Hello from southeast Missouri!!! - Page 2

RickB · #11 11-22-2011, 01:55 PM

Again Great job Steve! Did it take long to strip down the frame? I am wanting to get mine re-powder coated and I'll even need to remove the swingarm. I haven't ever taken one down that far. And I'm a little bit nervous about doing it because I'm so cramped for space. I'm prone to lose stuff haha!

Steve86trx250R · #12 11-22-2011, 05:26 PM

Dang that's cool to see all the pics from where it was when I got it to where it is now it doesn't look a lot different other than now the frame is red like it's suppose to and the tank isn't all oxidized and faded that took a long time to make it look good but I got a few tips on cleaning up old plastic if anybody has some they wanna shine up thanks again Rick for posting my pics I really appreciate it man

Steve86trx250R · #13 11-22-2011, 05:43 PM

With air tools it took about 30 minutes or so to strip it to that point having a chain hoist or a come a long in the rafters of the shop helps a lot. The reason the swingarm got left on was the bolt was froze up the bearings were good but I'd have to cut the bolt out or blow it out with a torch which is something I had no access to at the time. For everything to redo the swingarm was gonna cost over $100 or so which I didn't really wanna spend right before Christmas but this spring I'm gonna take it off and the a arms and try to match up the original color gold and spray them somebody has repainted them previously with a darker gold. In your case being tight on space it's best to put bolts in ziploc bags and label it if one bolt is longer you can use masking tape to mark them or make your own reference with a notepad pictures always help too I've had a few 250r quads and trikes so taking it apart and putting it back is no big deal. I'll give you another hint on your 10mm and 8mm bolts it's ok to remove with air but I don't recommend putting them back with air those break off pretty easily hope that may help you

Steve86trx250R · #14 11-22-2011, 05:54 PM

I was gonna have mine powdercoated but its expensive. I've got quite a few parts and I found another frame that hasn't been welded on with a few more parts for a fair price with that plus what I got I almost got enough parts to build another one which I may do somewhere down the road but I won't build this one back to stock like mine. It's cheaper just about to build a race bike than a stock 250r the oem parts are very pricey and alot of it is now discontinued. Which makes it a little discouraging

RickB · #15 11-22-2011, 06:04 PM

I'm about to start powder coating myself. I have lots of the equipment in the works. My biggest hurdle will be custom building an oven large enough for frames. And yeah it's going to compound my space problem LOL! I want to put the oven on wheels/casters so that could help. But We have a 2 car garage and a 2 car carport...so I'm hoping I can make something work. Great idea on the baggies and I might even buy some of those plastic bins with lids to put the bigger parts. Thanks for the info on the bolts too. Definitely don't need to snap any off.

Oh and on polishing plastic, I've heard Novus plastic polish works well. I've yet to try it but I have the 3 stage sample kit I'm going to try. I work for an electric utility and ended up with the sample because electric meters are now coming with plastic covers. And the plastic is weathering and getting cloudy where you can't read them anymore. So we ended up with this product and I took some samples home. I'll let you know how it works.

Amazon.com: Novus 1, 2, 3 Kit Plastic Polish and Scratch Remover: Electronics

Steve86trx250R · #16 11-22-2011, 08:37 PM

Well on my tank I wetsanded with 400 then 600 then 1000 grit then took some never dull wheel polish and hand buffed then took a mothers foam ball from a headlight restoration kit with the polish that comes with and finished it off and it looks new again but if you are gonna use anything other than a basic scratch remover I recommend trying a spot not visible or maybe just a small spot first we tried on the hoods and they didn't turn out as good as the two gas tanks we did

Steve86trx250R · #17 11-22-2011, 08:43 PM

The powdercoat shop down the road from me charges $175 for a frame $80 bucks for all a arms and 40 for swingarm it cost more if they have to order another special color or if they sandblast it but they may sandblast it for that price not sure

RickB · #18 11-23-2011, 03:04 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve86trx250R

Well on my tank I wetsanded with 400 then 600 then 1000 grit then took some never dull wheel polish and hand buffed then took a mothers foam ball from a headlight restoration kit with the polish that comes with and finished it off and it looks new again but if you are gonna use anything other than a basic scratch remover I recommend trying a spot not visible or maybe just a small spot first we tried on the hoods and they didn't turn out as good as the two gas tanks we did

Good info! I think that Novus is probably comparable to the headlight restoration kit. The meter cover plastic looks similar to headlights.

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve86trx250R

The powdercoat shop down the road from me charges $175 for a frame $80 bucks for all a arms and 40 for swingarm it cost more if they have to order another special color or if they sandblast it but they may sandblast it for that price not sure

Gotcha! I'm going to start out with just our own stuff and close friends to see if I enjoy powder coating or not. I think I will though. But I like seeing what it goes for!