Ayers Garage Restoration Services

I'm building a dirt bike for vintage racing.

2012-01-20T22:04:00.002-06:00

Start.

Torn down to bare frame. All unnecessary brackets and tabs removed, them powdercoated.

Much, much more progress will be posted over the next few days. Check back.

2011-11-10T18:59:00.003-06:00

This is the 9th one of these Honda Candy Ruby red match powder jobs I've done since July. I have a secret recipe for the powder that makes it a direct match for original Honda color. The headlight bucket on these old bikes is plastic and is of course wasted after all these years so the owner can buy a brand new plastic bucket from Honda and it matches my powder perfectly. Not close, perfectly. It makes me very proud to have a hand in resurrecting so many of these old motorcycles.

2011-11-08T05:09:00.002-06:00

More progress on my own bike. Valerie made me the frame decals with her sign cutter. My plan is to have the entire bike frame and chassis finished by the end of this weekend so I can start building the engine next week.

Working hard on a Candy Ruby Red Honda frame. This is the ninth one I've done since I opened the business July 1st. There's a lot of folks around the country restoring these bikes with my powder coating work on them. It makes me proud.

I finished up the last batch of parts for the pink bike that my customer is restoring as a Christmas present for his 8 year old granddaughter.

Flat Candy Purple on my own bike

2011-11-04T13:43:00.000-05:00

Flat finishes

2011-11-01T12:56:00.002-05:00

I spent some time today doing a batch of sample bottle in various colors with flat finish to them. I can make any color flat.

Comparison between gloss and flat in the same color.

Motorcycle for a little girl

2011-10-13T20:13:00.001-05:00

One of my customers is restoring an old Honda 50 for his granddaughter's Christmas present. Here is my part of the job...

Another set of license plates

2011-10-08T17:50:00.003-05:00

I restored another set of old license plates today. Best I can tell, there are only a couple of guys in the country doing this with powdercoat. It's a real bear to do, but the end results sure pay off.

This is straight out of the stripper vat. Lots of rust underneath the old paint

Finished project. The powders are mirror black and mirror white.

Next in line is restoring a steering column out of an old Chevy pickup then comes the good one. I've got a grandpa that's restoring an old motorcycle for his granddaughter. Pink ! It's gonna be a super fun job.

Lots of work

2011-09-26T08:26:00.002-05:00

First, my little daily driver car needed tires so I took the opportunity to slick it up some. Very cheap wheels along with the new tires.

Stripped factory powdercoat off of the wheels in the new stripper. The stripped wheel is next to an unstripped one. That's 5 minutes worth of soak in the stripper you see there.

Powdercoated in NIC Copper Illusion powder with NIC Clear Vision topcoat.

A toaster with shiny wheels...

And I also did a big job. One of my best customers has two daughters. One goes to A&M, the other to UT.

The reason I've been quiet lately

2011-09-13T07:09:00.002-05:00

Is that I'm going through a phase of the business where I've got a ton of stuff going on and making some changes.

I have ordered 30 gallons of stripper and a barrel to put it into.

This is going to change things in that I won't be blasting as much anymore. The stripper will do the removal of the old finish and all I'll need to blast for is to give the surface a bit of uniform profile. The stripper is very expensive (basically 15 dollars per gallon when you buy 30 gallons) but it's infinitely reusable. Over time, you might add some to account for evaporation or drippage, but as long as you keep it covered tightly when not in use it should stay put.

I'm also changing powder suppliers on some of my jobs. I've got the account set up and the color rings here.

Vinyl sign work

2011-09-11T14:59:00.003-05:00

We do it now. All the local shops are so backed up that they can't turn out the work quick enough for me so we got the tools and now can do them ourselves. I use vinyl as masks in my powdercoat jobs and having the ability to create it on the spot is going to be a big help.

This is Valerie's first job, a little mobile advertising on the back of my car. And yes, I drive a silver toaster. I know, you don't have to point it out to me.

Flat black bicycle

2011-09-07T16:20:00.000-05:00

Honda parts

2011-08-30T20:19:00.001-05:00

Wheel halves and hubs in Honda Cloud Silver match powdercoat.

Kitchen gadget. It's a potato slicer that turns a spud into french fries.

Tank finished

2011-08-26T13:02:00.002-05:00

If you'll remember, I started with sandblasting this old tank and finding a bunch of dents and holes. So I welded up the holes and filled the dents then did a lot of block sanding and filler powder work to slick up all the dents and bruises.

Then, basecoat, candy coat, mask stripes and shoot, mask logos on side and shoot, then a clear topcoat over the whole mess. There's 7 coats of powder on most of the tank, more in other places.

Finally some color on the tank

2011-08-20T16:50:00.000-05:00

Still to come is black stripes and clear topcoat.

Cafe racer tank

2011-08-17T19:43:00.001-05:00

I'm doing a trick repair and coating job on an old Honda cafe racer project tank.

Once I got it stripped I found 9 holes that I had to weld up and a ton of dents to repair before I can powdercoat it.

Good news is that I was able to get all the holes welded up and not blow myself sky high from the old gas fumes.

Ready to go home

2011-08-14T12:34:00.003-05:00

The next candy red job is complete and ready to go back to Minnesota. I'll ship it out tomorrow.

I found some nasty cracking on the head tube so I blasted it clean, welded it up and smoothed it out.

I've finally figured out a process to fill dents under powdercoat kind of like Bondo under paint. There was a pretty good sized dent here I had to repair.

All finished, hand sanded, and two stage powder finish.

Next !

2011-08-09T14:12:00.004-05:00

The candy red Honda CT70 has been crated up and shipped back to Colorado to be reassembled by it's proud owner.

The next one is laying in the shop floor in a very big box waiting to get coated. This one is from Minnesota.

The air conditioning in the shop finally died. It's 130 degrees in there right now. I really don't want to spend the money to replace it right now though. I'm hoping to get through to the end of season and try and buy a big window unit from Home Depot on fall close out special to save some money. Until the spell of 105 degree days breaks, I'll just have to keep working early in the morning and late at night.

It looks like this Saturday we will break the record for consecutive 100 degree days (42 straight) set in 1980. The meteorologists say it's gonna happen for sure.

Candy red job

2011-08-07T05:35:00.002-05:00

In a fit of Energy drink induced work

2011-07-31T21:43:00.003-05:00

After drinking Monster Energy drinks all day and working 13 hours in the heat, I got a bug to do some work on my daily driver truck. It had an awful set of 10 inch wide aftermarket wheels on it and drove pretty bad due to them. So, I plucked a set of 8 inch rally wheels out of my wheel stack and powdercoated them in Kruzin aluminum powder with glass clear topcoat.

The truck drives much better now and looks better too. The truck isn't much, but lack of debt payments makes me a free man so driving it isn't a hardship.

2011-07-29T20:55:00.002-05:00

Old Chevy truck door hinges. I had to heat them with a torch and press the old pivot pins out, then remove the remainder of the old bushings. After that, media blast and powdercoat then reassemble with new pivot pins and bronze bushings (and not scratching the new powdercoat finish).

The originals lasted way over 40 years. This go around they should last even longer with bronze bushings in place of the original plastic ones.

A small project, a pair of wiper arms done in Super Durable Wet Black. Check out the reflections. Slick stuff...

Engine project completed

2011-07-27T19:10:00.003-05:00

Lots of masking time here. There is no tolerance for stray powder overspray inside of an engine casing. It's got to be right.

Motorcycle engine sidecases

2011-07-27T14:35:00.003-05:00

They were rough to start with. I stripped them by soda blasting, then a basecoat of thick filler powder to fill the corrosion pits and then silver powder topcoat.

Before...

Soda blasted...

Finished...

Mid day break time

2011-07-19T14:03:00.003-05:00

I've been working hard today.

A set of restored license plates done in mirror white and wet black. This was a very difficult job.

Candy red

2011-07-17T17:46:00.000-05:00

Bonified

2011-07-16T18:31:00.002-05:00

Official website for my shop...

www.AyersGarage.com

It's not perfect yet but it works fine. I'll be tweaking it as I get time to make it better.

More Trail 70 stuff

2011-07-13T12:33:00.002-05:00

I had a sign shop make up new frame decals for my Trail 70. She copied the factory style but substituted my shop name.

I redid the hubs on my Trail 70

2011-07-07T18:12:00.002-05:00

I thought there was too much silver with both the hubs and wheels done the same color. So, I redid the hubs in Granny Smith Green to match the bike and offer some contrast against the wheel rims.

More motorcycle parts

2011-07-06T11:42:00.002-05:00

Before:

Blasted and cleaned:

Heavy pitting:

Bent:

Slick:

Intake manifold

2011-06-30T16:10:00.001-05:00

Kruzin Aluminum base coat with Glass Clear top coat.

They're here

2011-06-26T20:47:00.001-05:00

Poor eye phone picture...

Honda motorcycle cylinder and head

2011-06-24T12:56:00.001-05:00

Powder coated in gloss black with ultimate chrome raised fins.

Honda motorcycle side cover

2011-06-22T10:55:00.002-05:00

I coated the side engine cover of an old Honda motorcycle today. It was a challenge as the bike had been laid down at speed and there were heavy gouges in the aluminum center piece. I had to sand all that out then polish it. The powder is lime green on the case and on the recessed lettering on the removable center.

Getting ready for a new job coming

2011-06-18T11:18:00.001-05:00

I've got a guy that's mailing me a Trail 70 to powdercoat in Candy Red. So, I've been practicing on sample pieces this morning to get ready.

I need your opinion

2011-06-15T10:47:00.003-05:00

My buddy did me up two logos. I want to order a batch of tee shirts with one of them.

So, which of these two choices would look best on a shirt ?

Your comments are welcomed.

I hope to hear from everyone.

And even more motorcycle parts...

2011-06-13T12:15:00.001-05:00

I finished another batch of black motorcycle parts today.

Motorcycle rear wheel hub all blasted and masked off prior to coating

Back side of the same hub all masked in the areas where bearings, seals, and brake shoes will be.

Front hub from same bike all prepped to coat.

Finished.

Finally

2011-06-10T12:02:00.002-05:00

I learned some things recently.

-If you want a quality, made in the USA compressor nowadays, you can't just go buy one. Stores only stock import stuff to keep the costs low. I had to call and have one custom manufactured for me. It was a cool process though. I got to choose my compressor head, tank size and configuration, motor, and everything. It has a 50,000 hour service life so I hope to get many years of use out of it.

Honda XL185S Dirt Bike frame

2011-06-03T20:42:00.003-05:00

All done up nice in Super Durable Wet Black.

Sand blasted...

All holes plugged up with silicone taper plugs to keep the powder out of the threads...

VIN plate all masked up...

Done...

Display alternators finished

2011-06-01T10:58:00.003-05:00

I spent yesterday doing a bunch of powder detail work on two old core alternators that have been under my workbench for years.

Then, this morning I built two little cradles to hold them out of 3/8 round rod and flat 1/4 thick steel plate. I powdercoated them in bonded silver vein with glass clear.

GM alternator

2011-05-31T16:33:00.001-05:00

Fully disassembled and detailed with powder coat. Case is orange with clear. Pulley is Super Durable Wet Black. Fan is Ultimate Chrome with Glass clear.

2011-05-29T18:04:00.003-05:00

I was fooling around with my new powder coat gun today and wanted to shoot some different colors. So, I disassembled an old Harley wheel and powdered it different colors.

The Jollypop red is a candy with fine sparkles throughout.

Random pictures from today's efforts

2011-05-25T14:57:00.002-05:00

I think this is the first time I can remember when I was completely satisfied with my finished work. It's very, very slick. I had a good day working today.

The guy I'm doing this for is restoring a pretty great little Honda dirtbike. I hope these parts get me some exposure. I love doing this stuff. At the end of the day I'm flat exhausted from pushing myself and fussing over so many details to get a good end result. I can't think of anything better than the righteous feeling on being tired when it comes from pushing yourself harder than you thought you could ever go.

Dirt bike parts

2011-05-24T15:56:00.002-05:00

This is a neat one. The guy is restoring an old Honda XL. He's having me do all the parts in Super Durable west black. This is just the start of this job. I still have another batch or three of parts to do along with the frame and swingarm.

Blasted and hanging in the booth ready to coat...

Completed...

2011-05-22T16:10:00.003-05:00

Today I did a coating job for a tool collector. It's a cool old WW2 era Plomb ratchet. He had me coat it in flat black.

Before:

After:

I also spent some time shooting sample pieces for some new colors I'm keeping.

Check this one out. It's orange with Starlight clear top coat. The clear has sparkles throughout which really show up well out in the sun.

2011-05-19T21:01:00.003-05:00

I started off today doing a couple of little warm up projects. One is an neat old tool box that I keep drill bits in. It's just a basic blast and powdercoat job. Color is Chevy orange. It's hanging in my new powder spray booth I built last week.

Then I worked some more on the Trail 70. I finally found a set of nice handlebars and seat for it. Also notice the new OEM factory Honda fender.

Last, I shot a sample of a new black powder I got. A fellow I know is bringing me a neat old dirtbike project to powdercoat parts for. This is the color for it.

My buddy Shane drinks beer

2011-05-12T05:14:00.000-05:00

And he gives me these aluminum beer bottles when he's done with them. They make great objects for powdercoat color samples.

You might have noticed that I've been slowing down lately

2011-05-05T12:27:00.004-05:00

There's a reason for that. I've been dead, flat ass broke.

Last spring I set a goal to be out of debt. My plan was to...

-sell my Toyota truck to save 375 a month in payments
-sell my motorcycle. I didn't like it much anyway. My next one will be cheap and well used.
-use money saved on truck payment and from motorcycle sale to pay off debts.

It was tough as hell, but, as of this morning, I paid the last payment. I'm done. No debt. No car payments, no credit card balances, nada. I followed pretty much the common Dave Ramsey guidelines for the snowball debt reduction plan. That is, focus on paying off your smallest debt, then roll that money onto the next larger debt, and so on until you've paid them all off.

Let me say again how tough it was. All my clothes are worn out and full of holes. I'm driving a 23 year old truck without air conditioning. I cut my own hair. I buy a lot of generic brand stuff. It's been a string of huge sacrifices.

But, I'm free now to go back to doing what I love, which is restoring things. I get a ton of people asking me to do work for them but I've always turned them down due to not wanting to make money and having to deal with the legal and tax implications that go along with that. I think that's about to change. I've been doing the research on ways to do work for hire and different ways of reinvesting the money made back into the business, allowing me to improve my shop and tools and still get to follow my passion.

That said, I'm building all new workbenches for the shop today. I'm also hanging new lights and generally tidying up to improve my efficiency and productivity. Once I get this all done, I'm back to working on cool stuff hell bent for leather.

And, last, I want to say to my wife how much I appreciate her support on this whole deal. I've spent a lot of hours brooding about money in the last year and she's been first person victim to my budget cuts. But, through it all, she held firm and supported me without complaint. Thank you darling. I think I was put on this earth to dwell in a shop working on the pursuit of perfection. You allow me to do that, and I am grateful for it.

Fuel Injection

2011-04-13T12:54:00.002-05:00

I'm converting my 78 dually to fuel injection off an 87 model truck.

Here's the intake manifold and fuel injection stuff all restored and ready to install.

Manifold before:

Various components before:

All cleaned and powdercoated:

This was a very fun project

2011-04-01T06:32:00.003-05:00

My buddy and I are swap meet guys. We go to all of the car part swap meets and hang out. There's lots of socializing and even some parts get bought and sold.

I'm sure ya'll remember my minibike I built for swap meet putt putting. My buddy wanted one too, so we're building him one. It's an old Montgomery Wards unit that he got over 30 years ago, when he was a kid.

Anyway, he wanted it gaudy so we did some cool powdercoat work on it.

Progress on the dually restoration

2011-04-01T06:25:00.003-05:00

The pictures won't wow you, but I have made a lot of progress on the dually.

The floor is spray in bedliner for sound deadening and durability.

I've converted this truck to full fuel injection out of a late model truck. This will give me great mileage and smooth operation. I spent two weeks rebuilding the entire wiring harness for the fuel injection integration to the cab. Every connection is soldered and heat shrunk. Every metal part is powdercoated. I also converted the cab to standard shift specs with clutch pedal for the 4 speed I'm using.

Pictures can't really show the amount of effort expended on this stage. I spend hours building wiring and making the connections, then cover it with looming so it looks orderly.

Progress has been slow because I sold the Dodge and got a different truck to daily drive so I've also been tidying up loose ends on that truck.

Paint

2011-03-01T11:22:00.001-06:00

Just a short update on what I've been doing lately. I'm doing a full boat restoration of the 78 dually.

A special set of training wheels

2010-12-19T14:23:00.003-06:00

The fellas up and the fire department and I know of a special needs young man in our district.

He'd wanted a bicycle but hadn't ever learned to ride. So the fellas got a local store to donate a returned bicycle that they had laying around and I built a pair of sturdy large sized training wheels fit for a full grown student rider. Being a full sized mountain bike, it was a logistical nightmare with the rear derailleur being in the way that a smaller, single speed bike wouldn't have had.

Christmas gift for my daughters

2010-12-17T12:09:00.002-06:00

Grandma got my daughters a karaoke machine for Christmas so I built them a little kid sized stand for the microphone. It's 1/2 solid rod inside of 1/2 inch EMT tubing all welded to a 1/4 steel base. The pinch bolt is to allow it to telescope for adjustment from 4 feet to 6 feet tall as they grow. The knob is an old kitchen drawer pull I drilled out and tapped and loctited a stud in to. Don't forget the felt on the bottom to protect the floor so grandma doesn't have me sanding her wood floor smooth after the girls get crazy with it. To finish I powdercoated it in chrome.

Wow. 10,000 visits to my blog

2010-08-13T10:55:00.002-05:00

I'm stunned and flattered. I never thought so many folks would be interested.

Lately I've been working on a truck that no one would really care to see, hence no updates to speak of.

Fear not though, once I get it finished I will be back to doing interesting stuff again. That Trail 70 is sitting there calling my name. Plus I have new wheels to put on the 63.

Be patient and keep checking back. Progress will happen.

Pimpin ain't easy

2010-08-07T13:11:00.002-05:00

I did a set of valve covers for my buddy Scot today.

These are bead blasted then powdercoated with blasted aluminum powder, then cooked, masked off and shot with black powder, cleaned off, cooked again, then a final coat of clear and cooked a third time.

Believe me, the pictures do not show the full effect.

2010-07-19T19:50:00.001-05:00

Worked all day long without stopping, even to eat, on the truck engine. Trying to get it together so I can drive it to work Wednesday.

I've been quiet lately

2010-07-11T15:05:00.003-05:00

Quiet, but not sitting around.

I spent some time polishing a set of old Vette valve covers for a friend. They're pretty cool as they are the early model staggered bolt pattern units that fit 57 and earlier engines only.

I'm going to take a break from polishing for a while. My methods and equipment are not ideal for this stuff. I need to do some research to figure out what I need to do to make my efforts more efficient. I don't know if I need different equipment or just a different approach for my efforts.

I also bought a new work truck. It's a beater that I got from a kid in Weatherford off of Craigslist. It's actually a retired Tri-County Electric Co-Op truck. Big block, 4L80E, 4.11 gears and cold air conditioner. I needed this to pull my trailers with. I've been letting way too many good deals pass by due to not being able to haul stuff home on a trailer.

This is the Craigslist picture. I've since done a lot of clean up and detail work to it. Pictures of all that will be forthcoming. I'm following a strict budget on this truck. So far with some new body parts, freshening up the interior, and some mechanical work I'm up to 3000 dollars invested in it.

2010-06-28T19:00:00.002-05:00

I spent an incredible amount of time on the front forks. I disassembled and polished everything, replaced the fork boots and reassembled the whole deal. I also spent about 4 hours (literally) repolishing the front brake assembly and rebuilding the front brakes.

Rear brakes took about 4 hours of polishing too. Again, I rebuilt them top to bottom.

Several hours more polishing on the upper tree...

It's a roller...

More progress

2010-06-27T10:30:00.002-05:00

New OEM Honda shock bushings from ebay for 7 bucks...

Installed...

I chose to do the assembly of the frame internals as the next phase of the build. I had to get a gas tank off ebay since the original was long since gone. Fortunately, the original tanks for these bikes were made of plastic. I say fortunately because I have derusted and resealed enough tanks in my life to never care for doing another. All it required was a wash out with solvent and a new grommet for the neck...

Gas tank installed with nice powdercoated bracket. Notice the battery box is now in place too. On the battery box, I tried a new technique which seems to work well. I used paint for the basecoat color then clear powdercoat on top of that for durability.

Nice chrome little grab handle installed too. Honda originally marketed these bikes as being designed for transport in a car trunk. For this reason, the bikes came with folding handlebars and a lift handle to help you load it.

New wiring harness to avoid any headaches down the road...

New main grommet for the wiring where it exits the frame in the front...

Overall picture that shows the gas tank and bracket, battery box and new battery, wiring, and seat hinge all installed...

Forks installed with a nice tapered roller bearing conversion kit. Much better than original ball bearings and actually just as cheap by the time you refurbish the original ones which were bad anyway...

I started polishing the upper triple tree. Still more polishing to go, but it's looking good so far...

Remember this dirty thing ?

All rebuilt...

Decals and frame molding

2010-06-23T12:38:00.000-05:00

Now it's starting to look like something...

Busy day

2010-06-22T11:08:00.001-05:00

I got the frame done finally. To me, this is a high water mark of the restoration. It's both the biggest piece of the puzzle and the backbone to which I assemble everything else. Once the frame is done, it's a matter of restoring each and every individual piece and reinstalling onto the frame.

First step was to sandblast thoroughly then apply two coats of filler powder. This is a special powdercoat that is meant to be applied the sanded smooth to hide any imperfections in the substrate. Once cooled, I spent a lot of time slicking it up by wet sanding it with 1000 grit sandpaper.

This is followed by a thorough cleaning to remove any wet sanding goop and then applying the green basecoat. This powder is known as a "dormant". That means the powder will not have proper gloss or even coloring without a clear topcoat of powder. In my color blind eyes, it looks Army OD green in this stage...

Swingarm too...

Then comes the clearcoat powder. This stuff is kind of unusual in that, if properly applied, it looks like a white powdered sugar donut prior to curing. This is the same OD green frame with the uncured clear powder coat...

Closeup detail of the raw clear powder...

Final product after curing the clear, 400 degrees for 10 minutes...

Swingarm...

2010-06-21T19:58:00.000-05:00

Someone on the interwebs referred to me as "The Restoration Jedi" today.

Both wheels and hubs are done

2010-06-20T16:15:00.002-05:00

Today I finished up restoring both wheels and hubs. I bead blasted each piece and powdercoated with platinum colored powder. The tires and tubes are obviously new.

I had previously polished the front brake hub too...

But, while doing the back brake hub, I tried some different techniques, and I feel it produced much better results. Now I guess I will disassemble the front one again and re-polish it to get the better finish too. You can tell one has a nicer finish than the other.

Today was shock absorber day

2010-06-17T11:12:00.003-05:00

I'm flat broke and new shocks cost about 50 bucks a pair so I had to fix these.

First step is disassembly...

One of the spring covers had a big dent in it so I found a piece of suitable round pipe to use as a dolly and worked it out with a hammer.

Dent...

No dent...

One of the shock housings polished and one still rough to show before and after results...

The springs were originally chrome but as you can see in the first picture, the chrome was beat and rusty. So, I sandblasted them and powdercoated them in chrome powder. It's not exact, but looks good once finished...

All cleaned and reassembled...

Reminder of before...

It was a good bit of work but so well worth it in the end. The 50 dollar replacement shocks would have been Chinese shit so it feels even that much better to know the originals will soldier on for a long time more. I don't do politics, but the Japanese , Honda in particular, built some supreme quality stuff like these little motorcycles, which the Chinese have never been able to match in quality with their replacement parts.

Powder on forks

2010-06-16T16:02:00.000-05:00

I got the forks coated just now.

More gaudy than a gold toof

2010-06-16T12:14:00.003-05:00

I finally got the powder for the Honda project.

My buddy Shane drinks beer out of these funny bottles which he saves for me. They make great canvas for color samples.

It's going to look neat as hell on a motorcycle.

The bunny huggers will rejoice

2010-06-14T13:59:00.002-05:00

The powder supply house really dicked me around on my order for the frame powder. I paid for 2 day delivery and today makes the 7th day since then, with no powder in sight. I called them, and sure enough, they had shipped the powder to my old PO box. I haven't used that box in over a year. I had the lady reference my order and confirm that I had specified my new address not the old one. Her only excuse was that some knucklehead in the warehouse didn't read the order close enough and somehow chose a defunct address. To make it up to me, she's next day shipping the powder, so I should have it by tomorrow.

To vent some frustration, I changed directions a bit and decided to work on the carburetor for the bike instead.

I've been reading some post on Adventure Rider forum where guys are having great luck with using environmentally friendly products to clean carburetors.

Previously, I have always used this stuff...

This is as evil of chemical ever sold to the public. Anyone who has ever used it, or been around anyone who has used it knows how toxic it is. But, it works...

Alternative chemical as recommended by ADVriders everywhere...

Cleaning bucket...

The carb is bad. It's been sitting exposed to the elements for many, many years...

Inside the bowl...

It's soaking now. I will report soon how it worked, or didn't.

Follow up on the minibike

2010-06-13T09:48:00.002-05:00

I figured I'd shoot some pictures of the minibike as promised.

To mount the handlebars, I bought a pair of handlebar riser clamps off ebay for about 10 bucks...

Then I got a thumb throttle off ebay for some ATV of unknown lineage. I think with the handlebar configuration I'm going to be running as well as the expected usage being slow speed around swap meets, that a thumb throttle will be better suited than a typical twist throttle...

Handlebars, white grips, risers and throttle all powdercoated...

Overall shots to give an idea of the big picture...

It's 100 percent finished other than a seat. I'll get that done as soon as I can afford it. I've become a pretty rabid subscriber to Dave Ramsey's financial principles this year. Those principles have enormously changed my budget situation for the better. The big picture is completely wiping out some large bills that I had been paying, but the short-term downside is less free money on hand to do things like build minibikes with.

Plugging away on the Honda

2010-06-08T07:52:00.003-05:00

I'm still saving to buy the frame powder so in the mean time I've been detailing all of the little parts that I can.

Front wheel/ tire and hub completed. Powdercoated in a platinum non-metallic silver.

Front fender polished. It's not perfect chrome after all these years, but a new one is 70 bucks so I'm going to live with what I have.

Seat hinge in gloss black powder

Gas tank bracket in gloss black powder

Air cleaner housing gloss black powder

Speedometer disassembled and detailed. Odometer reset to zero.

Not a lot of picture worthy progress

2010-06-06T10:15:00.004-05:00

But progress nonetheless.

I've been plugging away on the little Honda. I'd ordered some powder for the frame pieces but when it arrived and I shot a test piece it wasn't what I was hoping for. That's 35 bucks wasted. So, I'm going to have to order some different powder.

I did get the tires and tubes for the bike though. To get a little motivational progress, I went ahead and cleaned and powdercoated one of the wheels and assembled the tire to it.

I also got the front brake assembly polished.

Besides these two pictures, I got a bunch of little items detailed and packaged securely so once I get the powder and get the frame done I can get right back to reassembly with freshly restored parts.

Minibike is pert near done. Next up

2010-06-03T13:50:00.006-05:00

The minibike is completely done other than the seat. I think it turned out pretty decent. Final pictures will be forthcoming as soon as I get the seat finished.

That leads me to the next project, an old Honda.

There's a story to this one.

A good friend gave me an old Honda CT70 Trail 70 motorcycle. That lends sentimental value to the scoot and means I will go ahead and commit to doing a proper restoration on it, regardless of the return on investment potential. There are some things that I don't get rid of, and gifts from this person fall into that category.

I go over to pick the Honda up, knowing that it was a complete bike minus engine. It's sat neglected for a very long time...

I figured I'd get an engine for it somewhere to make it complete.

Funny thing is, after we loaded it into my truck, I got to looking closely at the other motorcycle sitting next to where the Honda had been laying. I'd never seen a Yamaha with an engine like that...

Yup, the Yamaha had an infusion of Honda sometime over the years. The missing CT70 engine had been transplanted into it. So, I got the old Yamaha also. Back at the shop...

Matching number Honda engine waiting to be restored and installed back into it's original home...

This one is going to take awhile. I won't compromise anywhere on this restoration. I'm hoping to have it done inside of 1 years time though. I've got a pretty strict budget so work will have to be metered out as the budget dictates.

To start off, we gave it a thorough cleaning and built a stand to make the restoration easier on the old back.

Here are pictures of properly restored CT70s.

My girlfriend has signed on board to help me every step of the project. I will admit that she looked at me pretty funny when I handed her a tape measure and pointed at my steel scrap pile and told her what lengths to start cutting. Once it became clear that we were building a work stand the clouds cleared and she no longer thought bad of me.

I have powder and some supplies ordered for it already so there should be some fruitful pictures within a week or so.

Getting close to done

2010-05-23T21:44:00.002-05:00

I'm getting itchy to finish the minibike because the next project already lays in wait...

Finished the minibike engine today

2010-05-17T15:39:00.001-05:00

First start up video...

Now on to the bike frame itself.

Taking a break from the truck

2010-05-15T18:25:00.002-05:00

I have been working on the minibike lately as a little break from the truck stuff.

I scored an old Briggs 3hp that had been sitting in the mud for 15 years that I know of.

I rebuilt it to completely 100 percent new specs. Luckily I snagged a new NOS in the box Briggs block off ebay. New piston, crank, rigs, rod, valves, everything. All parts are genuine Briggs and Stratton, no aftermarket, and thankfully all was dirt ass cheap. It's a nice break working on something where parts cost under 5 bucks for most everything you need.

Getting the mud out of the carb and making it fresh as new took 2 solid days of work, but it's right now.

Blue powdercoat with polished fin tops...

Gas tank cleaned with muriatic acid, sealed with POR15 tank sealer, powdercoated and topped off with new gas cap...

Shrouding is all refurbished with chrome powdercoat, new pull rope and handle, and new decals from ebay...

All finished up minus a few washers and final torquing. All hardware is new stainless steel...

New swap meet transportation

2010-05-03T13:24:00.002-05:00

I found a great deal on a 72 model mini bike out at the Pate swap meet. 50 bucks !

It's going to get completely restored. I already ordered the powder for the frame. Of course I will detail the progress here.

Please excuse the poor picture quality. It's from my iphone.

Also, my favorite vehicle at the entire swap meet. This guy rolls old school !

Rainy weekend

2010-04-18T07:52:00.002-05:00

Well it seems that the new intake has cured the truck's running issues. I drove it a couple hundred miles yesterday and it runs very much better. The fuel mileage seems to have at least doubled too.

I also got an anvil off Craigslist for my blacksmithing work. It's a 1910 model Hay Budden anvil that was originally sold through a department store (likely Montgomery Wards).

Some truck work

2010-04-15T14:10:00.002-05:00

I have been chasing an issue with the engine for awhile now. It looks like the intake manifold is warped which is letting the gaskets leak and pull oil from the intake valley into the ports. Out of frustration, I just called Summit and ordered a new Edelbrock Performer RPM. I was kind of pressed for time having my only truck torn apart so I didn't even take the time to powdercoat the new intake. It's out of the box stock.

Also swapped the old cluster and burned out dash light bulbs...

For a fresh one. Much better and brighter...

I have been deeply honored.

2010-04-01T17:26:00.006-05:00

I've been a member of an online old truck forum board for the last seven years. It's a great bunch of folks, over 67000 of them.

They ran a week long contest and my truck won the "Truck of the Month" award by folks casting votes out of 15 trucks in the competition.

I'm kind of clumsy with my words, but it sure means a lot to me. While I enjoy comments from folks when driving my truck, this means more. These are guys (and a few ladies) who build and drive old trucks. They know what it takes to screw one of these things together. Winning the accolades from that group is high praise in my opinion.

Click HERE for the announcement on the board.

Wagon progress

2010-03-24T19:19:00.003-05:00

It's not real noticeable in the pictures, but I got a good bit of work done to the wagon today.

I cut the axles to length and drilled the ends of them for cotter pins to hold the wheels on. Then I welded the axles to the undercarriage trucks and powdercoated them in argent silver.

I also built a new handle out of 5/8 bar stock. It's nine inches longer than the original to make it easier for a tall adult to pull without having to stoop over. It's powdercoated in the same argent powder as the undercarriage.

I also signed up for blacksmith classes. I'm going to get to learn how to hammer on red hot iron and make pretty things out of it. I hope to take my sculpture to a higher level with the skills.

Some truths of life for me as I have gotten older...

2010-03-24T18:03:00.001-05:00

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

19. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

20. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

21. Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

22. I would rather try to carry 10 over-loaded plastic bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

23. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

24. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

25. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

26. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

27. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

28. Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?

29. There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

30. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate bicyclists.

31. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Starting on a little project that's been waiting in the wings for a year

2010-03-22T17:21:00.002-05:00

I bought the remnants of an old wagon last year for 10 bucks. I intended to fix it up for my swap meet wagon. It seems like at every swap meet I wind up buying a bunch of stuff and having to carry it for miles. This should solve that hassle and be a showpiece of what I am capable of doing.

The dead remains...

Cracks everywhere to repair...

Lots of rust out to repair...

This is bent...

Holes worn oversize...

Repair to oversize hole is to weld a nice thick washer over it to restore the round opening and give it some "meat" in that area to stave off future wear. The original builders of these wagons didn't have the idea of building to last this long. Even back then, some things were disposable...

I went to Northern Tool and bought new wheels and tires. Luckily they had them on sale this week real cheap. These will be nice since the originals were hard rubber and these are pneumatic and will keep the wagon from bouncing as much. I also had to build new axles since the original ones were very bent and worn. I found a nice 6 foot long piece of cold rolled round rod at the scrap yard for 35 cents a pound (about 3 dollars total).

Here is the initial mock-up with the new wheels and axles in place...

Power Steering

2010-03-12T20:18:00.002-06:00

I converted the farm truck to power steering this morning.

Out with the old "Armstrong" steering box....

In with the Saginaw power box...

I had to cut the column down shorter and weld a later model end onto it. You can see the welds if you look closely.

It drives much nicer now.

Birthday gift

2010-03-07T18:17:00.002-06:00

I have a friend who's birthday is tomorrow and I wanted to give her something hand made. I'm kind of quirky and feel that time and effort eclipses cash outlay when giving to someone.

It's a little cast iron skillet that was given to me last week at the swap meet. I blasted it clean and powdercoated it in copper vein with clear, then drilled for clock mechanism.

Swap meet

2010-02-27T18:57:00.002-06:00

Real tired from the swap meet the last three days. Very cold and windy at first then nice and sunny today.

When we got in tonight, I did get a chance to goof with my cooler. I figured anything to keep it from getting liberated from me at the swap meets is a good thing.

Today's victims

2010-02-24T12:36:00.004-06:00

There's a big swap meet coming up this weekend in Decatur so I waited until the last minute to gather my fodder.

I'm hoping to take these parts out there and swap them towards some items I need for my 63.

These are before pictures, an ashtray, three glove box doors, an old Offenhauser intake manifold and an old pair of Weiand valve covers...

First the valve covers...

Step 1, powdercoat them in black wrinkle powder...

Then sand the details to remove the powder and let the aluminum show through. Here is the first one done to compare to the one not yet sanded...

Both finished. Much nicer and justice is done to a set of valve covers as old as I am...

The intake manifold done in blasted aluminum powder with clear powder on top...

After lunch I will do the glovebox doors and ashtray. I've got a neat trick to do to them that will surprise some of you.

I can see clearly now

2010-02-20T14:34:00.002-06:00

I finally put my big boy pants on and changed the windshield. I've been putting it off since day 1. I'd been saving a good used glass in the barn rafters.

These wrap around windshields are pure hell to get in right. I'm pretty decent at later model curved windshields, but these are their own special chapter of pain. Valerie got out there and helped me a bunch with the job. Total time was about an hour.

Old...

Now...

More gratuitous pictures

2010-02-16T15:26:00.003-06:00

I drove the truck over to Weatherford for a doctor's appointment. That settled the new front suspension right down. After getting home, I touched up the alignment settings for the final time.

The truck rides perfect and handles really well now with the new front spindles and springs.

I know some won't like the door logos, but I do.

I'm no artist

2010-02-14T12:01:00.003-06:00

Got the logo put on one of the doors today. My hands are way too shaky to ever make a go of being a painter.

Front suspension

2010-02-05T12:55:00.003-06:00

Since I put the truck together the ride of the front suspension has been unacceptable. I had originally used what was marketed as a 3 inch drop spring. I have used a lot of these springs in the past and had no issues with them whatsoever, but this particular set was way too stiff for my old bones.

Now, a little mechanical theory. A car's suspension can compress to absorb bumps. You average family car might have say 5 inches of bounce before the suspension bottoms out. During normal use, that is plenty and the suspension rarely, if never, bottoms out.

Now, these springs are made 3 inches shorter than the stock ones, to give the desired 3 inch lowering. The issue becomes that our original 5 inches of suspension bounce now becomes only 2 inches since you're now 3 inches lower. This causes the shocks to bottom out and the suspension snubbers to touch pretty often during even routine driving.

What I did today was to switch the existing 3 inch drop coil springs out for a pair of 2 inch springs. But, you say, this will raise the truck up one inch from where it used to sit ! Well, I have the solution to that too.

3 inch springs on the left, 2 inch on the right...

Hmm, there is much more than 1 inch difference between the two...

To counteract the taller spring and again achieve my lowered ride height, I also installed drop spindles. These are the cast iron pieces that your wheel and brake bolt on to. They interchange with the stock ones, but the machined pin for the wheel hub is made 2.5 inches higher onto the casting giving 2.5 inches of drop. This does not affect the ride of the truck in any way. The additional 2.5 inches of drop are effectively free since they don't shorten our suspension range of motion.

Here is the stock one...

Here is the 2.5 inch lowered one...

Notice the big pin sticking out of the spindle is much higher on the one in the second picture. That's your drop right there.

After changing the parts, a test drive confirmed that the truck now rides like it should. There is no more harshness or bottoming out. Surprisingly, I removed a 3 inch drop spring and replaced it with a 2 inch drop spring PLUS a 2.5 inch spindle and the end result is about the same ride height. Obviously, according to the numbers I should be 1.5 inches lower than before, but it's not, yet. After driving it a while the new springs should settle slightly and give me a little more drop.

Painting

2010-02-01T13:52:00.003-06:00

One of my friends is putting together a 67 GMC 1 ton dually truck, but the winter weather has been holding him back. So, he brought the sheetmetal over to the shop and we put some color on it.

It's semi gloss black with full gloss white top.

His kids came too and they really enjoyed playing around the shop. Kids find odd bits and pieces of machinery to be great play toys.

Transmission

2010-01-30T13:15:00.004-06:00

Of all the things I have rebuilt or replaced on this truck, the transmission is the original untouched one that came in the truck. After I got the truck going I found out it didn't have 3rd gear. I had wondered why someone would park this truck for dead so many years ago. It hadn't been moved from it's resting spot since 1978 until I got it last fall.

I wound up taking the trans apart and doing a dirty fix to get it operating in all gears. After driving it a few weeks though, it's been weighing on me that while it works now, it's not "right".

So, today at a swap meet I scored a decent looking trans with a real old Hurst shifter on it. I figure to restore and rebuild the trans and shifter and swap it in place of the patched up one I am running now.

I haven't mentioned it, but I have been driving the truck a lot in the last couple of weeks. I've driven it to work, all over Ft Worth, and today to the swap meet at La Grave field. No real emergent issues have popped up yet. Though, there are a few things I need to deal with before I assign it full daily driver status. In the next week or so I am hopefully going to swap front spindles and springs to get the truck to ride better and lower it a bit more in the front and when I do the transmission swap I will replace the throw out bearing too since it's a bit noisy.

Exhaust

2010-01-15T10:39:00.003-06:00

The muffler shop did me right on the exhaust system. It came out 40 bucks higher than initially quoted, but I have been using this guy for 17 years, so I expected that from past jobs.

It's 2 inch dual exhaust, aluminized pipe, Brockman Mellowtone steel packed mufflers through 2 inch pencil tips.

For you non car people, the engine's idle is supposed to be irregular like that. It's the camshaft that causes it.

Stick a fork in it, it's done

2010-01-13T18:15:00.003-06:00

I ran out of stuff to do to it today. All my punch lists were completed. I put my license plate on it. I even put my fire department decal on the back window.

It's at the muffler shop right now getting pipes run. I will pick it up tomorrow and start driving it a lot. All that remains is to adjust the headlights and have my glass guy put a windshield in it.

Then, I'm done with it.

Freshened up the front end of the truck.

2010-01-11T13:58:00.002-06:00

I took the grille off and stripped it to bare metal with Valerie's help. Then a nice coat of white powdercoat made it look good. Reassembled with new headlights, all new clips and screws then finished off by building a new front wiring harness.

I had an old bumper laying in my metal pile so I stripped and powdercoated that too.

Before...

Now...

A gift

2010-01-08T11:19:00.002-06:00

I wanted to talk about one of my good friends. I call him "Michael the Preacher".

He's done more for me than he'll ever know...

My oldest daughter is 6 years old. She goes to a private school. Last summer, they tested her and moved her forward a grade. She skipped from Kindergarten directly to 2nd grade. This worried me so much I was losing sleep. It ate on me for weeks. I knew she could do the work, what was concerning me was her emotional development. She'd be going to school with kids a year older than she is.

A while later, I mentioned my concern to Michael. He spent a long time talking to me about it. Seems Michael has a Master's Degree in education. I mean no disrespect to the man by saying this, but that fact floored me. He actually has double Master's Degrees (the other is in Theology, hence the "Michael the Preacher" name). The reason I was surprised was that he's just a greasy handed car guy like me. He is humble to a fault and never advertises his knowledge in any obvious way. He had never told me of his schooling. After the talk with him, my fears were rested. He told me how girls develop and how boys develop and that skipping 1st grade is an ideal thing for a bright girl child. It all made sense. I felt like someone had lifted a heavy load off my shoulders. I slept well again. Let me repeat this, I literally felt like I had been carrying a heavy backpack on my shoulders for weeks. I don't think I have ever, in my life, felt such a sense of relief.

A few weeks ago, Michael brought his engine over to my shop and I put a rear main seal in it. I could tell he felt indebted to me for this. Changing a main seal is nothing for me. I'm good at that kind of stuff. It took maybe 45 minutes. But, never-the-less I could tell he felt a sense of debt over it. I wish I could have expressed to him my gratitude over the advice he gave me about my daughter. I'm the one that owes the favor.

Yesterday he stopped by the fire station and visited me. He brought me something.

A pair of original, never been used, 63 farm truck license plates. If you don't know, in Texas you are allowed to run original plates on any vehicle over 25 years old, if you can find a set ! Somewhere, some how, he found them for me and they are nice ones.

I will run them proudly on the 63 truck.

Michael, I really appreciate everything you have done for me. Sorry I can't ever seem to say it in person.

Got the grille done today

2010-01-06T20:24:00.005-06:00

I completely disassembled the grill of the truck and prepped it for powdercoating. I got all new screws, clips, and widgets to make it as good as possible. The powdercoating turned out nice. Pics as soon as the weather breaks. It looks pretty darn good.

Valerie got out there in the shop and dug elbows deep into the grille project with me. Thank you darling, for your help.

Until then, this should be entertaining. I love this classic stuff...

They just don't make TV this good anymore...

Finish up today with a classic woman working on a car picture...

Change of pace

2009-12-27T20:29:00.003-06:00

Rather than posting truck progress (of which there has been plenty lately), I decided to show some of the other stuff I have been doing lately.

I was disassembling an old motorcycle engine the other day and the cam gears just screamed out to me for a little project. A little inspiration and they became rear wheels...

Tractor...

A little dog made out of an old spark plug and some hardware...

A little dog made out of an old rocker arm and pivot ball from the blown up truck 6 cylinder...

A dinosaur made out of a rear differential spider gear and some bolts...

Sucks to be me

2009-12-21T18:25:00.003-06:00

Grinder accident

Right through my jeans

7 stitches

Not only did I ruin a pair of Wranglers, I had to pay someone to suture it up.

Bed rebuild

2009-12-19T19:54:00.001-06:00

Started this morning by removing the bed and putting it on saw horses in the middle of the shop.

You saw in an older post what all I did to the bed wood to get it ready for today. I had also bought a set of new bed strips which I powdercoated black. All new bolts too...

Next up is restoring all of the taillight wiring, lenses and trim.

Ya haven't heard much from me lately

2009-12-18T10:21:00.003-06:00

I got kind of bogged down recently. My used 100 dollar engine wound up having half of the number 2 piston missing. It ran but that one cylinder was completely dead and did nothing but pump oil out the tailpipe.

So, I put the 327 in this truck. I had really wanted to save it for my dually, but really, there was no choice if I'm to get this truck done.

The engine swap was relatively straight forward. I've done this a few times before. The only issue were wrong exhaust manifolds and modifying the clutch linkage some. Fortunately, my buddy Michael the Preacher hooked me up with the manifolds I needed. While I was at it, I rebuilt the entire front wiring harness and built all new brake lines front to back.

My mufflers came in yesterday, which is very exciting to me. I ordered them from a guy named Brock. They are hand built Brockman Mellowtone steel packed mufflers. He builds them one at a time and nothing, but nothing, sounds like a steel pack.

Here's a youtube of a pair...

So, I still need to build my exhaust and do the bed wood install and it should be done enough to start driving and working out the little bugs that invariably pop up.

The 327 all in place...

Not to brag, but you won't find a man anywhere more particular about his wiring than me. It's the airplane mechanic in me coming back out after all these years. Everything is new wire, crimped and soldered connections, all covered with heat shrink tubing and sealed up in vintage friction tape (not electrical tape) covering. This stuff takes countless hours.

Pardon the French, but I think this sumbitch is cooler than the back side of the pillow.

Some stuff I have owned and built in the past...

2009-12-16T07:29:00.002-06:00

54 Chevy. My daily driver for 4 years. Mustang II front suspension, 350, auto, Nova rearend. Flattened orange paint.

70 Chevy. Lowered, 454 big block, turbo 400, converted to 5 lug and disc brakes.

65 Ford Falcon.

1st motorcycle I built. Paughco frame