Framed

The frame came back from the powder coating company a few weeks back, and then the swing arm and the rear shock bodies and springs and the front oil cooler mounts were all done.  They look a treat!
I fitted new needle roller swing arm bearings obtained from SKF Bearings - thanks again to the blokes there who are always 100% helpful.  Cost under $35.  For those who find this blog and need to buy bearings for themselves, the numbers on the outer surface are 'DHK 2538 Durko', and if you quote these details the bearings are easy enough for SKF to order for you.

And you can see the frame is glossy and clean, and the swing arm is in place.

The rear shock parts went back to Hoey Racing for reassembly, and were back to me a day later looking very nice.  I paid for water blasting of the alloy parts on the Koni shocks, and along with the shiny black gloss powder coating to the body and spring, they look magnificent.  Under $200 for the complete job.  Thanks to Pete and his crew, who always do a great job.

Windsor ElectroPlaters, who did the metal polishing on my Guzzi 1100 Sport headers, got the gig for polishing the triple clamps to eliminate some dings and wear marks.  Got them back a fortnight later, and again a very good job.  Cost - $60.

I then set to reassembling the front steering headstem, by first fitting the bearing race to the bottom of the spindle and the cup section to the bottom of the headstem.  Then I fitted the sealed bearing unit to the top of the headstem and bolted on the oil cooler mount, which also serves to provide the steering lock to lock stops.  The bearings again came from SKF Bearings - and cost $50.

In this photo - cropped to eliminate the background consisting of a large number of empty beer cartons - you can see the polished lower triple clamp, the mounts below it for the oil cooler, and the shiny powder coated frame.  I plan to order some bits from Wolfgang Haerter in Canada - who has a large stock of ex factory spares - and Steve Allen at Bevel Heaven who has fork scraper seals and top fork nuts for the 38mm Ceriani forks.

I'll put the orders in just after Christmas and hopefully by mid January I can have the front end reassembled and shartly after that Marty should have the engine back from the mechanic.

Stages 1 - 3, Progress Report

Friday, November 5 2010.

Stage 1
Stripping of the chassis was completed on the last day of October.
All sub-assemblies have been photographed and bagged or tagged as appropriate, and stored in large 50 litre plastic storage containers.

Stage 2
The brake lines and calipers  and master cylinders have been removed.
The calipers were all siezed, as expected.  We decided to try to disassemble and service one of the calipers as proof of concept that they were indeed still serviceable.
My brother Danny, who has been doing some seal replacements on the engine and gearbox of the Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk3, managed to get the rusted and siezed pistons out of the caliper by replacing the bleed nipples with the largest grease nipples he could fit, and then pumping the caliper full of grease.  The combination of hydraulic pressure, the lubricating effect of the grease, and the low viscosity of the grease caused the pistons to pop out as required.
Had we tried this with brake fluid, which is of high viscosity, it probably would have just leaked past the failed seals.  Using grease was a stroke of genius.  Nice work, Dan.

Our parts order from Bevel Heaven in California should arrive any day now.  We have ordered a new front brake/master cylinder assembly, rear master cylinder with remote reservoir and a Brembo F08 caliper overhaul kit.  The overhaul kit includes new pads, new dual bleed nipples and dust cover, and all seals and 2 new pistons.  I will then reassemble with the new bits and hook the caliper up to the new front master cylinder and test it.  If it all works out I will order 2 more overhaul kits and service the remaining 2 calipers as well.

Stage 3
The Laverda's frame has been delivered to Universal Metal Cleaners at Wingfield. 
They did a fine job on the heavily pitted mufflers from the Moto Guzzi 750S, and so the frame, swinging arm and centre stand assemblies have been dropped off for sandblasting and then a shot coat of grey primer.
We decided to leave the bearings in their races whilst the sandblasting is being done - in a nuts and bolts restoration like this, the bearings are replaced whether they need it or not, so the headstem and swinging arm bearing will be knocked out once we get the frame back.
Here is the gallery for the 750S, including a shot of the sandblasted and repainted mufflers.
It should be ready on Monday.  Once it is done I will organise for Danny to knock the bearings out and then I will drop the frame off to a powder coating company to have the frame done in gloss black.

Here is the Jota gallery.

Stripping

No! This is not a blog about naked women, but now that I have your attention......
Stage 1 of The Jota Project involves stripping the chassis of our 180 crank Laverda Jota, photographing the process of disassembly, and cataloguing and bagging all the parts that come off the chassis.
Stage 2 requires disassembly of the brake components, all of which have siezed pistons, and assessing whether to service or replace them. The complication is that Brembo F08 calipers such as those fitted to the Laverda are only available with the non-threaded mounting holes, which suit Marzocchi forks, and the Laverda's Ceriani forks require the threaded hole. New calipers could be purchased and then have an oversize thread tapped into them, but the preferred option in this project is to replace with original parts except where unavoidable. Steve Allen from Bevel Heaven in California has already been very helpful in providing advice on alternative fitments, master cylinder sizes etc. A lot of the Laverda bits seem to have come from the same component manufacturers as Ducati, and as a result I'm getting my parts etc from Steve.
Stage 3 involves the cleaning of the chassis, and stripping all inserted bearings and races etc, and then having the chassis sand-blasted and then double powder coated in gloss black.
Stage 4 involves getting all the chrome parts, most of which have significant surface rust, re-chromed. In the case of the front guard, it will first have to go to a panel beater to remove the dent on its leading edge.
Stage 5 involves a trip to Coventry Fasteners to get replacement nuts and bolts for all the rusted items that have been removed, and then a trip to Fitch the Rubber Man to get replacements for all the perished rubber grommets and boots.
Stage 6 will see me stripping the wiring loom out of the headlight - which has to be replaced as the shell and the glass have been irreparably damaged - and installing it in the new headlight ready for re-fit to the bike. Plenty of photos will be taken here in order to avoid incorrect re-assembly - I hate electrical problems.
Stage 7 is to reassemble the rolling chassis and then get the engine from our mechanic, and fit it to the chassis.
Stage 8 is the crucial stage, involving service of the carbys, replacement of any perished or rusted ancillary components, and then getting the bike to Italian Motorcycles in Wingfield for an initial run up of the engine, and tune-up, along with a shakedown of any mechanical issues. They did a great job recently of tuning out all the built-in crap tuning that my Guzzi 1100 Sport exited the factory with. Pretty much every owner of the Carby version of the 1100 Sport seems to complain about this issue. Italian Motorcycles did the carb rebuild and re-jet, and now she is going like a missile.

Stick around, as you can see from the photos the disassembly is well under way, and you can see the overall condition of the bike.