flash; post-steel wool but pre-polish on the left and polished on the right.

This is an example of the kind of grime I was dealing with.  Hours and hours of scrubbing and detailing have been required on essentially every part of this motorcycle (including nuts and bolts!).  I have also tried more than a half dozen cleaners and degreasers along the way.  As well as scrubbing brushes and cloths and scouring pads; geez, my hands hurt.  In the end, several parts (including the two below) got a coat of 'cast aluminum' paint as the staining was so difficult to eradicate, and more extreme measures could affect the dimpled surfaces.

Misc painted parts - the oil breather was painted over several times; a quick strip down to metal and a few coats of "chrome" paint returned it to presentable condition (chrome in quotes as spray paint cannot even come close to replicating the look; but the 'silver-esque' appearance is fine in this instance).  I also got some new radiator hoses to connect each oil line as needed.

Parts going back on the engine; just need the frame now!  When I went to pick it up this week, some parts were painted over that needed to stay clean, so it has to be redone.

Some other frame and related parts returned from the powdercoater.  Yes, I know you can't see them through the plastic.  I also finally picked up the parts being chromed; wow, they came out great - photos later.

Almost finished the tank badges.  I had to strip them bare to start with.  Painting was very tedious work, and despite patience and care with a small brush and a magnifying visor, I often could not paint inside the lines!  What would Miss Hamilton from pre-school say?  Fortunately, the undercoat of metallic gold spray paint is more robust than the black and white Rustoleum brand paint I'm using for the letters and background.  Once dry, any over-brush can be carefully scratched off with a fingernail.  This makes me wonder whether I should clearcoat them now too....?

This is about where I plan to affix the badges on the tank.  The stock position is immediately below the break in the tank and a little further back.  Given the knee indents added and the expansive 'real estate' available on the tank, I like the higher and more centered position.

Wires Everywhere

July, 2016.
I had been very interested in trying the M-Unit device to simplify wiring.  At the same time, using as many of the stock components as possible was a side goal of this project.  I believe it will be somewhat difficult to split this sort of thing halfway - you either start from scratch or make use of what you have and ensure everything is serviceable.

With some further thought, I am going to stay with a standard harness and keep the points distributor and stock coils as well (in keeping with my overall project goal of reusing as many stock pieces as I can).  But all  the relays can be updated, and the stock rectifier and regulator need to go.  I've got a new reg/rec ESR450 ready to install, which is a direct connect to the stator and battery (a minor downside is losing the 'Gen' light on the dash).  New plug wires and caps (NGK) have been procured as well.

Other considerations include how much of the stock harness is salvageable, and  of the parts to be replaced whether to make on my own or purchase pre-made.   Gregory Bender makes some great harnesses and other associated parts.  I decided to replace most of the harness and therefore ordered the main from Gregory and a few ancillary pieces.  I will work with my stock headlight sub-harness and fusebox; otherwise most of it will be new.

So Gregory delivered a great product, much of which is shown above.  I've laid out the entire harness from end to end, and labeled each connection to its proper location.  All is very straightforward, except the on/off and starter circuit; my project bike came w/o an ignition.  Plus the aftermarket reg/rec change (small white box in the middle) affects a few stock diagram connections.

The box in the lower left contains my crusty old stock main harness.  I will now wait until the frame is back on the engine to further address connections and placement.

Starter Motor fix

July 2016 - Fairly immediately evident upon viewing the bike during purchase was the big gob of sliver solder sitting on top of the starter solenoid terminal.  It was apparent that the pigtail from the starter field coil had broken at some point; although it worked, it is an exposed and rough job that I didn't want to trust.  A new field coil is about $67 and a lot of work to replace, so I was hoping for a reliable fix.

Upon minimal handling of the starter motor when removed from the engine, sure enough, the solder connection broke, leaving a little copper pigtail sticking out.  The starter cover proved difficult to remove; a trusty old oil filter wrench worked perfectly to pull it off.  Rebuild instructions on Gregory Bender's site were invaluable.

Once the starter motor cover was removed, the copper pigtail proved to be fairly short, but enough remaining for a crimped butt connector.  I bought a short length of braided copper wire and crimped it to the end of the pigtail.  A loop terminal crimped securely to the other end of the copper wire provided a connection to the starter solenoid terminal.  The connection is sound and secure, so as long as the copper wire is up to the starter amperage, we should be good to go.  Before reassembly, I had to bore out the rubber dam slightly to accommodate the size of the crimp connector.

crimp connector and braided copper wire

rubber dam around pigtail near center right

closer of rubber dam and pigtail

crimped wire (before crimping to terminal and cutting)

Now a little paint here and there and one more item down.

Wheels and Brake Disc

July 2016 - One key feature of this project bike for me is the Borrani wheels.  While in very good shape, they are covered in a film of oil and have oxidized in places, however.  These will take a bit of work but should come out very nice.  The spokes are sound and in very good condition.





















The front disc brake was rusted and in need of stripping and repaint.   Given the corrosion, it took a little persuasion from a large rubber mallet to dislodge it from the bearing carrier.  The disc sat in a tub full of EvapoRust for about 36 hours.  While it eventually did the job, it also required a lot of elbow grease and scrubbing to get down to the clean surface pictured below.  I would like to try another similar product next time to see if quicker and better results are possible.

I also plan to drill the brake disc.  I purchased a 1/4" metal drill bit, and have mapped out a repeating pattern.  Radiating out from each of six 'spokes' will be three holes from inside to outside edge.  Between each 'spoke' of the disc will be two sets of two holes, essentially in the space between (inside to outside edge) of the three and evenly spaced between each row of three.  This will make 18 + 24, or 42 holes, each counter-sunk by about a mm.  I hope my neighbor will allow me to spend a few hours at his drill press this weekend!

Engine - Clean & Paint?

July 2016 - update
So probably the thing I've been dreading most is degreasing and cleaning the engine.  REALLY dreading.  But it remains the last significant task before re-assembly can begin, and the parts are starting to stack up.

Various degreasers only worked so-so.  I tried one oil cutter I had around from years ago; a concoction of vinegar and alcohol and dishwashing liquid, as well as Simple Green.  None really were the 'magic bullet' holy grail of effortless satisfaction, but all helped a little.  In the end it took repeated applications combined with scrubbing with a brush, scotch pad and water pressure.  A few shots of contact cleaner helped on some nooks and crannies.  On a few sections (frame paint overspray) the paint remover ('aircraft peeler') worked very well.  And to finish I dried it with high pressure air from the compressor.

Then it was time to finally pull out my soda blaster from Harbor Freight.  I did not cover much area with it in the first pass, but enough to be satisfied that it should work to get the remainder looking decent.  Preliminary photos of progress below; will tackle the rest tomorrow.

Update - while 'passable', the engine came out very decent looking, yet the exposed aluminum will oxidize, and some black spots are already evident.  Also, there is only one time that the engine will be this exposed, accessible and out of the frame as this project is about to turn a corner.  Thus a friend, PJ, was able to finally convince me to go ahead and paint everything (a decision made easier when he was doing most of the work!).  The images below show the fruits of a day's labor, which involved removal of all ancillary bits, more degreasing, prep and many coats of 'cast aluminum' color and clearcoat.  The 'Moto Guzzi' on top of the valve covers was, however, polished before painting.

Oh, and in other news, I found that the engine number does not match my title!  Aaarrgh!  It was either wrong on the original title when transferred or an error on the part of the AAA inspector for the DMV (out of state transfer).  At any rate I did not verify myself - well I was fairly sure that I did, so the numbers must have been smudged with enough dirt that the 3 looked like a 5.  So now I have to get the error corrected - but I'd just spent $50 on a replacement foil VIN plate for the frame that now has the wrong engine number on it...  grrrr.

Progress; in a way...

July, 2016
Although I have been poised within less than an hour from this point for several weeks, the frame is completely off the engine now.  Tracing and evaluating the wiring and electrical components, as well as several other minor steps and other research/restoration considerations occupied much time these past few weeks.

One new revelation is the state of the universal joint; at first brief inspection, it seemed intact and in good shape except for a distinct lack of grease and the 'dry' state I found it in.  Upon closer inspection, one bearing was found to have a broken cap (vertical split is just visible below), exposing the top of a few needle bearings; that joint motion is essentially locked up - to the point that I don't know how it turned at all.  Little to do but replace the joint with new; although I will likely send this one out for rebuild for the next time.

This also means new bearings (carrier and sw/arm).  This is about $250 I had not planned on spending.

Some other unexpected elements adding to the fun.  So, the bushings on all four shock mounting lugs were very tight, and made removing the shocks more difficult than should be.  Three of them required a fair bit of effort and prying to remove (thankfully the frame was yet to go for sandblasing/paint).  The fourth, left side bottom on the sw/arm, would not come off at all, in a large part due to the nut stripped near the end of the bolt threads.  I ended up taking it off as a unit with the sw/arm.

After checking that I could purchase another lug easily enough, I used an air cutoff wheel to cut a slot into the inside end of the bolt to get a large slotted screwdriver on it.  Would not budge by hand or with impact driver.  Penetrating oil did not loosen it.
Next try.  The space between the shock bushing and the sw/arm was too tight for a 17mm wrench; but some more prying and bodging of the rubber bushing opened a little space and then pounding the wrench in with a hammer worked.  But it still wouldn't turn the lug bolt.
Next I pushed the bushing back towards the sw/arm to free up space at the nut end.  The cutoff tool again was employed to cut off the end of the bolt (after photo below).  This was successful, and much prying later the shock was finally pried off the bushing.  The bushing is essentially fused (rusted) to the lug.  But at this point, the threads in the sw/arm were loose and easy to unthread, finally removing the lug with bushing attached, from the sw/arm.

Apparently new shock bushings and/or new shocks, plus the mounting lug must also be added to my list of unplanned items to purchase....!
But, everything is finally ready to go for sandblasting and paint!

Fork Disassembly & Springs

As purchased, the forks on this 850T virtually bottomed out at the slightest weight applied.  Besides a complete clean and rebuild I felt that new springs were in order.  Given the age of the bike and my own preference for a firmer ride I chose new Progressive springs to match the bike and my weight.  Following purchase of the other necessary parts, the cleaning and disassembly began.

I knew that something was up when the left shock dropped to the ground upon removal of the front wheel.  There had to be a damper rod issue or a bushing assembly not installed correctly.  Further inspection revealed that the damper rod had unthreaded from the rod which is bolted at the bottom of the fork leg.  Fortunately not damaged or broken, and easily addressed at reassembly.

Upon removal of the stock springs a few things were quickly evident.  First, there was zero oil in either fork as I attempted to drain them both before disassembly.   Second, the Progressive spring and the stock spring are 60mm different (420mm stock spring length and 480mm Progressive spring length).  Prior to purchase I had spoken with a helpful and knowledgeable guy (sorry, forgot his name) at Progressive who seemed very familiar with Guzzi's from the 70's.  This was the recommended spring; since Progressive do not sell direct I purchased the springs through J&P.  But while I can just barely compress the new spring far enough to get to the top (bottom) of the damper rod, there is not enough room to attach the cap and circlip.  And even if there was, the spring is so compressed as to have no remaining compressibility (made that one up, I think).   I will have to contact Progressive for other spring options as these ain't gonna work.....

No Place Like Chrome

July, 2016.
While chrome was not planned as a feature element of this build, there are a few parts that will need to either be replaced or re-chromed; and others which could see a coat of paint rather than chrome.
This path began with the bars and the headlight bezel as requiring that shiny touch (headlight bezel had been painted flat black).  Another chrome requirement were the instrument bezels and the gas cap; this led to thoughts of chroming the stator cover, and once that was decided, a few other chrome touches were allowable to help balance the look.   Geez, I really better stop there.  Some tarnished parts, however, really need to be made more presentable, so these will be included.  A few others will get a polish treatment that should shine them up well enough.

At this point, I have selected the following parts for chroming and dropped them off at a local plating shop in downtown San Diego:

• handlebars
• instrument bezels
• stator cover*
• exhaust collars
• front fender brackets

Pacific Plating is local to me, and not having ever had to chrome anything before, I went to them for the work.    To be updated when pieces are back.

*late consideration to skip chroming of the stator cover; it represents too much 'real estate' on the front of the bike for that kind of shine, and so I contacted the shop prior to completion of the work and requested mild polish instead.