Project Thundercat

evening everyone...

i figure this is the right area for a photo heavy project thread?? sorry im new to this forum and im learning as i go!

so i bought yet another thundercat a couple of months ago and it was in a pretty sorry state, so i decided to take if off the road and get it back to its former glory, perhaps dare i say it even a little better!

when i bought it the bike was covered in terrible blue paint and looked like it had spent a few weeks being dragged along the road by a digger, since the weather is shocking this summer i decided to get the bike in pieces straight away and make a start!

anyway, this is how it looked when i got it...:







as you can see, not great... and to make it worse the terrible decals were lacquered in so couldnt just be peeled off! :(

so i set about stripping the bike down and a couple of weeks later the wheels were done, powdercoated in gloss white, put them back in and took the bike to work to make a start on the panels!

much better than the polished rim rubbish they were before!



bike now at work with its wheels in, whoever painted the bike previously also painted the centres of the discs, so i had to repaint those, went for gold and they look smart now



cleaning is currently in progress while its all undressed!

mechanically it all looks in very good order, had to order a new speedo drive clutch as that had been destroyed by some monkey, so the speedo should work again when its back together!

the guys at work spent a whole load of time getting the panels prep'd and in basecoat white....





then i had to secure them to the bike so the tech guy could get the lines right and have a go at adapting the design i have chosen to fit on the cat!





so thats how its looking at the minute, im just waiting for one of the guys to originate some graphics so we can work out where to run the lines and make it all fit together....

the design im going for is the 2012 ben spies, but in red instead of blue, something like this:



but obviously adapted a fair bit to make it fit the cat!

ive also done a few other bits to it while its in pieces, the radiator will be refurbished and coolant flushed, new stubby leavers have been ordered, hid lights installed, red led clock lights, led indicator mirrors will be fitted, oil is due to be changed, braided hoses fitted, wavy rear disc to be fitted and new pads all around...

ill try and keep it updated, any ideas or input greatly appreciated!

Spectacular! I will certainly be looking forward to seeing the finished product! ...It is great to see someone putting the time, effort & money into the cat I hope to do the same one day.

Paul

yeah i cant seem to help myself! this is my 3rd cat so far, my first was immaculate and ive always regretted selling it, and since i tend to do things on impulse i saw this going cheap and figured id make my own immaculate bike!

the white base coat is covered with blue pearl and once the lacquer is on the colour is so crisp its incredible!

i also replaced the exhaust with a titanium scorpian one, 90's style for the road, but i did find a tiny stubby carbon number lying around at work so i have a feeling ill be sporting that by the time its all back together!

Looking good so far mate.

Can't wait to see the finished article.

Cheers
Rosco

Looks fairly awesome so far - even in the white basecoat!

Cheers
Billy

Looking forward to the end result!

Keep us posted

Ellie.

Thanks for the support folks!!

Just out of interest, over winter I'll probably be swapping the front end for an r6 one, but for the time being what colour forks would look good?? Im thinking about getting some standard ones powder coated but can't decide what colour, satin black seems to be popular opinion at work?

i love to do something like that but dont know how and gat no money. i can work in the place like this

Why not gold as on the Spies bike?
Looking good.

Roll The Bones wrote:Why not gold as on the Spies bike?
Looking good.

Well spies bike has upside downs on, don't think I've ever seen normal forks in gold, I'm told it would look naff! Then after having a look at some other bikes all the modern forks seem to be satin or gloss black... Might just save myself the hassle and keep em silver!

jayster wrote:ive also done a few other bits to it while its in pieces, the radiator will be refurbished and coolant flushed, new stubby leavers have been ordered, hid lights installed, red led clock lights, led indicator mirrors will be fitted, oil is due to be changed, braided hoses fitted, wavy rear disc just fitted and new pads all around...

ill try and keep it updated, any ideas or input greatly appreciated!

That's great, good work my man.

You doing the rad yourself or sending it to someone? Just wondering what paint you'd use if doing it yourself?

Also do you have the led's already for the dash or have you put them in another cat before? (and this is for anyone else here who might have done it). I'm just wondering if they end up being too bright? Would love to know that

I just put some LED's in mine and they light it up very well. Only 2 small issues:
1. Looks like the Fuel light will need a Ballast resister as it stays on.
2. My Neutral is now a Light Blue color.

They do do them in other colors as well.

I wouldn't change them back and over winter I will see if I can sort the Fuel Light out by .

Well I put some white smd ones in and found they didn't spread the light as well as the standard filament bulbs, so I've bought some others but red ones to jazz it up a bit!

As for the radiator, I'll get one of our guys to spray it with 2pac flat black, then I might dust over the fins with a light coat of black... Obviously I'll get it all steam cleaned first, should look pretty new when it's done, I'll get some pics of the result

Have a butchers at illumiglo gauges, I don't have them but always liked the idea of them, cost about £60 though. Anyone got them?

stretchie_ wrote:Have a butchers at illumiglo gauges, I don't have them but always liked the idea of them, cost about £60 though. Anyone got them?

I've seen those but beyond my budget at present, maybe over winter when the bike is off road. They do look good.

Nice looking wheels cannot wait to see the whole thing done. If you are looking at changing your gauges I have just had some white ones from a company called lockwood and only £35

stretchie_ wrote:Have a butchers at illumiglo gauges, I don't have them but always liked the idea of them, cost about £60 though. Anyone got them?

I have them on mine (fitted when I bought the bike), they do look good in the white. Only been out a couple of times at night to get the benefit of the "glow". Headlight puts paid to my nocturnal forays - well on the bike anyway!

Cheers
Billy

i quite like the standard gauges to be fair, they do the trick and prefer them to be dark rather than white, although white would probably look good with the white paint!

the lockwood dials always make me think of xr2i's for some reason!

got some of my decals printed yesterday during dinner, so the lining should be finished this week and then can start putting some colours on it!! cant wait to see it all come together!

got some of my decals printed yesterday during dinner,

Multi-tasking?

That is going to be one great looking bike when its done cannot wait to see it complete

mrfrance wrote:

got some of my decals printed yesterday during dinner,

Multi-tasking?

Haha yeah! That's how I roll...

Always nice seeing an old shoddy looking cat getting some special treatment & being brought back to a former glory.
Nice work mate.

Paul.

New bits keep arriving daily!

Went for a chrome oil filter, ooooo.... Ahhhhhh.... Etc.



Led sidelight has also arrived, its the right one, bayonet fitting! Who knew?!? :s pays to check before ordering sometimes I suppose!

Headlight cover has arrived and is waiting to be prepped for paint...

Also found a couple of spare bits lying around if anyone might be interested, front half of mudguard painted in satin silver paint, and a seat converter requiring paint... Will post a thing in the classified area when I get them cleaned up and assess the condition, painting to match your bike is also possible...

some more goodies arrived today...





gonna get these attached tomorrow and see how they look!