Author Topic: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife  (Read 102799 times)

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Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #100 on: January 21, 2014, 07:40:19 PM »
Here's where it went pear-shaped.

Note to the next person that does this: If you buy a tapered roller bearing steering head kit from All Balls, they include two spacers and some terse instructions on how to see if they are needed. Here's where I messed up. I skimmed it, not thinking about where they had to be installed. See this new dust seal I am about to press bearing onto? It needs to go under that:



So I greased-up my nice new bearing:



Took out my stem driver set and drove it home:



Installed the outer races into the steering head with the press:



and then when test-fitting the steering stem I realized that yes indeed I DID need the 5mm spacer and it had to go under that dust seal. And so I inevitably destroyed my new bearing driving it back off the stem, ordered another, and sulked about that for a bit. After I got a bandaid for tonight's fresh pinch injury that is. These are the wages of not paying attention sometimes, for me.





Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #101 on: January 21, 2014, 07:46:23 PM »
There was one more mini project for yesterday - installing the refreshed swingarm and the repro shocks.



Had to drive out the bushings on the repro shocks and replace them with the wider Honda ones:





Bolted it all up...



And this thing is starting to remind me of a motorcycle again!

Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline MoMo

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #102 on: January 21, 2014, 07:54:04 PM »
Looking good, is the wife helping or are you working solo?...Larry

Offline thirsty 1

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #103 on: January 21, 2014, 07:58:10 PM »
Nice work you have going on there. Thanks for the tip about the AllBallz bearing kit. I'll be doing that in the next few weeks. Keep up the good work it's lookin awesome!!
73' CL125, 75' CB400F, 16' KTM 1190R, 05' KTM 525EXC

75' CB400F  -  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=127295.0

My 79 CB750F for fun   ----   http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=19923.0

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #104 on: January 21, 2014, 07:58:55 PM »
Looking good, is the wife helping or are you working solo?...Larry

Heeeyyyyy. Good point. This bike is for her, why isn't she helping?

Actually she does help now and then when I need a third hand, or a picture taken while I ham it up with a centerstand pivot :-).

Thanks Larry.
Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #105 on: January 21, 2014, 08:02:47 PM »
Nice work you have going on there. Thanks for the tip about the AllBallz bearing kit. I'll be doing that in the next few weeks. Keep up the good work it's lookin awesome!!

Thanks man and you're welcome! I posted my folly in the hopes of saving someone else doing the same, thanks for the instant feedback that sacrificing a little bit of pride was worth it :-)
« Last Edit: January 21, 2014, 08:15:42 PM by NobleHops »
Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline Just4fun

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #106 on: January 21, 2014, 08:43:13 PM »
It is great to see the details on a 400F clean up.  Please keep sharing as you assemble. 


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Offline 2strokeTrush

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #107 on: January 21, 2014, 10:21:25 PM »
...

Then once that had cured a bit, onto the silver. I used the VHT high temp paints, same as I used on the CBX but with the addition of the primer this time. Here you can see after the first coat how toothy the finish is on the side covers.



Did I mention how much I love this engine stand for this work? The ability to rotate it and move it into the light is so excellent.





Let it dry for an hour or two and then knocked down the tooth with 1200-grit sandpaper, much better. One final top coat:



...and done.



The sharp-eyed among you will note that I painted the tappet covers, which was probably not the right idea. I will remove those when I am assembling it and blast and polish them as they will not stand up to being wrenched-upon for long. There are also two chrome bolts on each side of the valve cover that I now wished I had masked, but I think the paint will come off those heads pretty easily too. I will bring it down to my local powdercoat guy and he will bake the engine and parts in his oven for an hour at 200 degrees as specified and that should make the paint about as durable as it was when Honda did it back in 1977.

But wait, there's more!

looks awesome Sir!! Not to thread jack you or anything, but I'm considering painting both clutch and sprocket covers on my 350f, where did you get that high temp paint?? And what chemical and abrasives did you use to remove the finish? I do have a Dremel so i guess i will go and pickup some brass wire that would help???  Thanks!


Oh and BTW that Toyota Cam Tool is no joke,  I work on mostly 4x4 Toyotas and thats like a right hand man to me sometimes!
If You Aint First Your Last!!

 350F project-http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=133079.0

500F Project-http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135660.0

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #108 on: January 21, 2014, 10:49:46 PM »
looks awesome Sir!! Not to thread jack you or anything, but I'm considering painting both clutch and sprocket covers on my 350f, where did you get that high temp paint?? And what chemical and abrasives did you use to remove the finish? I do have a Dremel so i guess i will go and pickup some brass wire that would help???  Thanks!


Oh and BTW that Toyota Cam Tool is no joke,  I work on mostly 4x4 Toyotas and thats like a right hand man to me sometimes!

Don't give a thought to hijacking, I fantasize that someone might find my thrashings helpful for their own project.

If you read back a few pages  you'll see where I succumbed to the lure of using wire wheels on aluminum and regretted it. Don't do that, and besides, if you try it with a Dremel you'll be there for a month and it will never look even. If I had it to do over I'd start with chemical strippers like the mythical "Aircraft Stripper", and then go with soft abrasives like the rotary cup brushes I used in my corded drill, followed by wet/dry paper to get rid of the swirls. Then degrease the $hit out of it with something horrible like lacquer thinner, including your fingerprints, then immediately to paint. Self-etching primer for a few coats, then a light sand with the wet/dry, clean it off, then the top coats with the paint.

You can find the VHT high-temp paints on Amazon or at many auto parts stores. YOU HAVE TO BAKE THE PARTS AFTER YOU PAINT THEM. Which is another way of saying, read and follow the label :-)

Let me know how it goes!
Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline Emoto

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #109 on: January 22, 2014, 06:03:47 AM »
This authentication regimen drives me nuts.  Anyway, nice job, Nils.

And why my account from years ago vanished, I'll never know, I guess.
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Offline 2strokeTrush

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #110 on: January 22, 2014, 07:16:12 AM »
looks awesome Sir!! Not to thread jack you or anything, but I'm considering painting both clutch and sprocket covers on my 350f, where did you get that high temp paint?? And what chemical and abrasives did you use to remove the finish? I do have a Dremel so i guess i will go and pickup some brass wire that would help???  Thanks!


Oh and BTW that Toyota Cam Tool is no joke,  I work on mostly 4x4 Toyotas and thats like a right hand man to me sometimes!

Don't give a thought to hijacking, I fantasize that someone might find my thrashings helpful for their own project.

If you read back a few pages  you'll see where I succumbed to the lure of using wire wheels on aluminum and regretted it. Don't do that, and besides, if you try it with a Dremel you'll be there for a month and it will never look even. If I had it to do over I'd start with chemical strippers like the mythical "Aircraft Stripper", and then go with soft abrasives like the rotary cup brushes I used in my corded drill, followed by wet/dry paper to get rid of the swirls. Then degrease the $hit out of it with something horrible like lacquer thinner, including your fingerprints, then immediately to paint. Self-etching primer for a few coats, then a light sand with the wet/dry, clean it off, then the top coats with the paint.

You can find the VHT high-temp paints on Amazon or at many auto parts stores. YOU HAVE TO BAKE THE PARTS AFTER YOU PAINT THEM. Which is another way of saying, read and follow the label :-)

Let me know how it goes!

Thanks man! I will be trying all this after i get the bike in order (Paint will be last thing to do).  One more thing, when you say Wet Sand what do you mean? An what Grit of paper??
If You Aint First Your Last!!

 350F project-http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=133079.0

500F Project-http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135660.0

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #111 on: January 22, 2014, 02:37:27 PM »
Quote
One more thing, when you say Wet Sand what do you mean? An what Grit of paper??

Wet sanding is pretty neat, although a little tedious and labor intensive.

It's pretty much just what it sounds like - you use fine waterproof sandpaper in ever-ascending grits, from a low as 320 to 2500. If you're doing small parts you can just fill a 5 gallon bucket halfway with water and put it between your feet, then dip the sandpaper in water to wet it and make it soft and pliable, wet the part, and have at it with flat even strokes. Keep the paper wet and also rinse the part in the water frequently to clean/clear it. You'll feel the surface get smoother as you go, test it with your bare hand frequently. Once it feels even and smooth you go up a grade and repeat till it's smooth enough for your purposes.

You can wetsand quite a lot of things, metal, plastic, plexiglass, even glass, although if it's a glossy surface you'll have to finish with polish or paint or clearcoat to restore the finish. I've wet-sanded and repaired plastic parts on motorcycles that most people throw out, mirror backs with scuffs, valve covers on my BMWs, metal parts, and this - a really great but ugly carbon fiber hugger for my old R1100S:

Clean, but faded and funky:



Wet sanded:



Clear-coated:



These luggage brackets were wetsanded, cleaned and repainted:





These mirrors:







EDIT - one more.

This took a little gentle work with a fine file, then sanding, then wetsanding, then paint and bake.
















You can dooo eeet!
« Last Edit: January 22, 2014, 02:48:01 PM by NobleHops »
Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline 2strokeTrush

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #112 on: January 22, 2014, 06:15:19 PM »
Thank you! Doesn't look to to hard!
If You Aint First Your Last!!

 350F project-http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=133079.0

500F Project-http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=135660.0

Offline jerry h

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #113 on: January 22, 2014, 08:42:17 PM »
Very nice write up!  Really enjoying watching your project take shape. ;)
"It is not the critic who counts, the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose hands are covered with grease and oil."

K2 http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,105097.0.html

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #114 on: January 24, 2014, 12:42:51 PM »
Very nice write up!  Really enjoying watching your project take shape. ;)

Thanks Jerry!

Got some parts back from being vapour blasted - they look immaculate but I was surprised by one thing, mostly because I haven't had parts treated this way before: There is a fine matte pebbly finish to them that doesn't look right and will have to be further treated with abrasives or Scotchbright. Waiting for more clues from thirsty 1 on what to do next.









« Last Edit: January 24, 2014, 12:49:38 PM by NobleHops »
Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline thirsty 1

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #115 on: January 24, 2014, 01:33:11 PM »
I love fresh parts! Mostly because there clean :D. Times on your side man good luck!! although I don't think you'll need it!

Thanks again for the heads up on the 5mm stem washer. I installed mine right off and it was perfect.
Gracias Senor!!
73' CL125, 75' CB400F, 16' KTM 1190R, 05' KTM 525EXC

75' CB400F  -  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=127295.0

My 79 CB750F for fun   ----   http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=19923.0

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #116 on: January 24, 2014, 01:35:03 PM »
I love fresh parts! Mostly because there clean :D. Times on your side man good luck!! although I don't think you'll need it!

Thanks again for the heads up on the 5mm stem washer. I installed mine right off and it was perfect.
Gracias Senor!!

Right back at ya brother, thanks for the tips on finishing my parts. Your bike is gonna be sweet.
Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline RAFster122s

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #117 on: January 26, 2014, 10:56:01 AM »
I am betting they skipped from vapor blasting with co2 or dry ice to using beadblasting with a fine grit abrasive for a pebbly finish. It will requires hours of sanding to get it flat and polished unless you are going to use a high build primer and flatten it. Unless you get it smooth it with show the texture. Sorry to be a messenger like this...
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Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #118 on: January 26, 2014, 03:23:56 PM »
I am betting they skipped from vapor blasting with co2 or dry ice to using beadblasting with a fine grit abrasive for a pebbly finish. It will requires hours of sanding to get it flat and polished unless you are going to use a high build primer and flatten it. Unless you get it smooth it with show the texture. Sorry to be a messenger like this...

You are correct, he used glass beads in his slurry. I am experimenting with Scotchbrite today and it is looking good, but for sure, as they came out of this particular guys' vapor blast setup, this is not a finish I like as-is. Pics later.

Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline thirsty 1

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #119 on: January 26, 2014, 03:30:35 PM »
Mr. Hops, if he had glass beads in his slurry then run a tap in all of the treaded holes. The beads embed into the threads in the aluminuim and will gall up when you put the bolts/screws in. You'll end up with bolts that won't go all the way in and when you try to back it out it'll go sideways on ya real fast.
73' CL125, 75' CB400F, 16' KTM 1190R, 05' KTM 525EXC

75' CB400F  -  http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=127295.0

My 79 CB750F for fun   ----   http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=19923.0

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #120 on: January 26, 2014, 03:37:26 PM »
Mr. Hops, if he had glass beads in his slurry then run a tap in all of the treaded holes. The beads embed into the threads in the aluminuim and will gall up when you put the bolts/screws in. You'll end up with bolts that won't go all the way in and when you try to back it out it'll go sideways on ya real fast.

Thank you kindly for the insight, I will do that. Thankfully there are only a few threads on this batch of parts so that should not take long. Appreciate you piping up.

Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline neevo

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Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #121 on: January 28, 2014, 12:20:53 PM »
I am betting they skipped from vapor blasting with co2 or dry ice to using beadblasting with a fine grit abrasive for a pebbly finish. It will requires hours of sanding to get it flat and polished unless you are going to use a high build primer and flatten it. Unless you get it smooth it with show the texture. Sorry to be a messenger like this...

You are correct, he used glass beads in his slurry. I am experimenting with Scotchbrite today and it is looking good, but for sure, as they came out of this particular guys' vapor blast setup, this is not a finish I like as-is. Pics later.

That's normal from my understanding. My guy used glass beads on my motor, however he charged (new) the beads before the final finish as he said it have a better result.

I would guess their beads are really old as my motor almost came out polished:

« Last Edit: January 28, 2014, 12:25:37 PM by neevo »

Offline NobleHops

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #122 on: January 28, 2014, 12:29:59 PM »
WOW Neevo, was that the finish direct from the vapor blaster without further finishing?  :P That's what I was hoping for frankly.

I found another post here that described a 3M Rolloc product that the poster says restored a perfect satin finish, I ordered it and it should be here any day - I will see if that gets me the last mile and report back.  Your engine looks fantastic.



Nils Menten * Tucson, Arizona, USA

I have a motorcycle problem.

My build thread: NobleHops makes a 400F pretty for his wife: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=131210.0

Offline neevo

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #123 on: January 28, 2014, 12:37:03 PM »
Haven't touched it at all after vapour blasting. Dave (my blaster) said he could go much shinier too if I wanted, but I requested a flat Alu finish. Apparently it's a bit shinier now as once it's on the bike outside it will flatten a little, but for the moment it's super clean:


Offline neevo

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Re: Noblehops makes a 400F pretty for his wife
« Reply #124 on: January 28, 2014, 12:38:38 PM »
I would question the finish you have or find a vapour blaster that knows/cares about what they are doing in the future.

No more thread jacking with VB porn I promise.