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Time to rebuild my old GPz

Work in Progress

Moderators: chrisu, paul doran, Taffus, KeithZ1R

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GPZ592
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#61 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Tue Sep 01, 2020 5:07 pm

More goodies to add the growing pile of refurbished parts - frame bolts and other bits & pieces re-blacked and ready to fit once the rebuild commences :D

Blacking.jpg
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GPZ592
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#62 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Fri Sep 11, 2020 3:51 pm

Everything is back from powdercoating :D

The wheels have been chemically cleaned & blasted, but the rims need to be polished before going back to be painted - so now it's off to the polishers with the wheels, whilst the rest goes into the growing pile of refurbished parts, ready for the rebuild :D

Powdercoat done.jpg
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#63 PostAuthor: moizeau » Fri Sep 11, 2020 4:42 pm

Why don't do polish them yourself? For the sake of a 1/2 HP bench grinder and a set of mops?
I find it one of the most satisfying jobs, you're covered in crap but you can see the result straight away. It does become addictive. I used to strip my Zeph11 every year and polish the side casings, forks, Metmatchex, fork brace and the wheel rims. Then use Belgum Alu during the season.
You end up thinking 'just another pass'....2 hours later....
Pete

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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#64 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Sat Sep 12, 2020 8:59 am

moizeau wrote:Why don't do polish them yourself? For the sake of a 1/2 HP bench grinder and a set of mops?
I find it one of the most satisfying jobs, you're covered in crap but you can see the result straight away. It does become addictive. I used to strip my Zeph11 every year and polish the side casings, forks, Metmatchex, fork brace and the wheel rims. Then use Belgum Alu during the season.
You end up thinking 'just another pass'....2 hours later....


Yeah, I did think about that, but as the only items that need polishing are the edges of the wheel rims & the footrest plates, it seemed a bit pointless to get all the kit and then only use it to polish 4 bits ! But I can see it could become addictive as you say :)
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#65 PostAuthor: moizeau » Sat Sep 12, 2020 9:37 am

Got mine years ago from the NEC, one end has a grinding wheel, the other normally has a wire wheel for cleaning threads or paint off screwdrivers but can be changed for polishing very easily. It's probably the most used tool in the garage. Mine's a Hilka 6" 1/2HP bench grinder. If you do get one don't go any smaller or the wheels stall.
Pete

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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#66 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:29 pm

The wheels have now been polished and painted :)

Wheels.jpg
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#67 PostAuthor: chrisNI » Fri Oct 09, 2020 6:00 pm

:D Lovely job :D

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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#68 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Wed Oct 21, 2020 6:37 pm

A lot of the recent work on my 550 has been sent out to specialists to complete - so it was nice to complete a couple of jobs myself and bask in the glow of self satisfaction of a job well done :D

I had spotted a small piece missing from the plate that holds the CDi/Reg/Rec. I did consider trying to weld it, but opted to braze it instead as I'm more comfortable with brazing thinner metals. The end result is not perfect, but it will do the job and once painted you won't notice it and its hidden under the seat anyway :D

Plate damage.jpg
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Plate Brazed.jpg
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Next was cleaning up all the small brackets/fittings for re-painting. Most I managed to do on my wire wheel or using wire wool on the ally parts, but a few needed blast cleaning by a local company for a few beer vouchers ! Then it was into my spray booth for few coats of Satin or Gloss "Tough Black" as required.

Spray Booth.jpg
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Spraying Complete.jpg
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#69 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Fri Nov 20, 2020 10:25 pm

The last couple of weeks, I've been examining the bodywork in preparation to send out for painting. I knew there were a few old "repairs" I had done to the plastics, back in the day, using fibreglass and they needed to come off and be repaired properly either by plastic welding or adhesives.

Needless to say, the fibreglass peeled off with a little persuasion and revealed the full horrors of long forgotten damage. Along with the broken lugs and holes drilled in the panels for racing plates that I remembered, I found the cockpit fairing was in 2 pieces :shock: I didn't remember that ! I've successfully repaired cracked panels before using a soldering iron & off cuts from a donor panel, but nothing as bad as the fairing. As the bodywork is going out to be resprayed back to the original "Firecracker Red" anyway, I've decided to get the plastics professionally repaired prior to painting :)

Althoug you cannot see in the picture, the tank has numerous pin bubbles under the paint and the front mudguard I've had previously repaired during this rebuild. So it makes sense to strip all the plastics along with the tank & mudguard back to bare metal/plastic before being refinished. The green was cellulose based, so probably would have been removed anyway.

With all the bodywork away for repair/paint, it feels like another step taken towards getting my old GPz back on it's wheels :D

sidepanel holes.jpg
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Tail Piece holes.jpg
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Tail Piece broken lugs.jpg
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Broken Fairing 2.jpg
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Broken Fairing 1.jpg
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Tank.jpg
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#70 PostAuthor: dave spencer » Sat Nov 21, 2020 11:58 am

Great work love reading about this bikes rise from the dead! :lol:

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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#71 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:45 pm

I've spent the last few weekends preparing the exhaust system to be re coated/sprayed.

It's not the original 4 into 2 system, but it is an original, period, Harris 4 into 1, which I fitted back in the late 80's after the original system rotted too far to repair. The Harris is not without its problems, though - it had a couple of scratches & minor dents in the silencer and the header flanges had fractured and needed some repairs. I had those sorted earlier in the rebuild, which entailed removing the baffle & opening up the silencer, sorting the minor dents/abrasions, then welding it back up ( I let a professional do this bit !).

Silencer Repair - 2.jpg
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The original black chrome finish was past its best, so the best option was to remove what was left and take it back to bare metal. So I had the whole system blasted, which cleaned it up fine.

Exhaust Blasted - 1.jpg
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However, this exposed a few pin holes in the silencer welding and the collector, so out came the brazing torch again :D

Collector pin holes -1.jpg
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Header repair - 1.jpg
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Before fitting the baffle back in, I brazed a nut on the inside, so I can use a bolt to replace the single pop rivet that holds it in originally. I then gave it a coat of VHT for protection along with the inside of the silencer.

Baffle Nut 1.jpg
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Baffle VHT.jpg
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Baffle fitted - 1.jpg
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The finish from blasting was a little rough, so it bought a cheap set of polishing wheels for my bench grinder and I've spent hours polishing it all up to get it smooth again, but I think we are there now :D

Polished - 1.jpg
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So now I need to decide which finish to use on the exhaust. I'm leaning towards ceramic coating rather than paint for its durability. After speaking to a local company, the only downside I can see with ceramic is that it is a fairly thin finish (albeit a hard finish), compared to paint, so it doesn't hide imperfections like paint can - and the Harris does have a few surface imperfections (don't we all) :D But as it will be black, I don't think you'll see the little nicks, etc.

Anyway, I won't be able to get anything done now before Xmas, so it gives me a bit of time to make a final decision.

Mark.
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#72 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:19 pm

Today was the first day back in the garage since the Xmas break and the pile of bits "to do" appears to have almost disappeared, whilst the pile of boxes containing refurbished parts has almost taken over the garage :shock:

So, after countless months of disassembly, cleaning, checking, repairing & refinishing I am finally at the stage where it is time to start putting this jigsaw back together and get my old 550 back on the road.

Happy New Year :D

Jigsaw.jpg
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#73 PostAuthor: chrisNI » Sat Jan 02, 2021 12:24 pm

Cool this is the exciting bit... :D :D

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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#74 PostAuthor: Philippe » Sat Jan 02, 2021 5:00 pm

Hi Marc

most of the time consuming work is done ! Now it's time for fun!
Think twice before you install a part, if you do that too soon it might stand in the way for installing another part.
But anyway have fun !!!
GrtZ
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Re: Time to rebuild my old GPz

#75 PostAuthor: GPZ592 » Mon Jan 11, 2021 8:03 pm

My plan is to get a rolling chassis first, which will make it easier to move the GPz around my garage (or out of it !) and then build the bottom half of the engine and drop that in the frame, before building the top half of the engine in the bike. I know some people drop the frame over the completed engine, but I've done other bikes this way and it works for me :wink:

Wheels first and here's the a momentous moment in this project - the very first part I put in place to start the rebuild.

sprocket carrier.jpg


All the bearings went in OK using the old trick of freezing the bearings and heating the hub with a heat gun. Then new discs and the re-zinced original disc bolts.

Discs.jpg


Then new tyres fitted & balanced and here they are :D

Finished Wheels.jpg
"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" - Steve McQueen


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