Engine!!!! Lets see some engine action or are you going to surprise us and put a Twinkie engine in

 

LOL The shop doing the motor says he’s finishing up another shovelhead and then I’m next. This guy has been doing it for 30 years, so I feel confident he’s doing a good job.

 

Today I learned a new skill, powder coating. I watched a lot of YouTube videos, read a few forum posts and experimented. The key to success is cleanliness! Besides the obvious differences with wet paint, you have to bake the part before coating to make it release contamination trapped in the pores. Otherwise it will come out under the powder when you bake it and that's not good. So the process went like this: 1. strip old coating, 2. soda blast to remove remnants and rough the surface, 3. wash with hot water to remove soda remnants, 4. clean with prep solvent to remove oils, 5. bake at 425 degrees for half an hour for off-gassing, 6. cool to less than 100 degrees so powder doesn't melt on surface when spraying, 7. spray powder, 8. heat in oven until part is at 375 or 400 degrees depending on the powder then cure for 10 or 15 min depending on powder, 9. remove from oven and let cool. 10, enjoy a cold beer!

Here is my $20 goodwill oven and the $80 Harbor Freight powder coating setup. I also got matte, satin and texture powders.



The first parts I did were the worn out clutch lever bracket and a damaged master cylinder cover. I didn't spray enough powder so they came out terrible. The problem was I thought it would be good to hang the parts from the oven rack and there wasn't enough room for the gun.



I found a way to hang each part individually, and had better results with a second coat, but still not very even. Some areas were too shiny, others too thin. This was supposed to be satin to match the OEM handlebar switches.



I tried the matte powder on a piece of scrap metal, and it came out nice but not shiny enough. I found an OEM bracket to compare, they do a real nice job at the factory. I need to work on my technique, but also find powder in between satin and matte. Here is the result of a few hours experimenting:



I was encouraged by how smooth the scrap metal came out, maybe I'm catching on.

 

Encouraged that I may have figured this out, I tried the texture powder on a pipe clamp and it came out great! So I got started on the brake calipers. After cleaning them, I taped the piston hole and the two pad support pins with high temperature tape, and assembled them loosely. I put high temperature plugs in the brake hose and bleeder holes too.



I had a few feet of #10 electric wire and stripped out the ground wire to hang them. The other parts were fine with thinner wire.



I use an infrared thermometer to check the part temperature. It took a very long time for them to get up to 400 degrees, but patience is a virtue, right? Taking them out 10 minutes later, I hung them up to cool. I think they came out great!





I have new pads and seals and new chrome and black round labels to complete them.

 

The past week was busy, with my birthday and all, but I did finish the calipers. The new pads were this gaudy gold color, which would look great on a custom bike but not good for this job.



I took the calipers apart and painted the pads with VHT header paint, curing them in my new oven. Now they look much better.

The last thing to do was recreate the foam anti-rattle pads that are no longer available from harley and eBay vendors want $30 for! Three layers of Gorilla double stick tape and some foil duct tape cut to size and I have what I need.



Here is the finished job, with the hoses cleaned up too:

 

Starting on the rear brake now. Here's the mess after its parts washer bath. The previous owner had replaced the pads just before selling, but I'll paint them black too.



The master cylinder rebuild kit looks different, but measures out the same. I suppose the o-ring is an improvement, and the spring has the same number of coils so it'll be OK if I can get it all assembled.



Everything is disassembled and cleaned. Next I'll soak them in paint stripper and blast the rust off the hoses. I'll be powder coating everything with the same texture material as the front calipers.




Meanwhile, while getting all that out of the box of parts, I found this. Anyone recognize it?

 

primary chain oil line?....................the powder coating looks like you got the professionals to do the job

 

Thanks, I'm very happy with it. The primary chain oil line is 3/8 ID oil hose. This is only 3/16" OD.




Here is another picture next to a piece of overflow hose off an original Keihin carb, and a piece of 1/4″ OD tubing that is similar to battery vent tube. This one is still a mystery.

 

[QUOTE=Joe12RK;20521638]Thanks, I'm very happy with it. The primary chain oil line is 3/8 ID oil hose. This is only 3/16" OD.

Mystery tube looks like chain oiler, it's about the right length as it goes from the oil pump 90 degrees over to a clip where the hose is positioned to drop oil on the chain near the swing arm,
I know you made a false oiler so why would that be in the box?

 

Yes, I was thinking that, but the chain oiler on an original undisturbed 82 FXR is 3/16" ID hose. This is 3/16" OD tubing.





Here's a picture of the bracket, the holes are too big.




Lucky for me, the guy I bought it from had it since 1989 and never threw anything away, even the damaged oil pump that he replaced with an S&S pump. The hose was not on it.