Topic: 72 CB350 Build For The Wife

[Harsh]

Got everything sans head painted.  I forgot how much a pain in the arse doing the fins is.  It is just tedious work.  I don't have access to the powder coat oven I used when I baked the 750 engine and the wife won't let me use hers so the paint will just have to fully cure by use.  I used VHT paint.  The black is the GM satin and the silver is there universal aluminum.  I can now start to assemble the engine.

I have to do a little bit of sanding to the 325cc to remove some of the black paint I couldn't wipe off.

[dusterdude]

It do look good

[Stev-o]

It do look good

+1, nice lookin motor. 

[Harsh]

I basically assembled the engine today.  It was a pain going through all of the seals noting which one went where.  While I was at it I decided to label all of the o-rings and remaining seals to make things a bit easier later on.  The memory card I was using to store the photos of the tear down some how became corrupt so I had to go from memory, a blury copy of the shop manual, and pics gleamed form the interwebs.  It proved to be a little bit of a pain in the arse to say the least.  Hopefully I will have the engine completely assembled (minus the head which is on its way) tomorrow.

[Harsh]

Didn't get nearly as much done today as I had planned.  I was really only able to get the starboard side done.  The loss of the pics I took of the tear down really took its toll.  There were a number of little things that the manual just doesn't make note of so I had to do a lot of searching online to try and find the answer.  When I went to start the port side I couldn't get the chain that attaches the starter to the crank on.  I ended up having to remove the rear wheel from the bike so I could use the axle to thread into the generator so I could remove it.  That allowed me to pull the gear off the crank so I could get the chain on.

I was able to hone the cylinders, put new rings on the pistons, and get the jugs installed.






The red stuff on the gears is Redline assembly lube.  Since I won't be starting the engine for a while I wanted to make sure things had a nice coating of lubricant so that everything is good to go until oil can make its way through the engine and lubricate everything as required.  I used it on the trans gears and any moving parts on the inside except the cylinder walls.

[Harsh]

The new head arrived today.  I spent some time scrubbing it down to get rid of the vast majority of the grit and grime.  Pretty excited to keep moving forward with the build.

[MoMo]

The new head arrived today.  I spent some time scrubbing it down to get rid of the vast majority of the grit and grime.  Pretty excited to keep moving forward with the build.

sorry for all the crud    I realized I forgot to include the springs, valves were bent from the broken cam chain.  Need the springs and keepers?

[Harsh]

Oh don't be.  It was actually A LOT cleaner than the original head.  I probably only spent about 30 minutes scrubbing it.  No need for the springs or keepers since I am going to use the set I already have.

[MoMo]

good start!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Let's all hope the milling goes off without a hitch this time!!

[Harsh]

Broke the frame down today and removed all of the little parts and brackets from it.  When I went to loosen the nuts from the top triple I noticed a major problem on the right side.  It was cracked and when I removed the bolt holding it, it fell apart in two pieces.  So now I am in the hunt for another triple.

[SF]

great build! glad your surgery went well and your back at the bike. I too lost all pics on tear down and your right the manuals are all missing the small details.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Anyone have a spare top triple for Harsh?

[Stev-o]

Anyone have a spare top triple for Harsh?

Those can be hard to find. 

Looks diff than the '71....



http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-Honda-CB350-CB-350-H661-triple-tree-steering-stem-yoke-/350791056212?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51acc6bb54&vxp=mtr

[grcamna2]

Anyone have a spare top triple for Harsh?

Those can be hard to find. 

Looks diff than the '71....




http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-Honda-CB350-CB-350-H661-triple-tree-steering-stem-yoke-/350791056212?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51acc6bb54&vxp=mtr

Harsh,
I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go be a very small vendor @ a small vintage Japanese swap meet and I'll be there until Sun.   Do you want me to find one there for you? if so PM me and you can phone me and I'll find you one there.I went there 3 years ago and a guy I met who came in as a buyer knew I was looking for one so he went back home and got me one for a good deal. 

[MoMo]

Anyone have a spare top triple for Harsh?

Those can be hard to find. 

Looks diff than the '71....




http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-Honda-CB350-CB-350-H661-triple-tree-steering-stem-yoke-/350791056212?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51acc6bb54&vxp=mtr

Harsh,
I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go be a very small vendor @ a small vintage Japanese swap meet and I'll be there until Sun.   Do you want me to find one there for you? if so PM me and you can phone me and I'll find you one there.I went there 3 years ago and a guy I met who came in as a buyer knew I was looking for one so he went back home and got me one for a good deal. 

You headed to White Rose Bill?  I may drive out Sat Afternoon....Larry

[grcamna2]

Anyone have a spare top triple for Harsh?

Those can be hard to find. 

Looks diff than the '71....




http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-Honda-CB350-CB-350-H661-triple-tree-steering-stem-yoke-/350791056212?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item51acc6bb54&vxp=mtr

Harsh,
I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go be a very small vendor @ a small vintage Japanese swap meet and I'll be there until Sun.   Do you want me to find one there for you? if so PM me and you can phone me and I'll find you one there.I went there 3 years ago and a guy I met who came in as a buyer knew I was looking for one so he went back home and got me one for a good deal. 

You headed to White Rose Bill?  I may drive out Sat Afternoon....Larry

I am Larry. I was there 3 years ago when I lived in Bethlehem and parked my old  Volvo right next to the tree at the creek & caught poison ivy  ... This time I'll be getting there Thurs. late aft. and finding higher ground in case it rains  I'll be laying stuff down on a silver tarp on the grass. I hope to meet you there;it's small enough to be fun,a low stress weekend, you know ?

[Harsh]

Met with Cal today.  He snagged my replacement head and is going to bead blast it then have his machinist do what needs to be done.  He also picked up a bunch of parts that attach to the frame that he is going to bead blast for me.

Since I can't do any engine work until I get the head back I figured I would get to work on the frame.  So I stripped it down to bare metal.  It was a bit of a pain because of little nooks and crannies, but I got it done.  There was a bunch of mouse fluff stuff on the inside of the frame, but I got it all out.

[SF]

Actually looks good like that

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Actually looks good like that

I'd have to agree.  It might look good to just clear it the way it is!

[Harsh]

Unfortunately, the wife isn't gonna go for that.

[edhaeuser]

I have a 72 cl 350 carcass that has a top tree if you are not in a hurry for me to get it apart.  Looks the same as the pic.

[Retro Rocket]

Actually looks good like that

Would look even better with an XR650 single thrown in there...

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Actually looks good like that

Would look even better with an XR650 single thrown in there...

XR650 aka Mr. Braaaaaap!

[Harsh]

It was a bit of highs and lows over the past couple of days.  I cleaned up the frame a little bit (well a lot) more.  I took a wire wheel to it and removed any imperfections and gave it a bit of a tooth for the powder coat to grab a hold to.  Also spent some time sanding the rear brake plate and then I polished it up nice and shiny today.  Took the rear tire off the wheel and at some point instead of using a rubber strip to cover the spokes they wrapped a couple layers of duct tape over them.  Spent some time with the wire wheel on the inside to remove the glue and rust.  I will soak a towel in Prep-N-Etch and lay it over the inside of the wheel to take care of the rust.  It will take a bit working the towel around the wheel, but once done it should be just fine.

I pulled out the Japanese grease fittings to replace them with some standard zerk fittings.  I drilled out the holes in the swingarm pivot bolt, but when I went to tap them my bit broke.  I tried to get it out, but failed.  Luckily the SL350 I picked up from dusterdude uses the same bolt so I was able to swap them.  A new tap and some extra cutting oil and all is good now.

The rear wheel had the bearings replaced at some point with sealed bearings.  They spin nice and smooth so I thankfully don't have to mess with them.

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