RWB 1996 - a winter restoration...

Hey everyone!

As some of you may remember, I laid down my pristine '96 in mid July, borking up most of the left side bodywork:
http://vfrworld.com/forums/3rd-4th-generation-1990-1997/35838-96-vfr-down.html

I have gotten her back together (special thanks to all who helped me find replacement bits) and ridden almost 600 miles since the incident. There does not seem to be any lasting effects of the accident, so the next thing to do is make her pretty again.

Well, it's nearly that time of year in Vermont where riding is a chore rather than an enjoyment, so it's bedtime for the ol girl.

I have always been a huge fan of the RC30 (and have even built the 1:12 Tamiya kit of that bike), and to my knowledge, there are no RWB 4G bikes out there with the RC30 paint scheme.

Well, I'm about to change that. Stay tuned to this thread for more details and pictures as the RC30/6 is born. Probably some maintenance will be performed along the way, too.

 

Wouldn't it be an RC36/0 ?

Just messin'... You've got more ambition than I. My '96 has sat all season waiting for me to replace or repair a mildly tweaked upper cowl mainstay.
(part no. 64500-MZ7-000)

Good luck on the re-color, looking forward to it!

 

There's a crappy Photochop on the original crash thread, it will definitely look better than that.

Question to the experts - of the four Honda OE RC30 colors (white/red/medium blue/dark blue), which are metallic/pearl, and which are standard colors?

Here are the original Honda color names/codes:
Wisteria Blue/PB166 (the light blue)
Seychelle Night Blue/PB186 (the dark blue)
Fighting Red/R-134 (red)
Crystal White/NH-193P (white)

If I were a betting man, only the white seems to be a Pearl (P suffix on paint code)...

 

the dark blue and the crystal white are metallic.

 

Thanks! I had been waiting on an answer since my original question for a week now!

My first stop now is the paint chip book at my local paint mixing shop!

 

Cool idea!

 

Looking forward to seeing a RWB 4th gen.

Good luck...and post lots of pics!

 

Finally managed to get this project underway. I've been extraordinarily busy with work, the holidays, a 16 month old boy, and a new husky puppy. Got some time this AM and tore her to pieces...


The fuel tank is airing out in the garage, and the belly pan was still attached to the bike when these were snapped:


She's getting new front rotors, too:


The next step here is to bring all of the bodywork to my parent's house (10 minutes away) and start a heavy regimen of degreasing followed by some 800 grit sanding. The left mid fairing will need some fiberglass/epoxy reinforcement before it gets any paint.

I will then prime all of the parts in light gray high-build. Then it's on to the white, then red, dark blue metallic, then the brighter blue. I am planning on using the Dupli-Color Paint Shop cans for the white, red, and clear, and Dupli-Color rattle cans for the dark blue metallic, and lighter blue.

Stay tuned, this thread is gonna get interesting quick.

 

Keep the pics coming.

And nice hardwood floors. Think they'll hold up to the 16 month old baby and a husky?

 

Pics will remain constant until completion at this point.

The floors are red birch, and they took a beating at the hands of my last husky. They are pretty soft wood, and a scrambling hyper active dog don't really mix well.

Luckily, they can be sanded and refinished in the future.

 

RC30 paint jobs are ALLWAYS COOL! Good luck with it!

 

Nice rotors! :nod:

Couple questions:
Are the OEM's bad or just going for the bling?
Which are they and where did you source them?

Good luck with the work, I'll be watching!

 

My bike was down on it's right side at one point wayyyyy before I owned it, and the carrier for the RH rotor has a ding in it. There has been a brake pulsation ever since I have had it that hasn't gotten any better.

They came from eBay - vendor neverland-usa. Just search for "VFR Rotor" and you'll find many similar ones. They were $193 shipped from China. Not bad considering that used OEM's were ~$100 with no indication if they were also warped or not. I cannot say enough good things about the quality of the transaction and the parts themselves. I just didn't want to take a chance on used rotors.

 

Im subscribing, cant wait to see how this turns out.

 

And then???????

 

Actually, NH-193P is a 3 stage pearl, base, pearl, and clear, or 2 stage if you're clearing it all.

Do good, repair well ,and mask smoothly.

Waiting impatiently.

Larry

 

The sanding of all of the panels has begun in earnest. As exciting as it is, there are no pictures.

I have the primer, and the entire bike will be gray soon enough. Once everything is in primer, the masking begins.

I plan on doing the white as a base white, followed by a metallic clear. I have looked closer at some bikes in the pearl white, and they aren't "white enough" [insert racist joke here]. I always assumed that the white on the RC30 was a straight-up white...

I also need to make more permanent/solid repairs to the left mid, it's definitely floppy and lacking strength with the duct and grille removed.

 

Actually, Toyota has a Crystal White that is a little brighter.

Keep up the good work.

Larry

 

OK, again, no pictures (insert groan here), but here's an update:

Lots and lots of sanding has happened since my last update. Those factory decals are a PITA to get off! Even with heat and lots of elbow grease, the tank nearly didn't relinquish them!!!

All parts are in gray primer (imagine a flat gray 4G VFR) and are just about smooth enough for color. The left mid still needs a little smoothing where the road removed some of the plastic last July.

I have all colors now, too. I needed to get a pint of the lighter blue custom mixed up, it's definitely an odd color to expect to find on the shelf.

Both wheels are off, and have been sandblasted to bare metal, and have one coat of white primer. This will be followed by many coats of gloss white paint. I have new front wheel bearings and seals, too. Once the wheels are done, I can put the bike back in her spot in the garage where the [mostly unused this winter] snowblower currently sits.

The first pics you guys will get will be the taped out body panels just prior (and after) the white paint has gone on.

Progress has been extremely slow - every spare moment I have, my wife is asking me to do something...

 

OK, here's a quick (and disappointing) photo dump.

I have all of my colors (including a pint of the "French Blue") I had to have mixed up. I have also changed course on the white paint as well. I picked up 25g of pearl powder that will be mixed into the clear coat for a "mid coat" over the white. This will then be clear-coated.

I received my decal set as well from xtremedecals.com. I got set #814, which is a 1987 VFR750 decal set - old style gold tank wings, VFR750F logos, and "HONDA" scripts for the belly pan, and nose/tail.











It's currently taped off for the light blue striping now, will be painting that upon my return from vaca on Tuesday.