Author Topic: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*new pics and a short vid!!*  (Read 20801 times)

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Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #25 on: March 02, 2013, 07:30:25 AM »
hehehe, thanks mate! i really enjoy doing all three :D


Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #27 on: March 07, 2013, 07:33:37 AM »
and some more....!

so, i started my next project that works hand in hand with my mirrors...

38.1mm alluminium round bar



machined to 37mm...added a 4.5 degree taper 7mm from the end. Drilled a 20mm hole 47.5mm deep to tip of drill which is the end of the hole. Drilled 2 x 3.3mm holes 180 degrees apart 3.5mm from the end and tapped m4. then whooped it back in the lathe and added a taper of 23.5 degrees to the 7mm left at the end. I drilled and tapped the m4 holes before i tapered the end as it would have been far more difficult once the taper was cut. Dont mind the burred m4 holes, i will run a tap in there afterwards...

Fitted and clock'd the bar (to ensure it was perfectly straight in the milling machine, got it to 1000th of a mm :biggrin:) in a rotating centre and end stock on the milling machine. thats as far as i got today. only took 3 hours! thought it would have taken much longer! im on form :biggrin:





and just my luck, the end stock was too small, so i quickly turned up an adapter to fit in the 20mm hole and drilled a centre hole in the end for the stock center...



thanks all for now! oh, and there are also two of these puppies ;)

Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #28 on: March 07, 2013, 07:34:11 AM »
i never now when enough is enough!

forgot to post my plug spanner i made. As many of you know already, the bike plug does not use a normal auto socket spanner. i couldnt find one the right size, thanks Honda.

anyway, i have some spare time so yeah....









it works though! ;D

Offline Blitzburgh207

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #29 on: March 07, 2013, 11:26:53 AM »



it works though! ;D

You're ridiculous lol.  Lookin good dude I'd like to see where this one is headed.
1978 CB750 K8

Offline DustyRags

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #30 on: March 07, 2013, 03:34:32 PM »
Making your own tools? You're insane.

Totally following this, should be a sweet ride!
1976 CB550K- sold
2005 Kawasaki Vulcan 500- sold
2000 CB750 Nighthawk - sold
1975 XL350 - crashed
2004 Suzuki Vstrom 650 - sold

Offline RAFster122s

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #31 on: March 14, 2013, 08:24:04 PM »
May want to gusset the frame in a few spots to increase the rigidity of the frame.  I believe FunJimmy and Bwaller did this on their bikes during their builds or rebuilds.
Stiffening the chassis will help the front and rear suspension do their jobs as they should.

Fun build/restore to watch. Thanks for all the pictures and descriptions.

So, you don't like the Weber DCOE carbs? 
Any carbs you do like?

David
David- back in the desert SW!

Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #32 on: March 14, 2013, 09:33:26 PM »
May want to gusset the frame in a few spots to increase the rigidity of the frame.  I believe FunJimmy and Bwaller did this on their bikes during their builds or rebuilds.
Stiffening the chassis will help the front and rear suspension do their jobs as they should.

Fun build/restore to watch. Thanks for all the pictures and descriptions.

So, you don't like the Weber DCOE carbs? 
Any carbs you do like?

David

thanks for the comments mate! yeah, i have been thinking about the gussets. there were only two, in my opinion, structural points that may cause issues.

see below:

the top arrow is pointing out a gusset that was used to mount the fusebox. i can understand that i may need to  add one there, but the rear pipe that completes the "triangle" is where the strength is. If the lower pillion mount was lower (was welded either side of the bend in the bottom of the frame), then i can understand that is was adding strength if that makes sense?



also, the rear hoop i fitted is stronger than the original hehehe. there will be a seat pan attached that will help with strengthening later on too?...

do you have a link to the builds you mentioned above man? i am very interested in checking them out :)

thanks for the other comments guys, i do really like to make stuff ;D
« Last Edit: March 14, 2013, 09:38:52 PM by Bru-tom »

Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...*frame snipped*
« Reply #33 on: March 14, 2013, 09:34:44 PM »
hey guys, quick update... i finally sourced the o-rings for my main jet. Well, its not the "right" size, but it works and seals well! i used the 2mm ID and 1.5 cross section. its small, but stretched nicely to fill the void  ;)





also assembled my carbs, well, mostly. Got more electroplating done. The douche bag lost more of my parts! i really cant give him crap as much as id like, as he is the only one in EL that does it  >:( and the parts were not that difficult to make.

rear brake linkage arm adjusting nut: 12mm SS roundbar, M6 thread down the centre, filed a round slot at the one end, welded an m8 nut of the top.



The other is the idle adjusting crew for my carb, took 25mm round bar, machined it down to 16mm. slapped it into a rotating dividing head and marked 30 degree increments, I then filed "v" slots at every increment, TIG'd an M5 SS bolt on and voila, 1 x adjusting bolt! ;)





oh yeah, also did my head seeing my gasket set arrived:

removed each valves, springs and replaced the stem seals. I lapped the valves a tiny bit for safety sake while it was apart, really didnt have to but what the hell....



market the valve with machinists marking blue, slipped it back in and spun it with my figer 1 x rotation and pulled it back out to observe if there were any faults... absolutely perfect! surprising for a 38 year old piece of machinery! :biggrin:



thats it for now...

Oh ya, i received my Dow Corning HVG for my brake caliper, this stuff is rated best in the world for this job! not cheap though, but the tube should last me my lifetime  ;D should be receiving my Phenolic Brake piston and brake pads and shoes tomorrow.


thanks for reading.

Offline RAFster122s

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #34 on: March 14, 2013, 11:03:18 PM »
Here's bwaller's thread, covers his race bike and campaigning it over the past couple years. You can see the additional gussets added in some of the initial pics in the thread.  Some solid race proven engineering...

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83871.msg945296#msg945296

FunJimmy did some great work/engineering on his bike.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=27159.0

While not the race bike of bwaller, it is a great machine with good solid engineering as well.  FJ was in the midst of another engine upgrade but pulled the plug on most of it after lots of life interferred with plans.

Paulage has done some great motor work with hybrid 650 & 550 SOHC motor work that is a pattern many have followed.

David
David- back in the desert SW!

Offline RAFster122s

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #35 on: March 14, 2013, 11:12:33 PM »
While you have the head apart you should consider doing some of the recommendations of HondaMan for improving the flow and performance in the 550 motor.  Would be easy enough to spend a few days of effort in that area.  If you can source a '79 or '80 CB650 cam and cam tach drive you could add some duration to help improve performance across the range.  Or pick up a Web 58a cam...

I think sourcing the proper sized o-rings for your carbs would be a wise investment.  Some carbs can be picky and you don't want to spoil the potential performance by something being a bit off by adding a variable that could easily be made right.
David- back in the desert SW!

Offline y2kc0wb0y

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #36 on: March 15, 2013, 03:23:07 AM »
Found your thread from your bar end post. Keep up the good work you're Funkingroovin :)
CB750K3 890cc| 2004 VFR800A| 76 CB550F| 77 CB750F| 73 CB350G| 79 XLH| 2007 BMW R1200GS| CB750K2

Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #37 on: March 15, 2013, 11:41:10 AM »
Here's bwaller's thread, covers his race bike and campaigning it over the past couple years. You can see the additional gussets added in some of the initial pics in the thread.  Some solid race proven engineering...

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=83871.msg945296#msg945296

FunJimmy did some great work/engineering on his bike.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=27159.0

While not the race bike of bwaller, it is a great machine with good solid engineering as well.  FJ was in the midst of another engine upgrade but pulled the plug on most of it after lots of life interferred with plans.

Paulage has done some great motor work with hybrid 650 & 550 SOHC motor work that is a pattern many have followed.

David

thank you so much for the links, went through each one front start to finish! absolutely inspiring builds! i wish i had some of their money and skills though :) hehehe

i really like what they did engineering wise, lots of thought went into both their bikes, i totally appreciate and admire stuff like that, more inspiration!

on another note, where do i see what hondaman recommends 550 in terms of better flow? should i get my dremel out and do some smoothing in the ports? i did see the intake ports are very messy just behind the valves  :o

il defo keep an eye out for the 650 cam from 79 and 80'. I did actually see that mentioned somewhere else. Where i am from, these parts are hens teeth, i am having to import most of my spares and being an apprentice is tough financially :-\

appreciate the comments guys ;)

Offline RAFster122s

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #38 on: March 15, 2013, 12:44:47 PM »
Solution to the financials is to barter making some copies of some of the stuff guys have lusted after in your build. You have the fabrication skills and they cover the freight costs and you trade your custom parts for what you need.

HondaMan (Mark) has a thread that covers the CB line...so you dig out the morsels that apply to the CB550 line...
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=7401.0

Here's one, maybe Mark can direct you to others.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=17374.0

David
David- back in the desert SW!

Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #39 on: March 15, 2013, 01:09:05 PM »
hahaha i think with the amount of time to make these the custom parts iv made is converted into a monetary value, i wouldnt be able to afford them ;D

Besides, there are many other far cheaper and neater options online for parts, im just a cheap skate :P

will be going through those threads, thanks bud!

Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #40 on: October 21, 2013, 11:45:18 AM »
This is what i have been up to:

2mm 316 stainless steel,a coupla cuts, bends, holes and my TIG = ?

PHASE ONE:













welds are not perfect, will put some pickling paste on tomorrow and clean em up a bit, reckon they will look sweet.





Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....75' CB550f...* replacement parts fab'd*
« Reply #41 on: October 21, 2013, 11:46:10 AM »
phase two.... my TIG is set up pretty good now, welds are shiny rainbow colours. really getting into my new TIG machine.

i took some more of that lovely 316 stainless and trimmed it to an approx circle then chucked the now discs on a mandrel i lathed up and continued to machine them perfectly round. Then i got my hands on some 316 Stainless 76mm O.D. pipe. cut several different thickness bits that are dependent on my.....well, thickness of stuff that fits in there. My machined round discs fit into the 76mm slithers of pipe. then TIG'd up as can be seen below.







i dont need four btw, just a couple extra just in case...





i think this one will give it away:



Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #42 on: October 21, 2013, 11:48:00 AM »
phase two.... my TIG is set up pretty good now, welds are shiny rainbow colours. really getting into my new TIG machine.

i took some more of that lovely 316 stainless and trimmed it to an approx circle then chucked the now discs on a mandrel i lathed up and continued to machine them perfectly round. Then i got my hands on some 316 Stainless 76mm O.D. pipe. cut several different thickness bits that are dependent on my.....well, thickness of stuff that fits in there. My machined round discs fit into the 76mm slithers of pipe. then TIG'd up as can be seen below.







i dont need four btw, just a couple extra just in case...





i think this one will give it away:



Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #43 on: October 21, 2013, 11:49:29 AM »

some rear bearing retainer trouble! it was tighter than a..........

after a few attempts at making a tool and drilling the pop marks out... added heat and viola!



the handles were straight!





the helping hands...



Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #44 on: October 21, 2013, 11:50:08 AM »
i have also since finished rebuilding my carbs and i must say, i am completely happy, no pics yet unfortunately. I bought some nitrile rubber sheeting to make fuel resistant gaskets and these carb top cover gaskets.



stripped and started polishing my shock housings...my oh my, did it get the better of me!



had to go down lower than id ever had to go before, 60 grit!



took its toll!



iirc, 600 grit



went to 1500 and then used my home made polisher, worked a charm!



pics dont do any justice



aslo did some porting and flow work on my intakes:



aaaaannd, made an attachment to fit a c-clamp to use as a valve spring compressor!



Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #45 on: October 21, 2013, 11:51:19 AM »
also did some work on my motor, stripped the jugs off in order to replace the gasket and o-ring. The pistons look really good still, the bores also look good.  :thumleft:





prepping the tank:



stripped all the paint off, what a pain in the arse! a whole tin and a bit of paint stripper



then started treating the rust, 4 hours later and lots of scrubbing and reapplying deoxidene:



and another couple of hours later:



then preceded to prep the jugs and head. Taped everything up and gave them a coat of sigma primer on the bare alli:





finally, gave them both a coat of gunmetal metallic satin 2k:



cant really see the colour that nicely here, but you get the idea:



Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #46 on: October 21, 2013, 11:52:22 AM »

Man, prep really does take up the most time!!! but the results speak for themselves. My fingers are still raw from the thinner mishap that happened, but at least any little cuts i had were immediately "sealed and disinfected" :biggrin:

it was a long two days, but when looking at what i got done, it doesnt seem like much :-\

anyway, here are some "pics or it didnt happen" :biggrin:

first up, i decided to rip the sump off and see what the whole fuss was about when replacing my kickstart shaft. My spline is (WAS O0) absolutely, well, not there... i tried and tried until i managed to figure a way of getting it right without having to split the case like may had said was the only way?! no progress pics of the whole ordeal, but all of this:





was stripped and replaced with a fresh one from my donor motor. i got a quote from David Silver for a second hand one some time back, 80 pounds didnt seem right to me, so my score with the spares buy earlier, tuned out to be a real life saver! ;)

with that one ticked of my to do list, i got stuck into cleaning the inside of the motor, one litre of paraffin later and a paraffin gun at 4 bar, the internals were blasted clean! also used thinners straight after that to remove the oily residue left by the paraffin on the exterior and to remove any flaky paint left behind after the paint stripper session a couple of months ago..





Parts all scotched up, taped and ready for sigma





excuse the pics, i was too laxy and dirty to wana get the dslr out ;D



primed:



and painted with satin 2k Rolls Royce silver :biggrin:





dont judge me, but i actually never took any pics of the motor in colour, will snap some this weekend, it was a daunting task cleaning up after that session :o ;D

PS, dont mind the covers on the motor and tappet cover etc, they are the donor motors that i dont mind getting paint on, the polished beauts are wrapped up for now hehe.

i also decided to upgrade my arsenal with another torque wrench, this time, one that will last my lifetime ;) should arrive next week!!! :) its the 8-60Nm one.
...


i also managed to get my tank in primer, will be working on it this weekend again, so will upload progress pics of it this weekend too

Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #47 on: October 21, 2013, 11:52:49 AM »
so i finally decided that i was going to go the spray route on my rims and hubs.

had the stuff blasted, gave it a liberal Sigma prime. Next day i dry flatted with 600 then 800. Mixed my Max M 2k, Max M hardener and 2k thinners all perfectly and and...started spraying at 2.5 bar and then saw that the finish was not 100% smooth. kinda liked it as mentioned above, looked like the mercs that are sprayed in special spray booths by robots here at work. turns out that they too have an orange peel effect.

Not all the parts are effected, i rubbed everything down with a tack rag before and wore gloves to ensure no contaminants would get into contact with the surface. Laid down a light coat followed up by two nice thick coats, but no where near thick enough to run. maybe the orange peel came from me pushing too much air and not enough paint through the gun? the temp wasnt that bad when i think about it....

anyway, if i wanted to redo the rims, all id have to do is flat em and respray without coating with primer, right?

pics:



evidence of rust, mostly rear wheel:









loving the sun:





you can see the wavy finish:







the better finish parts:





my boi!



Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #48 on: October 21, 2013, 11:53:49 AM »

SS in ally, means gauling, so a anti-seize is a must, and from what iv researched not copper slip preferably, it tends to, over time, eat alli.

 

after the sumo went on, time for just etc, made a tool to compress the rings. 0.2mm SS and a hose clamp :biggrin:





one two skip a few, done!



filler,



what i used:



most of the filler gone, dents out:



final prime:



guide coat, sanded it off with 800. Man it took long, never knew proper prep was that labor intensive, but what a finish i got after sanding!



Thread file on bearing retainers, after which i press all the bearings in:



Next:



you get inside and outer spokes, note the angles, make sure you know where they go!





a little slip to make adjustments easier later on:



inside spokes done:



after which i scratched the rim quite bad, so ditched the entire job, normally i take precautions, but for some reason this time....

finished the rear:



my nipples were 6.7mm, so a 7mm spanner just wont do!

got my hands on a precision tool grinder:



a 4.5mm spanner, grinding stone and an hour of 0.01mm cuts:



done:



need to build a truing stand, but have a perfect solution for that. The front wheel has been resprayed since and should get here laced this week sometime.

tired of rust, so i cut and TIG'd some SS on the feet of my kickstand and centre stand, if i end up using it:







yes, custom stuff again:



there is a 2x2mm slot in there somewhere, it will hold something you will see shortly 8)



there are four in total:



tool of choice, not bad for over 30 years old!



fuse box, 1.5mm SS, wood as support when hack-sawing....



Now, due to me not having access to a bending break with smaller dies, resorted to a 1mm cutting disc and grinder, carefully cut like half way through:



bent the bugger and TIG'd her up (no pics yet)


Offline Bru-tom

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Re: First bike, first build.....76' CB550f...*MAJOR UPDATE!*
« Reply #49 on: October 21, 2013, 11:55:56 AM »

a few more pics quick:

welded studs onto fuse box and fitted grommets. busy sorting the components out as we speak, trying to minimize things and hopefully cut 20mm off the overall height of the box for a slimmer profile. I should be able to take at least 15mm making it around 35-40mm deep.





the wiring before:



the after pics will be coming shortly. I have eliminated a few plugs already, without jeopardizing safety and convenience. Replaced my moersa regulator with a slimline Motorola one, also my flasher unit to one that is not load dependent to use with my LEDs ( that should arrive tomorrow O0) hopefully get my fuse box completed tonight ;)

also, didnt get much done this weekend, spent the entire saturday shooting a competition. Sunday was a waste too, beside being tired, the weather was crap, so my tank is still in primer! :-\ I did manage to get my other wheel laced, started building a very basic truing stand.

made some brackets and gave them a lick of paint to prevent corrosion:





using electrical saddles to hold the axles in place:



and there she is in all her glory!



so after many hours of trying to get the best layout with using as little space, i managed to sort out the wiring, removed a plug and still be able to unplug everything from the box... i also intend to cut around 15mm off the total height of the box, which means that you will only see 5mm when looking side-on once fitted  :thumleft:



still need to loom everything up, but you get the idea.



and FINALLY!!!!!!!! took the plunge with my tank!

despite a million hours of research and and....i still got orange peel in the base! :-\ but once she dried, she was smooth, so i dodged one bullet! i decided that the cheapo spraygun was causing some of the orange peel and reverted back to my old faithful devilbiss, that has seen better days and about 20 years old!

pics:







only a tad of peel here:



and final product, need to get some dust in the clear off, but a 2000 maybe 3000 wetsand and a minor polish wont hurt, the shine is already there!