Well, after owning this bike for 5 months, and riding it daily for 2, I figure it's time I made a thread and showed everybody what I did. There is absolutely no way I could have done this project without the folks on this forum, and I can only hope to repay the debt by helping others on their projects.
So Thank you, all of you!
Here we go!
As delivered for a meager $600. Great cosmetic shape for being 30 years old. Mechanically, however, things were a different story. The headgasket was leaking oil; cam chain tensioner was broken; the carbs were leaky, covered in silicone, and two slowjets were seriously clogged such that it was firing on only two cylinders; the rotor and R/R needed replaced; the wire harness was pinched to the frame in 3 different spots; the tires wouldn't hold air; and a dozen other small things needed fixed.
Step 1: Carbs! Disassemble, clean, replace slow jets, all new rubber everything, reassemble and bench-sync.
Step 2: Top-end rebuild! Disassemble, clean all surfaces, valve re-lap, replace cam chain tensioner, check clearances, reassemble with new Athena gaskets, helicoil inserts on two stripped cam-cover bolts, and re-torque everything.
Step 3: Be dumb and install pod filters. This ended up being MUCH more of a headache than it was worth, and I eventually went back to the stock air box and jetting. Still, I love the muscle-bike look it gives the engine.
Step 4: Ignition! Repotted the melted spark units with JB weld, replaced broken ignition coil, cleaned and oiled spark advancer, installed new plug wires, and set timing (Sorry I didn't get pictures of all that).
Step 5: Carb tuning! Vacuum sync the carbs after all the other things got fixed. The guy in the picture is my good buddy Daniel, who, though he is a heretic (a.k.a. Honda DOHC rider), also happens to be a genius and I never could have done this project without him
Step 6: Clutch rebuild! I didn't get pictures of this, but I did make my own version of Honda's $38 clutch adjuster locknut tool. Cost me $6
Step 7: Talk about everything else! I didn't get picture of my rotor and R/R replacement, mostly because I was too angry to get my camera out! The charging system on this bike is a serious PITA, but I eventually got it settled. Also not pictured is polishing the engine covers and the three-week-long hunt for properly sized o-rings for my carb drain bowls. I eventually used two 4.5X1mm o-rings on each drain screw and it seems to work like a charm.
Step 8: RIDE!
