Topic: 1973 CB750 Four K3 -- Project "Terry's Fault" -- BUILD RESUMED

[edwardmorris]

RHS was a much easier affair, remember the damned kill switch knob that stumped me on my K2 build, I found a use for it 


Preview of things to come, new gauge lenses ordered from Marcel, and a large box of goodies in en-route from JT.

[Davez134]

Holy crap those coated parts look amazing. That lettering is perfect

[edwardmorris]

Holy crap those coated parts look amazing. That lettering is perfect

Thanks! PC controls (lettering too) and MC = no need to worry THAT much about brake fluid spills 


Another preview



Those carbs have yet to gasahol. How do I know? The posts haven't been eaten away yet. Where did I get them originally? -> Bill Benton  Who did the PC? -> James/Harisuluv 

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

The powdercoat on the controls and carburetors looks great.  The fine letter detail is superb.

[Powderman]

All colors on the controls are powder coat and not paint. i did the gauge housings and bezels and turn signal pods also. The exposed threads on the pods have been treated to keep from rusting also.

[edwardmorris]

Well the engine is back all clean and blasted, time to compulsively clean them, then send off to the coaters. The shop guys installed the rubber inserts back in place. Good thing I already have a full new set of Franken Finserts 

[edwardmorris]

The MC Decal arrived via Royal Mail from the UK. Couldn't wait so I put it on 

[edwardmorris]

Never thought I'd be taking an angle grinder to the frame, but I had to. Got rid of the hideous welded on grab rail, still need to grind down what's left of it. Swingarm collar looks like a goner.

[edwardmorris]

Got a whole lot done today but no pix of anything yet.

Frame is fully torn down bare, missing the "quiet memo" holes, so will need to make those. There are breather holes on the cross bar that mounts the center stand and rust was pouring out of there like a fountain. Ordered Eastwood's Internal Frame Coating, this frame sure needs it.

Gordon's Frame Kit should get here tomorrow, will be making the cuts on the frame tomorrow as well and hopefully get it welded on Monday. Cutting up for the frame kit greatly speeds up the Internal Coating too.

Steering bearing races are out, balls went all over the garage and I just couldn't give a schit.

Front rotor is off, but the rear wheel sprocket carrier nuts are stuck on there pretty bad, may need to take it to the autoshop and use the impact driver. Same for the crank as well.

Heat gun is becoming more and more useful and go to tool. Took out the speedo drive screw nicely and tottally rusted and banged up bleeder.

Managed to fully strip the allen heads on the large bolts on the caliper, exploring options on how to deal with that.

LOTS AND LOTS of parts washed up and tossed into boxes marked zinc and powder.

I probably did more, can't remember as I can't feel my limbs anymore

[Davez134]

Sounds like a good day! I gotta find a new one now, I miss torturing myself with all that crap!

[edwardmorris]

Sounds like a good day! I gotta find a new one now, I miss torturing myself with all that crap!

I can help you out there bud, how about a weekend in Chi town? I'm sure I've got enough going to share the torture

Will be switching builds today, float height tool arrived, so might get the K2 carbs back together. Aiming to get things set for closing up the cases next weekend on that one, now that the K3 is all in boxes and garage has freed up.

[evanphi]

That black powder coat is amazing... In one word, what's the vision for this bike?

[edwardmorris]

... In one word, what's the vision for this bike?

Stealth.

[evanphi]

... In one word, what's the vision for this bike?

Stealth.

Looking forward to it!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Stealth as in matte black.  Nice!  Is this where you are going with the chrome/polished engine covers, too?

[edwardmorris]

Absolutely nothing polished and extremely limited chrome on this one. Its a very dark theme, as will be revealed in good time

After doing the K2, I just wanted something totally opposite, more to my liking. Stock config just has way too much chrome and polish but I'll admit, looks pretty darn good with the Ruby Reds and Candy Golds.

Hardware wise going all stainless everywhere except for special bolts, unless a certain skilled gentleman I know is willing to spin them out for me  Limiting zinc plating to medium-large pieces and carb bits only. I absolutely hate allen and button heads, so James Spillane is working on a custom set of covers screws for me. Also accounted for the odd length finned covers, really cool guy 

For now, focusing time and effort to get the K2 on the road, and getting this one sent away to various departments so its not hogging up space.

[edwardmorris]

Well, terrible start for a weekend, going to be freezing tomorrow so can't do much in the garage with either the internal frame coating stuff or using hondabond to wrap up the bottom end on the K2 

Worse yet, my ultrasonic cleaner died tonight, right after it fell out of warranty so I couldn't get my cam towers cleaned properly. Cleaned them up by hand for now, will try and fix the cleaner if I can or just get another one as I seem to use it all the time.

These are the ones I got from Bill via trading some goodies, they are near new with almost no wear at all.

[edwardmorris]

Sorted. Some detail here http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,146273.0.html

Ended up replacing the ultrasonic cleaner and cleaned them up well. These will work out ok. Still pretty cold out here to work on the K2 engine, might knock out some more tasks on this build tomorrow after work.

[edwardmorris]

Got some work done, managed to squeeze the crank in my puny 4" bench vise  to get the dynamo rotor off. Gordon's tool made quick work of it. Pic 3 is for Ravie, that's where the seal goes (if you're still following this build).

[edwardmorris]

Taped and cut off the section for installing the new Gordon's Frame Kit.

Drilled the "quiet memo" holes and once again behold! there was a flood. A lot of it fell off on the floor by the time I ran back inside to grab the camera, but you get the idea. If you haven't yet, I'd recommend you check for the presence of these critical drain holes as your frame may be full of water and other crud, decaying away from the insides. Last time I did this, I left it over night to settle and there was still some left, then I toasted it with a propane garage heater. Will let this one dry out for 24hrs, shake it down, toast it the same way and do the Eastwood internal treatment.

[edwardmorris]

Drove out the old lower steering bearing race, what a PITA.

Sprayed the sprocket carrier clean, turns out its chromed as well, but I just don't feel like dealing with that retainer. Anyone want to trade a shiny one for a regular  ?

[seanbarney41]

What is this "silent memo" stuff you keep talking about?  Guess I missed that one...I would trade for that sprocket carrier if you have chromed hub and brake panel too.  Hell, I am thinking about about trading anyway.

[edwardmorris]

What is this "silent memo" stuff you keep talking about?  Guess I missed that one...I would trade for that sprocket carrier if you have chromed hub and brake panel too.  Hell, I am thinking about about trading anyway.

both hubs are chromed, the brake panel completely lost its chrome though.

The quiet memo is a hondaman info gem, i'l dig up the thread and post here. Long story short, factory rush, missed making critical vent and drain holes in frames, bad schit hapened.

[edwardmorris]

Goodies from Marcel had arrived by the time I got home, too excited so I freaking finished the gauges  I better get some sleep...

[evanphi]

Found it!

Those holes are the upper "breather" holes for the lower frame. The other "end" of those holes should be down by the bottom front engine bolsters, on the bottom of the frame. They often get clogged up with rust flakes.

Like Momo said, "tap testing" is a good way to check for thin spots, or put some rubber in the jaws of slip-joint pliers and firmly (not HARD) squeeze the frame along the runs to see if it crushes. The worst spots on the 750 frame are at the bottom of those engine bolsters, if they were painted or crudded shut. The frames are easy to fix, I've done several myself.

On the 1970-71 K1, many of the lower holes were forgotten in production (even some K2 bikes were this way, before it was over). There was a "quiet" service memo sent out to have dealers watch to see if the holes were missing at the lower bolsters, and the instructions were to drill a 7/32" (3mm) hole behind each one, if not present. More than one of the ones I did had water come out during this 'mod'. I usually took an oil squirt can and squirted a bunch of oil into the holes you show, until it oozed out the [new] bottom ones, hoping to extend the frame life. Now, when I have frames out of bikes, I spray CRC into the holes until it RUNS out of the lower ones, then turn the frame over and do it the other way. That will stop any rust, almost forever, right where it is.