Nice one Stan; it's always a good feeling when progress is positive!
I've been away from my ol' girl for almost four months now, so I'm just seeking out enough enthusiasm (buried amongst the other 'leaving the wife' shit which is cluttering up my messy life right now!) to start playing with my newly-blasted casings.....
Please post some pics when you can.
The labor of love (& nostalgia) begins!! 1963 CA77 DreamLooking good Stan!
One question.......did you add any reinforcing metal to the back side of the rear fender? The cracks at that location seem to be all too common, so it's obviously a weak spot. I've got one just starting in the same location and was thinking about trying to patch it from the backside with JB weld. 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
Steve- not much to take pictures of right now. I've finished the welding and I'm using spot putty to smooth out the areas I've welded. Just need to do the finishing touches before I paint the frame. The engine and rear shocks are together, the rest is stuck in boxes in out of the way places (to keep complaints about the mess to a minimum.) I'll try to take pictures as I do assembly.
Brewsky- I didn't add any reinforcement. I'm guessing the crack starts at the rolled edge on the fender. That's one of the reasons I redid the previous "repair." The PO hadn't lined the roll up leaving a weak spot. I made sure I had a good weld repair at that point. I tried to keep the metal as close to original thickness as possible. My theory is variations in thickness will create stress points where cracks may form. At least it's in an accessable area so I can keep an eye on it. I'm not sure what the ultimate solution would be. a JB weld patch might slow the crack. Just a though if you do go that route- if you can locate the end of the crack, drill a small hole, that may relieve the stress point enough to keep it from continuing. 63 CA78
Stan, the crack does start at the rolled edge.
If you bump something with the rear fender, that is the spot that starts to bulge out. Mine was slightly bulged on both sides at that same spot and I tried to straighten it by pulling on the fender from the rear and squeezing the sides in. Probably not a good idea! That's when the crack started (or got worse?) It's only about 1" now. I can line up the rolled edges ok with a clamp and it's hardly noticeable, so I was thinking JB from the back while clamped and a small hole drilled thru the top of the crack. I'd hate to have to re-paint the frame over a 1" crack repair......wanted to keep the original patina if possible. Wonder if a 1" crack qualifies as "patina"?
66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
The use of the word "patina" was an attempt at humor.....I didn't even know what it meant till I started watching some high dollar classic auto auctions!
Anyway, my thought was to wire wheel down to bare matal on the backside and also on a piece of brace metal (like a breaker box punchout or whatever) and sandwich some JB in between and clamp till set. Nothing to lose but maybe making it harder to repair later? 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
Frame is painted, just need to touch up a couple of spots. I painted it in two parts, the rear fender as one and the rest as the other. I did this so I could manipulate the frame to prevent runs.
The shaping on the rear fender was difficult due to the multiple curves. I used a piece of very thin balsa wood to back up the sandpaper. I found this worked best because it's very flexible in a couple of directions, yet stiff enough to give an even curve to the surface. I'm pretty pleased with the results after welding the holes in the rear of the fender and the multiple cracks. I could stop here on painting the rear fender, but I'm going to smooth the clearcoat, add some flames (similar to the front fender) and another clearcoat. At least that's my current plan.
63 CA78
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