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1996 Team Fabuloso CR250 Rebuild
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Probably get a few more rides out of that rear chain guide buffer😂 bonus points for front brake hose routing and wrapped tank👍 but really does not look to bad…I enjoy the teardown , just to see some the trouble someone will go through as a opposed to just buying the correct part to fix something…
Thanks Sandman. It's always a mixed bag of mysteries. Appreciate you pointing out the missing plastic in the chain guide. I was ordering new plastics on UFO and didnt even catch that. Plastics on UFO are 45% off still til Feb 1 if ya need em.
UFO is a life saver for these old bikes! And the quality is excellent… I have a bunch of new UFO plastic for my 90”s CR”s… look forward to your build👍
more progress on the tear down. radiators look fantastic. no frozen bolts, just a bent shift shaft. clutch basket looked great, too. but there is a lot of janky. not happy about the fork cap. any advice on getting that fmf pipe back to looking good? its nickel plated and rusted to hell.
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Let me know on what you end up doing on the fork cap. I know I have extras. Just on forks. But I’m willing to pull one off and give it to you.
How in the world do you bend that gear changing shaft. Amazing.
As for the pipe. Depends on what appearance you are going for. A brass bristle brush and WD40 works extremely well on removing rust without harming finishes normally. But that’s a huge area. Start with a light blue abrasive pad and WD40. I use that when I had to be super careful of the finish.
I went for a stock application so I had all of mine done in black powdercoat.
Good luck with this. You are doing a great job so far. You got passion my friend.
Thank you! Means a lot coming from you, sir. I may need to take you up on that fork cap if it is a spare you are ok with parting with. Else, i can scour ebay. That thing man, i tried hammering a socket over it, stripped. tried vice grips, stripped more. gonna have to get creative with its removal. Got it down to the frame though. Pulled the head and things are looking encouraging. Piston and cylinder walls look fine. Head looked great, too. May pull the jug tomorrow. I need to watch some videos around the power valves. Last set of 250s I had were an 02 and 03. These 90s versions are new to me.
Use a plumbers pipe wrench on the cap. You aren’t trying to salvage the cap anyways. That should grip it just fine. Use a big enough one to where you have good leverage or a pipe over the handle to make the handle long enough to get good smooth torque on it.
As mentioned above, use a pipe wrench. A 14” pipe wrench should work fine on removing that cap. Just make sure the teeth on it are clean and, sharp. If not, it may slip. Might be worth the $30 to purchase a new one. Go with steel. Way cheaper than an aluminum wrench.
Coming from a plumber lol.
Not sure if you are going original or resto mod/ rider. If you plan to ride it, may want to consider a complete front end from a newer Crf for better forks and brake components. Late model YZ/Yzf foot pegs, pins & springs slide right onto these bikes and can be had off eBay for pretty cheap, may even find some Ti YZ pegs….
Eventually it would be great to find a part out for a front end swap. Honestly, I am old and slow, and these forks will do for now.
I filed two long parallel lines and was able to turn it with my big ass crescent wrench. I will clean it up later. Thanks for the tips though everyone!
Saw your question about the tank in the other thread... I've seen this mentioned over the years but never any pictures of the tanks.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/restoring-plastics-yellowed…
Thanks for the tip! Here is what I am working with/against. The previous owner wrapped the tank with some sort of vinyl. Once I pulled off some of it, it looks like they possibly rough sanded the tank to help make the wrap stick? Holy hell. Work is definitely cut out for me. It is sort of like a challenge at this point, I may just try a section of wet sanding to scope the level of effort before I decide to buy a Clarke.
But seriously, I am trying to put myself in the head of the asshole who thought this was a good idea. And I just can't because I am not that effing dumb.
This bike is a paradox, man. Top and bottom end are in great shape. Didn't look like a lot of hours on the piston. Head looked great, too
I’ll pull a cap today. Get me an address and I will send it. Just cover whatever it costs me for postage.
That tank would be extremely difficult to restore. Hand sanding out those deep cuts would take a considerable amount of effort. I personally wouldn’t even consider it.
Whats your time worth?
I sent you a PM. Man, I am constantly blown away by the generosity of the folks in this board, God love you all.
TooOld4WFO is definitely a stand up guy.
Namura piston
Is the cylinder head gasket supposed to be that restrictive?
Always nice to see a banger restored to its original glory, looking forward to more progress!
Pit Row
Boom… Just treating others in a fashion I would like to be treated. Thanks for your comments Chance…
Packaged and ready to go out. Maybe the fiancée will drop off at UPS store this afternoon.
You are a good nut, homie. Thank you x1000
Thank you again, TooOld4WFO! I received the cap and boy was it in nice condition. I got scared because it arrived with a bunch of other parts that accidentally were delivered to a neighbor's home and I thought porch pirates got me. I paypalled you some cash. I sincerely appreciate your generosity.
A bit of progress, motor and linkage has been sorted. I tried messing with the tank just to see how bad it was under the wrap, but it is too yellowed. So, going to order a black one to match the 125.
hell yea, came with no packing
Looks like the core is intact though. Every silencer I've taken apart the core has been broken.
Is this possible on 01 as well? It would be so much easier to get parts.
I think I spent about 6 hours knocking off the rust, buffing and polishing that pipe. I took as far as I can/know how to do. It has spent so much time outside I don't think there is any full restoration but it is somewhat presentable. Going to break down the wheels tomorrow and see what's what.
Hopefully you took the time to clean as much carbon out as you could. Especially in the end of the pipe before going into the silencer. That can become so restricted due to carbon build up.
Heating that stuff up is my surefire way to remove. Packing material for silencers is cheap if you buy the small packages of it at Lowe’s or Home Depot. I used it and would again. One package at around $8 did 4 silencers at least.
The exterior of your pipe looks great…. You worked hard on that. It shows.
hit it with a torch?
when i do tires i reference this video and the cosby comment gets me everytime https://youtu.be/XftXThgerC4?t=552
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