No luck re the Faraway blue with Kev so anyone out there having some done I'm still interested.
In any case progress has been a bit slow as the recent good weather has meant catch up time with house exterior and garden DIY. (ongoing!)
Good news has been
-sourced correct swinging arm spindle from ebay. Just needs zinc replating with some other items (hopefully next week)
-secured an Arrow exhaust to complement the GPR headers . Decided to coat black as I I know how hard it is keeping the stainless looking new and the black matches the original colour scheme.
- Brake calipers have been cleaned, vapour blasted and painted so just need to rebuild with all new components (which I have)
Bad news
- main fairing has one of the four mounting lugs missing and has had some repairs over the years. Need to look at how bad
-Front mudguard bolt hole lugs broken both sides (but badly mended) . Very little material around the holes so not surprising. May see if part can be plastic welded and then bond a metal plate for reinforcement to the rear
-Initial strip down and diagnosis from Kev Thomas worse than I hoped for.
It needs rebore & piston, oil pump and screen plus the almost inevitable 5th gears. Add in all the seals , gaskets, fasteners , repaint etc etc and total about 50% above my budget. Yes I could do it cheaper with non OE parts and my own labour but I know my limits. Would rather have someone do it that has proven track record and if I ever do have to sell the bike it should hopefully stand me in good stead.
Having stewed on that one overnight and given Kev the green light to go ahead (just before he sets off to Morocco for 2 week!) I also agreed to a 640 kit (it needed new barrel and piston anyway) and a mild head job. Any extra oomph will be much appreciated moving my 16st (without gear) body around.
-Noted that the rubber fork gaiters are falling apart in the folds of the bellows, so will need new ones
Build has actually gone backwards in last few days as I've dismantled the part assembled rolling chassis to refinish some parts and for peace of mind re assembly. As stated above, the fact its my first XT and I didn't strip it down are big minuses when putting it back together again. NOTE TO GEOFF...please post lots of pics for your current rebuild
as unfortunately the Shite Bucket scam has robbed me of yr previous illustrated restorations which would have been a great help to me!
Will post some photos soon of the bits I have so far (and slow progress) in the meantime ..
where best to get fork gaiters, gear lever (any alternatives to the always bent OE part?), yellow disc guard?
