I've been running around the extreme NW subuarbs of Detroit in a 1983 fl250 for a little while with a really bent roll cage. I paid $500 and it runs so I think I did OK there, it also has a working electric start. When I started I just wanted to replace the bent pieces but before I knew it I had completely disassembled the entire thing. I blame a 2 week Christmas break with too much time on my hands. I'm going to do a complete restore on this just for fun. I fully realize I'm going to have way more money in this thing than it's worth, I just want to do it. Had I planned this I would have started with a Fl350.

Everything came apart pretty well. I actually had the most trouble with the tie rods and ball joints. The little nut that holds the ball joints in just spins turning the ball in the socket. There doesn't seem to be any way to hold the ball and turn the nut? The other major annoyance was that many of the bolts were replaced with English sizes forcing me to switch wrenches constantly. Grrrrr.

Broken / worn out parts (so far)
-Top Front Roll bar
-Front Bumper
-Front Bash plate
-Small bracket that connects clutch assy to Engine frame
-Muffler needs welding, spark arrestor missing the entire thing is packed with carbon.
-Intake manifold, the rubber part is cracked
-Tires are shot

Other
-Engine runs but looks really dirty and corroded. The head especially looks bad.
-Everything needs paint
-Wireing harness will be replaced.
-Probably needs all new bolts, screws, and nuts.
-The front J-arms and bearings are corroded. I'm a little worried about that 'front axle'. It may be more bent than I thought.

Already Fixed
-new exhaust manifold (pipe was not attached when I bought it)
-I redid the seat already

Now I start with the questions. I've never painted somethign like this. How much prep do I need to do to get this powder coated? Do I sandblast the frame or will the powder coater dip it? How much does this kind of painting cost? I'm open to any painting advice.

I need various parts but most are too heavy to ship it I buy them over the internet. Can roll bars be repaired or will they just collapse if you try to bend them back?

What should be replaced even if it isn't broken? I know to replace the gearbox chain, but what else? I see some people are putting a different head with different cooling fins. Does this really help? I have all the components for a EGT system so that will go on as I redo it.

Thanks for reading. I'll post pictures when I spend some time and figure out how. I assume you've all seen piles of parts but I do have before pictures.

welcome - good luck with the rebuild

here are some pics of a rebuild i am doing on my stock fl250

http://cfallen1355.enhancedit.com/stock_fl250_teardown_and_reserec.htm

omo

Curtis

To keep the balljoint from spinning use a C-clamp or vise grips to clamp/hold the taper tight in the spindle, then loosen the nut.

there is a place up under the rubber to put a wrench on as a backup on your tierod ends.

omo

yes , look under the rubber boot there are 2 flat spots for a 14mm wrench

i did a 250 at the beginning of summer. lots of fun and a good learning experience.
here are the two threads i had on it.

http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=5610

and

http://pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=5899


if you need any parts shoot me a pm i have random parts lying around that i doubt i will ever use. started with almost two machines in attempt to make one machine :)