Making The Old Girl Beautiful And Sleek Again.

Next instalment will follow on Wednesday after I’ve had a few hours to attack her again.

 

FLUIDS
Out with the old, in with the new. Coolant, brake & clutch fluids all need replacing, as does the oil but I'm waiting for the oil filter to arrive. It's not that they need replacing through use, just age. They've been there for the last 9 years at least!

Thanks @Exige for the viton fuel line o-rings which arrived so while the tank's off I'll swap out the regular o-rings I got from the local farm co-op and put on last week. Interestingly, even after just one week and no-more than 15mins engine running to bring it up to temp and check the fan cuts in you can see they've swollen. The one on the right is the original variant, the one on the left is after being on the fuel line for 1 week.

Now to drain the coolant. Drain plug's not seized thankfully, despite the corrosion (although the crank case covers are in pretty bad cosmetic shape). Wow that's a vivid green colour, but so clean. Flush it through with a hose, re-fit the drain plug and top up with new coolant. The new coolant's blue. I think I prefer the fluorescent green personally.

Now for the clutch, rear brake and front brakes. No seized bleed nipples. No issues at all on the clutch and rear brake cylinders, what with them being plastic and simply unscrewing, but the front brake was a different story. The nuts at the end of the bolts securing the master cylinder lid are badly corroded. Despite application of penetrant although one did unscrew the other didn't and the nut started to turn in it's plastic housing. B*ll**ks what do I do now? Am I going to have to get a whole new master cylinder? But, necessity is the mother of invention and a small electrical screwdriver held between the nut and the nut housing holds the nut in place sufficiently enough to be able to undo the bolt. I'll get some new replacement nuts & bolts.

As a matter of interest the old fluid, in all cylinders/lines was clean, clear and exactly the same colour as the new fluid going in; makes it hard to know when you've flushed out all the old and got new coming through.

 

CORROSION.
All suggestions and advice as to the best way to treat the corrosion will be gratefully received.
As you can see, the crankcase covers are suffering badly with their paint bubbling and peeling off. Almost all alu alloy parts are suffering (the front fork adjusters as an example), alloy painted parts are suffering and the frame's got rust dotted all over it and the external seams on the tank have some corrosion.

With regards to the frame, yes I know I can strip the whole bike down and get it blasted and powder-coated and maybe I will do that over the winter but for the time being I'm thinking of a wire brush and smooth gold hammerite. However, I've no ideas about the alloy bits.

 

TIMING BELTS.
New belts arrived from @Exige yesterday so I had to go and fit them. I've never, ever, ever, done that before in my life. Previously it was always a time poor/cash rich situation now I've plenty of time so why not give it a go. Thanks to a couple of YT vids it's actually not that difficult, just fiddly. Especially getting at the tensioning pulley locking nut on the vertical cylinder. Bloody frame's in the way and couldn't get my socket sets in there.

Had to concoct a Heath Robinson tool and will probably have to invest in a special 12mm socket and wrench that'll fit in the gap.

The old belts, once removed were actually in what can only be described as 'as new' condition but for the sake of a few quid and about 3 hours of my time, it's better (and quite possibly cheaper) to be safe rather than sorry.

Try as hard as I could I just couldn't hit the optimum 99Hz when tensioning so I've settled for 101Hz. I reckon a couple of Hz is neither here nor there.

So, new belts are now on, oil arrives today so oil change tomorrow, then I'm just waiting for the new Dzus to turn up and all the plastic bits can then go back on and we can go out for a road test. Hurraaayyyyyy

 

Thanks. It will probably going to be my winter project. Strip it down and get the frame and engine both redone.

 

SPA DAY.
While the cat's away the mice will play. The wife's out today so I sneaked the nose fairing into the kitchen to give it a good wash and remove the bandages. Before @Birdie and told me about the QBond (which I now have) and @comfysofa had told me about the hot stapler (which I haven't bought yet because it's €118, money which would go a long way towards a replacement nose fairing or a professional fix and respray), I used Gorilla Glue. It seems to have done the job but I'll find out how strong the repair really is once the fairing's back on. If it breaks I'll try the QBond next.

Does anyone have any suggestions please for filler and where I can get Ducati yellow paint from? I might as well try and smooth out the glued crack and then respray. I've a paint spray gun and fancy giving it a go.

 

Yep, Wimbledon. That's where I bought the 748 from. I think they closed up around 2005. I also had a 2nd hand M900 from them as well. They did the servicing until they closed up; did a good job, no complaints. Then used David Robinson in Wandsworth until I left the UK in 2010. I don't even know if he's still there?

 

Well, the Gorilla Glue ('It'll stick anything!') doesn't stick anything. Actually, I had it in the kitchen draw so tried it. The joint failed as soon as I started to mount the fairing. So, out with the QBond. Boy, does that set quickly! I couldn't even get the joint aligned in time so now I have a Grand Canyon of a scar across the fairing. Still, at least it appears firmly stuck this time. I'll see how it goes and shop around for a replacement.

 

Tomorrow’s job. Thanks.

 

ON THE ROAD.
So tomorrow, ie Thursday came and guess what? It was a beautiful day, sunny, dry and no rain forecast. Sod the idea of breaking the fractured/QBonded nose fairing and doing it again. The hard sought for insurance (7+ years of not being insured) was effective since 00.01hrs and the new Dzus have arrived so, after 4 weeks of getting her road worthy again, I'm fitting the new air filters (the old ones were just disintegrating after so much time had passed), putting all the plastic bits back on and taking her (and me) on a road test!

I live on the Wild Atlantic Way, at 2500Km the World's longest coastal drive, and there are some absolutely stunning drives/rides around here. However, the roads are not the best surface, very narrow in a lot of places and, at this time of year, full of tourists, motorhomes, chelsea tractors and proper tractors. Bear in mind neither of us have been on the road for 7+ years so I'll just take it easy and check everything works as it should, including me.

I had forgotten so much which became apparent as I tiptoed around the first few corners; weight transference, counter-steering, what a fantastic view the mirrors give of my elbows, just to mention a few. As the miles rolled by and time passed I'd also forgotten how hot your bum gets sitting directly above the exhausts, how sweaty your crotch gets and how much weight is on the heel of your palms and your wrists. But most importantly of all, I'd forgotten how much fun it all is .

So, everything on the 748 works as it should although I can't say the same for me, but that can be rectified with practice, and a much nicer repair to the nose fairing can wait until the winter layover when I strip it all down again to overhaul the suspension front & rear and to properly treat the frame and engine corrosion.