Restoration of Sandcast Frame 5369/ Engine E5479

[AshimotoK0]

Thanks Ash appreciate it.

No Prob.. here is his amusing email to me

Dear honda_four_rider,

Thank you Ashley
I will fix it now

I have a personal question I want to ask you, I hope you not offense it
are you a man or woman? because I see Ashley name.
I hope you not get mad at me. when I ask this silly question.
Thank you, and we appreciate for your business

Eric

Voice Mail: 949-544-1128 USA

www.hondaclassic31.com
 

[UK Pete]

Ash i bought one of his double cut front guards it came to me rusty on the underside
and major blemishes in the chrome,also it was obviously badly hand made and not even straight, i complained  to him he promised me a replacement , this went on for a long time till it was too late to complain, he just played me for a mug,with no intention of sending another, i put this down to a bad experience, i suppose i could get it chromed again i managed to straighten it out myself
pete

[AshimotoK0]

Ash i bought one of his double cut front guards it came to me rusty on the underside
and major blemishes in the chrome,also it was obviously badly hand made and not even straight, i complained  to him he promised me a replacement , this went on for a long time till it was too late to complain, he just played me for a mug,with no intention of sending another, i put this down to a bad experience, i suppose i could get it chromed again i managed to straighten it out myself
pete

Hmm yes that's why I asked him to sell me it unchromed and he then started offering them to everyone unchromed.  Must admit it was a bit rusty underneath but then again it was 'raw' metal as he calls it but spot on on the top and polished like chrome!  Problem is Yamiya's repro's are unreasonably expensive and the ones on eBay are usually in the US and mega expensive too plus the usual 80 quid to get it here, what with the customs/shipping etc., plus at least 100 to get rechromed.  ChrisR send one to the chromers that was original and good and the chromers polished the cut edges so much it was as thin as a razor blade and was scrap!

One idea I had before 'Eric' offered them and I even started doing it,  was to chop two cut sections from a standard guard and tig weld it under the mudguard stays onto another cut down one, then dress up/fill etc with metal and have chromed. That double-cut guard looks so cool to me. I know it's a ridiculous obsession with me (unhealthy one at that) but a K0 just looks wrong without it.

I could ask Dave Silver if he can consider making them. He can only at worst say no. Also I will re-contact Eric and ask what his current production is like and  take up your case with him. I will also email Kerry (KP) to see if he has had any joy as I know he buys them from him. He also makes HM300 NoNo pipes and I have photographs of them and Kerry's appraisal of them but again that was in 2011.

Cheers ... Ash

[UK Pete]

Thats interesting that kerry approves , they are usually so particular on sooc,
Eric has changed his ebay handle since i bought from him, it was a few years ago now, i will have to get it out the loft then i can photo it and show you
pete

[AshimotoK0]

Thats interesting that kerry approves , they are usually so particular on sooc,
Eric has changed his ebay handle since i bought from him, it was a few years ago now, i will have to get it out the loft then i can photo it and show you
pete

Pete .. not sure if KP actually approved it but he was asking Eric to select him a good one as I remember, so interesting to see how he got on too.

Cheers  ... Ash

[AshimotoK0]

Got this PM from Kerry (KP) on the Sandcast site re Eric's Vietnam double cut fender , mudguard whatever.

Hi Ash
It all comes down to price. The best option is to simply pay the going rate for a double cut mudguard or buy one from Eric. I bought 2 and was perfectly satisfied with the product. I used them on my die cast bikes as the original ones were missing. Sure they are a little rough but, buy the fender without chrome and not assembled (as you did) and you really can't go wrong for the price Use an original set of frame supports and honda fittings and I doubt anyone could ever pick it. My view is he does a good job for the price and compared to Yamiya repop double cut, Eric's are bargains
KP

[UK Pete]

Nice bit of detective work ash, you are real busy getting in touch with people and sorting things out recently, you are a real asset to this forum , well done
pete

[AshimotoK0]

Nice bit of detective work ash, you are real busy getting in touch with people and sorting things out recently, you are a real asset to this forum , well done
pete

It's what comes from emerging from that black , hole earlier this year. Really happy now and love my job now  . Honestly, I really enjoy contributing here .. and I hate myself and other members here getting ripped off. This is by far the best forum.

Still need to photo my 'Eric' K0 fender 'blade' and post on here.. just been a bit busy this week.

Cheers .. Ash

[UK Pete]

I know what you mean about black hole , I am working hard to dig myself out mentaly and financially, trouble is when I get stressed I seem to work twice as hard and get nowhere which is real frustrating,, when u get the time I will post up a picture  of my  guard and also my attempt at making a ducktail ko seat
And yes you atre right this a bloody good forum, since I have been down a bit lately I have had 5 pm,s of support, what a great bunch of fellas you lot are
Pete

[UK Pete]

Started to blast my frame today, i made up a blast booth and got stuck in, it is quite slow going so i have not finished it yet but hear are some pictures of me in action


[imghttp://cb750sandcastonly.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10004/sandcast_006~2.JPG]http://[/img]

[UK Pete]

As you can see from my previous post i am tackling the blasting and painting of my frame myself,this is for two reasons, number 1 is i just dont trust anyone to do it with the same care and attention that i will, and reason 2 is i usually powdercoat but this de values the sandcast , it is a big no no when you speak to any sandcast owner restorer, oh yes there is a third reason , i do not have the money to pay someone else
Yesterday i thought this would be a doddle probably an hour or two's work, how wrong could i be, my blaster just was not getting through the two layers of paint very quickly if atal in places, so i whipped out and got some paint stripper, quick word of advise do not ever by nitromores stripper, its expensive and totally shit, it just would not lift the paint, so i was out side till 11 last night trying to scrape off soft paint with a stanley blade and then go over it with a scotchbrite wheel on the drill, this got a good deal of it off so this morning i did more scraping , more blasting and more scotchwheeling and ended up with a shiney bare metal frame, all i can say is thank goodness that is over
now i have the problem of finding a doner frame and getting the seat hinges cut off and welded on to my frame as some mother f--er ground them off, as well as the side stand bracket which i have just done
now with all this moisture in the air at this time of year it would be stupid to leave it bare metal, so i have sprayed it up with some rust preventing primer till i get the seat bracket  situation sorted, that way it wont start rusting in a hurry, i also wrapped it in a blanket then boxed it up and have stashed it
Take a look there is absolutely no rust on this frame, the very light surface rust that was there came clean off with the blaster, so them two layers of awkward paint done the job, other than the ground off brackets you could not wish for a better 45 year old frame
pete




[imghttp://cb750sandcastonly.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10004/sandcast_008~2.JPG]http://[/img]

[Trigger]

Did notice that your blasting gun is small Pete. That would take a good 12 hours to do. A good paint stripper is a wire brush on a angle grinder, had some good results by doing it that way.
were the original sand cast frames stove enamel?

[UK Pete]

Trigger your right the gun is small really the whole set up is just too DIY, i eventually used the blaster to get to the awkward places and drill attachments to get the easy to get at parts, i got there in the end fella, as for original coating i have no idea, the thing is there was a coating on top of the original, and this had remained quite soft and so the sand just bounced off, i got to say i am well happy now that stage is over and done with
pete

[RGP750]

Can't fault your determination Pete ,Brilliant.

[Trigger]

I stripped a sand cast frame about 10 years ago and the front part was stove enamel but, the rest was a black paint over a orange/red lead base primer. I stove enameled the frame in the end because i could not find what it should be.