It was all going so well…..
Lifted the subframe onto the engine with help from my family about a month ago - that wiring harness adds a huge amount of awkwardness to the job! It went on beautifully and looked amazing.
I was just admiring my work with a brew in hand when I noticed a mark on the gearbox paint, like a little chip. No worries, I thought, I’ll just polish it in.
What actually happened was I ended up chasing the entire layer of paint across the whole gearbox.
I know what I’d done - I’d given it one last coat whilst spraying something else. That coat hadn’t adhered, an literally flaked off. Bloody hammerite.
It gets better.
Over the next couple of weeks I sanded the whole gearbox down with 600 grit wet and dry, cleaned it all up, reapplied primer, let it cure then, one Saturday afternoon, resprayed it silver. Perfect!
The next morning I went back into the garage and put a second coat on.
Within seconds it reacted with the paint underneath, creating a cracked ‘pickled’ effect. Much swearing was undertaken. When I tried to wipe the paint off, it took it back to primer - including the paint from the previous day. A quick google later and it seems you absolutely have to apply all coats of hammerite within 4-6 hours of the previous coat due to the volatile nature of the paint. If you don’t you have to let it cure for - get this - a month!
I stripped the paint from the gearbox for a third time, reprimed it and spent two hours last weekend going back into the garage every 20 min to put another coat of silver on.
The end result?
I’m happy with that!
Lifted the subframe back onto the engine yesterday - no drama this time.
Bolts are in place, but it’s not tightened down yet - I need to lift it to remove the swingarm once the front it back in.
Next up I gave the front frame a waft of satin black to make it prettier
Then I set to prepping the top yoke by masking off the fork bushes then draining the oil out of the forks so I can get the bottoms rubbed down ready to paint
Finally, on a roll I decided to spray the wiring harness plug plate that goes on the front frame. I know it’s out of sight, but I couldn’t leave it as it was…

Also…the battery box has been resprayed too…
And that’s where I’m up to! About 6 weeks behind schedule, but I’m moving in the right direction at least.
Next up is to get the silver bits sprayed, the get the front engine cover back on. I need to replace the crankshaft seal in it - I have the seal ready to go. If anyone has any helpful hints please let me know!
Cheers
Mike