Eldorado project

Total hours expended to date = 153.5

This is a 1972 Moto Guzzi Eldorado project bike that my Dad brought to me when he and Mom came for a visit in early October, 2005. It is quite complete and - aside from the paint - has not been molested much over the years. My brother went through the engine, and I went through the transmission and rear drive, took care of a few odds and ends on the engine, plus all the usual checking of bearings, cleaning, polishing, etc. It ended up taking me a year and a half to complete. It is a nice ride and is real peppy…very fun! I took a few photos along the way, but never as many as I wish I had. But, taking photos takes time and when giving the choice, I'd rather ride or wrench than take photos. I did keep a very careful tally of the hours I spend working on this project (along with detailed descriptions of what I did with that time). Although there was some desk time involved (reading instructions, ordering parts, etc), I only kept track of actual garage time.

2007 Oct 05 - Sold

Jeff Herold purchased the Eldorado today. He is a good guy and a gentlemen rider. He will take good care of the Eldorado.

I was sad to see it go.

There will be other project Guzzis.

I was really sad to see it go.

2007 Sep 26 - Gilardoni kits

I replaced the existing pistons and cylinders with Gilardoni piston/cylinder kits. The old chrome-lined cylinders still looked perfect. But, they were a time-bomb waiting to happen.

2007 Sep 16 - Deal struck

Jeff Herold - Tampa local - came over today to test ride the Eldorado. He likes it and we struck a deal.

2007 May 09 - FINISHED!

Sure, I've got some maintenance items left to do (like resetting the valves, adjusting the brakes as the shoes bed in, and changing all the oils after a few hundred miles). But, the restoration part is complete and I am very pleased with the results.

2007 May 09 - Starter repair (0.25 hours)

Mounted the seat and passenger grab rails…using stainless fasteners and anti seize (of course).

2007 May 08 - Starter repair (2.00 hours)

I looked into the cause of my starter not working correctly…and discovered that I had soldered the solenoid cap back on backwards. I few minutes with the soldering iron and I had it fix, mounted, and tested…it works perfectly now!

Took the time to resolder the wiring connections going to the Yamaha 205 handlebar switch. The original soldered connections were done very well…but only covered with electrical tape. I used shrink tubing on each solder connection and then covered the entire area with flexible vinyl tubing. It functions and looks great…without any sticky tape mess.

Found an oil leak! I had forgotten to update the transmission vent plug to the style that accepts a vent hose. I stole one off the 850T transmission I had sitting in the corner and plumbed a nice length of 3/8" fuel line…securing it with stainless hose clamp. Look great…functions even better!

2007 May 07 - Miscellaneous (1.00 hours)

Disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled the period correct Yamaha 205 handlebar switch. It now functions perfectly!

Replaced the headlight…low beam was burnt out.

2007 May 05 - Assembly and start up (5.00 hours)

Mounted the exhaust system…complete with header pipe to frame clamps. I applied black RTV to the overlapping pipe joints so as to ease removal later (and make a slightly tighter seal).

Filled the engine and rear drive with oil.

Did the final fitment of the front wheel.

Lubed the front brake cable and installed and adjusted it.

Topped off the the front and rear tires with the proper amount of air pressure.

Set the static ignition timing.

Replaced several of the large terminals that connect the wires to the regulator. The originals were loose and weak enough that bending them a bit would not provide sufficient contact pressure to maintain a good connection.

Used 3M upholstery adhesive to resecure the vinyl cover on the seat to the seat pan. It had come loose in a few places.

With the spark plugs out, I cranked over the engine to get the oil pumped through all of the galleries…the oil light went out very quickly…which is a good sign.

For sanity's sake, I also checked for spark at the plugs while cranking the engine.

When I first cranked the engine over (spark plugs still out) I noticed a lot of clicking. I thought that the old original relay was bad so I disconnected it and ran the wires to a modern relay. I tried again and I still got the clicking sound. Further investigation revealed the solenoid on the starter was causing the trouble. I had already rebuilt the starter and solenoid…so I wasn't sure why I was getting the clicking sound. I decided to remove the starter from my Ambassador and use it. Sure enough, the starter on my Ambassador worked fine. So, I'll need to figure out what is wrong with the original starter.

I tossed an empty 5 gallon gas can in the back of the truck and drove to the local gas station to purchase the fuel. Back at the garage, I filled up the tank with a couple of gallons and then started checking for leaks. With my petcocks off, I did not have any leaks (great petcock gaskets, Bruce Giller!). When I opened the petcocks, I found a few places to tighten up my hose clamps. Then no more leaks!

The moment of truth. Petcocks on, enricher (choke) off, clutch disengaged, pumped the throttle once and hit the starter button. The engine cranked over twice and fired right up! It surprised me it happened so quickly. A quick adjustment of the idle speed and she settled right into that characteristic lope. Sounded good, too. I let her warm up for a few minutes while I did a bunch of double-checking. Finally I couldn't stand it any longer, I tossed the seat on and went for a ride around the neighborhood. Wow it runs nice and strong! Good acceleration and it handles well. I am very pleased.

Back in the garage I checked the timing with my timing light and found it spot on. I may choose to fiddle with it more later, but it seems to run very strong now. I also adjusted the front brake cable some more…it will take a bit to get the shoes bedded in properly so that she stops well.

In addition to the starter/solenoid issue, I found that light switch is not making good contact. So, I'll need to take care of those couple of things before I can call the job complete.

2007 May 04 - Assembly (5.25 hours)

Pulled the rear wheel and discovered the source of the scraping…the lip in one area of the rear drive had been very-very-very slightly bent. I gave it a careful smack with a rubber hammer, reinstalled the rear wheel, and no more scraping. I vaguely recall accidentally dropping the rear drive on my rubber standing mat when I was handling it at one point in time. I remember chiding myself for my clumsiness and feeling very lucky that I hadn't broken the lip. Some times you get the bear…some times the bear gets you. I got the bear on this one!

Cleaned up the threads in the tank for the petcocks…some of the sealant that had been used on the tank had clogged the threads.

Secured petcocks to the tank…positioning properly with fiber shimming washers.

Fit the rubber grommets and steel "top-hats" into where the tank mounting bolts will secure the tank to the frame. A little bit of silicone sprayed on all the surfaces makes this job a breeze.

Fit the battery and a plastic tray. Created a battery acid catch bottle out of an old pill bottle. I filled the bottom part way with baking soda and drilled a hole in the lid for the battery acid tube. A tiny hole in the lid serves as a vent. The bottle is secured directly to the battery using Velcro. The vent tube exits the battery and does a complete loop before emptying into the catch bottle.

Fit the battery hold down bracket and bolts. Discovered the threads on the battery hold down bolts do not extend far enough (due to the shorter than original battery). Rather than cut additional threads, I simply fit tubular spacers to each battery hold down bolt.

Connected the cables to the battery.

Finished wiring the front turn signals. A quick test showed all four turn signals operating as intended.

Tested the tail light/brake light…both are functioning properly.

Lubricated the throttle and enricher (choke) cables.

Assembled the cable splitter for the throttle and enricher (choke cables). I applied a liberal amount of grease to the cable splitter.

Connected all the cables and made the initial adjustments to obtain the proper amount of cable free play. The upper enricher (choke) cable sheath was too long and was holding the enricher plungers open. Fortunately, I was able to cut back part of the sheath and make it function perfectly.

Polarized the generator field windings.

Connected the electrical wires to the generator.

Checked the indicator lights on the dash…everything is illuminating properly.

Fit the generator cover in place.

Secured the electrical wires in the "C" channel portion of the frame with zip ties.

Fit the tank and ensured the wires and cables were run properly.

Cut, fit, and clamped the fuel lines…complete with the stock X crossover, miniature stainless host clamps, and translucent fuel line.

Fiddled with the side stand securing bolt. If I inserted it from the bottom, the spring cleared the head of the bolt but the header pipe would contact the threads. Inserting it from the top provided plenty of room for the header pipe…but then the spring hit the threads on the bottom. I finally came up with a compromise. I inserted the bolt from the bottom, but used a couple of 12 mm stainless steel flat washers to push the head of the bolt down a little farther. Then, using just a 10 mm lock nut on top, I got the clearance I needed. This may not have been a problem if I hadn't wanted to use the header pipe to lower frame rail clamps.

2007 May 01 - Assembly (0.25 hours)

Swapped out the header pipes for the replacements my Dad sent. The original set we were planning to use had been cut off right in front of where the mufflers mount…so they were too short. You can bet I'll be applying a layer of black silicone to all of the exhaust connections to ease future disassembly.

2007 Apr 25 - Assembly (1.50 hours)

Finally decided to tackle the front wheel. I used some light sandpaper to clean out the axle hole in the brake plate. Then the brake shoes where to thick so I sanded them down with the belt sander. I still need to do the final fitment, but I think I've got it licked now.

2007 Apr 10 - Assembly (0.50 hours)

Fiddled around with the front wheel some more…but no solution.

2007 Apr 05 - Assembly (2.00 hours)

Tried to fit the front and rear wheels tonight. Should have taken 30 minutes. Had trouble with the axle on the front wheel not wanting to slide through the brake plate. Finally gave up and switched to the rear wheel. Rear wheel went on nicely…but then scrapes on the rear drive when rotating. Ugh! I gave up for the night.

2007 Mar 30 - Miscellaneous (0.25 hours)

Created a cable guide for the front brake cable. This is the guide that mounts in the hole in the left rear portion of the front fender. Taking a suggestion from Charlie Mullendore, I made it out of 1/8" stainless steel wire. I then inserted a large rubber grommet and mounted it to the fender using stainless fasteners.

2007 Mar 27 - Paint (1.00 hours)

Created a tail light to tail light lens gasket from a sheet of 1/8" thick neoprene I had. Used the old gasket as the template.

Fit the tail light, tail light bracket, and rear turn signal bracket…using stainless fasteners throughout.

Fit the rear turn signals.

Ran wires to tail light and rear turn signals. All four wires are housed in vinyl conduit…it looks very tidy.

Fit the locks to the tool boxes. Locks are original and so is the key!

2007 Mar 25 - Paint and assembly (3.00 hours)

Spent about an hour finishing up the biggest of the paint paint buffing chores. I'm certain a pro could do better, but I'm pretty pleased with my results given my experience level. I'm sure I'll do some more work on things I notice later.

Mounted front forks.

Secured dash.

Mounted front fender using stainless fasteners.

Mounted front wheel.

Mounted Lucas reflectors to the front and rear fenders.

Mounted rear fender, tool boxes, and voltage regulator bracket.

Mounted front turn signals.

2007 Mar 19 - Paint (1.00 hours)

Spent more time buffing on the clear coat.

2007 Mar 17 - Assembly (1.00 hours)

Rebuilt both petcocks using new Viton gaskets that I purchased from Bruce Giller. Viton is good stuff and previous replacements have lasted a very long time. I had trouble with one of the petcocks being extremely difficult to open and close. Closer examination revealed that someone - at some point in time - had assembled the petcocks incorrectly and "milled" a nasty groove in the bottom of the nut. The groove was caused by mounting the indexing plate upside down. So, I filed down the worst of it and then smoothed it out using a whetstone. It works properly now. Finding and fixing that problem turned a 5 minute job into a 1 hour job. I used blue loctite to secure the handles.

2007 Mar 15 - Paint (1.00 hours)

Started buffing the clear coat. This was really an hour of learning and I didn't get much accomplished. But, I didn't ruin anything, either.

2007 Mar 11 - Paint (4.50 hours)

Prepared the garage for clear coating…cleaning it up as best I could.

My friend Mitchell Green came over and clear coated everything for me. He has done this before and knows the drill. I am very grateful for his time, expertise, and willingness to share his knowledge with me. I am very pleased with how the clear coat turned out. I'll have to do some buffing and polishing, but I understand that is par for the course. The parts already look much better than they did without clear coat on them. Thank you Mitchell Green!

After the clear coat had dried, I did some clean up in the garage.

2007 Mar 09 - Paint (0.75 hours)

Wet sanded all the body work with 1500 grit sandpaper to prepare for clear coat. I should have done this before a put the decals and pin striping on. But, I was extra careful and it turned out fine.

2007 Mar 08 - Assembly (1.00 hours)

Topped off acid in battery and hooked up the trickle charger again.

Fit rear drive…lubricating splines with Amsoil 5th wheel grease and using stainless fasteners.

Fit battery tray and battery ground wire using stainless fasteners.

2007 Mar 07 - Assembly (2.00 hours)

Filled the battery with acid. Tried to get it to take a charge, but my battery charger kept registering a fault. I decided the acid need to soak the lead plates for a while and that I was probably getting too much of a direct contact. I let the battery sit for a couple hours and then hooked up the charger again. No problems. This is my first experience with filling a dry battery with acid…it isn't difficult.

Fit rear brake foot lever, rear brake pivot rod, rear brake switch lever, and rear brake actuating rod. Used stainless fasteners for the rear brake foot lever pinch bolt and the rear brake switch lever pinch bolt. I noticed that the rear brake actuating rod was rubbing on the swing arm as I moved the swing arm up and down through its normal range of motion. Not good. A closer inspection revealed that the rear brake switch lever had been bent slightly during disassembly. I quickly remedied that problem with a crescent wrench.

Fit the rear brake stay to the swing arm. Given the importance of this rod, I kept the original steel bolt. However, I replaced the original washer and nut with a stainless steel flat washer and nylon lock nut.

Fit the starter in place.

Connected the wires to the starter.

Connected the wire to the neutral switch.

Connected the starter relay ground wire to one of the bolts that secures the rear cover of the transmission.

Connected the wires to the rear brake light switch. I really don't like sticking bare wire in these connectors…and then smashing them with the tiny little screws. Instead, I crimp the wires in a spade terminal and then pinch one side of the spade in the brake light switch. This works very well.

2007 Mar 06 - Assembly (0.25 hours)

Fit the voltage regulator to the voltage regulator bracket. Used stainless fasteners and new rubber grommets.

2007 Mar 05 - Assembly (3.25 hours)

Added a shim behind the generator pulley to bring the pulley out just a bit further. Refit the generator belt and all is well…plenty of clearance now.

Added shrink tubing to a couple of bare spots on the wires going to the front turn signals. Replaced the old wire sheathing with new vinyl sheathing. Crimped on ends to both wires.

Adjusted the clutch cable and associated levers. Along the way I cleaned up the threads on the adjuster and jam nut located on the clutch lever at the rear of the transmission. 5 minutes spent here will make future adjustments in that tiny, confined space much easier.

Fit universal joint into swing arm and the swing arm into the frame. The universal joint had a nice interference fit. I used anti-seize on the swing arm pivot pins. I lubed all the spline connections with a Amsoil 5th wheel lubricant…good stuff. Fit the boot over the connection between the swing arm and the transmission and secured it in place with the original - properly sized - hose clamps. Fit the huge chrome acorn nuts to the swing arm pivot pins.

Fit the original relay to the regulator and relay bracket. I haven't tested it yet…but will be sure to do that before installing the bracket

2007 Mar 04 - Assembly (0.75 hours)

Fit a new oil pressure sending unit. I chose one that fits a 1987 BMW 325. The threads are the same size, but it uses a superior spade connector and operates at 5 PSI rather than 3.6 PSI…which I think is better.

Fit a different generator belt, but I'm having the same problem.

Fit the brake, clutch, and speedometer cables.

2007 Mar 02 - Assembly (0.50 hours)

Lubed brake, clutch, and speedometer cables. All are used but appear to be in good shape and quite usable. Right now I have a front brake cable with a switch. I may swap that out for a front cable with no switch for the added braking power it provides.

2007 Mar 01 - Assembly (3.50 hours)

Mounted transmission. Secured in place with stainless steel nuts and flat washers.

Fit the foot pegs, shift lever, shift shaft, and linkage. For the linkage I replaced the stock clevis pin arrangement with Heim joints and a straight rod. Plenty of room and no sloppy linkage!

Secured the generator bracket in place. For the rear 8 mm stud, I used a Schnorr washer and a lock nut with blue loctite. For the front 3/8" x 24 TPI stud that was repaired by a previous owner, I used a Schnorr washer and blue loctite with a standard nut (a lock nut would have been better, but I didn't have one on hand and neither did my local hardware store).

Fit the oil line with new aluminum crush washers freshly zinc plated banjo bolts. Torqued the banjo bolts to 130 inch pounds (which is at lower end of the Moto Guzzi specified range of 126 - 192 inch pounds). It seemed plenty tight.

Fit the generator in place. Connected wires to generator terminals.

Fit the generator belt. The belt is rubbing on the top two timing cover bolts. I switched from the socket head (allen head) to hex head bolts, and there is very little clearance. Something isn't right here.

Fit the coil in place. Connected wire to coil terminals.

Connected the wires to the distributor.

Connected the spark plug wire from the coil to the distributor.

Fit the enricher lever (choke lever) to the right front brake lever perch. It is a really nice choke lever and operates very smoothly. I secured it with a stainless steel lock nut and flat washer.

Mounted the breather box complete with correct bracket attached to the right foot peg bolt. Hose thickness is so much greater today than it was 35 years ago. In order to get the hose to fit the ID of the bracket, I used my bench grinder to reduce the OD of the hose. There is no other way that it would fit. I've done the same thing on my Ambassador - and it is a good solution.

2007 Feb 28 - Assembly (0.50 hours)

Mounted engine into frame. Here is how I did it:

• Laid a large old blanket on the garage floor to protect the frame.
• Place the engine on a 10" tall block of wood in the middle of the blanket. Padded the top of the engine (inside the "V") with a thick towel.
• Leaned the frame on top of the engine so that the top center channel of the frame was in the middle of the "V".
• Placed two 4" x 4" blocks of wood side by side on the floor between the two lower frame rails. I positioned them in such a manner that when the frame was tipped upright, the blocks would be between the rails.
• Straddling the rear part of the frame, I leaned over and picked up the engine. As I picked it up, my wife Angela tilted the frame upright and I set the engine down on top of the two 4" x 4" blocks of wood that were now between the frame rails.
• The advantage of this technique is that it is relatively easy to do and the physical requirements for the second person are not very demanding at all.
• The foam pipe insulation worked very well to protect the frame. However, it is way too thick for the lower frame rails. So, when I lifted the frame to insert the front engine bolt, I had to remove the foam insulation from the lower rails. This is where the shower curtain rod cover would have been great.

2007 Feb 27 - Assembly (1.00 hours)

Padded the frame with pipe insulation to protect it from scratches when I install the engine. I wanted to try to use PVC shower curtain rod covers…the kind that are split lengthwise and you just snap around the rod. I've heard those work very well in protecting the lower frame rail…and are thin enough not to get in the way during assembly. Alas, I couldn't find any store that carries them in my area. So, I'm using pipe insulation. We'll see how it goes.

Removed breather, carbs, and distributor cap and wires from the engine to provide more clearance when installing the engine.

Remove the forks to (a) lighten the frame during engine install and (b) prepare the shrouds for clear coating.

2007 Feb 26 - Ignition switch and wiring (1.00 hours)

Found the key for the ignition switch…but it didn't turn in the switch. So I disassembled the switch and discovered that I had originally assembled the tumblers 180° from where they were supposed to go. I flipped them around and reassembled…it works great now!

Rerouted the wiring bundles so that they don't pull so much from side to side when turning the handlebars.

2007 Feb 23 - Generator bracket, throttle, hand grips (1.50 hours)

Zinc plated the base generator bracket and a few other parts.

Assembled generator bracket using new split pins and freshly zinc plated parts.

Assembled throttle using freshly zinc plated hardware.

Mounted hand grips on handlebar and throttle. Covered hand grips with static-cling plastic wrap to protect from my greasy hands.

2007 Feb 22 - Horn, gas cap, and generator bracket (1.50 hours)

Assembled, tested, and mounted the horn. Leaf mounting plates were zinc plated, front cover was painted, stainless hardware was used to secure the leaf plates to the horn - and the horn to the frame.

Assembled gas cap complete with freshly zinc plated internal parts and a new gasket. Yummy!

Repaired the generator bracket by welding in an additional brace. Should be plenty strong now.

2007 Feb 21 - Generator (2.00 hours)

Polished the front aluminum cap.

Used blue loctite to secure the locating pin in place.

Did some more insulating on the wires running from the field coils to the terminals.

Used blue loctite to secure the field coils…also used the drill press/breaker bar/drag link socket method to apply sufficient torque.

Completed final assembly of the Generator.

2007 Feb 20 - Generator (2.00 hours)

Wire brushed, cleaned, primed, and painted the generator pulley, rear cover, and main body securing bolts.

Removed old insulating wrap from the copper field coils and rewraped with new, 1/2" wide, 3M Scotch 27 Glass Cloth Electrical Tape.

Fit copper field coils inside freshly zinc plated body.

Fit new sealed bearings to both ends of the rotor.

2007 Feb 19 - Assembly (1.25 hours)

Assembled freshly zinc plated skid plates to oil pan and torqued all bolts.

Fitted freshly zinc plated clamps to carbs complete with correct nuts and bolts.

Identified crack in generator bracket. Seems like an easy repair, reinforcement job. I'll weld it up and zinc plate it again.

Assembled distributor with freshly zinc plated hardware and set the points to 0.17". I made sure to use blue loctite on the special shoulder bolts on which the distributor cap retaining spring pivot.

2006 Dec 02 - Pin striping (5.00 hours)

Pin striped both fenders. Added fender tip decals to both fenders. Pin striped the tank. Added Guzzi eagles to the tank. Pin striping is complete!

2006 Oct 31 - Zinc plating (2.00 hours)

Finished up the zinc plating.

2006 Oct 25 - Zinc plating (1.75 hours)

Plated many parts using the knowledge I gained from my last plating experience. These pieces turned out much better and I am happy with them. These pieces are ready to go.

2006 Oct 20 - Zinc plating (3.00 hours)

I purchased a power supply with variable voltage and variable amperage dials thinking this would enable me to set the voltage and amperage where I wanted it and then plate. But, the power supply I purchased did not provide constant voltage or constant amperage…so it didn't work.

Out of frustration, I grabbed an old 12 volt garden tractor battery I had sitting on my workbench. Hooked up my leads and it worked great! I spent the next 2.5 hours plating parts. The parts didn't come out great, but they weren't completely horrible, either. I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do.

2006 Oct 17 - Zinc plating (1.00 hours)

Mixed up all baths required for zinc plating. I've been learning about how to do this over the past month or so and now I'm ready to dive into it.

Attempted to plate with a battery charger. Worked very poorly. Figured out later that I need a power source that can supply constant voltage and constant current.

2006 Sep 15 - Shocks (0.25 hours)

Assembled the completed shocks…they look great!

2006 Sep 08 - Shocks (1.00 hours)

Cleaned the chrome springs with 0000 steel wool. Chrome turned out fantastic as the little bit of rust on it was only at the surface. To get adequate pressure on the inside of the springs where my fingers couldn't reach, I used a shop rag to pull against the steel wool. This worked very well and prevented me from destroying lots of steel wool pads in the process. Afterward, I gave the springs a very good coat of wax.

2006 Sep 06 - Shocks (1.50 hours)

Attempted to dismantle the shock dampers. The nut didn't want to budge a lick. Given that the dampers do not leak and have no flat spots, I decided to leave well enough alone and not risk breakage.

Cleaned, wire-wheeled, primed, and painted the shocks and spring caps. I also gave the plastic covers a spray with some black paint specifically designed for plastic.

2006 Sep 05 - Shocks (2.25 hours)

Spent a couple of hours customizing my shock spring compressor to work with the original shocks.

Removed the springs from the shocks.

Polished the aluminum adjusters.

2006 Sep 04 - Wiring and assembly (2.00 hours)

Mounted headlight with original fuse panels in perfect shape and new rubber grommets for the wire holes.

Laid out and loosely secured wiring harness.

Completed all connections inside the headlight shell.

Completed all connections for the dash. Secured dash to top triple tree.

Mounted front crash bars with stainless hardware.

Mounted handlebar risers and handlebars.

Mounted mirror.

Mounted handlebar switch complete with wiring.

Mounted clutch and brake handlebar levers complete with stainless hardware.

Mounted headlight and trim ring with new o-ring.

2006 Sep 03 - Rear brake light switch (0.50 hours)

I disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled the rear brake light switch. I applied some silicon grease to the shaft openings…hoping it will prevent water intrusion. It now functions flawlessly.

2006 Sep 02 - Carburetors (0.50 hours)

Parts arrived from MG Cycle today and I made quick work of assembling both carbs, complete with new carb kits, new float needles, new enricher (choke) plungers and springs, and new mixture screw springs. I also checked, slightly adjusted, and verified the float level.

2006 Sep 01 - Decals (2.00 hours)

Placed decals on the side covers and tool boxes. Used John Prusnek's decals…good stuff! They really look nice, if I do say so myself.

Spent about 30 minutes practicing with laying down pinstripe tape on the rear fender. It is the place to start as there is much less visible there than on the front fender. I got better, but I'll be doing a lot more practice before I can lay it down the way I want to.

2006 Aug 31 - Carburetors (3.00 hours)

Completely disassembled both carbs, soaked and/or cleaned all components, identified need parts in addition to the carb kits I already have, and partially assembled both carbs.

2006 Aug 30 - Distributor and intake manifolds (3.25 hours)

Polished the valve covers and bolted them on using stainless hardware and fresh gaskets with a coat of never-seize. This ought to give the valve cover gaskets a long life.

Gaped and installed new NGK spark plugs.

Assembled spark plug wires. I'm using NGK plug caps and some yellow spark plug wire I picked up at a flea market for next to nothing. I finish the wire to the coil once the engine is installed and I know the proper length.

Mounted the breather with new hoses and clamps. I'll probably need to take it off to install the engine into the frame.

Assembled front and rear brake plates, greasing pivot points and using stainless hardware.

2006 Aug 29 - Distributor and intake manifolds (2.00 hours)

Reassembled the distributor - finding the lost ball bearing along the way. For now, the points plate, points, etc are not installed. I'm having some of the hardware zinc plated so the final assembly will have to wait.

Installed the distributor back into the engine with a new gasket and stainless hardware…made sure to reference Guzziology to make sure I was placing it in the proper position.

Mounted the intake manifolds with new gaskets and stainless hardware.

2006 Aug 28 - Distributor and miscellaneous (2.50 hours)

I started this evening by cleaning off paint from parts that need to be zinc plated. Lots of work on the wire wheel.

Following this, I cleaned up all of the distributor parts and polished the distributor upper and lower bodies…concentrating on polishing the upper body more than the lower body. I lost the tiny little ball bearing in the process. So I need to find it or source a replacement. Ugh.

2006 Aug 27 - Generator and distributor (3.00 hours)

When I removed the generator and bracket from the engine, I noticed that one of the studs had been replaced with a larger diameter stud. Seems the previous one had pulled out…as is typical. I removed both studs. Neither had been loctited in place. I replaced both studs with harder steel studs (8.8) and loctited them in place with red loctite after thoroughly cleaning the threads. For the record, the rearmost stud is the standard 8 mm x 1.25 mm; the front stud is 3/8" x 24 TPI. They are in there good and should never move.

I then turned my attention to the bracket itself. It was not cracked, but I wanted to provide additional support for it. As is suggested in Guzziology and following the lead set by Greg Field and Bob Nolan with their excellent alternator kit, I welded a piece of 3/4" angle iron to the generator bracket. The angle iron extends back to the front bolt that secures the distributor to the block. It turned out very well and I'm glad I took the time to do this now. I could have used a piece of flat steel, but the angle iron provided twice the weld contact and will be much stronger.

On a roll, I completely disassembled the distributor. Every distributor I've taken apart (3 now) has been straightforward except for removing the solid pin that secures the bottom gear. It is always a challenge to remove it and it took me about 70 minutes just to remove this pin. I broke two punches in the process. But that turned out to be a good thing as I could use the shorter and stouter unbroken part to really wail on that little pin. Standard punches are okay but you really risk bending or breaking them. Carpenter nail-set punches are actually better as they are quite short and stout. I had forgotten that I had used them last time with great success. It wasn't until I was almost done that I remembered. Oh well, I got it out.

2006 Aug 18 - Generator (0.25 hours)

So my 4 piece Craftsman Drag Link socket set arrived today. Ended up being $28.08 delivered to my house. I could have paid the same delivery charge and then had to drive to Sears to pick it up…no one in my area carried it and it was special order only. Enough of my complaining.

I set up my drill press so that the generator body sat in my small drill press vice. No clamping force there, but by sitting in the middle of the clamp it didn't turn when I applied force.

I put the smallest drag link (9/16") in my 1/2" breaker bar and then proceeded to apply downward force with my drill press right on top of the breaker bar. With the downward force applied, I turned the breaker bar. I sheared off the tip of the 9/16" drag link socket without even budging the screw. Ugh. I didn't have to try hard to do it.

Glad Craftsman has a lifetime warranty on these.

I grabbed the next bigger size drag link (3/4"). It was too wide to fit in the slot (stuck out on each end). So I used my bench grinder to slowly relieve a bit from each end…keeping the socket cool.

With it narrowed to fit the length of the slot, it was still too thick to fit in the slot. So I ground some off on each side until it just barely fit. Again going slowly and keeping things cool.

Back to the drill press and this time the screws came out easy :> Oh it felt good when they moved. The only thing missing was the "hallelujah chorus" and a satisfying "crack" when they broke loose. No drama, they just started turning.

2006 Aug 17 - Engine (2.00 hours)

Installed the oil pan with the new stainless hardware.

Removed the timing chest cover

Replaced the o-ring behind the crankshaft timing gear.

Placed an additional o-ring in front of the crankshaft timing gear.

Installed a new seal into the timing chest cover.

Installed a new timing chest gasket and new stainless hardware.

Engine is now all buttoned up and ready to install. Only externals to deal with now.

2006 Aug 16 - Generator (0.00 hours)

Got a call from Ace Hardware this morning…my 3M #27 glass tape is in! When I first called them, they didn't have it. But, they brought it in on their next truck from the warehouse. No additional charge. That is refreshing this day in age. Home Depot and Lowes have seen very little of my money since Ace opened up just 5 minutes from my house.

2006 Aug 15 - Engine (2.00 hours)

I initially thought I would not touch the engine internals, but I've decided to go through and inspect them, anyway. It is so easy to do on the bench and doesn't take that much time or money.

Removed rear main bearing, seal, and lines to the breather box.

Cleaned all surfaces.

Inspected crank shaft and rear main bearing…they look and measure beautifully.

JB Welded the cam plug to seal against leaks

2006 Aug 12 - Starter and solenoid (3.00 hours)

Disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, reassembled, and painted the starter and solenoid.

2006 Aug 12 - Parts to be plated (1.50 hours)

I have seriously reconsidered my initial plan to simply paint any offending parts that were originally zinc plated. Given the inexpensive nature of plating services, it makes no sense not to do it. So, I began pulling together all of the parts that need to be replated.

2006 Aug 10 - Generator (2.00 hours)

Disassembled and cleaned the generator. Still need to remove the field coils so I can send the steel body out to be plated.

Placed order for 2 new bearings.

Placed order for a set of drag links so I might remove the large screws that secure the field coils.

Placed order for 3M #27 glass tape so that I can reinsulate the field coils once I've removed them.

2006 May 20 - Cleaning (2.00 hours)

Power washed the engine. Came out great!

2006 May 06 - Assembly and cleaning (4.50 hours)

Completed assembly of transmission…ready to install!

Cleaned up all the brake parts in preparation for assembly in their respective brake plates.

2006 Apr 29 - Assembly (2.00 hours)

Shimmed the shift drum in the transmission.

Checked the shimming of the cluster shaft in the transmission…spot on.

Started assembly of the transmission.

2006 Apr 28 - Cleaning (0.50 hours)

Disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, and reassembled the ignition switch.

2006 Apr 27 - Cleaning (0.50 hours)

Cleaned the transmission case with Eagle One etching cleaner. Got rid of my brush marks…left a little bit of a muddled appearance. Good enough!

2006 Apr 20 - Disassembly, inspection, and cleaning (2.00 hours)

Tore the transmission apart right after work today. Someone had been inside before, but everything looks to be in fantastic shape. I decided to pop out all the bearings so I could give the case a real good cleaning. I got impatient with one of the roller bearings and dinged the edge - popping out one of the rollers. I was just got in a hurry trying to get everything done before spending some time with the family. That will be a USD $50.00 mistake and I get to wait for the replacement bearing to arrive before I can put it back together.

Snuck out to the garage a little later and gave the transmission case a good bath in degreaser…inside and out. The outside didn't get much cleaner than it already was, but the inside is now spotless and ready for reassembly. I think I'll hit the case with a final application of the Eagle One etching compound to get rid of some of my brush marks, then rinse and dry and call it good.

2006 Apr 18 - Cleaning (1.50 hours)

Worked on cleaning the transmission case with some bug and tar remover and small wire brushes. Lot's more work and I'm getting closer. I probably should have started with the bug and tar remover before the etching solution.

2006 Apr 17 - Cleaning (1.50 hours)

Worked on cleaning the transmission case with Eagle One etching cleaner and small wire brushes. Lot's of work but I'm getting there.

2006 Apr 16 - Cleaning (0.25 hours)

Tried soaking the transmission case in Gunk to see if it would clean off the nasty crud. No luck at all.

2006 Apr 12 - Bearings and seals (0.75 hours)

Installed new large outer seal in the rear drive.

Final assembly of rear drive. Torqued flange bolts to proper value but found insufficient backlash. Installed a slightly thicker crown wheel shim and that solved the problem. Rear drive is ready to go.

2006 Apr 11 - Tires and bearings and seals (1.50 hours)

Mounted the two new Cheng Shin tires that arrived in the mail today with fresh tubes and rim liners. I went with the unidirectional Marquis line; 100/90-18 up front and 110/90-18 in the rear.

Installed the carrier bearing in the swing arm. Also greased the swing arm bearing and installed them along with new seals. Swing arm is ready to go.

2006 Apr 10 - Bearings and seals (3.00 hours)

Cleaned the rear drive housing with the Eagle One etching cleaner…looks better but I've got a couple of light stain patches I was hoping it would eliminate. No luck. Blasting would probably get it, but it will stay as is.

Assembled complete rear drive refreshing all seals, gaskets, and o-rings - except for the large inner seal (nearest the center line of the motorcycle)…which is on order. I also replaced all the bendy tabs with Schnorr washers and torqued and loctited the crown wheel carrier bolts.

Removed the swing arm from the frame, drifted the carrier bearing out, removed the swing arm bearings; left the races in place.

Cleaned up the swing arm passages, bearings, pivot pins, etc. I'll replace the seals and the carrier bearing. Everything else looks good and can be used again.

2006 Apr 09 - Bearings and seals (3.50 hours)

Finished cleaning forks.

Packed head bearings with grease and assembled triple tree…carefully setting bearings.

Assembled forks using new seals and o-rings. Applied anti-seize to chrome spring holder threads.

Fit forks to triple tree, tightened all connections, mounting front turn signal brackets.

Filled each fork leg with 5.4 ounces of 30 weight fork oil.

Completely disassembled rear drive and cleaned all components.

2006 Apr 07 - Bearings and seals (0.75 hours)

Finished cleaning head bearings.

Disassembled forks and performed initial cleaning.

2006 Apr 06 - Bearings and seals (0.75 hours)

Drained fork oil and removed forks.

Removed triple tree plates, pulled bearings off, cleaned nasty hard yak out of both bearings…seems I'll be able to reuse them. Soaking them overnight in de-greasing solvent.

2006 Apr 05 - Bearings and seals (0.75 hours)

Rear wheel bearings: checked for proper tightness, repacked with grease, replaced the seals.

Front wheel bearings: checked for proper tightness, repacked with grease, replaced the seals.

2006 Apr 04 - Polishing (2.00 hours)

Polished the rear wheel.

2006 Apr 03 - Polishing (2.00 hours)

Polished the front wheel.

2006 Jan 04 - Cleaning (0.50 hours)

Cleaned the front and rear wheel hubs with Eagle One Mag Wheel Cleaner. Blasted both wheels clean with my pressure washer.

2005 Nov 22 - Cleaning (0.75 hours)

Assembled and tested the turn signals - ready to mount!

2005 Nov 19 - Cleaning (1.50 hours)

Drilled holes in turn signal mounting bolts (for wires to run through)

2005 Nov 16 - Cleaning and painting (1.00 hours)

Cleaned up the inside of the other tool box, then masked, primed, and painted the inside.

2005 Nov 14 - Cleaning and painting (1.00 hours)

Cleaned up the inside of one tool box, then masked, primed, and painted the inside.

2005 Nov 11 - Cleaning and painting (1.50 hours)

Cleaned up the underside of both fenders, then masked and applied undercoat to the underside. Looks much better!

2005 Nov 08 - Cleaning (1.50 hours)

Finished the shining and protective coating on all of the chrome parts:

• Polished and waxed handlebars
• Polished and waxed brake and clutch lever mounts
• Polished and waxed top of enricher lever (a.k.a. choke lever)
• Polished and waxed both front fender stays
• Polished and waxed passenger grab rails
• Polished and waxed shift lever
• Polished and waxed rear brake lever
• Polished and waxed headlight ring
• Polished and waxed header pipe to frame clamps
• Polished and waxed header pipe nuts
• Polished and waxed swing arm acorn nuts
• Polished and waxed front turn signal brackets
• Polished and waxed rear turn signal/license plate bracket
• Polished and waxed mirror
• Polished and waxed gas cap
• Polished and waxed handlebar risers, clamps, and special bolts
• Polished and waxed the cable cover on the throttle

Disassembled gas cap, removed all rust from the inner pieces, and primed and painted all the parts.

2005 Nov 07 -

The rubber bumpers for the side and center stands arrived today from Joe Eish - great price and great service.

2005 Nov 03 - Cleaning (1.00 hours)

Painted these parts…later clear-coated headlight shell and tail light - both turned out very well, IMHO:

• Headlight shell
• Coil
• Horn
• Horn "leaf" brackets
• Ignition switch cover
• Tail light

2005 Nov 02 - Cleaning (1.00 hours)

Finished cleaning and primed these parts:

• Headlight shell
• Coil
• Horn
• Horn "leaf" brackets
• Ignition switch cover
• Tail light

2005 Nov 01 - Cleaning (1.50 hours)

Cleaned up a bunch of parts in preparation for paint:

• Headlight shell
• Coil
• Horn
• Horn "leaf" brackets
• Ignition switch cover
• Tail light

General cleaning on other stuff:

• Wiring harness
• Clutch cable
• Throttle cables (upper and lower)
• Enricher cables (upper and lower)
• Indicator lights for dash
• Ignition switch pieces
• Driver foot peg rubbers
• Passenger foot peg rubbers
• Front brake cable boot

2005 Oct 31 - Cleaning and painting (1.00 hours)

Cleaned up a bunch of parts and primed them for paint. Later in the day I shot a quick coat of paint on some of the parts. Some of these parts were originally plated to protect them from corrosion, etc. But that protective coating was long gone and I chose the next best solution to having everything re-plated. It looks sharp, is close to the original appearance, and offers fairly good protection.

• Regulator bracket
• Rear brake actuation rod
• Front brake plate tie rod
• Battery hold down bolts
• Breather vent tube bracket
• Blinker unit bracket
• Transmission shift lever (piece that attaches to the shift shaft on the rear of the transmission)
• Shift rod (piece to which the foot operated shift lever is attached)

2005 Oct 30 - Cleaning and painting (0.25 hours)

Cleaned the breather and primed it for paint.

2005 Oct 23 - Cleaning and more aluminum polishing (2.50 hours)

I got started at 7:30 AM.

• Cleaned a bunch of greasy nickel-cadmium plated (or whatever plating Guzzi used) parts that I had soaking in degreaser overnight. I learned long ago that degreaser does a wonderful job of removing all the natural oils from my skin. Gloves are a must for me anytime I get near this stuff.
• Finished polishing and sealed the intake manifolds
• Removed the brake shoes and pivot levers from the rear brake plate
• Polished and sealed the rear brake plate
• Removed the brake shoes and pivot levers from the front brake plate
• Polished and sealed the front brake plate

The brake plates and front generator belt cover are my least favorite pieces to polish. They always seem to take a long time and never come out as good as I would like them to. I might revisit these later on to see if I can improve on my initial polish job. It's not that they didn't polish up well, just that I'd like them to shine a little more than they do. I do want to remain true to the metal and have it appear like polished aluminum (not chrome) when finished.

2005 Oct 22 - Tire removal and aluminum polishing (4.50 hours)

I got started at 6:20 AM and set to work. I am really glad I purchased the heavier-duty buffer…it saves so much time!

• Removed both wheels from the bike and both tires from the wheels. It didn't take as long as I expected. Either I'm getting much better at this, or the extra-long Motion Pro tire irons really do work better than the stubby ones I'm used to using.
• Polished and sealed the carb tops
• Polished and sealed the carb float bowls
• Polished and sealed the carb float bowl nuts
• Polished and sealed the clutch and brake levers
• Polished and sealed the enricher lever (a.k.a. choke lever)
• Polished and sealed the front generator belt cover
• Polished and sealed the front wheel plate (not the brake plate, but the other one that lives on the right side)
• Polished and sealed the carb velocity stacks
• Polished and sealed the clutch lever that is attached to the rear of the transmission
• Polished and sealed the brake lever that is attached to the rear brake plate
• Polished and sealed the two brake levers that are attached to the front brake plate
• Polished and sealed the throttle casing
• Polished and sealed the four engine and transmission mounting spacers
• Polished and sealed the brass speedometer cable fastener that screws into the transmission
• Started polishing the intake manifolds - noticed that one is marked with an "S" and one with a "D" to be matched with the corresponding carburetor…never noticed that before

A little later in the day I took 30 minutes to paint the dash with truck bedliner paint and the gauge bodies with black paint. The dash is a little dull and I'm contemplating spraying on some clear coat to liven it up a bit.

2005 Oct 21 - Mounted frame on motorcycle jack (0.25 hours)

First thing this morning, I rode the Quota over to Finish Masters in Tampa to pick up the 3M pin striping tape that had on hold for me.

I had a little spare time and used it mount the frame on the motorcycle jack/looplifter. This will save my back a lot of pain :>

I also placed a fairly big order with MG Cycle today for lots of little odds and ends that I didn't already have.

• Breather hose atmosphere line
• Breather hose inlet line
• Breather hose return line
• Clutch push rod cone seals
• Crush washers for breather return line
• Crush washers for engine drain, engine fill, trans fill, rear drive fill
• Crush washers for fork drain bolts
• Crush washers for oil line banjo bolts
• Crush washers for trans check, trans drain, rear drive check
• Distributor o-ring
• Flywheel bolts
• Fork seal carrier o-ring
• Fork seals
• Fork top plug o-ring
• Gas cap gasket (flip style)
• Gas tank rubber bushings
• Rear drive large seal
• Rear drive pinion o-ring
• Rear drive small seal
• Rear drive square gasket
• Rim strips
• Spark plug and coil wires
• Swing arm seals
• Throw out bearing o-ring
• Transmission input seal
• Transmission input shaft large o-ring
• Transmission input shaft small o-ring
• Transmission output seal
• Transmission shift shaft o-ring
• Wheel bearing seals

2005 Oct 20 - Installed new generator belt (0.50 hours)

Not a big job, but since I had picked up a belt from the local auto parts store, I decided to fit it and adjust the shims between the pulleys for proper tension. A little trial and error and I got it just right.

I tracked down the location of the 3M pin striping tape that I'll need for the body work. I had the store hold it for me. (3M Scotchcal Striping Tape 73202, Black, 1/4 in x 150 ft)

2005 Oct 18 - Won an ebay auction for dual gauge dash, ordered some goodies

The original dash had been cut in order to mount a fairing. I spied one in good condition on ebay and snagged it.

Ordered stainless hardware set from Greg Barratt (Stainless Cycle).

Ordered decals (tank, fender tip, side cover, tool box) from John Prusnek.

2005 Oct 17 - Frame washing, engine and transmission degreasing, and steel wooled chrome (2.00 hours)

Things were a little spread out today…I did some work in the morning and some in the evening. The chrome was all in good shape, and cleaned up very quickly and easily with steel wool. I'll need to come back to it soon with some liquid polish and wax.

• Washed frame, wheels, rear drive, etc. to get all the barn dust off from the bikes lengthy linger in my brother Ted's machine shed. The frame paint that he applied is in great shape without a scratch.
• Applied Gunk to the engine and transmission cases - it work okay, but I've got a lot more left to do. I'm not sure I'll buy any more gunk in the future
• Completely disassembled and cleaned the throttle
• Steel wooled handlebars
• Steel wooled brake and clutch lever mounts
• Steel wooled top of enricher lever (a.k.a. choke lever)
• Steel wooled both front fender stays
• Steel wooled passenger grab rails
• Steel wooled shift lever
• Steel wooled rear brake lever
• Steel wooled headlight ring
• Steel wooled header pipe to frame clamps
• Steel wooled header pipe nuts
• Steel wooled swing arm acorn nuts
• Steel wooled front turn signal brackets
• Steel wooled rear turn signal/license plate bracket
• Steel wooled mirror
• Steel wooled gas cap
• Steel wooled handlebar risers, clamps, and special bolts
• Steel wooled the cable cover on the throttle

2005 Oct 16 - Unpacked everything and took inventory (2.00 hours)

This is a 1972 Moto Guzzi Eldorado project bike that my Dad brought to me when he and Mom came for a visit in early October, 2005. It is quite complete and - aside from the paint - has not been molested much over the years. My brother has already gone through the engine, and I'll be going through the transmission and rear drive, taking care of a few odds and ends on the engine, plus all the usual checking of bearings, cleaning, polishing, etc. It should go fairly quickly and be a real nice ride when I'm finished. I'll keep a photo record of the changes that will be taking place as I put this bike back together. I'm going to try to keep a general tally of the hours I spend working on this project. Although there is some desk time involved, I'm only going to keep track of actual garage time.

Overall, the bike is in good shape, although in desperate need of cleaning and polishing. The chrome all looks like it will shine up nicely. Dad forgot to bring the exhaust system and the front crash bars, but I'm in no rush for those pieces, anyway.

When I first learned that the tin had been painted yellow, I was a little bit nervous that I would seem some bright, garish color. Instead, it is more of a mellow yellow and I think it will grow on me. I will need to coat the underside of the sheet metal, as the painter didn't perform that task.

The chrome on the tank is in good shape…very nice surprise, there!

The original wiring harness is complete and in very good shape. No need to purchase a new one - another HUGE surprise.