Here we go again... 1972 H2

[Walms]

I found a font similar... Mandingo
I’m not sure if identical but if you can find the font, I can get it into a dxf file with Solidworks

[Walms]

[crazycunuc]

Not bad Walms! Looks pretty darn close

[crazycunuc]

This green paint is some tough stuff...  This may be a bit more difficult than I first thought.

Anywhoo...the 1st batch of parts has been stripped and painted!

The gauge pods had a bit of damage that I was able to straighten out for the most part.  The gauge bracket however was bent like crazy in all directions.  I was able to straighten it out but not without some damage / marks.  I had the damage welded (crack across the hoop where damper goes).  I also had to weld a new nut on the backside to secure the ignition switch as one of them had fallen off over the years.

Using the wrinkle paint for the gauge pods always scares me a bit as you NEED an even coat to get a consistent surface finish.  My 1st attempt on the other H2 was with the Harley Davidson wrinkle paint...  What a joke.  It was a pain in the ass to use and ended up having to refinish the pods 3-4 times until I was happy with it.  On the KH400 I used the VHT Wrinkle paint and boy was I happy!  It went on great, no problems and the finish is closer to original than the HD paint. 

So for these pods I used the VHT again.  I followed the directions exactly as the can said using 3 heavy coats, 5min apart in alternating directions.  After 2 hours I placed them in an oven set to 50'C.  I've used 90'C before but this time the oven wasn't working right so 50 was good enough to get the job done.

After the final (3rd) coat.

After about an hour of drying in ambient temperature.

And after curing in the oven.  The picture makes it look kind of fuzzy

[sf]

Very cool

[motocon]

Great work as always.....👍🏻

[acceleration]

Looking very good !!

[crazycunuc]

Spent a bit more time out in the garage last night and managed to pull the motor.  Everything went pretty painless.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to make a "how to" video so here goes...

[crazycunuc]

Things at my "triple factory" are in full motion now!

Got the bike completely stripped down and even sand blasted this week. I had a 1 day turn around at the sandblasters too!!  I do all my little parts but the frame is just too big for the equipment I have on hand.

I'll get a better picture for you guys tonight after I unload it..

I've been trying to go through as much stuff as I can this week so that over the holidays I can start to hopefully put some of it together.  I've got A LOT more blasted and painted.  Have a big pile of parts ready for ZINC too.

Some of this green paint is a royal pain in the @$$ to remove so I resorted to an old trick I was taught....burn the snot out of it first.  and it work like a charm!

When removing the headstock I had my trusty box held up to catch all the loose bearing but to my surprise it already had roller bearings installed.   They looked to be in great shape, not even the grease was all the dirty so I managed to remove the bottom bearing with ought  ant damage and will reuse them on assembly. 

Also finding a lot of original bolts which is nice so I'll save as many as possible and have them zinced as well to try and keep as much of the original bike intact.

HOWEVER...  I also discovered a spy amongst our ranks!!  This bolt WILL NOT be going back onto the bike.

And the final update for today would have to be these custom rear engine mounts....  by the looks of them they must have came off of that same  Suzuki 

There are even more parts that have been stripped and cleaned etc etc but I won't bore you with all the nitty gritty details.

[crazycunuc]

Here's a better picture of the frame after sandblast.  I also got it primered last night to protect it from rusting.

[autofobe]

Is it just me or does the tail of the frame look bent?

Brad

[crazycunuc]

Dec 20, 2018 17:09:37 GMT -5 autofobe said:

Is it just me or does the tail of the frame look bent?

Brad

I think it's just the way that it looks in the video. Pappagriff was over and thought the same thing. Upon further inspection it was A OK

[autofobe]

Well it sure looks bent to me.The upper frame rails are flat all the way back.The welded the loop rises up a little.

I have one here.


Brad

[crazycunuc]

Started to tackle the engine.  Since it already ran great I'm just doing a quick detail job to make it look as good as it sounds.

Started with the engine cases.  Although it's not mentioned in the video I did seal everything up and gave it a quick soda blast after scrubbing it down with degreaser.  Before doing so I swapped out my good clutch cover incase I dropped the motor.  When doing so everything inside looked brand new.  I really don't think that it's ever been messed with.  Check out all the screw heads and bolts etc..  I was happy to see that.

AND after the cleaning..

Removing the cylinders proved to be a bit of a pain...  The center came off NO problem but the outside 2 were being real difficult.  I resorted to threading in 16x2mm bolts into the holes to push down on the studs and lift the cylinder off.  Although I didn't like the idea of threading into the cylinders I must admit that this trick worked like a charm!!  I used all four holes at once and would continuously crank each one down an 1/8th turn at a time slowly and evenly lifting the cylinder off of the cases.

I made a little video on the process and will attach the link below.

TADAA!!

I was scared that I might be damaging the tops of the studs but they all came out unharmed.

and now for the cylinders....  Gave them a quick cleaning with glass bead.  I was never too sure if this was original or not but I think on this motor I'll give the outside fins on the heads a quick polish.

Next up is to polish the side covers!!  Although this motor wont be AS NICE as a full blown restoration it will at least have a new facelift to match the rest of the bike.  I have to keep reminding myself that I'm building it as a "budget rider" and not another money hungry restoration.  hahaha

[sf]

Looks good man....I like the effort and small touches.

Happy new year dude