Pelican Parts Forums - what the heck !!!!! I'm in WWAAYYYY over my head!

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- - what the heck !!!!! I'm in WWAAYYYY over my head! (http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1095307-what-heck-im-wwaayyyy-over-my-head.html)

Extra Time..... bonus.

Had a little extra time this weekend...... wasn't expecting it at all...... got a few things done and I'm pretty happy with the end result.

NOTHING to write home about, or win any awards, or anything special..... just cleaned it up a bit and it looks BETTER than it did before... that was the goal and i'm pretty happy with the end result.

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That thing looks pretty cool! Nice job on the quickie wheel resto. I think they will look great on that bike.

Thanks Tim!

i appreciate the props............ i have an EXTREME learning curve as several guys have pointed out........ but hey its been fun so far.

i have a HUGE box full of parts (when i bought the bike it was fully UNASSEMBLED and i have no idea what they are, or where they go!) that i am going to be refurbishing like i did to the rims...... oh... and researching and understanding what they are and where they go! hahaha yikes... good luck with that FUCHER!

also watching A LOT of youtube videos on all this stuff, a lot of it DOESNT seem like brain surgery so im giving it a shot......

im going for a BARE BONES look so hopefully all works out.

we'll see what happens.

Painting Tank is up next.
Rebuilding and painting front calipers on deck.... (according to YOUTUBE looks pretty simple and straight forward)

If it wasn't for the 8 foot long chain you could put a storage trunk under the seat!

Here's an idea for you off the charts. Run stubby headers forward and then turned down 90º to the road. Crossways muffler ala Porsche with a side exit. Or a single oval outlet right under the engine case. Nothing out back.

That's bare bones. IDT anyone has ever done anything like that. Tuned right that would turn some heads, for sure.

Milt.... can you draw out a simple picture so i can visualize ?

funny you mention the "space" under the seat..... i was kinda worried about NOT having enough space for all the stuff i need to have to make the bike run..... but i recently found a video that outlines a bare minimum diagram so i think i may have enough room....... (dont laugh please, i am learning a little bit at a time!)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623712910.jpg

Holyyyy Smokes, nice work!!

Wow... cool reaction! Thanks Rusnak!

Last night was kinda fun....... who knew!

sooooo yesterday was freaking hot in Socal....... as i mentioned next adventure is to TRY and paint my tank.... lets see what happens to THAT... hahahaha.

BUT it was WAAAYYYYY to hot to be in the garage after work......... so by the time family stuff had settled in and the boys were tucked away in bed....

i went to the garage......... 10pm.

i poked around the tank a bit (YUP... i had no idea how these things are even mounted but it looked pretty straight forward..... 3 bolts.... i took a couple of pictures...... when i looked at the pic where the seat is mounted closest to my seat i saw this..... what the heck ???? with ZERO experience even I KNEW there was some shotty work done and that looked awful! (even though i dont really care too much about the "look" and especially since its KINDA outta the way) but i did think.... hummmm maybe this will be fun to try and make look a little bit better.......

i've never used a file before, but ive seen some videos...... hummmm i wonder it it would work here...... what the heck? lets see.......

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623858939.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623858939.jpg

so i started in with my file..... little tiny pieces were filing off...... hummmmmm this might work......

1.5 hours later......... i was a filing fool! i just kept kinda working the file around and feeling the tank with my hand...... i know i AM NOT doing it right but it was kinda looking a bit better than it had so COOL!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623859203.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623859203.jpg

the tank seemed to be pretty smooth but the "look" was kinda an optical illusion because it didnt LOOK very smooth......

i happen to have some pep boys primer right in front of me and i thought..... hey im gonna throw a bit of primer on and see what it looks like....... let it dry overnight.....

this morning i took a look on my way out the door...... AND I DONT HATE IT.

obviously i didnt primer the whole tank or anything.... i just wanted to see what had happened with all the filing i did.......

i will be doing some more filing and sanding and painting it in MATTE BLACK with a bunch of MATTE CLEAR coats in the next day or two..... lets see how this comes out!

so last night was kinda fun........ cool.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623859549.jpg

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the ONE tool i used last night...... hahaha

Keep building up layers of primer then sand . You want the primer to build/fill in the imperfections . Once it's " good enough " clean it then apply your paint and clear . Looking good so far .

yes sir........

i hadn't started the paint prep that night... i barely put any primer on it, i just wanted to see how it looked if it was one color......... looked OK.

last night i smoothed the rest of the tank out...... gonna build up the primer in the next day or two if i can find some time......

i am NOT looking for perfection and perfectly smooth nuttn !

ive been poking around to see what i am gonna do with the paint....... matte black for sure... maybe a stripe/line of gloss....... dunno.....

mailman dropped off the 2 part Matte Clear this afternoon!

now i just need to find the time.........

Painted Tank.....Turned out Ok... better than it WAS

so this weekend... i made an effort to carve out sometime and work on the tank...........

was an interesting process and i learned a lot. overall i would give the project a 4 maybe a 4.5. BUT BUT BUT... it is better than it was before and that i the goal besides learning and having some fun.

here are a few shots of the progression.

(no, the bodywork isn't NEAR being good/nice.... im sure i did a million things wrong, there are a million flaws with it all.... i get it, but GOOD isn't the point, better than it was IS the point)

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so i was messing around with the idea of putting a little graphic of some sort on it.... saw a few tanks that i liked......

i found some material i had laying around "Vinyl Wrap" type stufff that has a brushed aluminum look to it and thought, EH.... maybe i can use that stuff for a line of some sort....... i hope the clear doesnt react to the material.

i also THOUGHT if the lettering was glossy, it would REMAIN glossy under the matte clear... WELL IT DIDNT and it kinda blends in where you can really see it.

not sure if i should leave it like that, OR do a little red pin stripe around the lettering for it to pop a little bit.

ANY SUGGESTIONS? (keep it basic as i have never EVER done anything like graphics before as you can clearly see, so a suggestions should be novice level!)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624290255.jpg

this is how it sits this morning......

amazing how forgiving adding the Matte Clear can be........

4 or 4.5 on a scale of 1-10 i think.......

If it were mine I would have applied the vinyl straight vs it is trailing to the right . But other than that I think you did good . The letters - either leave them as is so they are ghost looking when cleared or paint the letters to match the stripe ?

rfuerst911sc,

hahaha.... i was trying to get it straight....... i checked and rechecked (or at least i thought it was straight hahahaha) either way im ok with it....... i just dont want to get wrapped up in something like that.. there are SOOO many bigger issues i will need to learn and address about this build that its just not worth it to me...... funny though.... i did try to line it up well.....it was an OPTICAL illusion dammit. hahahahaha.

i was thinking the samething... i almost used the term "Ghosted" as i have seen and heard that term A LOT when watching a million youtube videos... BUT then i was concerned i may sound like i know what im talking about using a fancy schmansy term like "ghosted" so i kept my pie hole shut.... hahahahaha.

i wont be painting the letters.... that's a disaster FOR SURE.

i have this AMAZING little tool i bought after seeing it on an AMMO video..... its for chip repair and it allows for PINPOINT control of paint application.. i was thinking of maybe outlinging the lettering with a super fine line of red paint, just to get it to pop a little bit.

i dunno.....

or just saying Fuch-it and leaving it Ghosted!