Author Topic: CB 750 AMEN Chopper (Read 23335 times)

Anglo · « **Reply #75 on:** December 26, 2016, 10:07:58 PM »

Cheers Andy, I will endeavour to entertain

Eigenvector I'll keep them in the backpocket, but popular vote for replacing the springs has gone to cyclonemanufacturing.com. I've sent them an Email, I imagine given the holiday season it might be a while till I hear back to them.

754 oillite bushings look to be the right fit. Soon as the frame is sanded I'll get on ordering some. Speaking of which..

Spent maybe 4 hours on this, using a mix of the rattlecan stripper and a steel wire drill bit. Once over got the dark blue paint off, then got the light blue paint off the headset and a couple of other bits. The brown undercoat is primer from a loooong time ago, and is stuck fast. Even though I've got most of the paint off, I'm going to invest in some paint-on stripper like you guys advised. I thought I could get by with the spray on stuff because of how easily the dark blue top paint came off, but all that really shows is how cheap that dark blue topcoat was.

This photo was taken in the basement of the sharehouse I'm in, as I know these frames (when stripped) love to develop surface rust. I'll pick up some paint-on stripper after work tomorrow and keep you guys updated

stikman · « **Reply #76 on:** December 26, 2016, 11:06:55 PM »

Lookin good

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #77 on:** December 27, 2016, 01:28:28 AM »

It sure is, but geez, it's agricultural. Looking at the welded on brackets (which I presume were done by Amen) I can't help but think they didn't put a lot of effort in chamfering the corners at all, it looks like they've just gotten a piece of flat bar, drilled a hole in it and welded it straight on. Maybe Anglo could take a file or a grinder to them before he repaints it? Just a small detail I know, but the overall finished bike will look better if those little details are attended to. Cheers, Terry.

stikman · « **Reply #78 on:** December 27, 2016, 01:32:50 AM »

Quote from: Terry in Australia on December 27, 2016, 01:28:28 AM

It sure is, but geez, it's agricultural. Looking at the welded on brackets (which I presume were done by Amen) I can't help but think they didn't put a lot of effort in chamfering the corners at all, it looks like they've just gotten a piece of flat bar, drilled a hole in it and welded it straight on. Maybe Anglo could take a file or a grinder to them before he repaints it? Just a small detail I know, but the overall finished bike will look better if those little details are attended to. Cheers, Terry.

Yeah fair enough. Depends how pretty he wants the build eh. A little finger skim of bondo and a touch of sanding could clean them up quite easily as well.

Anglo · « **Reply #79 on:** December 28, 2016, 12:00:05 AM »

Stikman and Terry... The way you're addressing me like I'm not here is weird... I'd rather you guys were saying 'I can't believe this dumbass hasn't sanded the sharp edges yet'

I'd not really considered it, but I may as well while the frame is uncovered, its going to take me a few days to sand the paint off anyway. I'm only sanding the sharp edge off, I'm not gonna take time making them perfectly rounded. I care how the bike looks, but I have a nightmare that I sand them too much and hear a SNAP as I re-install the engine... $:-\$

Decided I was sick of working in the sub zero garage for tonight, so I pulled the starter motors from both the spare engines. The previous owner re-wired all the switches into the space where the starter motor sits, but I'm planning on putting most of the switches back on to the bars and re-installing one of the spare starters. Kickstarts are cool but when on a tour I can imagine there will come a day where cool becomes irritating... It'll still be there to impress geezers from time to time

2 starters! My cup runneth over. So I get my impact driver on the first motor and-

Bugger. Okay well I'll be a little more careful on the next-

Well.

Whoopdedoo

Well 5 minutes of work and two rounded bolts later I'm ready to pack up for the evening. Once you guys are done chuckling at my ineptitude, any hints on getting these bolts out? They're torqued down tight. Updates on the frame tomorrow

754 · « **Reply #80 on:** December 28, 2016, 02:50:30 AM »

Yep, JIS tips for the impact that fit the bolts properly..

Anglo · « **Reply #81 on:** December 28, 2016, 12:53:42 PM »

Japanese Industry Standard impact driver heads is now on the list. How can I get these cheesed bolts out in the meantime?

eigenvector · « **Reply #82 on:** December 28, 2016, 01:32:02 PM »

I don't even think you'd need to drill it out. Just grab those screw shafts with vice grips or something similar and turn them. having the head of the screw still on will give you some leverage as the bolt won't want to bend as you unscrew it like it would if the end cap was removed first.

754 · « **Reply #83 on:** December 28, 2016, 02:11:23 PM »

Then take a hacksaw and cut screwdriver slots in them..after you get em out..

Medyo Bastos · « **Reply #84 on:** December 28, 2016, 03:19:15 PM »

You can try tapping on the head with a

and using an offset #3 before drilling the head.

BTW, amen did a pretty good job putting their frames together. They didn't leave as many sharp edges as other aftermarket manufacturers did, and their welds were light years ahead of what Honda did on stock frames.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

754 · « **Reply #85 on:** December 28, 2016, 03:29:37 PM »

Terry, With the exception of the sissy bar mounts, most of the sharp corners are not noticeable on a put together bike..
Got to remember most of that stuff is early eighties or older..
Its a frame I would build a bike out of..again...but I would pass on many of the others,
except Ness and Smith Bros & Fetrow...and the Santee that takes the swingarm

Anglo · « **Reply #86 on:** December 30, 2016, 12:21:36 AM »

One of the reasons I traded a perfectly good Goldwing for this project bike was because of the frame... Even the limited knowledge I have on these bikes tells me AMEN frames are worth fighting for!

Anyhoo good news on the frame strip, its pretty much done!

And before you start circling bits of remaining paint I know they're there, I'll be going over the whole frame with some fine sand paper before I put the primer on, so I'll get to the ~~fiddlier~~ ~~fiddlyer~~ More fiddly bits then.

Pretty pleased with the spring mounts.

This is about 8 hours of work with a 2000rpm corded drill and a handful of basic attachments, such as the 'rust removal grinder'. Both of which have been worn almost to the nub

And the 'Brass' wire brush

which is now completely cheesed!

In terms of sanding down the harsh edges on the frame, I got a sanding piece but...

Its... A little ineffective

I'll pinch a file from work tomorrow. I know you guys don't really like spray on things, but I picked up some spray on self etching primer on the advice of a friend.

I'll be using the sandpaper and file tomorrow night, then I'll prime up the frame and move on to the perilous world of paint selection

Anglo · « **Reply #87 on:** December 30, 2016, 01:22:22 AM »

Bonus update on the Starter- Very good news! I took them both in to work so I could use the clamps and tools we have (I work in a bicycle repair shop) and it turns out one of the mechanics there used to be a car mechanic back in Albania

He had the bolts out in minutes!

All looking fairly kosher. Fair bit of soot in the bottom, but I'm lead to believe thats fairly common.

Blasted the lot with compressed air and tickled the springs with some contact cleaner. Almost looks new!

Sanded down the Brushes and the contact points. Didn't have the battery with me at work, but I can test it later. It all looks in very good nick.

And put the lot back together, not before sawing the screw head as 754 reccomended

Saving the day one recommendation at the time.

754 · « **Reply #88 on:** December 30, 2016, 10:14:13 AM »

Good stuff you are making it happen..
I think this thread will be moved to projects, pretty soon.

Anglo · « **Reply #89 on:** December 30, 2016, 11:15:24 AM »

Yeah I saw someone post about a CB 550 restoration or something like that and got moved there immediately. Any day now I guess

seanbarney41 · « **Reply #90 on:** December 30, 2016, 11:30:38 AM »

You probably need to ask a moderator directly. Not sure how you do that.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #91 on:** December 30, 2016, 03:32:18 PM »

Quote from: 754 on December 28, 2016, 03:29:37 PM

Terry, With the exception of the sissy bar mounts, most of the sharp corners are not noticeable on a put together bike..
Got to remember most of that stuff is early eighties or older..
Its a frame I would build a bike out of..again...but I would pass on many of the others,
except Ness and Smith Bros & Fetrow...and the Santee that takes the swingarm

Thanks Frank, in 1980 or 1981 I had a K1 and a mate gave me an Amen Savior frame as I was thinking about building a chop, but I never got around to it, partly because I wasn't impressed with the quality of their engineering. Here in Oz, Sonic Choppers built really nice chopper frames, but stopped building them in the mid 80's when the chopper fad died.

Don't get me wrong, I like them, and I reckon Anglo's doing a great job with his, but I think a modern frame builder would pay a lot more attention to detail than Amen did back in the day. Cheers, Terry.

754 · « **Reply #92 on:** December 30, 2016, 03:55:49 PM »

At the end of theday , most manufactures , cut corners o keep price down..
Sure it can always be nicer ,but at what cost ?
Those frames were 379$..... Many frames now are in the 2 k and up range..
And the process, s for cutting out the parts at reasonable cost....have advanced tremendously, that is why now stuff is better finished..

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #93 on:** December 31, 2016, 12:44:50 AM »

True, but to put that $379 in perspective, my new CB750F cost $1800 when I was earning $90 per week in 1978 (my F was a NOS 1975 model, they weren't big sellers over here so I bought it at a discounted rate) so was the equivalent of 20 weeks pay. That $379 would have been the equivalent of a months pay, so not cheap.

I'm not saying there was anything wrong with the frames, (you'd probably never bend one because they were seriously heavy) I just think they could have linished the corners off the brackets etc. Regardless, I'm sure Anglo will do a great job to finish Amen's work, 40 years on...........

Medyo Bastos · « **Reply #94 on:** December 31, 2016, 07:26:13 AM »

they probably sent you the sharp edges to make up some of the shipping costs to you

. i personally dont think they put enough rake into them, but still stick with what i said earlier. ness, by far put out the cleanest frames.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #95 on:** December 31, 2016, 01:30:38 PM »

Quote from: Medyo Bastos on December 31, 2016, 07:26:13 AM

they probably sent you the sharp edges to make up some of the shipping costs to you . i personally dont think they put enough rake into them, but still stick with what i said earlier. ness, by far put out the cleanest frames.

Agreed, I've got a couple of old chopper mags here and the Ness frames were the nicest, in my opinion. Cheers, Terry.

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #96 on:** January 01, 2017, 02:01:27 PM »

From Frank:

A few things about Amen, near the end they came out with a swing arm custom frame, similar to Santee, both took stock swingarm.. I have never seen the Amen in the flesh ..but in an ad.
After Amen shut down, another place , i think eastern states..maybe R+R, or Graveyard, started building again,but also fir Triumph and H-D..
Now this has had me wondering for the last Week or so,
Anglos frame has double tubing where the back of frame is welded to the Saviour unit, and I thought...mine was not like that . So I checked a lot of pics online, none like that..strange..maybe its a real late one from the other guys that he has ?

Anglo · « **Reply #97 on:** January 01, 2017, 05:01:44 PM »

Bugger. Terry or Frank, you reckon that might mean I have a late model frame thats not as good?

Terry in Australia · « **Reply #98 on:** January 01, 2017, 05:25:16 PM »

Don't worry about it mate, it's probably better, if anything. Cheers, Terry.

Anglo · « **Reply #99 on:** January 01, 2017, 05:54:33 PM »

Actually it stands to reason this frame isn't an authentic Amen frame, thats probably why theres no trace of identification numbers on the Neck. Now all the paints off, it doesn't look like there was ever anything stamped there

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Author Topic: CB 750 AMEN Chopper (Read 23335 times)