My S4 Strip / Paint Picture Thread

[mintyhit]

Hi Everyone!

I know how much we all like rebuild threads so I thought I would start my own! :)

I took the plunge last week and decided to bring my Monster inside my house for a bit of work. My plan is to strip it right back to the frame. Have the engine serviced (valves, belts, clean etc) and go for a completely new colour scheme whilst I am at it.

I have always loved the white\red S4RS colours so I am going to aim to get my S4 as close to this as I can:

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/s4rs.JPG

Step 1: Getting it up the stares!!

Our house is an old Georgian 3 story with the door about 4ft above street level. We made a (very) steep ramp out of wood and using the combined strength of 5 people, 3 guys pushing and 2 girls pulling with rope tied to the frame and a lot of panting and swearing we managed to drag the beast into our hall. We then manoeuvred it (utilising the 1,000 point turn technique) into my room.

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/Picture703.jpg

Step 2: Strip show

So far everything has gone to plan and I seem to have all the right tools for reaching all those hard to get to bits:

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/Picture710.jpg

A bit of a shadowy picture but oh well.

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/Picture711.jpg

I hope to have the engine out by the end of the week so more to come shortly…

James

[He11cat]

its a nice colour scheme! wow thats some pushing and pulling.
I can't get mine in the house hall to narrow and back is a flight of stairs as town house at the back.

be nice to see this progress!

[scrapps]

Good luck with the work. did mine last year and found it great fun and happy with the results.(maybe a bit of love or hate paint job on mine) i found lots and lots of labels and tie on tags helped with the rebiuld ie write how wires went around/thru frame...and lots of photos

[Albie]

If my thread helps you at all thats good. Labels and pics and bags for bolts. If at all keep bolts in the item too. Make sure you label the wiring ends and take a good look at the way the loom goes around the frame. Its vital as it may mean you have to lift the frame off again. Trust me I had too.

At least your not single siding it.

[Capo]

+1 on the loom, its like trying to strangle a python.

[Albie]

Your loom is a wee bit longer on the s4r too. You have extra stuff on left front.

[mintyhit]

Well I got a bit carried away last night… at about 2am I wiped the sweat and grease from my brow and took a few photos of my progress.

The engine removed from the frame:

I must have spent a good 2 hours last night trying to hammer out the b@stard pivot bolt so I could remove the swing arm… 2 long hours of soaking with penetrating oil, heat gunning and pounding until I finally gave up not having budged it one bit… it is definitely stuck well in there so I have decided to leave it be.

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/Picture730.jpg

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/Picture731.jpg

I didn’t have the castle key too (anyone know where I can get one?) to remove the top yolk from the frame so I had to remove it as all in one. It was like pushing an amusing Ducati wheel barrow at one point.

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/Picture735.jpg

Thanks for the advice regarding the wiring loom, I took plenty of pictures and drew a few diagrams so hopefully (famous last words) it will go back together again without a hitch. :)

So now onto:

STEP 3:

Clean clean clean

More to come tomorrow….

[slob]

PM on its way

[AndyP]

Have you loosened the cotter pin nuts on the underside of the swing arm as well as removing the circlips.

[Pomp1]

I've got a castle key if you need it

[mintyhit]

Have you loosened the cotter pin nuts on the underside of the swing arm as well as removing the circlips.


Yup, circlips are off and I removed the bolts as specified in the workshop manual. I was surprised to find them in the underside of the swing arm however but I can't see anything that would stop me being able to drift it out.

[MagnaJeep]

I removed the fork stem nut with some big snap ring pliers (don't know the exact name)
quite easily, those that are curved 90 degrees.

Couldn't wait for the adapter to arrive.

[Capo]

Yup, circlips are off and I removed the bolts as specified in the workshop manual. I was surprised to find them in the underside of the swing arm however but I can't see anything that would stop me being able to drift it out.

Did you drift out the cotters?

[Albie]

I had the same problem with my swingarm pivot pin. I ended up getting a drift made up. Came in handy the other day when removing the pin on my ss.

The top nut. A pair of pins or allenkeys and a bar between will crack it open enough to undo with fingers after.

[mintyhit]

A big thanks to Rob who just lent me the Castle Key!

Thanks for the tips regarding the swimg arm... I think I am probably just going to leave it on. I gave it a good clean last night and I don't see any real reason to take it off now.

Cheers
James

[mintyhit]

Morning all, just a few updates:

I picked up my frame at the weekend and I am delighted with the new paint job in duc red. With some luck my engine should also be ready later this week.

Here are a few pics:

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/frame3.jpg

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/frame1.jpg

My hangers and rear swing arm are off getting power coated in satin black in the same vain as the 695’s and my bolts are getting a fresh plating of zinc.

I am also considering getting my top \ bottom yolk and the fork “sliders” coated black as well if I can decide between keeping the standard S4 clip-on bars or try the switch to S4R handlebars.

My shoulders would probably thank me if I did decide to swap. they are a bit uncomfortable for London. I guess i'd have to get a new steering dampener though as well.

http://blagrock.com/photography/rebuild/frame2.jpg

Should have some more updates later this week.

[jerry]

Nice work ...one day my S4 will get the full monty repaint refurbish too

[mintyhit]

It’s worth doing… especially when you get sit in the warm with a cold beer and some music to listen to. :)

I am also finding cleaning everything quite therapeutic!

One concern though if anyone can help put my mind to rest: I want to get my top\bottom yolks powder coated in black but was wondering if it might cause a problem with the fact the lower yolk is made from both steel and aluminium?

Are the differing rates of expansion caused by the heat of the oven likely to cause any issues?

I am sure I am just being paranoid but I guess asking is always better then learning the hard\expensive way.

James

[Capo]

You will be OK, the temperatures involved in the process are not great.

[slob]

You'll need to get the bottom race off the steering stem though... the temperatures involved are high enough to make a mess of the rubber dust seal underneath it.

[mintyhit]

Yeah I am going to have a good crack at that tonight, it seems pretty well stuck on there but a bit of heat might loosen it up.

If not I’ll have to get the precision Dremel out. :)

[mintyhit]

Afternoon all

I finally started making some progress on my rebuild this weekend.

Firstly I had a large number of bolts and fasteners zinc re-plated:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4659232143_7ef009153a_b.jpg

It’s a bit anal I know but the electro-platters are just down the road and I couldn’t help myself. The only trouble is that now all my careful bagging and labelling as all been in vein as they had to be mixed up and attached to wire… oh well, I took some photos of the bags so I should be alright. It might add an extra element of puzzle like fun to the rebuild process anyway.

I picked up my engine from Rosso Corse after having the vale clearances adjusted, the clutch changed and the engine cases sprayed. I almost had a aneurism when I saw the bill but that’s the lunacy of Ducati parts prices for you… £80 for six small rubber cush-drives anyone?!

Anyway, the engine looks suburb but still has some a bit of the flaky paint disease eating away at the sump and under above the sing-arm pivot. I bought some Hammerite Smooth Silver paint to correct this but found after some careful dremeling and painting the match isn’t quite right… it is way more silver than the finish on the 916 engine (see the small casing with the banjo bolt on the horizontal cylinder). The difference looks more pronounced in the sunlight so I tempted to order some colour matched engine paint instead although I am really trying to stick to budget at the moment.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4659232151_fc06fca1a9_b.jpg

I picked up my tank, seat-cover and front faring from Dave and Padded Cell. I am extremely pleased with the job he did. The pearl white looks incredible in the sunlight and the red stripes perfect. Highly recommended if anyone ever needs a spray-shop in Essex.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4659232155_b006c2eb51_b.jpg

Next on the list is to collect my wheels & swing arm from the powder-coaters and start putting the suspension back together.

I am also DIY spraying a few components (lower\upper triple, rotors, inlet manifold) satin black to match the cases. I’ll post up some of my results tomorrow.

Cheers
James

[littlejimmy12]

RS paint does a colout match for M900 engine casings, used on my s2r and it was perfect. Nice write up, love the pics.

[mintyhit]

Thanks for the tip about the paint, i'll give RS a call and see if I can get a tin.

I started putting the writing loom back on last night, someone on here said it was like trying to strangle a python, I agree!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/4666341018_ee27586a58_b.jpg

Anyway, I noticed something strange in that the way my loom was previously routed through the frame makes no sense at all.

Here is a picture of the old route circled in red:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4666341022_4f74f96727_b.jpg

From what I can tell from the sketchy pictures in the workshop manual and from looking online that V in the loom is supposed to go in front of the steering tube. The old route just shoved the entire lot through the front of the frame on the right side of the bike.

Can any shed any light on the correct was to route the loom? The route in the first picture seems much tidier than it used to be.

James

[Bigears]

Please post more! Excellent so far.

[mintyhit]

Afternoon all!

Things have been moving a bit slower this week due to still waiting for replacement swing arm needle-bearings (http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?t=37764) but I snapped a few shots of my progress last night for a small update:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4705883025_20d3241002_b.jpg

Got my rear hangers back from the powder coaters:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4705883029_2eed131080_b.jpg

The pictures don't really do the paintwork justice! :)

[Panther]

and the paint work looks so good in the pictures too. keep up the good work and the photo's rolling.

Those normal foot hangers are looking lovely in satin/mat black

[mintyhit]

Cheers! I agree about the hangers... in fact I think most of the standard components end up looking great with some plating or a lick of paint.

I’ve just took my clip-ons, the rear brake bracket, clutch cover and both leavers off for the same satin black treatment.

I also have another big box of bolts ready for a new coat of zinc.

… I am slightly worried I am getting a bit carried away with all this however. 

[littlejimmy12]

looks fantastic, like a new bike. All the attention to detail like replaiting will be worth it upon final assembley. I;d hate to finish and then think that there;s something I should've done which I didn;t bother

[retskcid]

Excellent thread:thumbsup:. I love the black powder coating, that has given me some inspiration! If you dont mind me asking what sort of money is the paintwork/powder coating costing?

Cheers

[mintyhit]

Morning Everyone!

It's been a bit of a slow month on the ol' rebuild front due to Glastonbury festival and waiting for parts but I managed to make a bit of a progress this week on my post-fest-recovery holiday so I thought I would share some more photos:

I went a bit powder coating mad and decided to do the bars and the leavers in satin black:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4754031965_31f669e113_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4754031959_25874cc9aa_b.jpg

I am very pleased with the results and I think they complement the white\red paintwork perfectly although I really need to change my Mickey Mouse mirrors for something a little more stylish, I am thinking perhaps the standard mirrors from an s2r\s4r might look better. Also those fluid reservoir caps have to go… I might actually splash out of bling ones of these… unless I spray them. :)

I also had another box of bolts zinc recoated including the clutch springs\caps and bolts. Here they are fitted with my clutch cover and plate powder coated in... you guessed it, satin black!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/4754031967_e93d35c191_b.jpg

The nasty horrible yellow shock spring was subjected to the same treatment and I spent a few hours last night with my Dremel removing all the corrosion from the shock itself. I plan to carefully mask and spray these shiny bits tonight.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/4754031973_a133fee942_b.jpg

So, what’s left?

Well I am still waiting on some new seals for the rear swing arm bearings (I have the bearings now). I have a few little bits of wiring to secure and the throttle and choke cables to fit. It should then just be a case of refitting the wheels, shiny polished exhaust, filling with fluids and I’m done!

…wish me luck!

[mintyhit]

Oh yes and costs for anyone who is interested

Powder Coating:

Front Wheel
Rear Wheel
Swing Arm
2x Rear Hangers
£120

2x Leavers
2x Bars
Clutch Plate
Clutch Cover
Spring
Rear Brake Mount
£45

(http://www.armourtexltd.co.uk/) – Hakney London

Spray Painting:

Frame - £200
Tank, Front Fearing, Seat Cover + Decal (£500)

(http://www.padded-cell.co.uk/) – Stansted Essex

DIY Spraying

Upper Triple
Lower Triple
Headlight Bracket
Lower wheel rotor things (on front shocks)

2 x Cans Hammerite Satin Black
1 x Can of Acid Etch
(£32)

Zinc Plating

Hundreds of nuts, bolts and fasteners

About £100

(http://www.premierplatingworks.co.uk/) - Walthamstow London

[retskcid]

Its looking fantastic, and thanks for the information. I can see why you went mad with the powder coating, its soooo cheap!

[slob]

I've seen the wheels...
I'll be taking a pair of mine down there shortly

[mintyhit]

Haha, yeah DIRT cheap and the finish is excellent!

I also had a bash at cleaning up my front callipers:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/4754831516_23a001931c_b.jpg

I re-plated the std bolts and started to clean but I discovered the gold finish is actually just more cheap plating (a silver sheen started to come through when I used a nylon brush).

Disappointing really but I think with a bit more elbow grease I can get them looking new and shiny again… or I guess I could get them re-plated (no no, please someone stop me!).

[mintyhit]

Morning all

It was all go last week as I finally managed to get hold of some seals for my swing-arm bearings. Getting them in was a little fiddly but incredibly easy in comparison to the nightmare I had getting them out:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4688063378_6caa1a210f_b.jpg

I used an M12 threaded rod in conjunction with some large nuts\washers and plenty of heat to force the new bearings in. I had to be careful lining up the rather flimsy seals but with patience everything finally settled into place.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4792451345_2f0cdcd636_b.jpg

In addition to the bearings and seals I fitted the front wheel complete with my DIY sprayed sliders and the newly coated bolts:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4792451351_e7771041f3_b.jpg

I also fitted new chain sliders to my powder coated swing-arm as the old ones had almost warn through from when some idiot (probably me) over-tightened the chain. :)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4792451343_938392cff3_b.jpg


….much more to come!

[rac3r]

Looks awesome!

[mintyhit]

Swing-arm, rear wheel and chain fitted:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4793357210_3487016e7b.jpg

Rear calliper and disks on:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/4793357216_92f09f70ae.jpg

[Bodybag]

Thats an amazing rebuild you're doing. Good work fella. Just one question though...

Have you used Loctite or some such thread-lock on all the nuts and bolts? I ask as I know they have a tendency to rattle loose if not sealed in properly!! I hope this question doesn't have you stripping and rebuilding the whole bike again. :(

[mintyhit]

Cheers for the comments Bodybag!

I’ve been pretty anal following the ol’ workshop manual so far and used thread-lock\grease when instructed. I’ve also followed all the specified torque figures on all the important stuff.

Can anyone tell me what the benefits of using grease are apart from to protect the threads? I was actually quite surprised how few bolts on the bike require thread lock and most just wanted to be lubed up. :)

[retskcid]

:thumbsup: Looking great

Can you tell me what black you went for in the powder coating? I'm thinking of doing my wheels and hangers the same...

Cheers

[mintyhit]

retskcid:

I just asked for satin black, they seemed to know what I was on about. One person described it as a sort-of "egg shell" finish.

Also I have some finished pictures ready to post up but I forgot my USB cable... stay tuned. :)

[mintyhit]

Well I’ve done it!

These posts are a few days out of date now but after hiding behind the door of my car and sneakily filling up unauthorised plastic bottles with Petrol I decided to go for broke and fire the old girl up!

SUCCESS!!!!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4796580304_1d086bb8e9_b.jpg

Shocking really as I was expecting to spend at least a couple of hours finding the wire I forgot to plug in but nope... she just turned over and fired up with a bark of v-twin awesomeness!

So, feeling quite pleased with myself and a little reckless I decided to ride her to work in the sunshine in shorts and a t-shirt trusting that the wheels wouldn’t come off… they didn’t. The only fault I could find was the rear brake-light switch but thanks to some swift next day delivery action from Motorapido it was replaced and the bike was fully MOT’d by the exhaust decibel friendly Chasbikes in central London the very next day.

So here she is in her entirety:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4796580294_40915f4a25_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4796580302_b73e395647_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4796580298_35a32458c3_b.jpg

Once again a massive thanks goes out to Ray and Marcus at Rosso Corse for the engine work, advice, parts, tools, patience and good humour putting up with me!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4796682952_5a77beee5c_b.jpg

And finally a big thanks to everyone on the forum who helped with advice and encouragement.

James

[rac3r]

Pure awesome :cool:

[slob]

Nice one James.

[gary tompkins]

A top quality rebuild & five star thread

Well done :thumbsup:

[PaulV]

It has been really good seeing the progress over the weeks. Lovely lookin bike:thumbsup:

[weimeranerman]

Absolutely excellent thread! What a great looking bike!
That's exactly how mine looks (in my mind).:mand:

[Albie]

Takes me back to my project and the amount of fun I had. It looks like some things I did on mine have been done on yours too and thats pleasing. Also that someone else has used the same Powdercoater as me.

Looks great and I hope your proud of yourself too. Big thumbs up from me :mand::mand:

[Fugly]

Well done matey,

That is one beautiful bike!
I am just going to ask my pasrtner to hide my socket set before I succumb to the urge to pull mine apart.

Good work and a great thread

Fugly

[retskcid]

retskcid:

I just asked for satin black, they seemed to know what I was on about. One person described it as a sort-of "egg shell" finish.

Also I have some finished pictures ready to post up but I forgot my USB cable... stay tuned. :)


Cheers for that, you have inspired me! Great job!

[Gunsoku]

You, dear sir, are epic beyond words.

*bows*

[Panther]

Nice job, that red frame is lush.

IMO the black swingarm really improves the looks on the double siders

[Phatty]

Amazing work! Looks fantastic.

[gregski]

very very impressive work:thumbsup: