progress

Well today was pretty uneventful. After swinging a hammer for two hours on the bearings I decided to have a drink or two last night. I really was not in the mood the work on the quad, but it isn't going to finish it itself.
    The part I forgot to add yesterday, is I finally got the first coat of paint laid.

 

One issue I ran into was the steering column was bent really good. So I pulled the torch out again and bent it back straight.

 

This morning started with sanding, priming and painting the front control arms.

 

Now for the brakes. The issue was the plungers and pistons were frozen. I decided to try a experiment. Diesel fluid normally will loosen things up. I didn't have any so I decided to use charcoal lighter fluid. It worked like a champ. Everything loosened right up, and no torch needed. I know torches and lighter fluid don't mix. I also cleaned the lighter fluid out as soon as everything loosened up. I wasn't sure if it would eat the seals if I left it to long. As seen in the picture I installed the shocks and covers. After I decided the brake were functioning I installed them.

 





I bled the brakes using a syringe and a piece of RC fuel tubing. If you create a vacuum on the bleeder port you don't have to keep pumping the brakes. That would be difficult considering I accidently sent the brake lever to my fathers house. He should send that to me soon.

   The next parts I added were

the handle bars, rear swing arm and most of the electrics. This is what it looked like at the end of the day. I also started working on the carb. To be honest it was a mess, but I will post more on that later.

 

Finally progress.

This is what we started with today.

 

This is what we ended with.

 







The axle of evil

This one is going to be a bit long. It's about a axle from hell and rear hubs.
To get this started I will explain the situation. The axle is not the original one for the TRX250X. I realized this after I bought bearings and they were to small.(more of this later). The Rear hub (which was ordered at the same time) wasn't original either.( yes there was only one). So I already bought one set of hubs, $55 didn't fit. Bought a second set off  250R $15, didn't fit. Finally I sent a picture to a guy on ebay and he said they were of a Kawasaki 220 Bayou. @$#@@#%%$!.  I don't want to use them because they look dorky, but my cousin gave me a great set of Honda tires and rims and I really want to use them. They are aluminum and the ones on the quad now are steel. In the future I will buy a set of Honda 300ex that fit (i'll get to that later).
   Now for the axle problem. Another guy off ebay informed me that the 300ex and the TRX250X have the same axle. The good news is I found one on craiglist, the bad news is it is the same axle that I already have. The bearings didn't fit because it was so worn out.
 Okay so I have the new axle and the bearings showed up finally. Crap, there half the width of the ones that came out of it. The issue is the bearing carrier is aftermarket and it take two sets of bearings. I figured this out after talking to the manufacturer.
   Eureka..... I have a solution I will rebuild the old bearings and use the new ones to carry the load on the axle, and use the old ones to take up the space since they are so worn out they don't even touch the axle.
So I installed the new and old bearings. Maintenance note: put bearings in the freezer and then heat the carrier, the bearings fall right in. But there is a problem, they will never come out again.  It was either basic math or my own stupidity but now the retaining nut didn't fit.
   So this is a easy fix, just push the bearings out like before. They came out easy the first time, this should be cake. WRONG. The first set came out fine, except that bearing is now trash they don't come out as well as they go in. Now the second set came out about halfway and then just stopped. It was like they welded themselves in. After two hours a torch and a sledge hammer I finally break the bearings center out (another note. if you hit a bearing hard enough they shatter. They are made to be hard and inflexible, so they shatter like ice). Then I have to cut the outer race with a Dremel, Thank You Dad for the Dremel, it came in useful. The problem was as I was tapping the bearing out the inner race cocked sideways and the steel fused to the aluminum.
   To say the least I bought two more sets of bearings $34. They should be in by next week. I am also in need od a pair of 300 ex hubs.
I'm not going to even add this weeks totals. But I will say I hit my had with a hammer about twenty times, so that is going to swell nicely and a nice blister from swinging said hammer for 2 hours. I hope today is better.

A crack in my Universe

Well things have been progressing well. I have the quad completely taken down to the frame. I thought everything was going well until I saw a small crack ion the paint. Under further investigation(a grinder) a found a crack in the front down tube. As usual I have everything but a welder. SO off to craigslist I go. I Found a guy local that was willing to do it for $70. I could have bought a welder at Harbor Freight for that amount. After telling him no thank you he offered to fix it for $40.
    So that night around 730 I went over to the guys house. I waited and texted him, but he wasn't there. I will be honest this was not the nicest neighborhood. So after reading the CHIVE for 45 minutes the guy finally texted me and said his truck broke down. So I went home.
  The next day I skipped out of work and got it taken care of. Not a bad weld it should hold.

additions

couple of quick notes:
1. a hammer is not the best tool
2. vise grips are not a tool unless needed for a emergency
3. never grab a piece of metal after you heated it for 10 minutes (not a bad burn, glad I still have fast reflexes).
 also this is the parts and prices so far
1. quad $350
2. rear hubs $55 Shipping $11.99
3. brake lever $12.99 $0 shipping
4. left front tie rod$17.99 Shipping $8.50
5. Throttle 14.99 Shipping $0
6. Rear bearings $17.00 Shipping $0
7. Shock covers $10.00 Shipping $1.95
Total $500.41

Day 1 of rebuild

First off I decided on a game plan.
1. break quad down to bare frame.
      a. rear swingarm and axle first
      b. front end
      c. motor
      d. paint and body
      e. reassemble
      f. hope the hell it works

     Enough of that, This morning I started off all happy to get the project started. Of course, right off the bat the main swing arm bolt war rusted and someone decided to use a pair of vise grips to remove it at some point. Looks like I'll have to fix that later before install. Besides that the swingarm removal was pretty simple.
   Once it was removed I decided to do what normally would be done. Check the bearings and grease them up. Oh crap where's the grease gun. Oh yeah I threw that out years ago. Well it looks like I will be putting grease in manually. The next step for those who are paying attention it to find the Zurk fitting. Oh there it is, the rusted thing under all the dried mud. So after removing it and pressing grease in with my finger I realized the more grease I put in the more the axle wobbled as I turned it. That only means one thing, I was pushing out the dirt in the housing.
   Well looks like we'll be replacing the rear bearings. Did I tell you this Quad in 25 years old. first thing. If you attempt this have a torch handy. This goes back to those high school and college courses on thermodynamics. As usual the main lock nut on the axle is rusted. So after a little persuading with a hammer and the torch the nut began to turn. Lefty loosey righty tighty, Correct. WRONG..... Of course the threads are reversed. TIP#1 I heated the nut really freakin hot and then put gear oil on the threads. I did say to keep a fire extinguisher in your garage at all times, just in case of fire. (That may have happened before) That's a different story. Well at this point the nuts (yes 2) began to turn. Oh crap why isn't the nut coming off, it is at the end of the threads.
   Found the problem (time elapse 1 hour, Slowly moving the nut), the mud was so packed in the axle I didn't see the lock ring where the nut came off. So this means I had to reheat the nuts, reverse direction and start over. Finally, got the nuts off (No comments) and on to the bearings. Nope, first thing is first. Remove rear brake rotor mount and rotor. Yipee more torch time. I'm getting good with this thing. Actually that went well. A couple of gentle strikes with the hammer and it popped right off.

Now for the bearings. As usual the bearings and dust seals were full of dirt. Hence the funny noise when the axle turned. Bearing removal is more thermodynamics. First of all remove outside carrier bolts to allow for expansion. Note the position of the bearing carrier. Okay now back to heating housing. Keep the torch moving because remember your bearing carrier in aluminum and the housing is steel.
    After allot of heating and some manipulative adjustment with a drift the bearings came right out.
Now it's time for more ebay parts and a beer.
   Found both bearings and dust seals for $17.00. At least one thing has worked out.

The purchase

  I may be getting in over my head but I finally decided to  rebuild a old Four wheeler. After weeks of searching I decided on a 1988 Honda 250X. Over the next few months (lets hope) I will be keeping anyone who cares up to date on the progress. Maybe to help the next person to try this or maybe deter someone in the future from trying this. I will be posting pictures and narratives on the progress.
Well lets get started. The picture below is of the new baby after I put all the available pieces in place and the frame on the stand. To say the least it is pretty pathetic. But what do you expect for $350.
   It looks better than when I picked it up though. After driving for 4 hours through a rain storm I found a bunch of parts on a trailer. So, I loaded the truck in the rain at night and made a quick check for all the parts (a decision I would regret later), paid the seller, signed a bill of sale and off we went.