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a couple of updates if anyone is still out there.... restored a 78 honda cb550 four. was simply a means of getting a little time away from the falcon....

Wow, the aluminum on that bike looks better than new. And I'm old enough to remember when those were new. The door gaps on the Falcon are TIGHT. Looks amazing, but I assume those doors don't open and close?

Looking really nice Morgan.

picked up a used tig setup a few weeks ago. it literally had 2 hours of run-time on the meter, so it's in good shape. i've been spending about 20 minutes every other day or so playing around with it, moving a puddle, butt welds, laps, fillets, tubes, etc. i did a little bit of stainless, but haven't tried aluminum yet. part of me wishes i would have gotten it years ago when i upgraded the mig, but at that time i didn't want to spend the money on something that was so unknown...

painted and installed. now the exhaust can be installed. when i have the money....

finally fabbed up the driveshaft loop. i started with a universal kit from summit that i had gotten about 17 years ago... the only part i used was the loop. i trimmed a little off and welded the two halves together. i cut some 1/4" plate to make the side brackets and cut up some 1/8" 2X1 box tubing for the connector pieces. it's located about 4.5" from the u-joint centerline but the first fastener is about 7" from the centerline. hopefully i won't be forced to have to ever argue with any tech. i plan on painting it the same color as the undercarriage with the loop painted the same stainless steel paint as the driveshaft.

put a number of items on the engine after paint. there are still a number of issues to work out. the alternator is currently being built. it was never a plan to run the motorsport valve covers. i just had them so the machine shop didn't have to deal with any clearance issues. turns out they are just fine. it's nice to finally see the parts that were detailed finally get assembled.

motor is painted. i spent friday evening and saturday morning cleaning. i used purple power cleaner/degreaser with a bristle brush to scrub everything and remove the assembly lubes from the fasteners. i rinsed it using hot water plumbed from the hot water tank. i immediately wiped it dry with a towel. i then used red scotch brite hand pads and went over everything that was going to get paint. i then put some DX330 wax and grease remover in the paint gun and sprayed it on the engine pretty heavy, letting any dirt and oil drip off. i wiped it down with clean clothes. i went thru the process of spraying the dx330 and wiping it down three times. my hands and fingers hurt... sprayed two coats of reduced black epoxy sprayed two coats of the 13358 ford corporate blue urethane w/ about 10% flattener.