Author Topic: Frame-up cb350f restoration, hunk o' junk transformation (Read 54993 times)

2strokeTrush · « **Reply #25 on:** September 07, 2015, 06:28:39 AM »

In the picture of the electrical panel, what's up with the shifter? That's not stock

carnivorous chicken · « **Reply #26 on:** September 07, 2015, 08:09:30 AM »

Quote from: 2strokeTrush on September 07, 2015, 06:28:39 AM

In the picture of the electrical panel, what's up with the shifter? That's not stock

That is a shifter and linkage from a 75 or 76 CB400F. They bolt right on and move the pegs back about 6 inches. On the other side, you'd have to install the 400F brake lever as well. Exhaust set up can interfere with them depending on what it is, but it's a nice little OEM addition for a better (IMHO) stance on these, especially if you switch to lower bars.

knowsnothing · « **Reply #27 on:** September 07, 2015, 02:39:01 PM »

Quote from: 2strokeTrush on September 07, 2015, 06:28:39 AM

In the picture of the electrical panel, what's up with the shifter? That's not stock

Good eye. As chris mentioned, its the shifter from the 400f. I actually transplanted a whole 400f engine in to my 350f frame this past winter. The 6th gear makes all the difference in the world

markreimer · « **Reply #28 on:** September 07, 2015, 04:19:52 PM »

Ah very cool. I'd hoped to find a 400f engine to transplant into the bare 350 frame I have, but that's after the first 350 is complete.

Speaking of which, today my wife and I hit the shop together. It was her first time working on the bike/any bike and did great. Lots of questions but picked it up quickly.

After destroying the needle jets the other night I picked up my spare set of carbs thinking that I could use them instead. It turns out one of the carb bodies has a broken needle jet holder and float towers, so the set is useless at the moment. Everything was pretty grimey in there, so I just went online and bought a complete carb rebuild kit instead, which includes the needle jets. Once they're here we'll build it up will all new parts.

We had to remove the choke lever as it was binding hard. A bit of emory cloth and lube had it operating smoothly again.

Next up was the wiring harness - I found a complete harness from my stripped cb350f that should work just fine. I'll bench test the harness first to make sure there aren't any broken wires or shorts. I'm also waiting on my eBay harness as well, so I'll actually have two. I also have a spare solenoid and regulator to use, but no rectifier yet. If I can find that, it's technically possible I could try to start this bike in a week or two...

I also changed the vinegar in the tank, it looks like it's stripped it completely clean. It flash rusts instantly, but the vinegar washes it off immediately. I haven't found a tank treatment yet, working on that this week.

Oh! Also I've arranged to purchase a second 350f motor for the bare frame, and a set of used Kenda tires that'll pass a safety inspection. It's slowly coming together...

carnivorous chicken · « **Reply #29 on:** September 07, 2015, 07:14:59 PM »

There are a couple considerations to make when transplanting a 400F engine into a 350F frame, aside from pegs and exhaust. I had to rig the mount for the brake, for example, and a few other things. I wrote it up a while ago, if you're interested I can copy and paste it here.

markreimer · « **Reply #30 on:** September 08, 2015, 09:09:29 AM »

Did a nice parts order last night:
- carb rebuild kit
- fork seals
- brake caliper seals
- spark plugs
- oil
- air filter
- headlight brackets
- petcock rebuild kit
- new connectors for the wiring harness (big day of soldering coming up... about 50 connectors to replace!)

Also QUESTION - can you use a cb750 rectifier on a cb350? I found a bike being parted out locally. He'd sell all the electronics to me for $25. My google skills suggests it can be, but I'm not 100% sure. That could solve my friend electrical issue.

knowsnothing · « **Reply #31 on:** September 09, 2015, 07:18:57 AM »

Quote from: markreimer on September 08, 2015, 09:09:29 AM

Also QUESTION - can you use a cb750 rectifier on a cb350? I found a bike being parted out locally. He'd sell all the electronics to me for $25. My google skills suggests it can be, but I'm not 100% sure. That could solve my friend electrical issue.

Yes it can, but it is bigger and won't fit where is supposed to. You will need to get creative with the mounting.

markreimer · « **Reply #32 on:** September 20, 2015, 02:05:11 PM »

Back at it today, after waiting for a week for all my parts to arrive. Today we rebuilt the carbs with the new kits. Sadly the kit was missing three air mixture screws, three float pins and the float bowl gaskets were too big to use. I cleaned up the old ones and will use them until I get replacements sorted out.

Picked up a caswell tank liner and will put that in tomorrow evening. The tank is clean as a whistle from the vinegar.

I also received my new wiring harness connectors and a crimper, so my goal is to have the harness replaced and all the electronics working this week. We shall see...

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markreimer · « **Reply #33 on:** October 02, 2015, 06:36:31 PM »

It's wiring harness repair night tonight. I've cut open my melted harness to see where the damage started from and if/how much of the harness I can salvage for spare wiring and connections for when I repair the used one I have.

I noticed one thing that is odd - on the melted harness, there is a two-wire plastic connector that I believe was attached to the solenoid's positive terminal, which it shared with the heavy wire connected directly to the battery. The two wires were a solid red one, and the other I can't really tell as it's totally vapourized, but I'm pretty sure it was solid green, AKA ground. The red wire goes directly to an in-line fuse and toward the ignition.

The melted (green?) wire looks like it also came from the solenoid positive terminal and then up into the headlight bucket.

You can see in the upper centre of the attached photo.

Now what is odd is that I have two used harnesses here as well, and both of them don't have this connection at all. Instead they have one solid green wire with a spade connector, which I believe is just a ground connection bolted to the frame near the battery. So basically both my used harnesses don't have this two-wire plastic connector that leads to the fuse. They DO have the same solid red wire with an in-line fuse, it's just not connected to the solenoid.

Looking at the wiring diagram just confuses me more. Does anyone know what the purpose of this connection to the solenoid would be??

markreimer · « **Reply #34 on:** October 02, 2015, 06:51:06 PM »

Wait I might have had that wrong. I think it's a red and a red/white leaving that double connection, which I DO have on my used harness, but it's just coming out at a later point on the harness. Holy smokes this stuff is confusing. $:-\$

markreimer · « **Reply #35 on:** October 02, 2015, 09:34:27 PM »

And done. I've got one franken-harness assembled that should do the trick. I'll hopefully have a chance to install it with the used rectifier, regulator and solenoid I picked up last week as well, meaning I've got everything I need to try and start this bike up for the first time in 35 years!!

markreimer · « **Reply #36 on:** October 07, 2015, 08:48:53 PM »

The bike lives!

Well kinda. Hah. I got the harness installed and hooked up some dumpy battery I had laying around. All the lights work, though the signals won't flash. Horn works too. The starter button does nothing at all. If I short out the solenoid with a screw driver the starter cranks away nicely.

So next step I need to test the starter button and solenoid. I suspect solenoid as I opened up the starter and it looked brand new. Looks can be deceiving I suppose.

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markreimer · « **Reply #37 on:** October 09, 2015, 09:55:37 PM »

More progress today. I hooked up a battery I knew was good and the starter and solenoid work... Usually. The starter button is a bit dirty, but getting better with each use. I could get it to crank over pretty consistently after a minute. A good cleaning should do.

I also replaced the flasher and I've got working signals now.

Last but not least I finally used my caswell tank liner. It was great. White vinegar and some screws got rid of the rust. Then acetone rinse, and left to dry. I wrapped the tank in plastic and ton foil to protect it, and poured the stuff in. At first it wasn't running easily, so I hit it with some hot air and it became nice and thin, easily coating the entire inside.

Up next is mounting the carbs, changing oil and trying to start it. Then spokes, fork seals, etc

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calj737 · « **Reply #38 on:** October 10, 2015, 07:11:56 AM »

Does that tank have the crossover lines beneath it? If so, be really certain to clear them before the liner sets up else you will be struggling to get fuel from the offside of the petcock.

Please don't ask me how I know this

markreimer · « **Reply #39 on:** October 10, 2015, 08:52:24 AM »

Hmm I don't think so... Not that I've noticed. Is it a metal line, or a rubber hose from one side to the other? There were no lines or exits on the outside of the tank other than the petcock

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calj737 · « **Reply #40 on:** October 10, 2015, 09:34:52 AM »

It may only be the twin tanks that have it. Disregard it.

Restoration Fan · « **Reply #41 on:** October 10, 2015, 09:42:53 AM »

Starter is turning but it isn't firing so it's most likely either a fuel or ignition problem (obvious, huh?).

First thing I'd try is to remove a spark plug wire from one of the spark plugs and hold it against the engine block and see if you're getting spark when you turn the starter over. (An easier way to do this is to pop the plug wire and insert an extra plug so that you don't have to physically remove the other plug from within the engine.)

If you confirm that you're getting spark on both plugs (IIRC, the 350 has 2 cylinders), then your issue is more likely to be fuel.

Go to full choke before you try to start it, too. If you have the airboxes on, remove them and try starting it with no airbox on so you can physically confirm that the butterfly valves in the carburetor are completely closed. You can always re-install the airbox once you get it started.

carnivorous chicken · « **Reply #42 on:** October 12, 2015, 09:07:19 AM »

Quote from: calj737 on October 10, 2015, 07:11:56 AM

Does that tank have the crossover lines beneath it? If so, be really certain to clear them before the liner sets up else you will be struggling to get fuel from the offside of the petcock.

Please don't ask me how I know this

No crossovers on a 350F, and a 350F is a four cylinder bike. But RF is right -- check for spark first.

markreimer · « **Reply #43 on:** October 31, 2015, 07:39:10 PM »

Good news tonight, the bike ran for the first time since 1978!! And it runs nicely!

Tonight we replaced the oil and filter, air filter, spark plugs, battery, trimmed plug wires back a bit, and tried mounting theta k but the petcock is leaking. So I borrowed my cb750 tank for the time being. It took about 3 minutes of cranking away before it slowly sprang to life. Every minute it ran it got smoother and smoother. It starts up easily now. Guess it just had to wake up..

Next up is removing and properly wrapping the wiring, and then tackling the front end. It's in poor shape but nothing I can't handle.

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markreimer · « **Reply #44 on:** November 01, 2015, 12:16:34 PM »

Hmm dunno why the vid isn't working. Here's another try.

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Restoration Fan · « **Reply #45 on:** November 01, 2015, 01:53:02 PM »

Great job! Now it's just tuning and riding time!

Jinglyjangly · « **Reply #46 on:** November 05, 2015, 05:21:04 PM »

Try this company
http://www.nrp-carbs.co.uk

markreimer · « **Reply #47 on:** December 19, 2015, 08:04:12 PM »

Sorry for the long delay, work and life got in the way.

I spent five hours on the bike today and made some more healthy progress. It was a front-end day. I didn't know what was hiding behind those fork guards so I piles the forks out t replace the seals and see if the uppers were even usable, or covered in rust. I was really surprised and happy to find that they are in perfect shape!! The only rust is up by the headlight mounts and just below the triple clamp. No problems. I'm not sure what to do regarding the headlight mount though. The stock ears are broken. I bought some generic clamps, but then I've got nothing protecting the forks. I could use gators but the lowers aren't designed to work with them. There is nothing for gators to snap onto. I could use hose clamps or something, might look bad though. I'll have to look around and what's been done.

Next I removed the triples as the bearings felt real notchy while turning the bars. No wonder, the grease had turned hard and chunky. I cleaned the races and balls up, packed it in some heavy lithium grease and I've got silky smooth steering now. Score, one less thing to buy.

Last was the front brake. The MC was dry when I got it, so I filled it up and tried bleeding the brake to see if anything leaks. Lucky again. No leaks anywhere. Lots of naaaasty brown crap was pushed out though. This hasn't been used in a loooon time lol.

I'll probably replace the oem rubber dual line setup with a braided single, but for now this works. I took the caliper apart to remove the pads and found that behind the pad was a bunch of sand!?? No idea how that happened. Anyway, it's fully disassembled for cleaning and new seals next week.

Last, I went to mount the front wheel back into the forks to move the bike. What's this? The rotor is touching the forks?? What's a shop night without discovering a bonehead PO mistake.... The dude put the axle in backwards, moving the wheel over. It wasn't centered in the forks and the disc was rubbing the fork. A quick switch had it all lined up properly. Yeesh

Next up is a parts order to tidy up the front end work, slip on mufflers (got a suggestion other than Mac??) change the tires and replace control cables.

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carnivorous chicken · « **Reply #48 on:** December 20, 2015, 07:32:46 AM »

Fork ears in good shape come up pretty frequently on Fleabay, if that's what you want. I can't remember if the fork ear upper is necessary to keep the lower part on -- but I don't think so. Still, I like the look of both pieces and it might look a little awkward with just the lower...

markreimer · « **Reply #49 on:** December 20, 2015, 09:18:38 AM »

Yeah I think it would look bad without either the complete factory setup, or something totally different.

On the topic of exhausts now, my headers are near mint, but the mufflers are in tatters. Not repairable. I'm not keen on buying a Mac slip-on 4-2 or a complete Mac 4-1, but there don't seem to be any other options that are not super expensive. Then I though maybe I should find a 2-1 collector and use whatever cone I fancy. I can't find any collectors with an angled sweep though. But I did find a photo of EXACTLY what I was thinking off. Sadly the owner doesn't know anything about the make of the collector on his.

Anyone know of a source for a collector like this? Didn't see it on cone's site.

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Author Topic: Frame-up cb350f restoration, hunk o' junk transformation (Read 54993 times)