My New Project arrives after a 44 year wait!

[Oddjob]

Must be on another thread Tim, I do recommend them a LOT, seriously they are one of the best tools you'll ever buy for restoring parts, especially alloy casings.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CCY4CVG2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Observe direction as I posted above, these have one more colour than my normal ones, 8 different grades as opposed to 7. Best used with 2 on a mandrel, 3 at a pinch, one if needed to get into a narrow area.

You can get a really good finish on a carb body just by using them, no polishing at all, as in this result using just the finer grades, probably purple and light green and finishing off with white.



For the really deep and confined areas I had to use some different tools but 95% of that finish was done with those wheels.

My only advise when buying these is buy 2 sets at least, they do last really well but you'll end up using them so much you'll be ordering another set and more quite soon or they'll run out just when your really close to finishing the job 

[Johnny4428]

Just ordered a set Ken, thanks. Although I’m not going to compete with that finish. Wow!

[Rozabikes Tim]

Thanks Ken

[Oddjob]

If you look at the 6th picture down in the Amazon listing you'll see a load of discs laid out, look carefully and you can spot the hole I meant on the boss, the 2 light purple discs on the left are clearly showing the dot, these MUST face inwards on the mandrel, so facing you as you use them, that means the fronds are pointing in the right direction.

I remember recommending these to Roo and him telling me one day how he'd shredded a few of them and I suddenly remembered I'd not mentioned about the dots to him and sure enough he'd fitted them backwards and destroyed them, oddly enough the first time they came out the manufacturers made a big thing of making sure you knew about this but they seem to assume people know this by now and it's barely mentioned anymore.

The finish on the carb took me about 3 hours IIRC, it's only on one side (and still is) as it was just an experiment, the part where the manifold rubber fits is not done, so you can see how it looked roughly before I started. I might eventually do a whole bank and see how they look mounted, might be good, might be bad. Might also be interesting to see how the finish lasts under road use.

I'm currently using the dark green and dark blues to dress up my 500 frame, getting rid of all the weld splatters that Honda just painted over, also use them to dress up metal that's pitted from rust, get rid of the rust using normal flap wheels then get rid of the marks they leave by using these discs, going up in grades etc. You can find the discs in all one colour for instance, I find I use more dark greens etc than any other colour so I buy 30-50 dark greens are a time to make sure I have enough. It can be expensive but one buy like that can last over a year and I use them a LOT.

[Laverda Dave]

The guys at Ashford Chrome sent me some progress photos today. They have tweaked the rear mudguard and everything has had a very long copper bath.

[AshimotoK0]

Looking good Dave. I don't think Prestige where I go to do copper plate, so the parts you send have to be pretty good.

Interested to know what they charge for future reference.

[Laverda Dave]

I'll let you know Ash once I collect them.
All credit to Ashford Chrome, they asked me if I was in a hurry and would I like a tour of the workshop including the panel beating area, repair shop, polishing shop, plating area and then upstairs to the quality control and wrapping. The guys working there were friendly and really enjoy what they do.They do top quality work but obviously it comes at a quality price. The whole place was super clean with no fumes in the atmosphere. I only took the parts in two weeks ago so good to know they weren't left sitting in a manky cardboard box in a dusty corner. They went through every part with me checking for corrosion, dents etc. I spent hours preparing the rear mudguard following the brazing repairs, I was happy with it, Ashford Chrome were not and just said they would bring it up to their own pre plating standard. This was after we had agreed a price and was part of the service.
They do the chrome on the Eagle E-Type cars, so they are no mugs and have a reputation to uphold in everything they do. Good to see and they are true artisans.

[Oddjob]

If you watched the GT750 restoration build that Henry Cole did last year (which is being repeated now) the bill for his chroming was £1750.

I can’t remember if they mentioned who does his chroming but I do remember on a previous build him doing a tour of the workshop and it was a pretty dirty place so probably not Ashford by the sound of it.

Do they do a postal service as not all of us can drop off parts.

Parts look good Dave but I’m betting it comes at a high price.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Great photos Dave of your parts in what I assume is a copper base layer, iirc my local chromers in Derby made a big point of telling me that preparation and sound base coating was the secret to a long lasting finish.

My original 400 chain guard cost me a hefty £150 they removed a small dent as part of the service.

[AshimotoK0]

If you watched the GT750 restoration build that Henry Cole did last year (which is being repeated now) the bill for his chroming was £1750.

I can’t remember if they mentioned who does his chroming but I do remember on a previous build him doing a tour of the workshop and it was a pretty dirty place so probably not Ashford by the sound of it.

I have seen him using these people in Yate, Bristol ...think it was his chopper resto. though.

https://www.stchrome.co.uk/previous-work

I noticed that after Wheeler Dealers used a sh*tty place for a Triumph Spitfire's bumper and MarqueRestore in Coventry got the parts in from the next owner and slated them,  that they are now using MarqueRestore in their latest programmes.

Ha ha if you look at the comments from the original chromer in this video there are tons of expletives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzma3Vr4n9o&t=286s

[Johnny4428]

Interesting to see your stuff done at the copper plate stage Dave.

[Laverda Dave]

Interesting to see your stuff done at the copper plate stage Dave.

When I was there dropping everything off Johnny they told me they leave the items for 16 hours in the cooper bath. I used to think it was a matter of minutes.

I don't know why but seeing those parts with all that copper reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to have our family holiday in Worthing (every single year for 10 years). There used to be a public toilet and the caretaker was always polishing the copper pipes and brassware, it used to gleam.
Maybe though I should learn to get out more into the workshop instead of reminiscing about public toilets 

[Johnny4428]

Interesting to see your stuff done at the copper plate stage Dave.

When I was there dropping everything off Johnny they told me they leave the items for 16 hours in the cooper bath. I used to think it was a matter of minutes.

I don't know why but seeing those parts with all that copper reminds me of when I was a kid and we used to have our family holiday in Worthing (every single year for 10 years). There used to be a public toilet and the caretaker was always polishing the copper pipes and brassware, it used to gleam.
😂😂 pride in your job! In the days when public toilets were looked after now they are just vandalised and closed.
Maybe though I should learn to get out more into the workshop instead of reminiscing about public toilets 

[Laverda Dave]

Some positive progress to report.

The carb bodies are now assembled as far as I can go. 4 washes in the ultrasonic bath, a can of carb cleaner, a new viton o-ring kit from Julie, new hoses, top gaskets, yellow passivate linkages (or hardware as they say in the US) and some new float pivots made from 1.9mm brass rod has, I hope, given me a set of decent refurbished carbs. I will mount them on the carb rail when I get it back from vapour blasting next week and will fit the new stainless spindle from the workshop of Max.

The new viton clutch cush drive bought from Max has also been fitted. I found the best way to fit them in the end was to liberally coat them with red rubber grease and fit them onto the oval shaped spigots. I then gently tapped the ring gear over them, the rubber grease allowed the gear to slide over them very smoothly. The whole assembly was done up using s/s csk bolts supplied with the kit and these were coated in green loctite and the ends of the threads were staked. Hopefully they will not come undone any time soon!

I collected the chrome from Ashford Platers in Crayford last week and they have done an outstanding job, chrome so deep you could shave (or even swim) in it. Anyone who remembers the rear mudguard with the two PO cut thrupenny bit holes in it for a tombstone rear light will be hard pushed to find any evidence of them. The blacksmith who filled the holes was a true artisan and the chrome really shows it all off.  I can 100% recommend Ashford Chrome although they are really expensive you get what you pay for. As the saying goes ‘If you think a professional is expensive wait until you employ an amateur!’ Turnaround time was a very impressive five weeks.  I dealt with a true gent called Bishop and he sent me regular video updates of the parts progressing through the process (that’s his reflection in the photos).

I’ve had an old non-working CB400/4 horn in my spares bin for at least 15 years. I read up on Ash’s anatomy of a horn in his Aladdin’s cave and thought I had nothing to lose so gave it a go. Getting the crimp undone was the worst part but once it was apart I could see it the contacts that were rusty. A bit of judicious cleaning with some wet and dry and it was working! Getting the crimp back on was even harder than taking it off as there is so little metal to play with. I would have liked to have got the completed horn zinc plated but I thought better of it as the crimping would probably leak and the horn would have been destroyed so I used a can of alloy/zinc paint from Lidl to paint it. Not original I know but considering the horn is fitted with a black plastic cover I am not worried.
I collect the vapour blasting next week and can finally get on with some assembly.

All this activity will likely result in a nose bleed!

[AshimotoK0]

Great progress Dave.

Your carb inlet rubbers are lovely and soft now (took four 8 hour dunks in the magic brew in the end to get the correct pliability) and the coils are ready .... except waiting for the 3mm ID black woven glass sleeve to arrive, as I decided to replace your LT cables as well.

Funnily enough I was just about to dig out a 400F / G5  horn out to refurbish. I am going to have a go at plating the parts with suitable masking and then re-crimp. Very difficult item to re-crimp though as you say.