Tanks for the memories.....

Not a terribly long post today, more of a quick update!

I picked my tank up from the powder coating shop today and was pleasantly surprised.  Here is a shot of what the tank looked like when I brought it home:

The ravages of time and Canadian weather can clearly be seen here. Brutal pitting and even some peeling in places.  I sandblasted as much off the tank as I could.  It is clean as a whistle inside and is very solid, no holes or cracks anywhere.  In other words it was far too good to scrap. Also, these things are not in abundance to any degree.  Used ones suffer from the same issues and NOS ones are like hen's teeth.

I then went to step two, wet sanding almost down to the copper layer, to smooth out as much as I could:

At this point the tank was much improved, however you can still see many of the scars left from the pitted rust.  I use a local powder Coating shop I found in the phone book a couple years ago.  I gave them a try with a Triumph frame initially and have been going to them ever since.  The fellow I deal with was astounded by how solid the tank was considering the age of it.  I picked a nice silver for the tank as it will go well with the blue flake I have chosen for the fork lowers, toolbox, headlight, etc.  He let me know that he could do a nice think coat that would cover the worst markings.  I rolled the dice and while it isn't perfect, I am quite pleased!

Before I show that, I managed to salvage the original knee pads.  I swear by Autoglym rubber and vinyl care, it makes the worst, most worn out material look new or damned near close.

I borrowed the badges off of the Sport 90 to see how everything would come together, along with one of the tank caps I found in my newly acquired box of spares.  The end result?

Hard to believe that less than two weeks ago this was sitting in a barn unloved!  I am very excited by this little bike and can't wait to see it finished, moreover, I am very excited to see my wife learn how to ride on it.

I am diligently getting everything else ready to send off, the little frame is a bit of a headache, however.  Lots of little crevices where I can't fit the wire brush in.  My goal is to drop all the black items off by next Thursday and pick them up early the following week.  I want to start on the engine, get the head off, clean the carbs, etc.  I have ordered some items from Kevin at Scrambler Cycle, from his stock of parts bikes. 

His inventory can be found here: http://www.scramblercycle.com/bsparts.html

He is a friendly guy and has great prices as well.  Here is the current list of all the bits and pieces en route to me from different sources.

-Used front fender

-side  covers

-headlight rim and headlight

-top yoke

-handlebars (the hurricane ones on the bike were bent as it turned out)

NOS Parts: fork seals, coils, wiring harness and speedo (Now I will have a spare)

I have a massive list that I sent to to Richard at http://www.bridgestonemotorcycleparts.com/ 

I let him know that he can certainly take his time or even separate everything into several suborders.  

I attempted to save the rear shocks and while they work fine, the pitting was far too deep to conceal.  I happen to have a spare set of shocks that I will likely fit on.  With the roads being what they are around here, stiffer suspension would be more beneficial, as long as it does not spoil the look of the bike.  

That is pretty much it for today, stay tuned for more!