Topic: 77 CB550k, SF Bay Area

[DustyRags]

WD40 is pretty much made for that. I usually just grab the nearest oily rag and give 'em a wipe.

[davidtime]

I've been letting my nuts and bolts soak in vinegar overnight then wire brushing them, throw them in again swish them around rinse them, let them dry and then spray with aluminum engine paint. Looks good and after a good dry wrenches don't wreck the paint (at least the first time anyway).

[jtran000]

Just got to work, removed the tape off the hubs.  Not a bad job for first timer, need to wet sand the edges as some bleeding occurred but overall I'm very happy. 

6" wire brush wheel and used laquer thinner to clean off any oil residue, 3 coats of etch prime, 3 coats of black paint, 3 coats of clear coat.


where i need to sand


still stinks so i'll leave em in the sun to dry a bit more.

[jtran000]

I've been letting my nuts and bolts soak in vinegar overnight then wire brushing them, throw them in again swish them around rinse them, let them dry and then spray with aluminum engine paint. Looks good and after a good dry wrenches don't wreck the paint (at least the first time anyway).

I did that with my exhaust flanges...but i forgot about them for 3 days...the chrome was starting to flake off    Wasted a good hour sanding/wire brushing as much of the flakes as possible.  Lesson learned haha.

I'm assuming the aluminum engine paint is the one you can get at Autozone?  I'm planning on using that for the flanges.  Do they need to be prepped before painting, like using rustolium? 

[davidtime]

I didn't prep my nuts and bolts but the engine primer they have is great. I got mine from autozone. I did my exhaust flanges with the same stuff and I primed those. They look great but I think they will get over the 550 degrees the paint is made for, You might want to get the higher heat paint.

[jtran000]

I didn't prep my nuts and bolts but the engine primer they have is great. I got mine from autozone. I did my exhaust flanges with the same stuff and I primed those. They look great but I think they will get over the 550 degrees the paint is made for, You might want to get the higher heat paint.

will do, thanks for the tip.  man, when you don't have anything to work with things can get expensive.  if/when i buy my next project at least i'll have all the tools/hardware available.

[davidtime]

Yeah it does cost for the tools but I already want to start on another bike so they will not be getting dusty. I wanted to do everything all at once and not ride it until it was done but now I am putting it back together with what I got. This will allow me to enjoy the bike and do the rest as I can afford it. I have a long list of to dos.

[TwoTired]

Pretty sure all the bolts and nuts that see atmosphere were plated by Honda.  Rust means that the thin plating was violated, and wire brushing removes it completely.  WD40 will prevent rust until it is washed off, or about 3-6 months after the coating is applied.  They will begin rusting again, and you have a 6 month recurring polishing project on the machine for the remainder of its life.

Zinc plated or cad plated nuts and bolts can go years without attention.  Chrome is even longer (and shiny!).  Like all coatings, if the plating is pierced, the base metal will begin to corrode.

[jtran000]

Pretty sure all the bolts and nuts that see atmosphere were plated by Honda.  Rust means that the thin plating was violated, and wire brushing removes it completely.  WD40 will prevent rust until it is washed off, or about 3-6 months after the coating is applied.  They will begin rusting again, and you have a 6 month recurring polishing project on the machine for the remainder of its life.

Zinc plated or cad plated nuts and bolts can go years without attention.  Chrome is even longer (and shiny!).  Like all coatings, if the plating is pierced, the base metal will begin to corrode.

Is it safe to assume that I can go to Home Depot to get replacement nuts/bolts.  I remember what mine looked like when I was disassembling and I really don't want to repeat this coating process every 6/8 months if I can avoid it now.

Edit:  I'll just stop by on my way home since Lowes and Home Depot is right next to each other.

TwoTired, where in Milpitas are you?  I work right next to the old Solyndra (now Seagate) building.  If you have time, you should swing by and check out what we do.  www.alterg.com

[davidtime]

I got some new nuts and bolts for the engine mount, just don't have metric so mine take a 1/2" wrench.

[TwoTired]

Is it safe to assume that I can go to Home Depot to get replacement nuts/bolts.

Sorta.  The thread pitch and size will be the same.  But, the heads will be 13mm or 15mm instead of the 12mm or 14mm that were supplied by Honda.  This will make your on board tool kit, er, expand.  And, there are places where a 12mm head fits better than the 13mm head does.

You can have your old bolts/nuts re-plated.  And there are plating kits available from Eastwood.  (Always wanted one of those.  )
http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-tin-zinc-electroplating-system.html

TwoTired, where in Milpitas are you? 

Out where 237 meets the foot hills.

[RAFster122s]

Replating is ideal, Boeshield can be used to help protect parts such as underside of fenders, etc.

WD40 does not provide protection that will last very long.
Motor oil would be a better protection from rusting and a light coating is all that is needed.

[jtran000]

Update:

Got the hubs mounted on the new rims.  OK, people weren't kidding when they said lacing these babies was going to be a lot of work.  Took several hours  to get them right,  once I managed to get the front done the rear only took 20 minutes

I took them to Wheel Works in hayward to get them trued.  Okay bay area people, if you don't know about this place you have to check it out!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/wheel-works-hayward-2

He make custom spokes using these old machines from the early 1900s.  Although his shop is a complete mess, it's a gold mine of goodies!  So many pre-1970s bikes in his garage, all covered in layers upon layers of dust.  You just have to check it out if you're in the neighborhood.  Super nice guy too.  I believe he said custom spokes and lacing would run about 60-100.  If I knew this I'd wouldn't have bought my taiwanese knockoffs.  He also let me swap out some rusted bolts for good ones for a few bucks.  Man, too much knowledge to absorb, been there 3 times and I can't keep up.

Here's the rims laced and a shot with the tires on, Shinko 712s front and rear from motorcycle superstore:



Wheels mounted:



Emgo Cafe Bars with clear brown gran turismo grips.


New headlight brackets, lowered the headlights a touch as well as the speedo/tach, also added a visor.  I have new bullet signal lights but still need to figure out the wiring.

[jtran000]

I'm just happy to be riding again, didn't realize I haven't been on her since June!  Next on the list is to improve the brakes, rears have new pads but have yet to replace fronts.  As of now, they're so mooshy I feel the need to brake early all the time.  While I'm not against rebuilding the master cylinder, calipers and upgrading to ss lines, a bit more umphf would be awesome.

After I sort the brakes out phase 1 would be complete.

Phase 2:
- Rebuild top end of engine
- replace head gaskets, engine is leaking oil right now
- install 650 cam and tach (got a set from a fellow forum member).
- paint the engine head flat black.

[RAFster122s]

Curious why you would install marginal Emgo bar end mirrors when you had a nice set of Napolean mirrors that have vibration damping and coated optics.

[jtran000]

Curious why you would install marginal Emgo bar end mirrors when you had a nice set of Napolean mirrors that have vibration damping and coated optics.

clubman bars are Emgo, the bar ends are Napoleans   They Napoleans are awesome, bought some cheapos from amazon and didn't like them, ended up ponying up for the Napoleans and never looked back.

The GranTurismo knockoffs are uncomfortable, hard as a rock, so I'm planning on switching out to these mustard kung-fu grips

[RAFster122s]

Sorry, apparently I didn't read close enough...

Love my Napoleons too.