KDX Restoration X 2

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ericr
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KDX Restoration X 2

Post by ericr »

Here's a shot of the Nikasil liner. There's zero porosity in either cylinder. They do a good job at chamfering too.

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Here's another view of both the cylinders. The 220 is on the right. Notice the difference in shape of the two intake ports.

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Here's a tool that I bought on Amazon that I'm using a lot. I've chased every threaded hole and fastener that I touch. It clears out galvanic corrosion or loctite in the threads and allows for more accurate torquing when the threads aren't binding. The flat bar on the bottom allows you to straighten various thread pitches on larger items. I used it on the shock bodies where damaged threads prevented me from removing the adjusting rings. Very useful.

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Speaking of shocks, here's the valve stack. It's different from the H series stack mentioned on another thread. They were identical on both bikes, so I assume that they are the original valving from 2002. The compression stack starts with 8, 38x0.20 shims. I wanted a little softer high-speed compression, so I added one 16x0.30 pivot shim to the bottom of the stack. I left everything else alone as a 2 stage stack. You can see shims 9 and 10 are the crossovers. We'll see how it works. The wet-dry paper on the plate glass was used to surface the base washers and piston faces.

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And, here's the completed shocks awaiting a nitrogen charge, hopefully this next week when I pick up the forks. Springs are new Race Tech's, 4.8 on the 200 and 5.2 fat boys on the 220. I replaced the seal heads and filled with 5wt Bel Ray shock oil. The Race Tech videos provide better instruction than the shop manual - pushing the seal head in while relieving pressure on the bladder valve stem completely eliminates any air bubbles. I still inverted and checked the bleeder screw - not one air bubble. I soaked the old, dry bump stops in 303 Aerospace protectant in a plastic bag for a couple days. They're pliable and like new again. After parts washing everything, I etched the shock bodies with the Eagle Mag wheel cleaner and red Scotch Brite pads. I then used something new to me - Protectaclear on the shock bodies. I also used it on the cylinders and heads and will use it on all the raw aluminum. Engine cases, swingarms, triple clamps, etc. I like the stuff - 2 or 3 wipe on coats and you're done. It's supposed to be durable and heat resistant to 600 degrees.

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I finished the wheel assemblies. Tusk rims, Buchannan spokes, Tubliss, 50 tooth sprockets, and Shinko tires. The spokes fit without having to ream any holes. The spokes and nipples are heavier than stock. 6.9mm vs 6.0mm stock nipples. Here's the Shinko 525 Cheater Hybrid on the rear...

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And here's the Shinko 216MX 90/100 fatty on the front KX250 wheel. It's identical to the Goldentire GT216 fatty for a lot less $. The overall diameter of this tire is 0.80" taller than a normal 80/100. I'll have to slip the forks up 0.40" to compensate.

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That's it for now. I should be getting my final parts from Partzilla next week and my forks. We're getting excited to get this project completed!
'02 KDX 200, '02 KDX 220 - My restoration thread
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by John_S »

I'm subscribing to this thread. I can't wait to see these bikes comes together. You're doing really nice work. Thanks for the heads up on the protectaclear. I was able to zoom in on the can and the description sounds great. Any word on how you would remove it if someday you wanted to?
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by KDXGarage »

Cool updates!
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by ericr »

John_S wrote:I'm subscribing to this thread. I can't wait to see these bikes comes together. You're doing really nice work. Thanks for the heads up on the protectaclear. I was able to zoom in on the can and the description sounds great. Any word on how you would remove it if someday you wanted to?
From what I read, the only thing that removes it is Xylene. It's otherwise impervious to gas, oil, etc. Thanks for the positive feedback. I appreciate it!
'02 KDX 200, '02 KDX 220 - My restoration thread
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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It's back to drinking out of the firehose again. I rebuilt the shocks, and now I'm concerned about the seals on the outside of the pistons. They fit snugly in the bores, there was no damage, so I didn't think anything about just putting them back in. Now, with a bit of reading, I'm thinking that I should have replaced those seals along with the tensioning o-ring underneath. So, what should I do? I want to do it right. Should I find seals and take it apart again or just leave it? I'm so anal - these things bother me! Help!
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by KDXGarage »

It's a piston band, not a seal. Do you have any pics of the ones you have? They will probably be OK to run until next time. The o-ring underneath wears as well.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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Jason wrote:It's a piston band, not a seal. Do you have any pics of the ones you have? They will probably be OK to run until next time. The o-ring underneath wears as well.
The only image that i have is a blow-up from the prior photo. It seems to show that band extends several thousandths beyond the piston. I hope it's OK.

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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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Yes. It sticks out a bit, or it would just grind the side of the piston into the shock.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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Jason wrote:Yes. It sticks out a bit, or it would just grind the side of the piston into the shock.
So, does that mean you think it's OK or should I replace it?
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KDX Restoration X 2

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I'm going to answer my own question; I'm going to leave it for now. It will be something that will encourage me to do that next shock oil change. That's when I'll do it.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by KDXGarage »

In your case, I would just leave it. Don't stress. Don't obsess. Just do it next time. :cool:
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KDX Restoration X 2

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We've been working on restoring plastic. After googling and watching videos, there seems to be a couple methods to do this. One is scraping oxidation and then using heat to re-melt the surface. The other is sanding. And sanding. And sanding, followed by polishing. I combined both methods;

Here's the tank after wet sanding with 320, then 400, 600 and 1200. If you start with coarser than 320, you'll be sanding forever to get the scratches out.

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I then hit the tank with a heat gun on high, about 2 inches from the surface. As soon as the finish melts and glosses, you move on. You can see that it leaves blush marks where melting from the heat gun overlaps.

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To get rid of the blush marks, and to increase the gloss, I decided to use some polish I had on hand for fiberglass gelcoat. Gelcoat is rather soft, like polyethelene, so I thought it would work. It did using a cotton polishing wheel on a drill.

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This is really time consuming - 3 hours for each tank. Then it's on to shrouds and side panels.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by 6 Riders »

That tank looks great!

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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by KDXGarage »

Yes it does!

I am surprised it only took 3 hours. I have a 1987 KX250 that is on the "taking forever build". The fuel tank had been painted black, and I was sanding, sanding, sanding until a decent looking tank came up on eBay.

The video where the guy sands the red Honda tank seems to be the best video that I have seen.
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by antonyp »

Awesome work on that tank Eric !

Does the heat gun method restore the flexibility on the plastics as well ? Usually, when they become pale they also become brittle - at least from my experience.

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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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antonyp wrote:Awesome work on that tank Eric !

Does the heat gun method restore the flexibility on the plastics as well ? Usually, when they become pale they also become brittle - at least from my experience.

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Mine were not that oxidized, so I really can't say. I did all the sanding to remove gouges and scratches. There is a youtube video where they use a scraper to remove heavy oxidation. It appears that the plastic underneath is bright, and maybe flexible.
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KDX Restoration X 2

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Here's a couple swingarms. I started with 3 applications of Aircraft Stripper. It's really nasty stuff. Methylene Chloride is a carcinogen. It goes right through nitrile gloves (as I found out). It burns your skin and will load-up and pass through organic filter respirators. Nasty. I used it outdoors with the wind to my back while wearing a respirator, eye protection, and chemical gloves. Even after 3 applications, there was still a little black primer left in the welds.

I used wire brushes on a drill and then a Dremel to clean out most of the remaining primer. Then I etched them with the Mag Wheel cleaner, scrubbing with green and then red Scothbrite. 3 coats of Protectaclear finished them up.

They're not perfect. I could have spent more time grinding out nicks and scratches and getting every bit of primer off. But, after 6 hours apiece, I was getting tired of working on them. They look good enough.

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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

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They look very nice, though! :bravo:
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KDX Restoration X 2

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My son has been putting in hour after hour of sanding, cleaning and polishing parts - even bolt heads. My plan was to get everything prepped before starting re-assembly. For a teenager, there's not much instant gratification with that plan.

He finally said, "Dad, can we start putting the bike together?" I said, "why not, let's get one on its wheels." And, here it is...

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I had thought about updating the bikes with the late H model silver frame color. I'm glad we went with green. I like the fatty front tire too. We're both excited now to get these done soon!
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Re: KDX Restoration X 2

Post by John_S »

That looks really nice!! Is it in the living room? Lol.

I like the green frame better too. If you're putting MX rear fenders on the bikes consider cutting off that last 1 1/2" of dog leg subframe otherwise it hangs down below your fender.

I love the front disk. I'm excited about these two bikes.
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