YZ80 Restoration Continues...

I've been a bit slack with the blog updates lately but work on the YZ has continued pretty quickly.

The next part I've tackled on the bike is the rear suspension.  When I got it, the rear shock linkages and swingarm bearings were flogged out to the point where in the case of the swingarm, there was no bearing left at all.

So the first step here was to strip it all down.  That's the easy bit.  Getting the original swingarm decals off was much harder!  Before I removed them though, I did a quick drawing with some locating measurements so when the time comes, the new ones will go in the correct positions.

With the decals off, a degrease and quick grit blast had the swingarm ready for the next step.

Trying to replicate the original finish on the swingarm wasn't straight forward.  After blasting, the alloy was very clean but also very dull.  My only real option was paint so I spent the next few weeks trying to get the right shade of 'aluminium'.

Whilst buying up silver paint all over town, I started work on the linkages.  A quick bath in degreaser for all of the parts and then I pressed the original bearings and bushes out in preparation for new items.

The only parts to be saved from the above photo were the aluminium shock linkage and the plated steel connecting link.  Everything else went in the bin and the two linkages were blasted.

The aluminium link had to be finished in the same paint as the swingarm so that was put aside untill a suitable paint was found.  The steel link was zinc plated though...

I've used zinc plating kits before for other restorations.  You can do it yourself at home with a small benchtop plating kit.  I got mine through Jane Kits.  The most important thing with plating is preparation.  The parts must be spotless before making it ot the plating bath.  Grit blasting gets most of the grim away but before the bath, the part goes into a detergent wash.  Here's the link getting cleaned:

... and into the plating bath:

After about 45min it's all done and looking just like a new part from Yamaha!

So before I pressed in any new bearings to the linkages I needed to find a paint that replicated raw aluminuim.  I eventually found what I needed - a VHT high temp satin aluminium for car headers and exhausts.  Most of the others I tried were far to bright and glossy.  The satin finish of this paint was perfect.

So, with that, the linkage was painted and the bearings pressed in.  Pretty happy with the result all-round.

Now that I found the paint, I could finish the swingarm.  It had received a few battle scars over the years so they were filled before painting.

With the swingarm completed, I could do my first part of assembly!  Bolting new parts together is the best part for me.  So much fun!

Finally, I was able to bolt on some of the new old stock parts I've collected.  New master cylinder, hydraulic brake line, brake pedal, chain guides etc.  Even the bolts are new Yamaha.

Next - The engine...