A 33 year love affair. Part One - Page 2

Team Dennis · 11-23-2004, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerg

Damit, you taking posting lessons from Flug

How many days is this going to take?

The final exciting

conclusion will be this weekend. I have to go meet TeamGreg in Wickenberg and drag his ass to Prescott for the Thanksgiving weekend, as he plays heavily in the final chapter (though he doesn't know it yet

)

Perhaps a mini-trip report will ensue.

TD

FatChance · 11-23-2004, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Dennis

I had to correct it to look original and that engine still was one of the best looking motors around.

I remember reading a Cycle World road test of a Ducati Diana MK.III back when I was about 13 and fell in love with the Ducati single (though that one was only a 250cc). That, the Triumph Bonneville, and the Vincent Black Shadow had the most classic, visually stunning engines of all motorcycles, ever, IMHO.

norton73 · 11-23-2004, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Dennis

The final exciting

conclusion will be this weekend. I have to go meet TeamGreg in Wickenberg and drag his ass to Prescott for the Thanksgiving weekend, as he plays heavily in the final chapter (though he doesn't know it yet

)

Perhaps a mini-trip report will ensue.

TD

This I wanna see

Team Dennis · 11-25-2004, 04:57 AM

So over the next year I was on Ebay constantly. Watching and waiting.

For toolboxes. For a tail light bracket to replace the one that cracked from thumper stress. For the right speedometer. And for the most un-obtainiam, a fuel tank with no dents and the chrome side panels intact. A piece here and a piece there. As time came and went waiting, I decided I could start with the re-paint on the fenders. So off they came and off to the sand-blaster to take off multiple coats of HD purple, root beer and original orange.

The next item of business had to be finding the right color of orange. Because the painting was going to done over months as the search for the tank continued, I needed multiple cans of a consistent color. Try as I might, my search for "Ducati Orange" at various hardware and paint stores only got me blank stares. I tried one type of orange paint on a test section only to be rewarded by a color that reminded me of the once famous root beer. Finally in desperation I decided to try the most common orange in the world.Yep,,,,
you guessed it.

Chevy orange.

And hi-temp for the blistering speeds the bike could reach.

The front fender went well after only a few disasters. I learned as I went along not to worry about orange peel or sags, just put enough coats on because wet-sanding was in-evitable. 10-15 coats were the norm followed by hours of sanding and compound work. The end result put me temporarily in high gear.

The rear fender quickly followed after multiple trips to AutoZone for more paint.

to be cont.

Team Dennis · 11-25-2004, 05:32 AM

A CEV tailight bracket was found at my local Guzzi dealer and promptly sand-blasted and painted.

As was a reproduction copy of a 6 volt horn.

The watching and waiting on Ebay was also starting to gain results. While I had the original holder for the gauges only the tach was operational. The speedometer was another issue. Many variations were out there, mostly CEV units. I finally scored a set of the VDO Avis units on Ebay but used only the speedo unit.

to be cont.

Team Dennis · 11-25-2004, 07:05 AM

Tool boxes were the next big score on Ebay. They were sent out for sandblasting and powder coating.

RH side

And LH side.

All the time waiting and waiting for the missing piece, the tank. Because at this point there was no way this

was going to work on this.

So spring turned to summer. And I waited and waited.

to be cont.

Team Dennis · 11-26-2004, 07:12 PM

WTF you ask is this pic?

Well, it's the missing link from page 1. T.C.Christensen on the dual engine Norton engine. Do you know how hard it is to find a specific picture, even using Google? Besides this is my thread and I deemed it important (in a Flug "kinda" of way). So it's up to the reader to put the puzzle together.

Speaking of puzzle's,

you have all probably figured out the plot all ready. The missing link was finally found on Ebay. Not perfect, but no dents, decent chrome on the side panels and the wrong color.Now the back-pedalling would begin as stripping, sanding and prep work is usually reserved for the help and damn it,,,,I am it.

to be cont. 1 more time

stay tuned for the stunning conclusion

tomorrow when the damn thanksgiving crowd has left.

AceRph · 11-26-2004, 10:01 PM

Cool project!

Team Dennis · 11-27-2004, 03:05 PM

So one look at the calendar indicated I had to stop talking about it and start doing it. The first part had to be the removal of rust inside the tank. I purchased a Kreeme kit and utilized only the etching and sealing portions of the kit as I heard nothing but horror stories about the sealing portion. The inside came out shiny so I merely fogged the inside with WD-40 to prevent any future rust. The removal of the white pinstripes was next with careful masking of the chrome panels before sanding the old black paint off. Then came fresh primer and multiple coats of orange. Again I did not worry about runs, sags, orange peel because hours of elbow grease will always beat lack of painting talent.

Of course by this time the waste management company probably wanted to know what the hell was happening to their dumpster aka my painting station.

Team Dennis · 11-27-2004, 03:30 PM

At this point, my only enemy would be me if I hurried anything, so I was determined not to peel the masking tape off for at least a week.
This should give the 20 coats of orange to dry and prevent the paint from lifting. This gave me time to finish the incidentals. I drained the 6v battery as it was a leaking POS anyway and while I toyed with the idea of cutting it open, removing the plates and installing a capacitor, I decided I could always install a sealed battery later. While I could have left the battery out, it was an esoteric piece required to fill the gap.

A week later I started hard on the wet sanding. 400 grit followed by 600 and 800 removed all the mistakes and polishing compound brought the luster back. Then came the trying part. Removing the mask. Remebering that pulling at a 90 degree angle should prevent any paint lifting, I carefully pulled the final tape off and came away with,,,,,,

Team Dennis · 11-27-2004, 03:34 PM

It is at these times when ambition really starts to kick in.

dagwood · 11-27-2004, 03:36 PM

Team Dennis · 11-27-2004, 04:05 PM

Next came the pinstripe. I toyed with the idea of re-masking and shooting with my air brush as I have many hours building model air planes such as this one.

After all,, it's all in the details.

I finally decided that I was

a) Running out of time

b) opening a possibility of disaster on all the work so far on the tank

c) may not be able to match the curvature of the original mask

d) was cutting into my drinking time

e) all of the above.

I talked to a pro-pinstriper who comes to our bodyshop every Wed but when I saw that he had to lay down masking lines to make up for his now wobbly skills, I decided to pass. So after going through our bodyshop supplies, I found some tape with the correct width to match the width on the still intact decal. This was going to have to do.

bluebye · 11-27-2004, 04:05 PM

Dying to hear the end.

Team Dennis · 11-27-2004, 04:13 PM

This also brings up 2 more points why this Ebay tank was important.
First it had the original decal which was metallic gold and is no longer availiable. As you can see it looks much better than the re-pro shit out there.

Original

vs repro.

And it came with the original petcocks. Again a visual improvement.

Original

vs repro

Living proof that chrome sometimes is NOT the answer.

11-25-2004, 04:57 AM	#19
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	So over the next year I was on Ebay constantly. Watching and waiting. For toolboxes. For a tail light bracket to replace the one that cracked from thumper stress. For the right speedometer. And for the most un-obtainiam, a fuel tank with no dents and the chrome side panels intact. A piece here and a piece there. As time came and went waiting, I decided I could start with the re-paint on the fenders. So off they came and off to the sand-blaster to take off multiple coats of HD purple, root beer and original orange. The next item of business had to be finding the right color of orange. Because the painting was going to done over months as the search for the tank continued, I needed multiple cans of a consistent color. Try as I might, my search for "Ducati Orange" at various hardware and paint stores only got me blank stares. I tried one type of orange paint on a test section only to be rewarded by a color that reminded me of the once famous root beer. Finally in desperation I decided to try the most common orange in the world.Yep,,,, you guessed it. Chevy orange. And hi-temp for the blistering speeds the bike could reach. The front fender went well after only a few disasters. I learned as I went along not to worry about orange peel or sags, just put enough coats on because wet-sanding was in-evitable. 10-15 coats were the norm followed by hours of sanding and compound work. The end result put me temporarily in high gear. The rear fender quickly followed after multiple trips to AutoZone for more paint. to be cont. Team Dennis screwed with this post 11-27-2004 at 12:35 PM

11-27-2004, 04:05 PM	#29
bluebye Skin it back Joined: Mar 2004 Location: 'neckville is where you hang your hat, Rolling Oddometer: 1,437	Dying to hear the end. __________________ Faster you fool! bluebye screwed with this post 11-27-2004 at 04:11 PM

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11-25-2004, 05:32 AM	#20
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	A CEV tailight bracket was found at my local Guzzi dealer and promptly sand-blasted and painted. As was a reproduction copy of a 6 volt horn. The watching and waiting on Ebay was also starting to gain results. While I had the original holder for the gauges only the tach was operational. The speedometer was another issue. Many variations were out there, mostly CEV units. I finally scored a set of the VDO Avis units on Ebay but used only the speedo unit. to be cont.

11-25-2004, 07:05 AM	#21
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	Tool boxes were the next big score on Ebay. They were sent out for sandblasting and powder coating. RH side And LH side. All the time waiting and waiting for the missing piece, the tank. Because at this point there was no way this was going to work on this. So spring turned to summer. And I waited and waited. to be cont.

11-26-2004, 07:12 PM	#22
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	WTF you ask is this pic? Well, it's the missing link from page 1. T.C.Christensen on the dual engine Norton engine. Do you know how hard it is to find a specific picture, even using Google? Besides this is my thread and I deemed it important (in a Flug "kinda" of way). So it's up to the reader to put the puzzle together. Speaking of puzzle's, you have all probably figured out the plot all ready. The missing link was finally found on Ebay. Not perfect, but no dents, decent chrome on the side panels and the wrong color.Now the back-pedalling would begin as stripping, sanding and prep work is usually reserved for the help and damn it,,,,I am it. to be cont. 1 more time stay tuned for the stunning conclusion tomorrow when the damn thanksgiving crowd has left.

11-26-2004, 10:01 PM	#23
AceRph Stossel for POTUS Joined: Jan 2003 Location: Where the stupidest people on earth run things Oddometer: 23,764	Cool project!

11-27-2004, 03:05 PM	#24
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	So one look at the calendar indicated I had to stop talking about it and start doing it. The first part had to be the removal of rust inside the tank. I purchased a Kreeme kit and utilized only the etching and sealing portions of the kit as I heard nothing but horror stories about the sealing portion. The inside came out shiny so I merely fogged the inside with WD-40 to prevent any future rust. The removal of the white pinstripes was next with careful masking of the chrome panels before sanding the old black paint off. Then came fresh primer and multiple coats of orange. Again I did not worry about runs, sags, orange peel because hours of elbow grease will always beat lack of painting talent. Of course by this time the waste management company probably wanted to know what the hell was happening to their dumpster aka my painting station.

11-27-2004, 03:30 PM	#25
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	At this point, my only enemy would be me if I hurried anything, so I was determined not to peel the masking tape off for at least a week. This should give the 20 coats of orange to dry and prevent the paint from lifting. This gave me time to finish the incidentals. I drained the 6v battery as it was a leaking POS anyway and while I toyed with the idea of cutting it open, removing the plates and installing a capacitor, I decided I could always install a sealed battery later. While I could have left the battery out, it was an esoteric piece required to fill the gap. A week later I started hard on the wet sanding. 400 grit followed by 600 and 800 removed all the mistakes and polishing compound brought the luster back. Then came the trying part. Removing the mask. Remebering that pulling at a 90 degree angle should prevent any paint lifting, I carefully pulled the final tape off and came away with,,,,,,

11-27-2004, 03:34 PM	#26
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	It is at these times when ambition really starts to kick in.

11-27-2004, 04:13 PM	#30
Team Dennis ^OP Certified Troublemaker Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Tornado alley Oddometer: 4,531	This also brings up 2 more points why this Ebay tank was important. First it had the original decal which was metallic gold and is no longer availiable. As you can see it looks much better than the re-pro shit out there. Original vs repro. And it came with the original petcocks. Again a visual improvement. Original vs repro Living proof that chrome sometimes is NOT the answer.