My 99 Lobo Restoration and build

[Magsy]

It was time to swap the mounting lug on the bottom of the Pro Deluxe shock...There are no good PDF manuals because they mostly detail the non-pull shock version.

The old mounting on the Coupe Deluxe just came off without fuss but the PD one was a right bitch.
After griding down a spanner to hold the top out bumper/nut, you should in theory be able to unscrew it but for some reason we couldn't figure out, it appeared to turn the hole shaft. The shaft is two peice, with a join inside the body and you really don't want that coming undone as its under 100 psi of pressure and I don't want to have to rebuild the shock. At one point we were clearly undoing it with no way of stopping it all rotating.

The RS way is probably disassembly and then putting the shaft in V-blocks to hold it still. There was not enough shaft showing with the body inplace to really clamp it

I hate doing it because it feels so dirty but I had to dremel the mounting off. Cut it a bit first and drilled out the end to check what was inside, then hacked it to death. Turns out it just had a lot of vicious thread lock in there, that said we couldn't hold the shaft so no option...
The new one screwed on fine and now its ready for the bike Swapped the bearings in a couple freehubs also with some high end ones.












Ti with bearings = 97g
Steel with bearings = 142g

 

[Mofofo]

I want this shock on my Lobo too !!!
:shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[thebuny]

More pictures please!!!

it is difficult to see it like that. More details please

I like it a lot when someone takes the time and troubles of document all.

 

[Magsy]

I wasn't too sure when I saw all the bits anodised red, but seeing the lever back in one piece, it looks brilliant.

Will the bike get much use when it's finished, or is it more of a labour of love / just because you can project?

I've lost the plot really

I will ride it without doubt but will I ride it in risky situations, intended use, down the side of a mountain? I hope I can but I'm going to cry as it inveitably becomes battle scarred.

I haven't ridden in a long while so it won't be an issue at the start

 

[cyfa2809]

Nail on the head. Its cnc loveliness lego for adults.
They know exactly what they are doing with these toys.

 

[ChrisBrown81]

I am so jealous of that rear shock!!. The whole build is amazing cannot wait to see it completed.

 

[Mofofo]

Everybody who have a Lobo is jalous of this shock, I can't wait for seeing the finished bike.. :shock:

 

[Magsy]

Okay, lets cotinine the never ending stream of pictures, I've posted so many a Flickr Pro account has just added to the expenses... (The pics are always clickable for larger btw)

If you spray with real gear and everything is perfect you will get a good, maybe even great flat finish but usually like you see on modern cars there is orange peel. Wet sanding is always done on high end finishes but no major manufacturer is going to dedicate this time get perfection.

I appreciate to some this is all over-the-top but I'm also honing a skill and learning, I've sanded several high end cars and practice is always good.

The forks had a lot angles and my setup was not great so there were parts that didn't flow well. I don't have much on the frame at all because I took more care but I'll sand what is there out too.

You can see the reflection here




2000 grit wet n dry and a bucket of warm soapy water, try you use a flat block but on something like this you are going to need your fingers.
You'd be surprised how much sanding you can do before you go through the clear coat but once you are through, it is ruined obviously! The colour base coat is very thin compared to clear, so when you sand through you nearly always take the colour with it.
Edges and curves are to be treated with a lot of care, sometimes you need to make a judgement call and leave those hard places alone / respect the thickness of clear you have; a little peel is better than no clear



Couple of mins..



and more..



and when you are done



Some people say they can recover from 2000 grit by hand polishing but I never have been able to.
Dual action polisher, couple different compounds and a bunch of pads.



It doesn't take long




A good straight line reflection is always what you are looking for




The easy part should be putting them back together but the disassembly was over a year ago and I now just have a box of bits

 

[ryan_is]

This is going to be better built and better looking than when it left the factory!

 

[heavyp]

The easy part should be putting them back together but the disassembly was over a year ago and I now just have a box of bits

Seems like everything is new why not treat those forks to a full service by TFtuning, they do a little work to the older boxxers that rockshox team riders aka peat used to get back in the day (What is Boxxer 'TF Tuning' on '98-'02 Forks ? :TF tuning is a modification to the compression damping that increases low to mid speed compression without causing high speed spiking. It also increases the rebound damping throughout the range which is its main benefit. It's the same mod we performed on the stock Boxxer that top riders like Steve Peat rode all through the '01 & '02 seasons.).

Also those 151 decals i dunno how desperate you are but i got 2 pair of 151's and will be making a set of decals from them so ill hit you up just so busy at the mo will take a month or 2 to get around to it.

And did you say you have a heavy/firm spring ? as i need one and will have a lighter spring to swap for it if you want. I just need to find out what colour is which. If you have any idea let me know or look at the 2 spares I have on my trek dh link below page 2.