We have a product called “glazing putty” that can be the last coat. It’s in a tube , pre-mixed and goes on very smooth. It really helps to fill the feathered edges and with a bit more elbow grease, make them disappear.
It also stinks a bit and dries quickly.
Sneezles61

And another paint fail....  

Gave tank a few coats of white primer.  It required a full 500ml can just to get rid of the bare metal showing through.  I thought two coats would do it, but it required five.  

Second can that was intended for rear fender and exhaust shield was brought into play.

I gave the tank a good swathe before I realised the paint was coming out in chalky sputtery lumps.

I will let it dry and try to rub the lumps out, but I am not optimistic.  I think the lot will have to come back off.

I am sick to the back teeth with EU mandated, water based paint.  It is crap.

Avoid.

On a more cheerful note.  My usual, more expensive go to paint for the exhaust arrived.  PJ1 fast black.

I go for the 500C engine case version as it has less of a matt finish than the ultra high temp.  The exhaust will rarely see 500C as a lot of the energy has already been turned into work.
I have had no probems with it flaking off exhausts in the past, even when my 175 holed its piston, it just turns more matt looking at the header flange area.

Again.  You get what you pay for.  On one hand I have the missus on my back keeping me to my budget, and on the other I have wasted effort and materials.  I need to find a better balance without getting a divorce 


Quality paint means a quality finish.






 

I have applied my magnificent bodyshop skills for a good number of hours, and we have the tank curing overnight in my professional, well appointed bodyshop.

No need to pop the champagne, it is what it is. I promised it would be better than the original dented condition and is.
However, I call it a 10 foot tank. You do not want to be getting closer than 10 feet away without the risk of your bubble being burst.

We have it all... The yellow is a shade too light, visible defects in the body filler if you look close, thankfully the decals hide most of it, drips in the clearcoat and wrinkles in the decals. To cap it all, the supplied sidepanel decals are the wrong colour, they are a pearlescent sort of white, not black.

God those decals.. I will have nightmares about fitting those for months to come.. That tank has shockingly steep compound curves at the front end and getting the decals on without wrinkles proved impossible. Even using heat from a hairdryer would not allow them to conform.
The decals themselves were not exactly high quality either though. Not laser cut, I needed scissors. They were not professional decals, just some guy printing them on vinyl in his back bedroom.
Barry, my painter always pointed out there were decals and there were decals. I was banned from supplying the decals for the 175 tank.

My 175 will refuse to sleep in the same room with it. It sleeps cozy under its coat of very expensive, professionally applied show paint and the poor old 100 is very much the poor relation.

It turned out about how I envisioned it. I hoped for better, but knew what it would be be when I resolved to do my own bodywork.
Basically crap, but not dented, rusty crap.

Before.


After.. Oh dear.

From waay over here, it looks just fine. I bet the fresh paint will help it run better!
Sneezles61

Yes, from the side of the world it looks First Class! 

I find that if you view through binoculars from a mile away it looks fine.  Looks even better if you turn them the other way around.

Taking stock. The large pile of bits under the bench has dwindled to the rear fender and the motor.

Motor needs new seals and gaskets throughout and I already bought new, genuine piston rings for it. I need to rebuild the oil pump and plumb it in.
Since the clutch plates are stuck, probably new frictions too.

Of course I will have to blast the cylinder and paint, dip the head and covers in the stripping bath and paint those also. Probably fit new JIS crosshead stainless case screws while they are off.

The points and condenser will be cleaned and refitted unless they are badly pitted, the cap blown ( unlikely since it ran) or the spring is rusty.
New Daichi contact sets are around £15 in the UK. A large section of budget that should not be spent unless absolutely necessary.

As I keep mentioning, the bike is just not desireable enough to make replacing things as a matter of course viable. Safety related parts yes, others no.
The 175 yes, very desireable. The 100 no.

I will not be splitting the cases.

That just leaves the air filter. - £30, the exhaust end cap ( new for £75 or complete used rear box for £50 on fleabay) and the rear fender needs attention and the bike is as complete as it arrived.

Needs headlamp unit. There is a kit available that replaces the 6v sealed beam with a replacement reflector and a 6v led headlight bulb. Probably go down this route.

I take it the original sealed beam unit is 5.75"?

Need a new chain. The old one is still OK, but false economy refitting it at this juncture. The engine sprocket looks new and is a genuine yamaha one. I already replaced the worn out, shark toothed rear one.

Then I need 4x indicators and as far as I can see the bike is pretty much complete.  I will have to make new rear indicator stays, they have have proved to be unobtainable so far.  No biggie making some up one lunchtime.

If the missus had not placed an embargo on the debit card, I reckon she would be about finished now.

I think I am looking at another £200 - £250 which will bring the bike in slightly under budget. I hope..

Large pile of bits under bench reduced to two items on bench.

In recent years I've found that changing points and condenser "just because" is not always prudent.  Unless you can find some OE or OE quality components which is not always that easy to do these days. 

Points are the easiest and NOS Daiichi is a good aftermarket brand (unless someone has started counterfeiting them like they seem to do with just about everything these days)

Good condensers are harder to find...  from the late 1990's to 2007 or so there was what has been termed the "capacitor plague"...  and I'm not sure it ended in 2007.  More modern caps (aka condenser) of the type used don't tend to last that long and some of the "unmarked" condensers are bad right out of the package in my experience. 

Old caps can fail from age as well...  but perhaps because of the low mileage most of these bikes have seen, I've found very few original caps to be bad so unless the original shows signs of damage, corrosion, or leakage...  or the points are badly pitted... I leave the condenser alone.. 

(I still have original condensers in my two oldest Yamaha's from around 1964...  so age itself doesn't mandate replacement...  both bikes have very low miles.  I also have a couple 1970's bikes with what appears to be original condensers with Mitsubishi or Hitachi markings and those are working fine as well)

Removed the paint from the rear fender and gave it a look over.

What looked to be in fairly good condition has turned out to be mishapen around the forward tail light bracket mounting. Looks to have been dropped onto the tail light, or looped at some point.
It needs filling and reshaping.
Just great. My favourite pastime....

Finished prepping the exhaust heat shield and have that fitted. Shame the supplied decals are the wrong colour, should be black, but they do not look too out of place.
I would not have allowed it on the 175 or the VFR, but this is a different level of restoration to those.

The missus is going to learn to ride it in the fields behind the house, so I expect the paint to become somewhat "well used".

Exhaust completed.