T-500 Update

After a whole summer of hemming and hawing over whether to sell the T-500 for scrap or not, college caught up to me fast and the topic was sidelined yet again. Two weeks after I moved away for school, I received a notification from eBay that my family's account had purchased a T-500 starter gear. I hadn't ordered the part, and an email to my Dad confirmed that he was interested in working on it again. Finally, he agreed that a little investment into the T-500 would certainly be worth it. I went home that weekend and started tearing the little guy apart.


After taking off the seat and tank, I removed the side cover/oil reservoir and drained it. It was a lot more full than I had expected! The airbox was already removed as well as the battery, so I worked on cleaning the rims up with WD-40. They polished up super well with just that, so I figured I'd just leave them be. After removing the exhaust, I was disappointed to see that the headers are beyond a decent polish job. They're pretty atrocious, and I'll have to look for a new set soon. The pipes themselves are okay, they have a few scratches and gravel dings on them, but they're not terrible. After an hour's worth of scrubbing dirt off with WD-40 and 3 applications of chrome polish, they turned out pretty good.

The chain guard was a real PITA to clean, as it had big globs of tar on it. In this situation, Bug+Tar remover doesn't help no matter how hard you try or how long you soak it, so my Dad suggested I use brake cleaner or carb cleaner. Worked like a charm! Shined it up pretty well too, didn't marr the chrome or anything.

Then it was time to take it to the car wash. I had waited for this moment for two years! I hit it with the hose this summer, but nothing beats a real pressure wash and a whole can of engine degreaser. We ran up to Menard's, rented a truck for 25 bucks, bought an 8 foot 2x4 and drove back and loaded it up and strapped it down and drove to the car wash. It looked great after that!

Didn't get any pictures after that, but I'll get some when I come home. Next time: dropping the motor, hauling it to the workbench and an inspection! Maybe some carb work. Keeping an eye out for any year 500 fender and misc. rubber parts.