the adventure of the mini bike,

[kendelrk]

okay this is startnig to be a pain in the ***, i told myself i was going to tear the bike back to bare and make it all pretty again, the gold was looking ugly, i cant afford 10 dollars for a spray can of paint stripper, to expensive for me, so ive been taking it off with a file, the few small peices of sand paper i have, and whatever i can find that contains acetone, the goal here is to take the bike back to the bare metal, not its original frame, bare,so i can paint it correctly and make it look good, ive got the motor mount nice and clean and paint coming off in some smaller areas, i have a drill with a paperish type sanding disk in it, and it seems to take it off just a bit, but it takes a long time and it gets the drill hot, this is an older drill, and electric, so on a budjet of a lousy 2 bucks, what can i do to take this back to the bare metals?

 

[j.concepcion54321]

Go to harbor freight and buy a wire wheel adapter for your grinder... Best 3 bucks I ever spent... Used it on a kart, my dads bucket truck to clean the entire metal bed, and as soon as weather permits I'm taking it to my minibike..... It makes iit nice and smooth and takes off the paint till you have shiny bare metal. Then u paint and its nice and even

 

[kendelrk]

i have no grinder, only a drill

 

[r97]

save up some cash, an angle grinder, and wire brush. that combo will get that to bare metal in no time, just promise me you wont cut up your frame with the new tool.

P.S. I know your going to tell me you can't afford it, but the proper way to strip paint from those tires would be to media blast them with walnut shells

 

[kendelrk]

im just gonna go buy a wire wheel for now, better not to put that tool in my hands

 

[kendelrk]

okay so i went and picked up this wire wheel because it was 99 cents at harbor freight http://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-2-half-inch-wire-wheel-with-1-4-quarter-inch-shank-42853.html expected it to be a bit bigger but oh well, put it up into my one way electric drill and had a friend over with a second drill and a polish wheel, so remember this had small amounts of paint taken off everyone, and looked terrible, the wire wheel cuts right through the spray paint, but the original baked finish is a bit toughter, but still comes off well, theres pics of the bike at its current state and the engine mount i mean its a bit dirty from all the shavings and all, but it looks better than before. any ideas on what color to give this? im looking at getting a glow in the dark paint thats one color by day and the opposite color when it glows in the dark, any ideas? i want this to look good, but be out of the box, like if you seen this on the street youd have to look at it more than twice

 

[kendelrk]

well ive been working on the frame, and the engine just a little, i planned to remove the paint and baught enough paint for the engine metal and frame, i found out the housing and engine had been spray painted, which upset me, and the stickers were re added, it seems to be the engine in question from what ive seen, but still not the originial color, so itll all be getting a fresh coat of satin black

 

[kendelrk]

okay guys, did some research, work and all, this motor is not what its said to be, the numbers have nothing to do with any briggs motor, the first set is the only numbers that match, the only engines in that series are 5hp, so we know its a 5hp, other numbers were hand engraved, the shroud, metal, and head were all spray painted, for sure, ive looked through every bolt and all on the motor, they never were originally orange, nor was the block, removing some metal you can see it was basically see it was painted, so now i went and checked my neighbors raptor shroud, same first set of numbers, what i basically think is back then when there was a sort of stock briggs racing class, raptors were prohibited due to how much you can modify and still look stock, so thesse people took metal, from a diffrent series but used the same shroud and changed the last numbers to make it look unlike the engine in question but painted the shroud also in such so people wouldnt find out then changed carbs and blahh blahh blahh to make it look unlike one, its been painted and through alot, im beleiving this is a raptor motor, can anyone tell me anyway to identify that it is without having to take off the head or side cover?

 

[kendelrk]

okay guys, im onto my next problem, aside from what motor this really is and the bike, im having this problem. and its bugging me, the engine looks like it has a big crack in the block, it dosent look like its a full crack but some maching mistake or somthing, is this a serious problem? edit, it dosent seem to be a crack, but a buldge in the block

 

[Bluethunder3320]

just crappy casting.

if it was a hole oil would be coming out.

 

[redsox985]

just crappy casting.

if it was a hole oil would be coming out.

I wouldn't write it off so quickly. The photos suck (sorry!) so you can't be totally conclusive.

Can you try getting some focused photos as well as from other angles?

 

[kendelrk]

were taken quickly outside at night, i know the photos suck majorly, what it looks like is that it comes off of the crankcase cover, up a little off of that, but then back down with a line across that goes all the way over to the side of the engine and once it stops at the metal to go towards under the head area, it just stops, thesse photos still might stuck, but this is as good as a picture as i can get at this moment, my question is because it concerns me, and the engine seems to heat up very quickly

 

[fowler]

it looks like a join more than a crack

like blue said
if it was a crack oil would come out

tip the engine so the crack is at the bottom then leave it for a day or two prefreably in the sun

if there is any crack u will see weeping around the crack

it would be best to fill it with a thinner fliud like petrol but im unsure wether that is a good idea

or a big puddle of oil on the ground lol

 

[redsox985]

My guess, from the second batch of photos, is poor quality casting. It looks like more of a seam in the molds than a crack.

 

[Bluethunder3320]

you can buff it out if you really care but it wont matter at all

 

[kendelrk]

okay guys, so i started going at the frame with the drill still, and i absolutley lost it, i got so mad, i couldnt even work on it anymore, so my grandma sends my uncle off, like whatever, and look what she baught me. a brand new angle grinder and a wire wheel for it, SCORE, i think she spent 27 somthing on both with coupons, and as you can see, ive gotten alot done on the frame, i have a little bit of the back end to go, then its all the forks, and itll be ready for a coat of satin black
edit, some of those small amounts of brown/goldish is just oxidization, it will be taken off before painted

 

[r_chez_08]

Nice! Make sure you use half decent paint now!

 

[kendelrk]

ive already got the paint, its paint and primer in one from rustoleum

 

[Bluethunder3320]

must have taken forever.

i wonder if its too smooth/ polished so that the paint wont have much to stick to. lol.

 

[kendelrk]

not really, alot of it was with the drill, which would be some of the main bar and so, but the rest i just hit with the angle grinder and it just comes right off, and its not going to be chumspy just painted over, its going to have multiple coats, and its paint and primer in one can, and i have three cans of it to do the job with