Topic: 1976 CB750F Restoration

[przjohn]

Had to do a Saturday Christmas tree/lunch with the Wife Saturday and then it was our company party that night. More parties next weekend too. Does this season ever end? Do what I must but the build will continue, needless to say Sunday was a somewhat slow build day, but, we are almost to a rolling chassis. Still need to rebuild the rear brake and it should be all set. I like the look of the ground and drilled brake rotors.




In the, "This Ain't No Sandcast Resto" department comes this:

I never was one for cheap, knock off repro shocks. That's why I buy these decals.

[christopherk]

Where did you source the rear spokes? Wasn't sure if there was a spoke difference between K & F rear wheels.

[NobleHops]

Great project John, subscribed!

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

What's the info on the shocks?

[przjohn]

Where did you source the rear spokes? Wasn't sure if there was a spoke difference between K & F rear wheels.

Got them off Ebay. They are Honda spokes

[przjohn]

What's the info on the shocks?

Can't remember where I got them. Might have been CB750. The decals come up every now and then on Ebay, they are more for joking about than anything else.

[przjohn]

Had a few hours away from work today and got some good ground on this resto.

The rear brake needed to be rebuilt to get to a rolling chassis. The caliper got painted the other day and was now ready to assemble. Here is a pic of one of the pads that came out of the rear. A PO had cut slots parallel with the ground and coated the back of the pads with some kind of goop, this brake was a squeaker.




My fix, one larger line parallel to the ground and a 45 degree cut into the pad where it first contacts the disc, that is the rear of the pad, not the front. The pad also gets the obligatory anti squeak stuff but this is what does the job IMO.




And that brings us to a rolling chassis. This is always a milestone as now the bike can be worked on steady on the lift and actually starts to look like something.



Some rear wheel pics, it has new bearings, seals, rims, spokes, cush drive rubbers, sprocket, and sprocket lock washers. Sprocket nuts, among many other fasteners get a fresh Zinc replate.






I like the look of the VHT Universal Aluminum and a Glossy Clear over it. It will look really good once the motor of the same color gets installed. The motor will be VHT only and no glossy clear.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

What's the info on the shocks?

Can't remember where I got them. Might have been CB750. The decals come up every now and then on Ebay, they are more for joking about than anything else.

The shocks do look like originals! It's looking good. I'm on to completing my rear caliper with new pistons, etc and painting so my rear end can go together HOPEFULLY in the next few days.

[przjohn]

Got the brakes pretty far with the rear done and the front to the triple clamps. It will get finished once the bars are on. Still waiting for a new cap for the rear and some bleeder screws to come in. Interesting that I could not find a rear hose anywhere but had a Kawasaki Front Hose in my stash, from what model I do not know, but it fit.





Got the stands on. Everything is Zinc re-plated and the holder is in the same Glossy Aluminum base theme. Some under arm shots.





Luckily I have been able to put a few hours into this build the past few days. Tomorrow I hope to get some prep work and plating done on chassis parts, then Saturday it will be time to start tearing down the motor, gonna need some help getting this girl up to the bench, ain't no RD350.

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Keep up the good work!

I will assume that's a European F with the double stay front fender??

Small or large turn signals?

[przjohn]

Keep up the good work!

I will assume that's a European F with the double stay front fender??

Small or large turn signals?

It is the David Silver repro. I like the extra stay. This fender fit a lot better than the 400F I did last year for a repro. Noblehops and I were talking then about what a PITA those fenders were to get on, this one wasn't bad at all.

[przjohn]

Started the engine tear down today. Only had a short bit of time but got the head off. I have to say, one of the best pieces of advice I have gotten from this site is to buy Hondaman's book. It is my "Tool of the Year 2015" Before this I thought the Kawasaki Bible, Glenns Manual was something. With no discredit to The Glenns Manual this book hits it out of the park when going into one of these motors! When I was a kid a farmer once told me that, "Manuals are great but they assume you know certain things, and that's where you can get in trouble kid" This manual doesn't assume you know stuff, instead it assumes you DON'T know stuff. Best money I ever spent, thank you Hondaman.

[NobleHops]

Bake that VHT-painted stuff if you can John. Heat lamps will do the trick too.

Looking amazing.

N.

[przjohn]

Bake that VHT-painted stuff if you can John. Heat lamps will do the trick too.

Looking amazing.

N.

Oh I've been baking, the kitchen should be smelling much better now that the Wife will be making Christmas Cookies. 

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Excellent. SOHC4 cookies  And an understanding wife that loves you rather than owns you   

Seems most of the 'boys' here are not 'allowed' by their wives/mothers to use 'their' ovens. Good to know we still have some cajones around here. 

[przjohn]

Off topic, my Wife and her Sisters will be baking up a storm tomorrow like they do every year. They make a TON of cookies. I take a few tins and give them to some of our customers. People really like it when you bring them home made cookies for Christmas, I know I do. The days of your Salesman dropping off a bottle of VO are long gone. Home made shows you care IMO.

[przjohn]

And, back to the project.

Disassembled the motor today and now the cases shown here will get cleaned and painted tomorrow depending on the outcome of yet another Christmas party tonight. I am hoping to have the head and cylinder bead blasted and to the machine shop this week too. If I can get the cases cleaned, painted, and cured this week the motor reassembly may be able to start next weekend. This motor looked incredibly fresh. I have no doubt that it would have run fine with just some TLC. But, it is going to get a little more than that. It appears that the bike must have just had a tune up before it went into it's 20+ year hibernation. The plugs and points were like new.




My buddy Tim came across these egg cartons and gave them to me. They are great for holding parts. My Father In Law's 68 Corvette, a future project, is organizing these parts under that Yellow cover.




Tim gave me enough of these cartons that I could start a farm.



Other parts got tagged and bagged, lots of pics get taken too.

[tweakin]

76F is on my short list for a restoration, love them.  Following along...

[przjohn]

Clean and prep, clean and prep. These bikes come apart pretty quick and don't take that long to assemble. It's the stuff in between that takes the time. Ya also don't get a lot done when you start at 11:00 and keep forgetting where you left your coffee. Oh well, only one more Christmas party to go. Got all the case and oil pan bolts replated. The lower case got bead blasted and thoroughly cleaned, it is now ready for tape and paint. Plan is to get the cases painted and cured before the holiday, we'll see.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

What is your post-bead blast cleaning regimen? 

[przjohn]

Before blasting the case goes through the parts washer and all passages and holes have washer fluid pressurized through them and then air blasted

Next is a citrus degreaser wash to remove any washer fluid that might be left with a hot water rinse and pressurizing through all ports and holes, and air blasted to dry.

 
All screw holes then get a screw in them, all oil passages get plugged and then covered with duct tape, and on this case the center bearing got completely taped over.

After blasting the case gets a air blasting, the tape and plugs removed and air blasted again through all the ports and holes.

The case then goes through the same parts washer and citrus degreaser operation as before it was blasted

I have done a few cases and can confidently say there is NO media left anywhere in that case.

[NobleHops]

That all sounds very familiar, and very good practice. Only thing I might suggest is that you remove the oil galley plug behind the cylinders as its a dead end at the plug when you do your final clean-out.

In my operation more time is spent cleaning and prepping and then clearing engine cases than is spent vapor blasting them.

N.

[przjohn]

That all sounds very familiar, and very good practice. Only thing I might suggest is that you remove the oil galley plug behind the cylinders as its a dead end at the plug when you do your final clean-out.

In my operation more time is spent cleaning and prepping and then clearing engine cases than is spent vapor blasting them.

N.

That is on the top case, right? I haven't got to that one yet but will be sure to remove it.

[NobleHops]

That's the one.

[przjohn]

Yes Virginia,

The Wife called me and told me this package had come from, "Some Chrome Company". My heart went a flitter, "Could it be, so soon?) Well, Santa came a day or two early here.



Regarding the contents, I have read primo restos where a show chrome finish isn't what Honda did. Well, I'll tell ya, I have a very nice 67 Honda Cl90 resto with a rear fender starting to rust under that theory, oh yeah, I got plenty of time for that. I now do show Chrome because I don't like doing stuff twice.

After first posting this I remembered that the fender from the CL90 was a reproduction and not a re-chrome. I will still buy reproduction stuff because it is usually cheaper than a re-chrome and quicker, I just have to realize that sometimes you get what you pay for. I  didn't think it would rust up in just a few years though.