Topic: Kinda the end but maybe still the middle.... CB400f Family heirloom...

[Sharpy]

Okay, so after my intro I have been stalking a number of the project threads and i feel inspired.

I was given a 1976 CB440f by the father in law he had it from new but crashed after only a few hundred miles and then never used it again, he did some dodgy paintwork to it and then again left it for years.

I took it off his hands and have been restoring it, it is almost back on the road now but there is still plenty that I want to do over winter to make it a bit more unique as well as some stuff I am just not happy with....

How it was new, that's my missus with the gold lid and cape,


How it was when I got it,


Where it is now,


This bike has been through the ringer a bit not least a petrol fire half way through the resto that nearly destroyed this bike 5 other and my garage!

But she is still wanting to be back on the road, just need to do the timing then I can get her tested.

After that there is quite a bit of finishing and cleaning to do which I hope to document for your guys on here, and no doubt ask many, many daft questions!

Cheers

Sharpy

[Stev-o]

Welcome Sharpy, that is quite a story and great pics.  Looks like you've done an amazing job on the restore.  Where is Selby?

[Sharpy]

North Yorkshire... Sunny England.

Probably should make that a bit more explicit as this is a worldwide site! 

[Stev-o]

North Yorkshire... Sunny England.

Probably should make that a bit more explicit as this is a worldwide site! 

It is and that is a great thing.  Welcome from rainy Texas!

[Sharpy]

Okay so trying to make some progress but having to work it in around training.

I have snapped a bolt in one of the fork legs, then in turn snapped the easy out drill bit  ... then found a new set of original fork legs in good condition for the right money, I have spent a bit of time polishing the legs, or one so far.

Polishing setup


Started like the one on the left.. still got another couple of rounds to go to get some of the deeper marks out but it looks pretty good...


I have also been "clocking" the bike, I had to replace the clocks as the original was beyond saving, I broke a bit off putting it back together but I need to take the clock apart again so I will sort that out then...




I also cannot decide if I prefer black or polished for the clocks... thoughts on a post card...


Timing to do over the weekend, and oil change ready for the MOT (British test for road worthiness), hoping she passes but if she fails it will give me what to focus on over winter. 

[thirsty 1]

Lookin good!

[Sharpy]

Okay, so as mentioned today was all about sorting the timing and oil ready for the MOT....

I had previously done the static timing, had to borrow a timing light but found it was easy enough...


Good news the timing was not far adrift at all, small adjustments and it was bob on....

On to the oil change, easy enough the old oil was proper horrible though with lots of scum in it, i suspect that was the 30 years of sitting being cleaned out (the oil was new but just wanted to run it in the engine for a short time to kind of clean it out)...



Pulled the sprocket cover off and the chain guard for some polishing, all looks pretty clean, you can just make some of the fire damage at the top of the image in the connector cover



Filling in... not sure if this was originally red or not, there was some residue in there, I will tidy it up once its dry...


With the new oil she sounds like she is running a lot sweeter, i also checked to make sure oil was reaching the tappets and cam and it was so overall pretty pleased.. Friday will be the big day, not sure I will do much until I get then, save me breaking something that is currently fine...

And there she is as it stands..


Pretty boring really, once the MOT is done there is plenty more that I want to do before spring so it should get a bit more exciting!!

[Sharpy]

Okay. so I should be getting some more posting of me actually doing some projecty type stuff now!

Got news from my mechanic that she passed the MOT (road worthiness test)... so will aim to get her back tomorrow and then i can sort the rest of the stuff out...

Current plan for winter work is,

- Re-Spoke the wheels
- Polish / clean the hubs
- sort the cable routing
- sort the fueling properly
- sort / replace the headers
- re paint the clock surrounds
- Fix the ODO clock so you can reset the Trip distance to zero
- Replace the fuel hosing


Sure there will be more as I get into this but thats the starter for 10!

No doubt I will have some questions!

Also looking for another bike for a cafe project so watch this space!   

[Sharpy]

Okay so after giving the 400f a good wash to get all the Great British road salt off it I have started, small things but I dont plan on rushing, there are plenty of things I wan to fix from the first time round as well as some things that I didnt do at all first time round...

Started with the clocks,

First a gratuitous bike shot....

I struggle to find a bad angle for this bike....



Clocks off....


This is what brake fluid does, and why I wanted to do them again


So here they are, off the bike and ready to start


Pulled apart pretty easy to do, now I am on about my 10th time! 


Always make an effort to keep all the parts together


Roughed up and ready to prime


My slightly ad-hoc spray booth, always worked well in the past so I stick with it, hair drier is off when spraying but keeps the box warm and the works as an oven when I close the front


3 coats of primer, no wet and dry which was a bit of a fail on my part.. will get some tomorrow but these needed to hard bake anyway


This needs some fixing, dont want perfect but the black needs to be black again


Masked up and ready to pain

[Sharpy]

Okay, so with the other half in work I spent a few hours in the man cave and made some reasonable progress....

First thing was to paint the Honda cover that I masked up, I think it looks okay but not 100% but not after perfection as the bike overall is not going to be perfect so I think it will look better with some weathered bits...





Then some polishing... my Favourite thing,

The other fork leg needed doing, These are the things that take the most time but I think will have the biggest impact on the finished bike in my opinion..


The 2 legs together


Something I have been wanting to do for a long while is the rear shocks they are in good working order, just some surface rust on the springs so using some zip ties as spring compressors I got them apart easy enough and this is what I started with




Inside the spring before


and after a bit of this...


It looks like this...


Shock put back together, pleased with the result


Back on the bike


Need top spray the clock surrounds and clean the other rear shock next time out, so more of the same

Also got the headers off, they are solid enough just some significant surface rust, I am thinking about stripping them back and painting them in black or aluminium colour for now, will probably buy some new ones in the new year..

[Stev-o]

Great job on the forks and shock

[Sharpy]

Cheers, it is not the most interesting of jobs, or reports but I enjoy doing it when I see the results!

[martin_uk]

Great start.

If you can save the headers worth doing as the originals are very expensive, if you can find

David Silver ones are  £238 plus deliver, but slightly different configuration

[Sharpy]

Thanks Martin, the DSS ones are very similar now and come it at £199+VAT, will make a decision once I get these cleaned up, the cost of re-chroming is very high, would I get away with polishing them I wonder??

[martin_uk]

Just corrected the price for DSS.

I found a good way to clean rusty chrome.

Try wetted scrunched up alluminium foil rubbed on.

Sounds strange but seems to work.

Wont bring back to new  but may improve, good for wheel rims too 

[Stev-o]

To clean your exhaust, use WD40 (or equivalent) and 000 (very fine) steel wool. 

[Sharpy]

Okay so if anyone is interested the whole project has been documented here

http://www.gbbikers.co.uk/gbb/index.php/topic,40607.0.html

No much to report as such, painted the clock surrounds and that was about it, they are a bit orange peely, so need flatting but they look loads better. Pics will be up later.