GHOST SHIP: Custom Chingaderas

I’ve seen how you wheel.

 

do they relocate the pivot also? or HD replacement?

 

They’re an HD replacement for the most part. Archive is in their third version of these and I believe the newest set hang about the same location as stock. They have a second set of holes in them that allow you to move the hanger back about 1/2” which could accommodate different leaf springs lengths. You can see more about them here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacoma-hammer-hangers-soa-sua-archive-garage.519625/

 

A little work on the shop trike today. Got the little guy running. All it took was rebuilding the carb, cleaning out the rusty tank and chasing an electrical gremlin that ended up being a faulty kill switch. I also cleaned the points, changed the oil and cleaned and lubed the drive chain but they were in surprisingly good condition. I’ve posted in another thread but so far I’ve rebuilt the two piece wheels, added new tires, painted the frame and skid plate and cleaned the engine with a wire wheel. Today was all about getting a new seat on and freshening up the appearance of the sun damaged rear plastic. New upholstery, new seat cover, fresh paint on the rear plastic and reproduction stickers. It’s looking almost brand new. I did a quick and dirty paint job on the plastic but sanded and used plastic primer/adhesion promoter to hopefully make it last a bit. I couldn’t bear to leave the sun damaged plastic alone.



This was the original condition of the seat foam. The sun had eaten away portions of the top layer that were exposed once the original cover had deteriorated. New foam isn’t readily available so I’d hoped to just add a new cover and be good but it left a lumpy appearance and that was a no go. My solution was to cut off the top 1” of foam and add new foam.





being the resourceful fellow that I am, I had one of these gardening kneeling pads laying around and the density was perfect.




Glued it to the original foam and shaped it with a flap disc on and angle grinder.


Here’s the original plastic with peeling factory stickers.




And here’s the whole thing put back together with fresh paint and new upholstery. I wanted to save the dealer sticker from where my dad bought the ATC back in ‘84. I think they’re still around so I might take it there and see if the have a new sticker I could add.

Edit: the Pasadena dealership is long gone so I’m glad I saved this sticker.



And nerding out in full warning label regalia And reproduction tail sticker.



I’ll be doing the same to the tank and forks since now they look dingy by comparison. The paint on the tank is in good enough condition that I may just buff it out to bring it back to life rather than repaint it. I have new tank stickers to replace the faded ones.

 

@BartMaster1234 this is right up your alley

 

I see you also have the OCD decal issue I have haha. Nice work.

 

Thanks! Nothing like the street fighter arcade build but I try. Haha. Not doing a full on numbers build but I am trying to keep it as original as possible. The only thing that’s bugging me is the clear red vent lines on the carb. That last all they had in stock at my local hardware store In that size or I’d have gone with black lines.

 

The seat looks fantastic. How did you get a cover for it?

 

The seat cover was actually easy to find. They’re still being made apparently. There’s different livery out there in terms of logo size and placement but I went with the one that came originally on this model year. The foam on the other hand is out of stock on a few places I checked but even then it worked out with my repair. Feels firm but still comfy enough to bounce around on. These bikes don’t have suspension so the balloon tires and thick seat do all the work to keep it somewhat comfortable while riding.

 

Awesome. Let me know when you order yours so I order mine and we can split shipping hahahah

 

I front end freshened up. Rebuilt the bearings on the steering stem and gave the forks and fender a fresh coat of paint to cover the oxidation. All I need to do now is remove the tank stickers, buff out the paint that’s still in surprisingly good shape and put new decals on the tank that I already have. It might bug me a little the first time I roll this thing but that’s what they’re for.

 

That’s awesome. I remember the first time I rolled one of those, I was flying downhill on a dirt road. Such good times. Scared the shit out of me, but got up, Flipped it over, and kept going. Such death traps. Love em’

 

Tank decal removal/replace today. All the various chemicals I used to try and get the feed lines unclogged wore away a lot of the ink from the original decals. They weren’t in horrible shape but were definitely sun damaged.




Their age made them super brittle so they wouldn’t just peel off. I wanted to limit damage to the paint as much as possible because I didn’t plan on repainting it. So I used a plastic scraper and a heat gun on low to slowly work the decal off. This left the adhesive residue behind.


After that, I used Goof Off, paper towels and the plastic scraper to work the adhesive off slowly. The paint underneath was in really good shape but had some checking and the halo of the sticker was visible and totally expected.


You can also see the hazing on the paint in the light reflection.


To revive the paint I used the three products in succession on a foam pad on drill. I didn’t use my larger buffer because the size of the tank made the drill a better option.


Here’s the paint after the three step process. Brought the color back to life and added some shine while removing minor surface scuffs and scratches.




I could’ve gone a bit longer and got it even better but I think this level of shine matches the condition of the rest of the bike. There are a few pits in the chrome and some surface rust here and there so I wanted the bike to look like what it was: a clean survivor.

New decals applied and I’m going to call this one done. I’ll ride it till something breaks and then I’ll think about upgrades.







Not bad at all considering what I started with a month ago:



edit: I brought it home Oct 21st

 

nice!

 

That looks like fun to ride around fish creek

 

I love it, excellent work as always Sergio!

My kids had Honda 50's when they were wee and their buddy down the street had a small Honda 3-Wheeler. Those kids had more fun tearing around the woods and fields, it was hysterical.

 

Thanks Bob! I’m hoping to get my niece and nephew hooked on motorized transportation with this. I remember riding it as a kid and it always scared me but I always had fun.

 

Sliders installed on @kevinnnn ’s 1st gen today.