Topic: 1971 honda cb 750 project / Update problem changing oil

[Garystratos201]

Just ordered my rings, circlips, cam chain tensioner, roller, complete gasket set and sealer. Dude !!! Did that ever cut into the budget.lol Is off to sears for me today to buy some things that Johnie suggested to make it a lot easier to clean my parts. Thanks for the info...........Gary

[Johnie]

The Honda OEM shocks came with a sticker on them which will be long gone. Some of the aftermarket shocks have a name on them. I think that is what he was talking about. You can still get the OEM shocks for your bike if you are wanting to get it back to the stock look. You can find used one too. I bet some guys on the board have some. There is a difference in the 69-71 as compared to the 72-76. The ones on your bike will have black plastic between the lower part of the spring and shaft. Click the pic to enlarge it.

[Garystratos201]

Thanks again Johnie . I`m gonna take a few days off for the holiday....you know BBQ, football, and beer, ok maybe some Scotch.....................GO DAWGS !!!          Gary

[Stev-o]

The Dawgs stampeded the Bulls!

[Garystratos201]

It should have been more than 45 - 23. The dawgs defense didnt play well in the first half but came back in the second half and played like they were capable of........Gary

[lucky]

Neat story.. You may look into trading for an earlier set of side covers or sell them outright. Is there any name stamped on top of the rear shocks?

What name should be on the shocks?..........Gary

Showa.

[Garystratos201]

Johnie your the man. I spent 30 minutes using johnie`s method of polishing and I couldnt believe the results. I have ran into a problem I think there are two rubber bushings that go on the inside posts of the frt sprocket cover (see photo) Anyone know where I can find these parts and what are they called?.........Gary

[harisuluv]

What is Johnie's method of polishing?  I didn't see it?

[D-Ral]

I think there is just one rubber thingy...

[D-Ral]

On my cover, there is just one. According to the photo you just posted, it's on the right most post.

[Johnie]

Yes, only one rubber on the post is for a slight chain rub. Mine have some marks where the chain rubbed it on occasion...maybe when it got loose? My polishing method was listed on another post but here it is for you guys looking for it:

My first tip would be to forget the drill and get a good buffing wheel. I have a 6 inch Craftsman bench buffer with 6 inch cotton buffing wheels. You need to get the alumimun hot to let it flow when you are buffing and a drill will not generate that much heat as the RPM's will not compare to the bench buffer. That being said, if you want to use a drill you may get some nice results but not as good as a bench buffer. The first thing you should do is use a chemical stripper to remove the clear. The red rouge will take it off, but it does take a while. It is much easier if you let the stripper get it off for you. But go ahead and experiment with it. The red rouge is a rougher system which will cut faster and deeper. The green rouge will take out the marks from the red. The white will take out the finer marks from the green and give you a nice look. When done some guys clear it, but I never clear as I want to be able to touch it up whenever I feel like it. However, I have never had to touch it up with the wheel. I just use Semichrome or MAAS polish to make it look great again. A caution for you, use safety glasses and a dust mask as it is dirty work. If you get a bench buffer you will also need thick gloves as the parts get hot. Take your time and let the rouge do the work. And use one color rouge per wheel. Do not use the red wheel with green rouge. You do not want to cross contaminate the buffing wheels. I use a Magic Marker to write the color on each buffing wheel so I can use it again and not have to guess which color the buffing wheel is for. Keep in mind that after a while the buffing wheel will get some caked rouge which I get off with a putty knife while the wheel is turning. No big deal...
Here are a couple pics of my results on the side covers and forks. Click to enlarge pic...

[Garystratos201]

Johnie was the black around the Honda on the stator cover good if not how do you make one ?   Gary

[Johnie]

No, once you polish it usually comes off. Believe it or not I used a permanent marker on all my stator HONDA badges and it stays on fine and looks the same as the paint job. Just be sure to clean the polish residue off before you mark it.

[Garystratos201]

Man you gotta love our Postal service. Got my head in today and even though the seller had wrapped it in bubble wrap, sat it on empty egg cartons and surrounded front, rear and both sides with 1/4 inch Styrofoam they still managed to damage a perfect head. The box looked like it been ran over by a truck. I managed to repair the damage using an industrial heat gun, a wedge and some of my old body tools. The left side came out perfect but the damage to the rt side was so severe it left a hairline crack (see image ). Do any of you think I should have it welded or leave well enough alone. btw I finished polishing my valve  cover but havent cleaned or put any chrome polish on it yet. Man it looks great !!!..........Gary

[Prospect]

those fins look rough.  I would try and get my money back through the post office. Likely it's insured.  I couldn't see the hairline crackvery well.

[Garystratos201]

those fins look rough.  I would try and get my money back through the post office. Likely it's insured.  I couldn't see the hairline crackvery well.

Did you look at the images after the repair was completed ? Its not easy to find a head in this good of condition.............Gary

[Tews19]

Nice job on the repair!

[Prospect]

those fins look rough.  I would try and get my money back through the post office. Likely it's insured.  I couldn't see the hairline crackvery well.

Did you look at the images after the repair was completed ? Its not easy to find a head in this good of condition.............Gary

ah yes. Sorry I'm using an android tablet pc at the monent as I'm away from home and sometimes the images don't show properly.  Great reapir job.  You're right about not being able to find a good head.  I have two k1's and one of them has a later head on it. 

[Garystratos201]

ah yes. Sorry I'm using an android tablet pc at the monent as I'm away from home and sometimes the images don't show properly.  Great reapir job.  You're right about not being able to find a good head.  I have two k1's and one of them has a later head on it. 
[/quote]

No problem..Did you notice any loss in performance with the later model head? What year did you put on it ? Thanks......Gary

[Garystratos201]

Havent made a lot of progress lately . Battling a chest cold but I`m still polishing parts. Gasket set arrived from Cycle X, Rings and cam tensioner due in tomorrow. Thanks again to the post office my Stainless screw set I ordered from James Spillane is lost. Special thanks to Tews19 for rear shocks, fork ears and headlite bucket and Greggo for the great deal on the unicorn triple tree set. Struggling trying to free up the piston in the master cylinder without much luck but I havent given up..............Gary

[Garystratos201]

Finally I can see things slowly coming together. Today I finished polishing the engine parts, also pulled the oil pump and cleaned it also primed it. Also put  the covers back on with the stainless screw set the Post Office finally found ( nice set from forum member James Spillane). Just for kicks and giggles I set the jugs, head, head cover , and breather cover on just to see what it looked like. It looked so good I sat down and finished off a cold one and just stared at it for awhile. I`ve started tearing down the frt end. Tomorrow Hopefully I`ll have the time to put the top end together. Next on my list is to replace the kick starter chrome cover and the points cover...........Gary

[Garystratos201]

 I found out yesterday when i was honing my cylinder that some of the pitting that I thought would hone out  but just my luck it wont. So I`m off today to the machine shop. Already have the new rings on the pistons and ready and pistons on the connecting rods. So now its time to drop back and punt. I`ll find out today what oversize I need to go to and take it from there...........Gary

[Garystratos201]

Well no good news from my machine shop. One of the sleeves in my cylinders has has some how moved. Its a little bit higher than  the rest of the cylinder. Machinist says there is good possibility that it will spin when he bores it out. Recommends I find another one. So I`m trying to get in touch with Ken at Cycle X supposed to call him back around 5:00pm today..............Gary 

[lucky]

Thanks for the response Nik. I believe there are way to many fins broken and missing for welder to repair. I have the jugs off now and found everything except the rings to be to be in great shape. Of course I`ll need the cam chain tensioner and the cir clips for the wrist pins and of course the gaskets. anyone know of a good source for oem parts ?      Gary

Sometimes you can just file a broken fin, and it will look intended.

[Garystratos201]

Sometimes you can just file a broken fin, and it will look intended.
[/quote]

I`ve already bought another head as there were way too much damage to the fins to repair.
Today I finished tearing down the frame and forks. I still have to remove the neck races and check the swing arm bushings. Thinking about going with bronze.