Sounds like me. All of the removable components on the wife's Ody have been sand blasted and re-painted and the I look at the frame and just want to rip the whole thing apart and finish that. It drives me nuts to have it unfinished and all new looking!

But I'm also a firm believer that pretty don't make it reliable or make it go fast!

Rand

But the process of 'pretty' should make them reliable and faster, hopefully during the process of pretty your taking everything apart and inspecting when you get into the Engine and exhaust system your removing all the things that naturally slow it down improving performance

what's the old saying" chrome don't get you home but is sure looks good on the back of the wrecker"

I agree!

My inspection of the Ody as I was reconditioning parts was pretty much from front to tail.

So far she has gotten a rebuilt master (front and rear), rebuilt rear caliper, rebuilt top end, new battery, new drive clutch, new starter and the list goes on!

Rand

Where can you get the reproduction decals?!

here is the place that i know of

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1985-ATV ... ccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1985-ATV ... ccessories

scpilot66 - you have inspired me to many lost hrs & hrs in the garage, not seeing the missis for days on end and a fair few ear bending sessions to say the least!! hot tongue & cold shouder for tea!! ha ha - anyway really enjoyed following what you have done that build looks amazing truely amazing and i hope the pilot build im on with at present can come out half as good and i will be a happy man!

Rich

Have you tried mudbogger-Greg? He may still have some for sale.

Thank you for the reply with the ebay links!!

Also found this guy who says he can make FL350 and Pilot decals, but he's in Australia so shipping is $$$

http://atcheaven.com/Decals.php

I suggest we use someone that has already made them for the group so we know what quality to expect, their are many different grades of stickers and ink you can buy, I forget who was making I know Mudbogger had some sets made now would be a good time to get feed back on quality from all those that has bought after market stickers.

I agree, if his are better than the one's on feebay, I'll buy them. Who did he get them from?

Also does anyone know if you can powder coat the front j-arms with the ball joints still in them? I haven't found any aftermarket replacements and it looks like Honda never offered them as a separate part from the arms. I'm worried the baking process will cook the grease inside and possibly seize them up??

Think Mudbogger has all the info on the stickers I know he has bought many and had some made in the past.

No clue on the arms I would just paint them myself, last paint job lasted 20+ years? Why risk heat damage to them.

PM Turbotexas and ask him about replacement ball joints. I believe he might have found some.

Rand

That is true about the paint, I'm amazed the factory paint has lasted so long. I was going to powdercoat them because once I pay for a color, it doesn't cost anymore to throw in as many parts as I want.

I'll have to ask Mudbogger about the sticks. Thank you!

What I found was that ATVRacing in Phoenix will take your j-arm and pop out the old ball joint and put in a new one... Maybe they can have it powdercoated

I knew you were the man Dave!

Rand

What do they charge for this service? I have an arm that needs one... This seems like a much needed service..

I agree it is needed - but i bet atvr won't be cheap. Wouldn't you think they are just removing the old joint and installing a new one. The difficult part is finding the replacemnet ball joint. If they can find one then we should be able to.

I do know they did/do machine the tapper on an after market ball joint to match the fl400 tapper for the rear ball joint.

I wonder if somthing like this would work?

http://www.ghdiscountatvsupply.com/serv ... -AT/Detail

When I saw this several years ago, they were charging $125.00! And buying a worn out used one from chucklenuts at aftershot motorspurts cost me $200! I didn't know any better at the time!

Powdercoaters told me the ball joint won't be affected by the coating and if it does, they will buy me new ones. Seems fair hah. But still will look into replacements for the future.

SCpilot66. what was the color red you used for powdercoating?

Hello Rich, I am very sorry for not getting back sooner I have been working like crazy and for some reason I have not gotten any messages telling me I had reply's on this.

I know how you feel man I have been in trouble a lot for living at the shop working on toys, I keep telling my wife almost honey just another few days. The trouble with that is days mean months and months mean years, my goodness time flies. The older you get the faster it goes.

Thank you for your kind words and good luck on your build.

Take care, Steve.

Steve, you still need that piston pin by chance? I am going to start on the Kawonda project soon as well FYI.