Yet Another M900 Build

[PPuxley]

Next step is to get the Ducati parts order in. For this I screenshot all the Stein-Dinse Fiche pages and went through marking up parts I know I need in readiness for a visit to Snell's in Alton to put the order together with their Tyler Bertie.



After that I need to do one of the most important jobs required to have a fair chance of getting the thing back together, and that is photographing, recording and cataloguing all the fixings before they go into a single big box to go off to Mercury Plating in Camberley for re-zincing.
Before they go in the box they will be degreased, and the really bad ones fine grit blasted, derusted and/or wire wheeled. If they are presented clean like this they will do a whole bikes worth for around £50. i may also strip any existing zinc in a Hydrochloric acid bath.

Even with this approach there will be fixings that get missed and they will be plated with a Gateros kit in the workshop. I will probably do all the hose ends myself aswell.



Some hoses I did on the XR before painting

[Luddite]

Originally Posted by PPuxley

Next step is to get the Ducati parts order in. For this I screenshot all the Stein-Dinse Fiche pages and went through marking up parts I know I need in readiness for a visit to Snell's in Alton to put the order together with their Tyler Bertie.

Are you getting a good price at Snells? Don't forget, as a UKMOC member, you get a 10% discount at Moto Rapido and, with the number of parts you're ordering, that could be a worthwhile saving!

[Darkness]

Some of the old plating is likely to be cadmium rather than zinc, so suggest you wear a dust mask and goggles if taking it off with a wire wheel.

[PPuxley]

Originally Posted by Darkness

Some of the old plating is likely to be cadmium rather than zinc, so suggest you wear a dust mask and goggles if taking it off with a wire wheel.

Thanks for that, I hadn't thought of that.

[PPuxley]

Originally Posted by Luddite

Are you getting a good price at Snells? Don't forget, as a UKMOC member, you get a 10% discount at Moto Rapido and, with the number of parts you're ordering, that could be a worthwhile saving!

Yes, same 10%

[PPuxley]

Front Mudguard arrived....and I wont even need to paint it!. New Old Stock.
In fact we'll look again at the colour we chose from a comparison to the tank (which had been resprayed) and match it to this new item

[enbee23]

Originally Posted by PPuxley

Front Mudguard arrived....and I wont even need to paint it!. New Old Stock.
In fact we'll look again at the colour we chose from a comparison to the tank (which had been resprayed) and match it to this new item

What a great find!

[PPuxley]

Another morning up at the body shop. Firstly to look at the wheels and frame which were done yesterday.
Really pleased with the colour, I think its just about spot on to what the original was (ie match to an unfaded part of the frame.) Also really pleased with the satin finish.

VIDEO OF FRAME





The wheels had the odd blemish that the silvery bronze showed up, so we did a few bits of filling which I then rubbed back with 800 and we will go again with base and lacquer coats tomorrow.

I then spent a couple of hours prepping some of the bodywork- great to have all the proper kit to do it with. And sharing the space with an XK120!



Also sent off my marked up parts fiche drawings to Snells for pricing.......I think thats going to be scary!

[PPuxley]

A few bits and pieces today. Cleaned up a decidedly manky fuel cap. Stripped and replated all the parts and reassembled, although it will come apart again to improve the finish on the topside.


I cant remove the hinge roll pin and I really dont want to force it and break the lid, its over £200 to replace and I have the period Elefant Symbol. So I will get it vapour blasted with the surround then repaint the gold.
While the parts were plating I blasted the cylinders and the oil cooler.




The oil cooler blasted well without damage to the fine fins. I blasted in two stages, firstly with the fins masked then more lightly having removed the mask.

[Mr Gazza]

I'm glad you got away with blasting your cooler, but it's not a job I would farm out. At least you were in control all the time and obviously went very gently.

[PPuxley]

Originally Posted by Mr Gazza

I'm glad you got away with blasting your cooler, but it's not a job I would farm out. At least you were in control all the time and obviously went very gently.

I had a chat with Cox's where I was going to leave it with all the rest of the blasting and I could see he was nervous about doing it, so i said Id take it back and do it myself. I think the machine I use is a lot less powerful and I use a very fine grit.
I started with the masking in place and I could see it wasnt being that agressive on the flat areas, so I removed the mask and let the compressor pressure drop and tentatively had a go at the fins and it was OK
As you say , the sort of job you need to be in control of.

[PPuxley]

A day of prepping for plating. Mostly what will be going off to Mercury's but also stuff that I will do like the oil hoses.
Its a long labourious process and also requires careful documentning and photographing everything before it goes into the plating box.
My process is

1. Lay out the fixings for a particular item on the bike and note bolt sizes on a backing sheet and photograph
   
2. Degrease the really dirty stuff, my goto is Comma Hyderclean
3. Steel wire wheel the badly corroded stuff
   
4. Hydrochloric acid strip off existing plating, this also produces a clean piece
   
5. If its still showing some corrosion then wire wheel it off
6. Then soak in Citric acid/De-Ox to remove any remaining rust (gets to the stuff inside the allen heads, for example)
   
7. Throw into a tub of Hyperclean, which will keep it from developing any surface rust
   
8. When ready to go, wash and dry off from the degreaser and take to platers immediately

The oil hoses get a similar treatment, but some where so badly corroded they need polishing to remove pitting. I then heavy duty mask the braided parts, becuase these will get a light fine blast. It will also keep the plating off the braid when in the plating bath (although if it doesnt it is easily polished off the braid afterwards)



Ready for plating


I also received my Decals from Imageworks, good timing for next week when we should be painting.


And lastly I got a response from Tyler at Snells on the spares quote. It was a frightening £700 as written but he had put in a whole load of bearing costs for info. Its standing around £300 at the moment. Here's a sample page

[PPuxley]

More bolt prepping today and a first look at the brakes to see what is going to need to be done.
Have spoken to Paddy Barrett (Ducatipaddy) who gave me a few pointers.
It transpires that a full refurb isnt really viable as the cost is just about the same as a new caliper.
So I tried cleaning. First with a good degreaser then with Sonax Profline fully concentrated rim cleaner and toothbrush. I have simply wire wheeled all the plated steel pieces for now to brighten them and prep them for plating.





Also placed an order for the Headstock bearings from Pyramid Parts BR49 52x26x15 for just under £30 delivered.

[hh93]

Patrick,

make sure you free of the Pistons, as I wrote else ware - I can repeat it here if you like. It's a simple procedure and will make the Calipers as good as new :-)

[PPuxley]

Originally Posted by hh93

Patrick,

make sure you free of the Pistons, as I wrote else ware - I can repeat it here if you like. It's a simple procedure and will make the Calipers as good as new :-)

Thanks. They are all checked out and working free. Ive had the joining bolts out., so all good.