It's not the painting... It's the prep!

So me an Micky have been getting things ready for paint , the frame will be gloss black, guards and tank matt black with twin matt red stripes from nose to tail, electric can and battery box matt black. My first thought was " yeah no worries, little sanding some primer maybe filler all good"
Well i found out this weekend theres ALOT more to it than that !

We started with the frame, because as soon as i get it painted i can start assembling the bike. This is all being done at home by the way , no sand blasters, no spray booths, just hands, sand paper, a good quality compressor and spray gun's.
After sanding down the frame we layed some primer down to show off all the imperfections, there were a few expected ones and a few unexpected. So today i filled sanded, filled sanded, filled sanded till it was all smoothed out.




Next i worked on the tank and guards, the tank had a nasty dint in it from where my old man had dropped a fork tube on it... ( thanks pa ) he he he. The tank frame and front guard had the old owners paint scheme on it which has started to well and truly revolt me... shite green and pink/purple flames...... (little bit of vomit in mouth)
The sooner i cover this stuff up the better, anyways couple of dints filled and alot of sanding left them ready for paint.
















Then the battery box, electric can and ends + a seat mount were sanded and primed
















The rear guard is a harley custom front guard thats been chopped shaped and massaged so fit the xs rear end, Also heres a pic of the the stainless steel headers i picked up, custom pipes will be added later.

Ive got a bunch of other parts recently like flush mount ignition switch for the electric can, old style red bike grips, some freaking nice billet mirrors ( considering taking them off after rego though ) and other odds and ends. As soon as this frames painted i will put up a new post of the assembly where it starts to get exciting.
So yeah all sanded filled and primed ready for paint, big thanks to my good mate Mick for the advice and use of compressor guns etc.

Almost go time!

So things have moved along nicely , ive got a new kick of enthusiasm and drive to get this project complete. The new parts ive bought are way better than i could have expected (buying things off the internet sometimes your not 100% sure).
Ive got a 2 inch stainless steel exhaust system that runs down by either bottom tube and stops at the motor alot like the stock headers but SS and bigger and hotter, ive got some plans for some wicked pipe to be added later but u will have to wait and see.
Electronic igniton is here and ive had my mikuni slide carbs for a while so im hoping all those parts will tie in and add some power and tuning ability.
I decided not to re use alot of the stock xs parts and went with new clutch lever and bracket and brake lever and master cylinder ( both matt black ) and alot cleaner than the chunky stockers, while i was at it i got stainless braided lines for the front brakes. Black faced white dial tacho and speedo will go up front , not sure on a bar mounting or puting it somewhere a little more different yet. I wont be using either of the standard switch assemblies on the drag bars, i found a simple throttle assembly for 7/8 bars.... (which was tricky) and some super cool red old school grips. Ignition switch and starter button will go down on my electric can under the seat headlight switch off/low/high will be drilled into the headlight itself. Horn and indicators will be on a custom mount on the clutch side of the bars.
I also picked up a new clutch and speedo cable as the old ones were a little tattered, the tacho is electric so the wiring wont be as obvious as a cable driven unit.
Just got my seat pan (bought from slice & dice) back from the auto trimmer which is 1inch foam with black leather.
Over the next couple of weekends me and my mate will be painting the frame, guards, tank and other odds and ends and then i will assemble the bike for the first time since i mocked it up. I'm freaking pumped to get a look at it all together and ready for wiring. Its been over a year to get to this point and im ready to ride this bike all summer.
Next post you will see everything ive talked about here, i'll put up some pics.

Wish me luck! Mat