My mini rebuild

[MarkW]

A few months ago I was lucky enough to pick up a 350 with a few electrical issues. The further I delved the more I uncovered that I wanted to fix so it very quickly turned into a strip down and rebuild.



Once I pulled apart the cowl to investigate the wiring I was met with a bird's nest of woe. The previous owner had issues with the wiring and was quite heavy handed in his investigating.





I was hoping that the loom could be saved but it would require far more skill and patience than I posses to be able to fix all the snapped wires and missing connections so a new/second-hand loom is on the list.

Once I started removing the rest of the loom I noticed that the rear mudguard had been incorrectly fitted and had resulted in it melting on the exhaust. Rather than reinstall it I decided to replace with new, same with front mudguard that had been sprayed with the same rattle can as the rest of the bike. I've purchased new side panels for the same reason as I didn't have any luck removing the previous paint with nitromors.



The pannier frame was not fitted correctly either and on removal I noticed that it was missing fixings. I tried to remove the rusted in Allen bolts but they sheared so I had to remove the brass inserts and replace them with some new ones donated by Derrick. Slightly smaller but I hope they do the job of holding the donut on.



This weekend I finished rubbing down and painting the frame. I'm doing it by hand with polyurethane in RAL 6020, I think it is a little darker than the original. The last bike I did in 6003 and this was lighter. Not sure which I prefer.

You can see the other bike behind the rebuild in this photo.


Frame painted.



I haven't managed to get a perfect finish like I would have from powder coating but I am happy with how it looks and it should keep the rust at bay. George has supplied a set of his stainless fixings so now the bike is slowly going back together. I need to replace the cowl as well, as for the pannier boxes I'm not sure whether to spray over the previous paint job or just leave them. I don't like the previous colour though!

The rear shocks are after market, they are about an inch lower though. I might replace them with Ohlins but the ones I have need re-gassing I think and I don't want to fork out too much more. Will have to see!

I will stick some more photos up once I've made some more progress.

[mt bandit]

i remember it being for sale, i like the darker colour its cool , i hand painted my bits too in a desperate bid to save money, huh !, how did you get on with the lacquer? the one good thing about regassing your old ohlins is the can be set at your weight at the same time , good luck mark

[deadgrass]

good work mark, always nice to see another one going the right way.
dave.

[Andrew]

Looks crap

[MarkW]

Thanks Pops. Maybe you should come and help then.

[ellrider]

Looks crap

I like the encouragement you give him.

[gegdonnell]

Nice progress, I assume your not keeping it as low rider like mine then.

[ellrider]

Nice progress, I assume your not keeping it as low rider like mine then.

No, now yours is a mini build.

[gegdonnell]

I knew I'd get your attention Ellrider.

[gegdonnell]

How many MT minis are actually in existence, I did see one at Stafford about 3 or 4 years ago that was lower than mine.