Cat used the throttle and grips called "Gran Turismo" and from what I have seen they are pretty specific to the cat line.
I talked with Dave Liberton about them recently and he thinks that cat was actually making them in house but I'm not real sure about that as Gran Turismo makes/made grips etc for resale, you just never see the cat throttle on anything. He had some NOS listed recently but ran out and was sending out typical chrome metal assy's instead :facepalm: He told me he was going to dig around in his inventory he thinks he has some still but just does not know where and if he found any he would let me know. He bought out cat and others inventories as they went out back in the 70's, from talking to him though it sounds like all the "Important" stuff is long gone and he just has oddball things left over.
heres what they look like (off a cat 350ss I had, of course now owned by Derek :laugh
I talked with Dave Liberton about them recently and he thinks that cat was actually making them in house but I'm not real sure about that as Gran Turismo makes/made grips etc for resale, you just never see the cat throttle on anything. He had some NOS listed recently but ran out and was sending out typical chrome metal assy's instead :facepalm: He told me he was going to dig around in his inventory he thinks he has some still but just does not know where and if he found any he would let me know. He bought out cat and others inventories as they went out back in the 70's, from talking to him though it sounds like all the "Important" stuff is long gone and he just has oddball things left over.
heres what they look like (off a cat 350ss I had, of course now owned by Derek :laugh
. Don't worry Mitch, I usually have something you need. I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve for the tires too:wink:
First step is dis-assembly. I modified an el-cheapo caulk gun, and chucked the shock in to compress the spring:
Then I used my hand dandy strap wrench to spin out the plastic insert on the bottom.A few weeks before I tore into this bike I sprayed these down with some PB Blaster to help me knock em loose:thumbsup::
After I spun off the lowers there is a small roll pin in the end of the shaft, drive it out and the shock comes apart:
Then I used my hand dandy strap wrench to spin out the plastic insert on the bottom.A few weeks before I tore into this bike I sprayed these down with some PB Blaster to help me knock em loose:thumbsup::
After I spun off the lowers there is a small roll pin in the end of the shaft, drive it out and the shock comes apart:
Next was pretty straight forward. I soaked the springs and cups in some evaporust, and polished the lowers, top ends and shafts. I straightened out the bent cups on the right shock, but I found something interesting on the left one. At one time the chain had snapped on this bike and slapped the shock from top to bottom and left a perfect chain tattoo the whole length of the shock. It was so dirty I didn't even see it until I cleaned them up. I decided to leave it, as it shows that this bike is actually "used". Kind of like a badge of honor:laugh: I could have polished the marks out, but I'm just "cleaning" this bike up, not restoring it.
After a good bath and a polish, all lubed up and ready to go back on the bike:thumbsup::
Chain rash:
After a good bath and a polish, all lubed up and ready to go back on the bike:thumbsup::
Chain rash:
Those look great, as many shocks as I redo I still havent come across a set of those to do yet. Those have the one piece rubbers? I'm doing a funky set of french made shocks with eyelet like those, they were a pain to press the rubbers out of, not looking forward to putting them back in :doah:
Thanks to your pics of the chain slap I know know what those spots are from, I am redoing a set of sebacs that I bought off jamie72 also from a cat, one bottom has about 4 of those dots in a row like that and I thought it may have been factory blemish or something, Its not as revealing of a line like on yours and didn't hit the cups or springs so I could not figure it out, I'm used to seeing where the chain pracitally wearing holes through the side of the lowers :cursing:
Thanks to your pics of the chain slap I know know what those spots are from, I am redoing a set of sebacs that I bought off jamie72 also from a cat, one bottom has about 4 of those dots in a row like that and I thought it may have been factory blemish or something, Its not as revealing of a line like on yours and didn't hit the cups or springs so I could not figure it out, I'm used to seeing where the chain pracitally wearing holes through the side of the lowers :cursing:
Did some work on the fenders, first after bath and a soak in some evaporust:
The rear only had a single bow in the back lip that was easy to bend back by hand. The front was all bent with what looked like pliers or something:doah:. I pounded it back into rough shape, but I didn't go too far because I don't ant to re-chrome anything on this bike and it was starting to chip.
Far from perfect, but much better than before:
The rear only had a single bow in the back lip that was easy to bend back by hand. The front was all bent with what looked like pliers or something:doah:. I pounded it back into rough shape, but I didn't go too far because I don't ant to re-chrome anything on this bike and it was starting to chip.
Far from perfect, but much better than before: