Jump to content

Kelvin's Not So Old Yahama Zeal Project


kws

Recommended Posts

Another day, some more progress.

In my last post I commented that whenever I put the Zeal into gear the engine would cut. Some awesome members (thanks!) of a couple of forums I post this on mentioned that it was probably the side stand switch. The switch is designed to do just that; cut the engine if you put it into gear with the stand down… only problem, since my bike is on a paddock stand, the side stand is up.
DSC00401.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

Time to investigate. The switch lives here, down by the stand (sans a bolt I already removed)
DSC00403.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

It was a tad dirty down there. Here it is removed
DSC00404.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00405.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

I gave it a real thorough hose down with WD40 and Contact Cleaner whilst actuating it. I cant find any way to disassemble it, so that will have to do. I suspect the bike was on its stand for most of the last 5 years (going from the pooling of fuel in carb No1), so the contacts have probably corroded.

I checked the connector in the under seat area, and it looked all good.

I also mentioned that I had some issues with my clutch, way back in my first post and I made a post last night about it on the 250cc forum. The helpful guys over there pointed out that it was probably the cable needing adjustment at the engine side. Sure enough, when I looked at it today, it was hard up against the stop at its longest position (hard against the lock nut in the photo). I wound the adjuster out a few times and managed to arrange it so that the adjuster on the bar lever is in the middle of its adjustment, and with only minimal free play (as required)
DSC00406.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00409.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

This shows how it was adjusted, in the bottom LH corner
DSC00394.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

This allowed me to do this

I ran it through all the gears, and it does everything it should. The clutch comes on and off, and all the gears go in and out without issue. 6th has a little rumble, but that’s probably because it’s running on a stand. No nasty rattles or anything though.
DSC00408.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

As seen in the video too, I also had a play with the idle and got it to idle with zero choke when warmed up. Obviously I was playing too much, as I ran out of gas at the end of the video >_<

Since I was in the garage and I had to wait for the smoke to clear again, I decided to have another look at the gauges. I had previously had a go at fixing them in a previous post, using super glue. Unfortunately the moment I tried to fit the tacho cup the screw broke the glue and the mount came free again.

When I was in Repco the other day I noticed this on the shelf. Selleys Plastic Fix glue.
DSC00411.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

It’s a two-part system, where you paint on the primer with the pen, and then apply glue. Smoosh the two bits of plastic together and hold it for 30 seconds till it “grabs”. I’ll be damned if it didn’t “grab” and set solid almost instantly. It worked VERY well.
DSC00412.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

Whilst it was drying I had a crack at mounting the Speedo cup.
DSC00413.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00416.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

Looks good. So good that I had to jam on the Tacho and cup again.
DSC00419.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00421.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

Excellent.

I have a new headlight on its way to replace the rusty and dented POS there, so that will be sorted at some point. Next up I think its time to strip the bike down and get the frame sorted.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
The Zeal has been slowly trucking along. I have been finding it hard to get motivated to do much, as it’s so cold and dark after work these days.

Since the last update, the Zeal has taken over the garage, kicking the daily outside (and into the rain).

It turns out, as I suspected, that the rust has more bark than bite, and looks worse than it is. The salty air of where it was sitting for the past few years has found its way up under the paint and has been creating this ugly flaky surface rust. Once you get through the flaky paint and rust, the metal beneath is solid, albeit a little pitted.

Remember, this is what I was working with
DSC09662.jpg?resize=1280%2C851DSC00390.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC09676.jpg?resize=1280%2C851

Obviously I cant leave it like that, it’s ugly and will only keep getting worse. The original plan was to strip the whole bike down and redo the whole frame, but once I got the rest of the plastics off, it was pretty easy to access the rusty parts, and let’s face it, stripping the whole thing was a huge job.

I sold Scooty the other day, and with the money from that I went and picked up a Ryobi One+ angle grinder, a flap disk and a twisted wire brush for it. I had heard that the flap disks were really good for stripping rust and paint, but I also knew the brushes were good too, so I thought I would put them to the test.
IMG_0139.jpg?resize=3264%2C2448IMG_0140.jpg?resize=3264%2C2448

I found very quickly that although the flap disk is SUPER effective for stripping everything and leaves a nice smooth finish, it’s a little too aggressive.
DSC00517.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00519.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

The wire brush on the other hand only really attacks the rust and any flaky/bubbling paint. It’s no where near as aggressive, so I stuck with that for the rest of it.

To give me more room to work, I removed the complete exhaust system. Very easy to do, 8 nuts in the head, and two bolts along the pipe to hold it to the bike.
DSC00505.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00506.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00507.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00508.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

The system is in average shape with lots of surface rust. The only issues I can see is that both mufflers have a hole in the underside of them. Whether this is by design, or age/rust, I’m not sure. Will need to investigate further in the future. In the meantime, they will do.

I also removed the brake master and res for the rear as this takes up a lot of space. I hung this out of the way with a bungee cord.
DSC00511.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00513.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

I have spent the past couple of days attacking every bit of rust I can get my hands on, both with the grinder and with a normal hand powered wire brush.
DSC00520.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00535.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

The main focus was to remove all the loose bits of paint and rust, and give the rust converter something to work with. Of course where I could, I got it down to bare metal, but some areas just weren’t that accessible (like the mount above).

I used CRC rust converter, and so far im impressed. It sprays on well, sticks well, and seems to do a good job of killing the rust. It turns it into a black “primer” that can be painted over. It’s a tad messy but will do the job. Unlike the other rust converter I tried last time, it doesn’t eat/melt the paint around it either, which makes everything a bit nicer.
DSC00525.jpg?resize=1280%2C719
DSC00521.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00523.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00522.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00524.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00536.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00556.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00557.jpg?resize=1280%2C719DSC00558.jpg?resize=1280%2C719

Its pretty ugly now. Very blotchy
IMG_0138.jpg?resize=3264%2C2448

The next step will fix that. The whole frame with get a rub down to key it, and then I’ll prime the whole thing. Once the primer is dry, it will get a couple of coats of paint. I’m not 100% on which shade, but I’ll be trying to match the original paint as close as possible. Thankfully once the tank and plastics are on you can’t see much of the frame, so it doesn’t need to be show bike quality.

Until next time….

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...