Author Topic: First Ever Build - Kuwahara Laserlite KZ-83 (Read 15314 times)

rhino_mac · « **on:** March 31, 2009, 09:53 PM »

OK, so this will be my first ever build so be kind

It's just a pile of parts at the moment but I'd appreciate any thoughts on the condition of the chrome and whether to keep the original chrome, or get a rechrome.

Frame

This is what the chrome is like - the flash makes it look worse, but it's not flawless by any stretch of the imagination and feels "rough" to the touch.

Bit of marking round the bottom bracket area

Another look at the chrome

Dropouts in not wonderful condition. One side is straight, just marked, the other side is a little out of shape. Any thoughts on restoration?

NOS Tange TRX Forks

NOS Black Suntour Sealed Bearing Hubs, NOS Asahi 194mm Spokes, NOS Black Spoke Nipples, NOS Suntour 16t Freewheel

NOS Dia Compe Pads, NOS Hatta MX2 Headset (Chrome, will have to sort this out!), NOS Ami Grips (not bubblefont, will get OGK's if I can find NOS but these will do for the moment), Suntour Seat Clamp

Mint Laserpost (cheers Bodamus!), NOS Sugino 44t machined chainwheel, NOS Suntour Headlock (Blue - doh!! Looked black in the auction. Very up for swaps on this!!), Mint Sugino chainring bolts

Laserbars - good condition, no crimping. Needs a new decal (which Del has done for me)

MX1000 Brake in really nice conditon and Suntour Stem in black, spotless (thanks again Bodamus)

Chrome Araya 7X's - Chrome prettty good but hubs, spokes and freewheel knackered

I've also got a full set of new decals from Del including the missing Laserlite top tube ones, the fork decals to replace the Tange ones, a couple of Laserbar/Post decals and some Araya decals from CBRGIL on Ebay for the wheels. And I forgot to upload the picture of the NOS Itzumi black/silver chain.

Finally found a NOS black rear dia compe rear brake cable and JT has just sorted me out with a Tech 3 lever in black (big thanks!!). I also have some mint Suntour XC2's on their way from the states with NOS cages ($200!!!!! Blimey.....). So I'm down to needing a seat, tyres, tubes, crank (yikes......get the cheque book out!) and bottom bracket. Oh yes, and sorting the silver headset out and deciding what to do with the chrome......

Might finish off with a replica padset from Firebird and a NOS Haro plate with my old race number on!

Then I need to find a bike to race on as I'm not sure I can bring myself to race this one!

Bigfrawg · « **Reply #1 on:** March 31, 2009, 10:34 PM »

try giving that frame the coke and tin foil treatment followed by some autosol , should come up a treat.

kuwahero · « **Reply #2 on:** March 31, 2009, 10:44 PM »

Quote from: bigfrawg on March 31, 2009, 10:34 PM

try giving that frame the coke and tin foil treatment followed by some autosol , should come up a treat.

as he said. takes a bit of work but you will see results. if you still ain't convinced after that, then get it rechromed.

pm'd you Rich re grips

rhino_mac · « **Reply #3 on:** April 03, 2009, 06:10 PM »

Pedals have arrived today from America - got stung for VAT and handling from Parcel Force though

NOS cages which is nice - all the dust caps and bolts are there like they should be.

boofy44 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 03, 2009, 10:58 PM »

it boils my piss when you see dropouts like that.didn't the f####r who bought it
know how to look after a bike.bought a 84 GT pro a few years ago,mint except
for the rear dropouts.spoilt bloody kids

rhino_mac · « **Reply #5 on:** April 03, 2009, 11:04 PM »

Does anyone know if these can be restored. Is it possible to straighten and rebraze metal on there, and then regrind it prior to rechroming or something?? Any ideas on who might be able to help?

boofy44 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 03, 2009, 11:14 PM »

someone on here will be able to fella.class bikes those lazerlites.

kuwahero · « **Reply #7 on:** April 03, 2009, 11:15 PM »

speak to Sawzall. Phil's your man for welding and repairing dropouts

rhino_mac · « **Reply #8 on:** April 03, 2009, 11:28 PM »

Top man (again). I've just dropped him a PM to see if he can help!! Seems a shame to leave them in that state!

sawzall · « **Reply #9 on:** April 04, 2009, 09:00 AM »

hello mate
if you want to give me a bell my number is
07903-165595
cheers
phil

southern andy · « **Reply #10 on:** April 04, 2009, 12:12 PM »

Rich, when you finally get that done mate that is gonna look so good.

You'll be glad you started it.

The coke/tin foil treatment works really well mate, then spend a few hours with the Autosol and condition wise it'll be a different frame.
Here's the link mate if you haven't already had a read.....

http://www.radbmx.co.uk/forum/index.php'topic=52096.0

Phil's ( sawzell) is only a few miles down the road from you aswell.

rhino_mac · « **Reply #11 on:** April 04, 2009, 08:22 PM »

Update: OK, a couple of small updates, one is a new part, the other is that I've finally decided what to do with the frame in terms of restoration.

My new RH DC Tech 3 has arrived, courtesy of JT and in very lovely spanking NOS condition it is too! Thanks JT, I know how hard these are to come by!

Secondly, I've contacted Sawzall (Phil) today and had a chat about the frame. In my opinion, the chrome isn't in too bad a nick, but I don't like the rear dropouts one little bit. So having spoken to Phil today, he is very kindly going to restore tham by straightening them out, rewelding metal onto them and filing to shape. The only issue is that to reweld, the frame needs to be stripped right back. So it's decision made really, as to get the dropouts fixed, I will need to rechrome.

The plan is to contact Hampshire Electroplating in Hants next week and drop the frame off to them to have it stripped, drop it over to Phils and then once Phil has done his magic, whizz it back over to HEP and get them to chrome it up again. Phil says he's had a number of frames done there and they do a top job. I'm going to have the bars done at the same time I think so everything is brand spanking as I have NOS forks. I've got a fuill set of new decals from Del for the bike so these should look good on the new chrome.

So there it is, it would have been nice to have kept the original chrome, but the dropouts are a real let down so they've gotta be sorted. Means the build will take a little longer but I'm still trying to source parts anyway. I think after all this expense, I'm going to aim for a 100% faithful replica, rather than a 90% one and I'll be on the lookout for a cheaper rider to do some old school racing on - something like a Diamond Back or a Redline (always wanted one of those!)

Jt · « **Reply #12 on:** April 04, 2009, 08:41 PM »

cant beat a lovingly restored bmx.

laserlite too

ace

wildon · « **Reply #13 on:** April 06, 2009, 11:21 AM »

Hey Richard, man i feel really bad about the problem you got with the rear dropout .. i only had the bike a couple of weeks and never really noticed ... here is a pic i took and it can't really be seen....

As for the foil and coke treatment .. i already done that ... as you can see the frame was in a lot worse state when i got it ... never ran the autosol over it though so maybe that'll bring it up a bit better ...

I got a set of 401's, half wrap with sealed bb, that i mentioned before in your other thread ... very nice chrome .. i wanted Â£200 but you can have them for Â£150 due to the work you gotta do on the frame... if thats what you're looking for. Let me know, cheers

rhino_mac · « **Reply #14 on:** April 06, 2009, 02:07 PM »

Hi, thanks for the reply. Looks like you had to do some serious work to it to get it into the state it's in currently. How come you decided not to build the bike in the end?

I've tried the coke and tinfoil on it, but I guess that's just to remove the rust which you have done already. I was going to polish it to within an inch of its life, but that's not going to sort out the rear dropouts and it looks like the chrome had gone through around the bottom bracket.

So I'm just trying to work out whether to use Hampshire Electroplaters or someone else locally that has been recommended and I'll get it dechromed and over to Phil (Sawzall) by the end of the week (with luck) for him to work his magic on.

In terms of the cranks, thanks for the offer - they look great and are a very good price. I'm no expert, but from digging around, I think the half wraps are from late 80's to early 90's and as I am so stupidly over budget now on this build, I might as well really break the bank and hold out for a set of 400's to keep it eracorrect/original. I'm talking to Orangezippy about his at the moment and as soon as he PM's me some piccies, I'll make my mind up if I want to spend the bucks, given the frame rechrome is probably going to cost me now.

I was in a bit of a rush to finish the bike ready for the spring/summer. But as it's more work than I first imagined, I'm not worried about how long it takes now.

rhino_mac · « **Reply #15 on:** April 06, 2009, 05:25 PM »

OK, just a little parts update. Just got home and found my rear brake cable has been delivered. Can't believe how difficult it was to track one of these down - maybe I was looking in the wrong place!!

OK, I do have a problem I posted in a previous thread but I've tried to fix it without success. I bought an MX1000 brake in black, but the bolt is wayyy to long for the fitting on the rear of my frame, which is flat on the Laserlite. I thought it was a front brake so bought another spindle from a Rad member but it's identical to the one already fitted to the brake. I've offered it up the fork, and the spindle is too short to poke through, so it's definately a rear brake.

Does anyone have any pictures of the rear brake fittings on their Laserlite, or another bike with a flat brake fitting? Any ideas on how I can fix it - you can't cut the spindle down too much as only a part of it is threaded.

southern andy · « **Reply #16 on:** April 06, 2009, 05:45 PM »

Can you add some extra washers Rich to space it off mate so the nut then goes tight on to the thread

rhino_mac · « **Reply #17 on:** April 06, 2009, 07:04 PM »

You could.............I was thinking of turning the fat washers with the curved cut outs (for a curved brake bridge) round so the flat parts touched the flat bridge, and then adding washers behind that.

But you would need 10mm+ of washers and it's going to look complete crap behind the bridge. I wondered if there was another option - did Dia Compe do a shorter spindle available for flat brake bridges?

wildon · « **Reply #18 on:** April 06, 2009, 07:38 PM »

Yes i spent a few hours scrubbing it up, it was in a really bad way when i got my hands on it.
I thought about building it but i'm a freestyle guy really, started a trickstar build which has turmed into three trickstar builds! I had to let this go to pay for some other bits i needed. Glad it's gone to someone who is gonna make the most of it though

I have got a lot of parts to send to get chromed this week or next (f&f, 2x bars, 4xhoops, hubs, posts, stems, clamps etc etc), hopefully i should get a good price with all this together ... if you want to add your f&f with this lot it may be a lot cheaper ... just a thought

boofy44 · « **Reply #19 on:** April 07, 2009, 12:54 AM »

i used a 6mm die with a 1mm thread pitch to put more threads on then cut it shorter.

rhino_mac · « **Reply #20 on:** April 08, 2009, 06:41 PM »

I think that may be on the cards - I need to find a self centre device for mine to make it perfect for an original Laserlite so maybe that will help or come with a better suited spindle.

Update on the frame: I dropped it off at Alderney Plating this morning in Poole (01202 744664) and had a chat with Adrian there about what I want.

He's stripping the chrome off the frame so I can drop it over to Sawzall for repairing the drop outs - should be done by the end of next week. He's also rechroming the Laserbars so they match the frame/forks in terms of quality and I've told him to be wary of polishing off the engraving on them so fingers crossed.

I've also given him the MX2 Headset cups, spacers and nuts to "Black Chrome". Hopefully this should be an acceptable finish but if not it'll do until another NOS MX2 headset comes up.

All in, it's going to cost £200 for all the items so touch wood, the frame should be spanking.

I also took the Araya's down to him to look at. He will chrome alloy wheels but he said it was a nightmare to get right so he wanted £120 each rim. Seems a lot of money (£90 for the wheels originally, £70 for hubs and spokes because the old ones were seized, £15 for a freewheel and £240 for chrome = an expensive set of Araya's). That;s without thembeing built.

Not sure what to do with the wheels now.........................I'm worried they'll look odd against the new chrome.

rhino_mac · « **Reply #21 on:** April 22, 2009, 06:46 PM »

OK, a few more updates on the Laserlite build. Got some packages in the post recently:

Mucho thanks to Frosty who very kindly swapped my blue one for a black one!

Elina Aero Turbo seat has arrived - thanks to Kuwahero for sacrificing his!

It's not NOS but in lovely condition. The gold Elina writing on the sides is a little worn - does anyone know if Del or Cbrgill etc do replacement rub on's or equivalent?

OGK Cobras - in lovely condition and will be mint after 10 minutes with some soapy water, cotton buds and a bit of Armorall. Thanks again to Kuwahero for these!

Lovely, blingy NOS (before lacing to these hubs) Araya 7X in Chrome to replace the ones earlier in the thread. The chrome on those wasn't really up to much and would have let the rest of the bike down. They are currently laced to Hutch hubs which are mint and will be up for sale if anyone is interested. PM me if you are - will put in the for sale section once the rims are laced onto the Suntour hubs.

Piccies of hubs which will be up for grabs:

So, all I need know if a crank and I can start putting it all together. If anyone knows of a nice Redline 400 crank and bottom bracket, let me know. Need to get some funds back (would happily trade in the Hutch Hubs!) so probably looking at end of next month!

This means the bike will be completely standard with the exception of the IRC tyres, which I would also be interested in if anyone has a set "kicking around!!"

Glynnyboy · « **Reply #22 on:** April 23, 2009, 10:56 PM »

Dc did do a shorter rear brake calliper spindle. Many were used on the mk2 top end of the burner range. Models like the ultra and the supertuff. You may have some luck trying a guy on burnerworld called buttsbikeshop alternatively put up an add in the burnerworld wanted section.

HUTCHMAN · « **Reply #23 on:** April 24, 2009, 07:06 PM »

as Boofy said,run an M6 die down the spindle,done it MANY times,works a treat.

rhino_mac · « **Reply #24 on:** April 24, 2009, 07:27 PM »

Right, update time again - rather more progress than I imagined to be honest which is never a bad thing.

I went to pick up the frame today as it should have been dechromed ready to take to Sawzall at the weekend to repair the dropouts. One call to the chromers later and I was a little concerned..............they said the frame had been repaired, chromed and was ready to collect. Panic ensued as I hadn't asked them to repair it and I wondered what the hell they had done to it.

Bugger me, but they've only gone and done the dropouts for me, and made a pretty nice job of them too:

Before:

After:

So I'm well chuffed - they didn't charge me extra either. The black chrome on the headset is superb..................you'd never know it wasn't stock. The Laserbars have been rechromed and as I asked, they haven't polished out the engraving although it's not quite as sharp as it was (only if you look closely). I dropped the Arayas with Hutch hubs into the local BMX shop for the hubs to be swapped over - I didn't think it would be worth doing this for weeks yet. I pick them up next week.

So I've built the bike up a bit - sorry for the heavy pictures but I'm well cuffed this evening!

Ignore the mucky finger prints on the bottom of the bar - forgot to wipe them off!

Can't wait to get the wheels back - then it's just a crank, tyres, number plate and pad set to go!