The Casting Couch

I hope the saucy nature of that title got a few looks!

OK, so polishing a motor by hand is something of a complete trainspotter thing to do – so it is just as well that I am up to the challenge!

Well I was happy… steel wool in hand… sweating away listening to the rather dodgy esoteric music choices when I rolled the Love Cubs engine over & started work…

Just after I realised that the grease was a casting ripple (Yes I do know that there is a chuck of metal missing from the exhaust port)

After - Looking OK (not perfect, but that is OK)

That is when I noticed… the Casting flaws… (Cue bad music that goes Bah Bah Baaaaaah!!!)

I had noticed the small flaws in the casting when I was working on the other bits of the motor, but I had never really noticed this bit … until now!

The section is on an area not readily seen from the top of the motor (& to be honest, I thought it was oily grime when I first started to clean it, it was only after a bit of elbow grease that I realised it was in fact a casting flaw.

OK love cub, Challenge accepted!

Out with the wet & dry to start getting the aluminium back to what I think it should look like!

The other side of the argument is that these flaws are not material & have been part of the Love Cubs Mighty Powerplant for the past 42 years, so I really should just accept that they are part of the anatomy of the wee beasty… but that would be far too simple & that is not what the Love cub is about after all!

So… four hours later & a heap more music…. Ta dah… looking good… in fact, it is looking like the engine casing is headed on the way to looking better than new!

So Mote it be

Leigh

Finally a Ride

Well, I did get to go for a ride on Friday morning. The glorious surfer went quite well too.

Over to the train station to purchase my trip to Sydney on Sunday afternoon, then off to the other side of town to drop of some paperwork, then, I took the silver surfer to the hardware store, this was an easy thing as I needed a pad lock only!

The interesting thing about a ride like this is that it is exactly the sort of environment that these bikes were invented for; just nipping down the road to get something, see someone, do something… It just works so well at this job, No wonder they are just so dam popular!

When I got to the Hardware store, I made sure I had a good park - I wanted to get some blood pressure up from those that cut me off in traffic... 

Now, taking a Vespa to a hardware store may seem odd, BUT, on the upside, as you have worked out, I am something of an impulse buyer at times, thus there is a positive to riding a Scooter to the hardware store; as I only wanted a padlock & some screw in hooks which would fit in my scooter glove box I did not need the trusty Rhonda the Honda, or Falcon, thus all the other cool things that I could easily have justified buying were not able to be purchased, that is I kept the $50 bill in my pocket!

Money saved is money earned – thus I have earned another $50 to spend on the scooter addiction – and at the moment, I reckon that the $50 would go quite a long way to the engine works at the moment!

So mote it be!

Leigh

The Tacky scooter sticker

So when I was at the auto-parts store I noticed some rather risqué if not entirely tacky stickers (obviously designed for cars)... Sexy and sexist, tacky yet fun - bogan to their core

 I just had to have one!

So of all the tacky stickers available I bought the surfer chick one (I refuse to participate in flag waving crap that a lot of people get involved in – especially tacky bikini chicks draped in some countries flag). . . But cheesytackyshit is 100% cool in my book!

The start of the Crass!

Thus, the surfer has a secret tattoo on the inside of the engine cover (thus not ruining the Surfers fabulous silver skin that the rest of the world look at)

Old singlets make good cleaning rags!

Like all embarasin' Tattoos- they are best kept where they a seen by the fewest amount of people !

This is kinda fun; I have empowered the inner bogan - again. And I may just have to do this again... May be the next time I go to a shop that sells this type of smut stuff I'll get another complimentary one to fill in spots on the inside of the engine cover and the glove box… or maybe not… I’m sure I’ll tell the world if I do!

If I do get some more of these stickers, they will definitely be hidden away from view!

So Mote it be!

Leigh

Polishing me motor

Well I have reached that quiet time in the Saga of the Love Cub, where the sexy stuff has happened quite quickly, but the stuff that will make the cub sexy later on, well it is all underway… but is not very sexy right now!

At the moment, I am working on the engine... But only on the cosmetic bits! As such, I have been busy with the 0000 grade steel wool and the wet and dry sandpaper AND elbow grease… getting busy with the engine!

The starting point - as seen from the blasters

Just before I started - the block is incredibly clean!

I should be honest at this point & say that, on reflection, I don’t think the engine was soda blasted; rather I suspect it was a very fine grit & the guys cleaned the engine & frame when they were doing something else (that was slightly more durable…) oh well, it is a classic example of you gets what you pays for!

But back to the polishing; The silly boys were at school... so I had Lenny dog for company, this meant that I was listening to a whole heap of heavy metal and punk rock (read the Dropkick Murphies, Dead Kennedys, Frenzel Rhomb, Metallica & Motorhead...) as such, the toiling away is not too bad when you put your preferred form of music on!

FYI - The Child Bride & my other close family members do not necessarily like my taste in music; that's OK, I was listening in the shed by myself so it was my guilty little secret!

At this point I want to state that I don't want a nearly chrome-like finish on my engine, but rather, I will aim for a nice "brushed" aluminium finish… we will see where we end up on this count when I have finished the Cub!

Just starting out... the wire brush for the "wire Brushed look"

Anyway after about 3 days of polishing I have a semi completed side cover. I think I'll buy some lower grit wet and dry to remove the last of the deeper scratches better with the one that I used. I think the Honda magneto cover will actually come up rather well when I get it done; it is basically a case of elbow grease curing the issue!

Getting Somewhere - note the iron fillings from the steel wool following the magnetic pattern

By the way, for anyone out there being silly enough to want to polish an aluminium engine block by hand, I advise wearing gloves. I have an elasticised cloth pair with a rubberised face. They keep the oxide out of your fingers, as well as protecting them from the real wear & tear that sand paper & steel wool inflict upon fingers! It may seem obvious to say it, but guess what; at the end of day one, the oxide & grit had really worked its way into every crevasse in my right hand!

The next issue is: I do know that I really should polish the engine after stripping and inspecting the case internally (thus you don't waste energy on polishing scrap). Yes, I agree, but, I also think that as the engine is a Honda and was it running before I pulled it apart, therefore (I hope) I'll be alright!

I should also have cleaned the 40 years of grime off of the magneto & sprocket area before I started! Is it a case of up there for thinking & down there for dancing, or, up there for dancing & down there for thinking (given the for on this bit, I’d probably say the latter!) in my defence, I did start out as a bit of a trial to see what it would look like!

Oh the grime build up! You can see some of the shine from teh block polishing too

The next confession that I have is: that I Googled the idea! As I said when I got the engine and frame back, I was not 100% happy with the finish of the engine alloy bit. Thus I started with a search on the web about polishing Aluminium... Anyway, I convinced myself that I could make a feature of the side covers at least... Now I am so pleased with my start that I'll do the entirety of the cub’s 50cc heart - it's just that it'll take some time!

I will need to get some of the clear alloy engine coating - I need to have an engine block worthy of clear coating before I clear coat the thing (it is a case of walking before you run!) When I was looking at some of the Aluminium polishing ideas on the web, & some of the products come off rather easily after the application of the required thinners, I am hoping that I can polish the engine, then use a clear coat (this will “protect the engines look when it is being re-built) & if required, reapply the clear coat before the engine is put back into the frame (that is, use the first lot of clear coat as a protecting coat.

Before

After - You can see the difference (even though these photos are not the best)

Thus far the results do look good; I'll just have to maintain the focus & ensure that I get the engine block done!

So Mote it Be

Leigh

The trailer

The one thing that has been a right royal pain in the arse is that I do not have a ute to cart all my Love Cub crap about in. Well with the purchase of the new place (Planet Meaghers), the need to cart sh!t about has markedly increased... To the point that we took the plunge & rather than buy a ute, we spent the best bit of $2 K on a high-sided trailer.

Hey - you can't take it with you go!

So yours truly drove over to Parkes to pick up this wee beastie (from one of Dear ol’Dads mates)

Rhonda the Honda with my new trailer...

Hmm, it was a busy day, but heck, it was worth it – because as a result, I now own a kick arse trailer that can conceptually take all 3 motor bikes (or, live stock as it has a crate) - cool!

AND it is mine!

And it is fully registered!

And it is in hammer tone paint!

And, I got to hoon about the country side & enjoy the sunny central west of NSW for a couple of hours, which is a good thing about life

So Mote it be!

Leigh