Slow Monster rebuild

[Darkness]

I went with some of these:

https://raceboltuk.com/product/ducat...x-15mm-long-2/

It may be cheaper than buying the drill bits!

[350TSS]

^^^^^^ Nice, but I cannot use titanium for the rear disc as I need steel to allow the hall effect (the magnetism) for the speedo sensor

[Darkness]

I don’t know if these are ferritic or austenitic?

https://raceboltuk.com/product/ducat...h-x-15mm-long/

[Capo]

Use a 1.5mm slot drill milling cutter, it will drill an angled surface

[350TSS]

^^^^ thanks for the advice Capo, got three on order, drilling through the angle of the flats looks a lot better than across the flats of the bolt head.

[350TSS]

I could not face another day with fibre-glassing, itchy hands and acetone fumes so I wasted a bit of time today looking for my LH rear chain adjuster, the one converted into a carrier for the drive chain oiler pipe. I knew I had to open the spindle hole out from 17mm to 25mm to take the larger S4 rear spindle. It has vanished off the face of the earth, either that or I put it somewhere “safe”. I suspect the latter as the roll of plastic delivery tube which was handily placed with the oiler pipe has also disappeared.
After an hour I decided I may as well make another, rationalising the decision on the basis that in any case I could not think of an easy way to open accurately a 17mm hole to 25mm hole.
Here is the Mk2 – not as elegant as the Mk1 but I had no more 10mm tube. An old clothes horse lost a curved corner in the process.

Next I set about cleaning and masking up the calliper halves (how do you spell that, one “l” shows as a mis-spelling, but it just looks wrong with two?)

Four coats of satin black and they look like this.
image hosting for ebay

I am still undecided as to whether to scrape/sand off the paint on the Brembo logos. On the basis that: a) they do not make it easy/cheap to overhaul the callipers/master cylinders so why should I advertise for them; and, b) I have better than an even chance I will make a complete Horlicks of it, I am inclining towards not bothering.
During a sleepless night I managed to order 2 sq metres of closed cell black rubber foam in 12mm and 6mm thickness for the seat (closed cell so that water does not penetrate it hopefully) and also some black Ambla to cover it with. Ambla because it is two way stretch unlike ordinary vinyl and therefore is a lot easier to end up with a half decent looking cover. The seat cover will have some sharpish corners where the hump comes forward to the seat pad so I also bought some black piping to finish the edge and to follow the change in contour from side of the seat to seat pad.
From Gumtree I bought locally a second hand sewing machine for £35 complete with manuals and handy hints (c£200 new used only a couple of times) How hard can it be to learn how to use a sewing machine? I shall probably end up buying more ambla when I bugger up the first and second attempts.
Tomorrow back to the fibre glass with may be a bit of light relief machining 4 x 13mm aluminium hexagon bar to make blanking plugs for the “not to be fitted” carburettor heater pipes.

[350TSS]

I didn’t have a 10mm x 1mm die so the machining of the blanking plugs stalled until next week when it should arrive.
I thought I would get on with my case saver instead.
Some while ago I ordered some 2mm SS sheet sufficient to make 4 case savers (1 x M900, 2 x S4 and 1 x 750SS –my Ducati fleet). I looked up old threads on here and found a drawing but one critical dimension was missing – overall length. I wanted to provide maximum protection so using some masking tape worked out the total length ( xxmm) then cut the sheet with a 1mm cutting disc in an angle grinder at 46.5mm wide, 30mm for the saver and 15mm for the 2 attachment tabs (allowing 1.5mm for the bending of the tabs).
With rare insight I marked the cut sheet with a Sharpie pen corresponding to 2 reference points on the crankcase where I judged the curve part should start and finish. This proved invaluable later when trying to adjust the radius of the curve.
The first bend was made by putting the sheet in the vice and bending manually advancing the sheet about 3mm at a time until the required c125 degree bend was made. This method gives you one chance to get it right because the workpiece once bent will not go back in the vice. I didn’t really expect to get it right first time and I was not disappointed.
The bend required a radius of c 52mm and I had nothing that big to act as a former. First I tried adjusting the radius of the bend around two 10mm bolts projecting about 50mm through some 8mm steel flat about 50mm apart all held in a vice but this ended up with threepenny bit bends.
This is what gave the best results:

The hammers are hard rubber, shot filled and one of my favourite tools as they give a dead blow and do not damage what you hit – highly recommended.
It took about 2 hours of adjustment to get the curve to match the crankcase as closely as possible and maximise the clearance for the chain. All that remains now is to mark out where the tabs are needed, angle grind off the material not needed and to bend and drill the tabs.
I will not use the 2mm stainless for the other bikes it is just too difficult to work and getting the clearance for the chain is a real challenge, I will buy some 1.5mm instead

[350TSS]

"xxmm" above is 370mm which allows for about a 15mm reverse curve to be added to follow the crankcase casting and protect the rear engine mounting bolt lug, the first point of contact a broken chain could impact

[350TSS]

Got on with a few things today, on the case saver I have got as far as I can without the alternator cover being fitted. I thought about having 3 fixings, including the 10mm lug at the bottom of the rear of the crankcase. Trouble is this hole is drilled 10mm and not threaded, I will have a ponder whether or not it is worth drilling and tapping the crankcase 12mm making a threaded plug with a 6mm tapped hole through the middle.


Obviously the case saver mounting lugs need tidying up and drilling.
I put the front and rear calipers back together with titanium bolts, banjo bolts and new seals. I will have to see if I can find/source some titanium bleed nipples, failing that it is into the acid bath and a dip in the electrolyte to zinc plate them.

I also spent some time attaching the mould dividers to the patterns for the flyscreen, the rear hugger and the Ignitech enclosure. The patterns have all had at least 5 coats of release agent. To attach the dividers one has to hot melt glue some rigid foam to the divider and to the pattern itself. This took a long time as the glue was very reluctant to grip the release agent and the contour of the pattern meant that the foam only really fitted where it touched. Any gaps between the divider and the pattern then have to be filled with wax so that the gel coat for the mould doesn’t migrate under the divider. When the wax is at the right temperature it works very easily i.e. after you have softened it up by rolling it between your fingers. When however it has been on the pattern a few minutes it hardens up and when you try to make the edges very distinct vertical or horizontal planes the it snags and tears and then pulls away from where you want it. Tomorrow will see moulding gel coat resin applied to the patterns

[350TSS]

Up and down day today, I gel coated one half of the fly-screen, rear hugger, Ignitech enclosure and the front half of the chain oiler reservoir. This will need to cure overnight then another coat before laying down first 100g mat then 4 coats of 300g mat, then, I will have to do the same with the other side of each mould.
I then tried to separate the moulds from the patterns that I glassed up last week.
The sprocket guard came out easily with nice, sharp detail in the mould, the headlamp inner ring and the rear of the chain oiler reservoir also detached relatively easily.


Then my luck ran out, both of the belt covers, the tool tray, headlamp shell and both the infill panels, in all cases, the pattern separated from the backing plate and the pattern remained stuck firmly within the mould.

As expected the battery box mould could only be separated by destroying the wooden pattern with a chisel, fortunately with only slight damage to the mould.
I thought about how to get those stuck patterns out of the moulds and came up with building a small bridge across the face of the mould and using 2 x 1¼” by 12 woodscrews into the pattern effectively pulling it out. It did not work as the screws just pulled out of the plywood pattern. I will have to have a ponder as to the best way to get them out (??????????????)

[350TSS]

Not usually allowed on a Saturday but I “stole” a couple of hours in the garage today and I managed to get the second gel coat on.
More importantly, I also managed to separate the headlamp pattern from the mould (not too difficult) and am very pleased with the quality of the mould.
The tool tray was a different story and a right PITA.I think the pattern had been trapped in the mould as there was a slight gap between the polypropylene base and the pattern and even though the gel coat was very viscous it got between and set.
I used a chisel and carefully cut right across the width of the pattern at one end. The pattern was made of 18mm particle board topped with 6mm plywood. It had to come out one excruciating layer at a time. Eventually, after about an hour, it released and fortunately I managed to get it out without any damage to the flat surface although the edges of the mould suffered some chipping from the chisel, which I think I will be able to rub out with wet and dry.

[350TSS]

I did a bit more fibre glass moulding today with 2 layers of 100g mat on one half of the split mould for the rear hugger, fly-screen, Ignitech enclosure and chain oiler reservoir.
I also spent some time trying to release the patterns from the front infill panels, chiselling out the wooden pattern from the mould. All the patterns had 5 coats of release agent but these just would not release from the mould. After a frustrating hour I set them aside as the job requires patience and a delicate touch (with a hammer and chisel?) and I only have about 40 minutes’ worth on a good day.
I am definitely not looking forward to trying to get the belt cover patterns out as I do not think they will come out with a chisel. I might try carefully splitting the mould with a dremel but I have a feeling this will only create more downstream work.
All this, of course, is adding to the hours to completion of the bike without actually making a lot of forward progress. Desperate to have something positive to show for the day I machined up 4 x carburettor heater blanking plugs from some 13mm aluminium hexagon bar and was quite pleased with the results, satisfyingly only 8g for all 4, before the edges were tidied up

[350TSS]

Along with the usual fibre glassing, I machined a blanking plug for the alternator case today from some 1” hexagon aluminium bar. (I could not find any 25mm hexagon so I shall end up with one (probably two) non metric fixings on the bike).
I shall be running the FastBikegear hall effect ignition trigger which operates from the cam belt pulley (half engine speed so no wasted spark and better recovery time for the coils) so the original Monster flywheel ignition triggers are redundant and the trigger lead which exits the alternator case through a gland in a brass threaded component is also no longer required The brass component is 22mm x 1.5mm. It is the same thread as the sump plug which is cast brass and has a tendency for stripping its internal hexagon (due to the sides of the hexagon not being parallel but rather slightly tapered to facilitate removal from the mould during manufacture.
I bought a die off fleabay for about a tenner to make the blanking plug and also to make a hexagon headed sump plug
Unfortunately I cannot locate my largest die holder (put somewhere safe no doubt) so I had to improvise. Those of you of a nervous disposition/ mechanical sensitivity should look away now.

Not subtle but in any event it worked and a good and concentric thread was formed which was nice and snug when fitted in the alternator case i.e. no need for thread tape. I parted it off with about a 4mm depth of head and took off the machining marks with some wet and dry.
I then buffed up the head to match the “chrome” powder coated alternator case. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on the buffer I snagged it and it shot out of my hand, hit the fluorescent light fitting at about 100mph ricocheting floor-ward into the bowels of my garage never to be seen again. It could have gone anywhere and I spent about an hour looking in all the likely (and even some unlikely places) it could have ended up but it was not there. Tomorrow I shall have to do it all again

[utopia]

Originally Posted by 350TSS

Unfortunately I cannot locate my largest die holder (put somewhere safe no doubt) so I had to improvise. Those of you of a nervous disposition/ mechanical sensitivity should look away now.

You're not joking there.
I'm extremely surprised that the resulting thread was concentric.
At least you've arranged the stillsons such that they don't squash the split die though.

[350TSS]

Utopia:
I spun the work piece and used a file to provide a lead in then forced the die onto the lead in by placing a billet of aluminium between the die and the tail stock so the die could only escape the pressure by following the lead in.
The stilsons would only grip the split in the die so Hobson's choice really