My mission did not result in a positive outcome. My plan was to find a pair of those stainless water bottles that are the rage now and use them to make a pair of lower covers. Turns out, they are all too large in diameter. I I went from some nice department stores to dollar stores and outlets looking for the right size. I little tip on those water bottles. We saw the same bottles that Target sold for $14 each in Marshalls (an overstock outlet up here) for about half the price. Exact same bottles.
I did find a very nice pair of polished liquid soap dispensers in Marshalls that were just a tad too small. They were $8 each. So for $16 and a little machine work, I'd have a pair of polished stainless covers.
I have not given up yet. We even went to Bed/Bath and Beyond to look at all the bathroom and kitchen dispensers. My next trip it to a restaurant supply house to look at what they might have that could be turned into polished covers.
If all else fails, I'll order a foot of 20 ga. 2 inch stainless tubing from Browns and make my own as Jensen suggested.
We did get new pillows and I did sleep like a baby in spite of eating the equivalent of small Mexican at Pancho's on the way home. It's morning now and I'm still full. I ordered a large beer and it turned out to be a mug the size of a beer pitcher.
Getting back on topic, the PO of my CL77 painted my shock covers. I was hoping I'd find decent although somewhat pitted chrome underneath. But the guy sanded the outer surface before he painted it and ruined any finish that was left. Some people should not be allowed to own tools.
regards,
Rob
Cb77 Rear Shocks?I finished the shock spruce up for my CL77. Chrome lowers, which I had mentioned were painted silver by the PO, were not able to be brought back as chrome. He had hit them with a disk sander prior to painting. They were pitted, but probably would have polished up okay if he had not sanded them.
So, I made a fixture to hold them in my lathe and cleaned up his rough sanding job. I then primed and painted with Duplicolor Acrylic Enamel Gloss black. By the way, that black is a perfect match to Honda's black and a lot of other frame and accessory blacks used on other brands of bikes. The springs were rusty so I hit them lightly with the bead blaster and then painted silver with caliper paint. Had to dust the inside of the shock covers with the blaster as well and shot them inside with the same paint to prevent rust. Damper bodies were both rusted under the plastic shrink tubing that is used as a spring guide. I had to heat it with a hair dryer to work it off. Just hit the rust with the wire wheel on the bench grinder to clean it up. Then I decided to just put a coat of wheel bearing grease over the area and slide the plastic sleeve back down over it. Reassembled the shocks and put them on the bike tonight. I think they look a lot better than black tops and painted silver bottoms. Black top and bottom covers with the chrome body and adjuster ring looks very appropriate, albeit not stock, on the bike. Might remove and paint the rear fender brace/passenger handle, which also got the sand and silver paint treatment by the PO. Black will blend in with the frame until I can find a decent chrome rail to replace it. Getting back to the Duplicolor black enamel, if the parts are small enough, I bake them in the kitchen over at 200F for a half hour, then shut off the oven and let it cool slowly. Paint is pretty tough once dry. I painted one of the lower covers today because I gouged the paint with a bonehead move yesterday. I shot the paint outside in 43F temps, let it set up and then baked it as described above. Had the shock back together and installed on the bike a hour after I painted it. If you decide to paint your rusty lowers, when you assemble the shocks, take a thin piece of cardboard and roll it into a tube and slide it inside the upper cover so hit sticks out the opening and covers the sharp edge of the cover. This will prevent you from gouging the paint (like a certain bonehead did yesterday) when you are putting it back together. Once assembled, make sure the spring is on it's two seats by twisting the covers and wiggling a bit. If the upper is centered on the lower, remove the cardboard and you should be good to go. I tried to take pics of the shock installed, but it is too dark and the flash just lights up everything but the black shock. If someone wants to see them, I'll try again tomorrow with daylight and the doors to the shop open. regards, Rob
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