The blog has been a little quiet lately, as the frame parts are at the painters and I have the engine in pieces - but more of that later.
Pictures from Damon at DJ Spray Services reveal that the painting is on the way - these are the parts in Damon’s shop, just back from the blaster:
Damon has prepared the oil tank by hand - it’s not been blasted. He’s sprayed on the first coat of epoxy primer the same day as the parts arrived:
Blasting has revealed a few problems, the worst of which is these holes in the already lined tank. There’s a crack in the front mudguard, and two broken welds in the number plate:
A couple of days later, much of the black is done:
I retrieved the damaged bits to bring back to the workshop for repair:
Straightforward for the most part, except for this old braze repair which won’t weld. Brazing with TIG is possible with the right rods (with no zinc, and is technically bronze) but repairing this produces lots of spatter and white zinc oxide. It pressure tested perfectly well after a few attempts.
Returning the repaired bits for painting, I picked up the black parts which were ready packed:
They need a while (months) to cure, so they can sit on the bench while I build the engine:
