79 or 390 resurection

hi guys well thought i would post my progress,all parts now back from powdercoaters look really ,good condition is excellent,managed to do a bit this morning,new bearings on triple clamps and refitted those,unfortunately will hav to wait a week going on hols.pic of her last week and now.

I see you have put the Works Performance Magna shocks on ebay. What do you intend to replace them with?

not sure

would like ohlins but depends on funds,maybe yss they seem ok and a lot cheaper,hows yours going ?

My OR390

Slow, although I have sourced a few parts such as an ally CR tank. Not sure if I mentioned it anywhere else, but it turned out the frame was rusted out at the head tube, so I decided to change it. I have found a good condition 1980 frame from an XC model, which I think looks exactly the same as the OR frame, with the loop at the back etc. So the bike will be a 1979/1980 mix. I bought the frame complete with swing arm, plus a seat with a cracked base (now repaired with good old fibreglass) and a set of 35 mm yokes for 70 pounds (about 110 US dollars). Got them from Rod Spry, check out his website http://www.rodspry.co.uk/

Started stripping the motor, and it is in a bit of a mess. Piston is missing, will need reboring for sure, crank seems ok but will get it checked by Charlie Preston, once he has split the cases for me. I want to put a PVL ignition on it to make sure it is a good starter and runner. I have had experience of Motosplats in the past and can't be bothered to muck around this time. I live 3 miles from Rex Caunt Racing, who are a PVL specialist, so should be easy enough to get it sorted.

I will be running 36 mm YZ front forks in it because I cannot afford to get the orginals sorted and the YZ forks are sitting in the garage not being used, so my yokes are being taken out to 36 mm next week by a work colleague, then a couple of new spacers for the front wheel and job done. I had a lug welded onto the forks for the brake arm.

I will take some pics as the rebuild progresses.

Just started cleaning up the front wheel after taking out the bearings etc, and guess what, I have found the rim is buckled and cracked! Both are only small, but obviously I cannot risk a cracked rim on a bike intended for racing, so that is something else that will need sorting. At this rate, there will be nothing left of the original bike. Oh well, such is life when taking on a project like this I guess.

Hey Patgas, how easily did your swinging arm spindle come out? After removing the two nuts on the ends, was it simply a case of tapping it out, or did you have to get a bit heavy handed with it?

Even the replacement frame I have is proving a bit troublesome when it comes to getting the spindle out, so am I missing something here?

easy

mine just pushed straight out,bearings are as good as new,same with wheel bearings,i think someone restored this bike in california and left it and never used it,pulled head off and piston has no carbon or exhaust ports like new, very strange,front wheel still had foam for centering spindle tube,everything is really good even spokes came off without damage lucky lucky

update

well hers update guys,
pic 1 layed out my parts for my lovely powdercoated footpegs and new springs,bolts ect to find out wrong springs.
pic 2 fitted them on anyway just to see how they looked
pic 3 pissed off about springs so i pressed bearings back into swingarm
pic 4 refitted onto frame ,starting to sort of look like a bike again.

Looking good

The parts you got powdercoated looks awesome
Did you get them clear coated with powder as well?
What's the RAL code of the powder?
I got a 390 WR from -79 I need to treat the same way as you treat yours.

More pictures please

not sure of code

its called chrome silver could poss get code,as for clear coat not 100% sure but had frame done in gloss finish and other parts in satin and pretty sure the man said he puts wichever top coat on you wish so id say yes.

It sure looks great, waiting for the next set of pictures
I do need some inspiration

forks today

today was forks day:
newly powder coated forks new seals and cleaned up fork tops,fitted to bike,havnt got dust covers yes so fitted them loosely looking good,even managed to aquire sticker for frame.

I agree, looks really nice. Hope mine comes out half as good

im back

after two weeks of working on house and sneeking into shed i wanted to fill you in on my progress,stripped seat and removed foam base was good condition after adding bit of weld to a crack decided to send her for powdercoating wich will preserve base and looks nice,got her back today glued foam on and replaced cover,voila one as new seat looks good i think

oh and forgott these

wheels came back this week from having new stainless spokes and nipples,i stripped wheels and had them satin black powder coat with rest of bike.fitted new bearings,seals and pair of mitas tyres wich i now hav a red stripe down them wich im not over convinced about ,but we can only get two types of 17 inch in uk and the others are crap,so hopefully will get her rolling this week.

I can see the bottom frame rail has been removed. Did you do that or was it like that when you got it? I am going to do the same with my OR frame because it is a real pain in the backside when putting the bike on a stand, and to be honest, I can't see a lot of point in it being there anyway

no

frame rail is still intact,its a sump guard and decided to leave it as it gives a bit if protedction

I see now, you have put the frame on a Work mate so the frame rail sits down between the two halves of the work top. That's a good idea, must see if I can borrow the old man's workmate!

update

well guys managed to do a bit this week,kept original magura levers just blasted them and repainted and replaced adjusters and pivot bolts,even got some magura grips and lever covers.refurbished brake plates with new shoes and greased everything up,and previouse owner had forced 79 spindle into 83 forks so turned down spindle bolts to 20mm and made some 6mm spacer so front end is nearly complete.my bigest job this week is i hav split engine, found new clutch basket and plates,plates still hav writing on them yipeeeee,but did find third gear worn and bit of wear on 5/6th so might get away with just replacing third.so removed bearings (oven trick works a treat) and retapped thread on oil drain plug,had a beta drain plug around so tapped hole to suite works a treat,and blasted casings ready for paint.

I would love to see some photos of the engine being assembled for reference if you get a chance?
Very impressed with your build mate. Keep it up.