After I got the Dream running I knew I had a great candidate to restore and at least didn't have to be to concerned about doing any engine work so I decided to dismantle the complete bike. To make my every day work a little easier in my shop I installed a new bike lift a few years ago. The lift is a 1500lbs Handy Lift and me being the owner of an 1800 GoldWing it comes in handy doing the maintenance on that bike. I also use it for my automotive business as an off loading and on loading ramp which really saves me from any back pain lifting stuff off the back of trucks. Before I removed anything off the motorcycle I took dozens of pictures of each and every section of the bike. I stored them on my hard drive so I could look at them when they were needed. I then started to remove the parts from the bike. It took me about four hours to dismantle the complete bike down to the frame. I bagged all the small parts to keep things organized and I also inspected each and every part for any damage while writing down notes on what I knew I would need in parts as I went along.
All the painted parts went to one side of my shop and everything else I put over in another corner of the shop out of the way for the time being. A few days later I took all the painted parts out to the rear of my shop and got ready to sand blast all the painted parts. I had built my own pressure blaster some years ago and It's a fantastic tool to have when doing this sort of project ( Learn more on the sand blaster I built in the link attached below). Sand blasting is not one of my favorite jobs. As a matter of fact I actually hate sand blasting but if you want perfect results to prep for paint sand blasting is the way to go.
It took two large bags of double 0 silica sand to do all the parts except the fuel tank. The fuel tank I put into the cabinet blaster. I used the cabinet blaster because it's more gentle than the pressure blaster and I didn't want to risk damaging the tank. In the pictures below you'll see all the parts removed from the bike and the sand blasting process. In part two which I'll post in a few days you'll see how I prep for painting, what type of paint I use and how I do it. I hope you all don't find this to boring Ha! Ha!. I'm just trying to do my part in bring some needed life into this great site. Enjoy, Paul
Note: Want to learn about my pressure blaster? Click here
http://www.weldingdesign.com/323/Column ... lse/22589/
