Stroppy Old Tart, or the story of a Triumph Bonneville

[xtriple]

The frame on mine was the original stuff Triumph applied, needless to say, it had got a bit old! I had some black gloss '2' pack which I thinned a bit then brushed on. When it dried, I sanded it with fine paper and then polished it. It looked like the frame had been re-stoved! Cheap, easy and very quick and looked like I'd spent a thousand quid! My favourite sort of fix.

I didn't want to get it blasted or powder-coated, just too much to go wrong so I was more than happy with the result. Plus, I kept the original 'Made In England' on the downtubes

[Hooli]

Yeah this was powdercoated in the past, that was one of the problems when I got it. It turned out to have 1/2" of blasting grit in the bottom of the oil tank, no wonder it used to eat oil pumps.

I could have prepped it all & made the effort to get it perfect, but I can't be bothered. I'm rebuilding it to use so it'll get dirty & stuff soon enough. It'll never be a show bike while I own it.

[Hooli]

Small amount of progress today. The engine and frame have changed places and I've degreased the engine ready for stripping down.

I'm quite happy with how the frame has come out considering its brush painted over old powdercoat.

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[Hooli]

Wheels are back. I hoping to combine getting the tyres refitted with getting the XJR aircon recharged, so I'll ring the garage tomorrow to organise both.

£320 with two new rims, both hubs blasted and new front spokes to suit the different style rim. Seems a good price to me as the big companies who do this quoted about £500.

It's even beginning to look like I've got a bike to build again.

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[Hooli]

The garage is surprisingly quiet, I'm booked in tomorrow for both jobs to be done. Pics of the wheels out their bags once I'm back.

[Hooli]

Tyres fitted.

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[xtriple]

Just got to paint the lettering in white now

[Hooli]

That is a good possibly, for the 70s vibe.

[Hooli]

I've started stripping the bottom end today. While looking for the pullers I bought last time I did the job I found the previous pistons from when she blew up, I thought you lot would like this pic of the RH piston after I washed the worst of the crap off.

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Yes that is a hole clean through it down to the remains of the oil control ring, plus a little* missing from the skirt.

[MLOR]

^ Good effort.
My personal best was a TZ piston that was burnt out from the crown right down to the bottom of the skirt on the exhaust port side. Managed to take the rings off OK tho.