Buying someone else's restoration project failed (longish)

Originally posted to upce.... But brought up to date with the latest
horrors discovered.

The Honda 400 Four I bought recently.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230465168377

What a shed it turned out to be. The seller had thrown thousands at
it, and completely botched the job. Oh, yeah, there were loads of nice
new shiny parts, but the more I dug into it when I got it home, the
more I realised it needed to be stripped right down to the last nut
and bolt and rebuilt properly.

God,the list was endless, but the key points were:

He'd built it up out of boxes of bits: never a good thing if you don't
know *precisely* what you're doing.

He'd re-used *all* the horrible old nuts and bolts. So you had brand
new chrome or paint held on by fasteners that looked as if they'd been
dredged up from the wreck of the Bismarck. He'd done this everywhere.

He hadn't done up many crucial nuts and bolts properly, so some vital
components were just hanging on. Esewhere, he'd used the wrong
fasteners, omitted washers, failed to locate things like springs and
clips properly, and bolted bits on in the wrong place. One engine
mounting bolt was entirely absent.

The wiring loom was a mess of ScotchLoks, insulating tape and horrible
cheap crimped connections. Wires had not been routed properly. The
switchgear showed signs of amateur soldering and fell apart as I
removed it. Several warning light bulbs were missing. The fusebox,
regulator and rectifier all had wires by-passing the connector blocks
were the connectors had corroded away.

He'd re-covered the seat nicely, but had not brazed the crack in the
pan first, so the whole thing needed doing again.

The wrong bolt had been used to hold on the front brake caliper
(really very dangerous indeed). A critical split pin that holds the
rear brake shoes in place hadn't been secured properly, so they would
just have dropped into the drum and locked the back wheel.

The air filter box hadn't been properly connected to the
carburettors.

He'd rechromed and repainted some components without preparing the
surface first. Or even straightening out kinks in them.

Oh, and it didn't run either despite his assertions that "It was
running perfectly yesterday". Yesterday I discovered that one HT lead
was actually broken where it went into the coil. Another lead had a
smashed plug cap.

The clutch lever was off another bike and was actually cracked through
at the pivot.

And it still needed another grand thrown at it to replace knackered
bits that he hadn't replaced. All the fasteners,
of course, the handlebars, headlight, front forks, warning light
console, fusebox, regulator, rectifier, and loads more.

Well, I've taken the parts I want including the whole brand new
exhaust system, which is now unobtainable. That's already greased up
and hanging in my garage, against the day when I need it. Other bits
are stashed away, too, and there's a raft of stuff on eBay. Some
people have contacted me and asked "Do you have XYZ?" and that's
cleared out more stuff. I calculate that I'll just cover the cost of
buying the thing from the parts sales, and that leaves me with maybe
£600 worth of spares for my existing classic, so I'm happy with that.
The first tranche of bits on eBay and sold elsewhere has made £860,
there's another £200+ in bids pending right now, and I've got some
more small stuff to put up.

But it's a salutary warning for anyone hunting for a 'restored
classic' on eBay....

Interestingly, one bloke who turned up to relieve me of some bits, and
who had heard the story of why I was busting it, went over it very
thoroughly and said thoughtfully: "Yes, I see what you mean. It's all
got to come apart again, hasn't it?" He knew his stuff.

 

SNIP

So has UKRMC died then

 

Bit hasty with the feedback were we?

 

Indeed

 

You need a new feedback template .. "Not as described, Tosser."

 

[snip tae of woe]

With careful application of dremel and drill you should be able to
salvage the OE seat cover and strap. David silver has the chrome rivets
at 13 quid for a set of 13. I would MIG it rather than brazing.
A quick rattlecan of black and some reassembly will make a good seat.

My seat is a bit easier, the twit fitted an OE cover but didnt bother
with the strap or chrome rivets.

ISTM that every restoration has a quota of fuckups but yours is a bit
excessive <B-),

 

Was it ever alive ?

Paul.