Father/Son PW80 Restoration

Got it and took inventory. Doesn't run very well, but when it does it sounds solid. Has to be a carb issue. Also seems to shift clunkily, especially from 1st to 2nd. It might be the idle adjustment.

Teardown begins. It was crazy dirty, and built up with years of oil and grime. We took off the plastics and threw them aside, and then started alternating between heavy spray downs on industrial degreaser and power washing. Was impressed with how well it actually cleaned up.

Pretty much kept disassembling until there wasn't anything left to take apart any more. Pretty much the only thing we didn't do was split the case, as I don't see a reason to do that at this point.

Stay tuned.

Progress continues. Spent until the wee hours of the morning sand blasting and Cerakoting just about every part it would be applicable to. Cerakote is a bake on gun finish, and is super hard. Plus it looks good, and has great wear resistance. You do have to bake it on, which requires an oven. As much as I would have liked to do my frame in Cerakote, the oven isn't big enough. So I rattle canned it with Engine Enamel.

Gave the motor one last bath and got in and personal with the brush to get it squeaky clean. Not going to paint the motor. Gotta draw the line somewhere. But I am going to remove the head and cylinder so I can run a hone through it and check the piston.

Spend stay up all night making stuff pretty and you are an overnight success.

Lucked out on the front tire. It's brand spanking new. But I am going to redo the forks with new seals and fluid.

Just like that we are on to reassembly.

 

Progress continues. Wow, what a difference a couple of hours can do. Also the big brown truck came with gaskets, a rear tire, and fork seals. Couldn't do much without those, so it was the wait game. But with a shiny new cover and head gasket I could get the engine put back together.

Didn't get many pictures, but I did get the forks put together. I didn't add the spacers yet for now since it would be very easy to add later. Thanks for the tip. Did the seals and new 15W fluid.

Next up it was time for tires. I had a local shop (Revved Up Motorsports in Meridian) put the tire on the rim for $15, and they even agreed to do it by the end of day. Excellent shop.

The tire is cheap off of Amazon. $47.89, and it came with a tube. Figured it would be a good idea to keep the overall cost down, but give the kiddo some grip. Not sure about the brand which is Hiaors (probably Chinese) but it looks good. Should be able to last at least one kid.

Next up is the carb. For $21.99 I ordered a brand new one off of Amazon ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MPDNGKQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 )

Crazy how you can get a whole new carb for less than a rebuild kit. Maybe playing with fire, but for just over $20 I figure it's worth the gamble. I did one on my Z50R and was impressed so I figure I will give it another go. I do have another question... there are two tubes coming out of the top. What are these hose barbs for? (RED highlight) I figure one is a vent. What is the other? Also, GREEN is the oil input I assume?

 

Next up, put some 2 stroke oil (we use just normal 2 stoke mix, right?), quickly bolted on the gas tank and put in some 32:1 pre mix. My idea is to run pre mix until I know 100% that the auto oiler is working. Right now it's just dandling off to the side and once I see it start dripping I will drain the tank, put that gas back into the weed eater can, and fill with straight gas. I haven't used the bleed screw yet...gunna try that.

Then I fired it up. Used a quick squirt of starting fluid until it fired and turned over a few times under it's own power. Then turned the gas on, and kicked it again. Started right up. Ran for about 20 to 30 seconds....and then quickly turned it off. I freakin forgot to put in the crankcase oil.

Didn't run very long, didn't actually ride it, so I doubt there is any damage. Couldn't have been good for it. I didn't have an air filter or ANY exhuast, and it was so loud it actually hurt my ears, and it was close to 9 PM so luckily I didn't run it too long. But dang, sometimes I'm a moron.

Crank case now has fresh new 10W30. Ugh.

But lets end on a happy note.

Quickly set the plastics on top. DAAAAANG this looks good. I was honestly worried about going with the black plastics. Didn't know if it would look good. But now seeing it I think I made the right choice. (Well, Peyton chose, but with some minor coercion. )

I did scrub the expansion chamber and sand blast. It's now ready for paint. Need to stop by and get some exhaust paint at Autozone. Shouldn't take long. All I know is it's way too loud to run without hearing protection.

 

I got most of it all buttoned up. When I put the exhaust on it the engine came to life. I figured it wanted some back pressure. The only thing missing is an air filter, which arrives tomorrow. The filter itself was $13, and the whole airbox assembly with a filter was $21, so I just sprang for it. The old one was pretty tore up anyways.

I did let Jr ride around the neighborhood for a bit. He loved it. He stopped by and I looked at the carb, and I could see it was pretty dusty, so we cut off riding until the filter comes.

I did check the auto oiler. I'm not sure what rate it's supposed to drip, but it wasn't often enough for my liking, so added oil to the gas to bring it to a 40:1 mix in the tank, just as a safety. I'm waffling back and forth between removing the oil injector. Haven't decided yet. I think I would just prefer keep it so my kid doesn't have to worry about what gas to use.

Something I have noticed, is it really jerks when you shift into 2nd. Especially on pavement. I'm letting completely off the throttle but it still feels like I'm shifting with it revved up. Peyton says he can't feel it. Maybe it has to do with someone twice the weight of the target audience riding it. Anyone have experience with this?

Not bad for a total of $875.

Figured no build would be complete without a report of the maiden voyage. Today we took off towards Silver City Idaho, which is a ghost town with a lot of single track trails. Had a great time. My son did very well. It took a bit to get his confidence up, but once he was feeling comfortable on the bike he was cruising. Only had two lay overs, but one was me. Near the end I was trying to keep up with him.