Author Topic: 1977 CB550F Desert T-Rex (Read 6395 times)

Godffery · « **Reply #25 on:** January 02, 2018, 01:52:51 AM »

I really did these F model 550's, it's grate to see you bring this one back to life!

minimo · « **Reply #26 on:** January 02, 2018, 10:05:42 PM »

Thanks, Godffery.

Here’s where I’m at with the inside of the fuel tank after a day and a half filled with Zep calcium/lime/rust remover - it’s the more budgeted brand sold for $10 per gallon as opposed to $25 for the Pro-grade CLR stuff.

Here’s before:

I sloshed some acetone into the tank and shook it around to try and dissolve what old fuel was still left in there. After a few minutes of shaking the acetone around I dumped it out and ran a garden hose with one of those blaster tips and shot it into the tank until the water came out as clear as I could get it. I then poured a gallon (and a half, for good measure) jug of the Zep brand CLR and the rest with water to fill up to the brim and closed the lid on the tank and after a day and half got this result:

Pretty not bad if I must say. The fuel cap came out gorgeous anyway.
So, I drained out the solution, pouring what I could back into one of the empty jugs and labeled it “used” (but I read that the concoction is still active after some uses - I could have read wrong), shook it out as best I could and then poured some of the acetone I still had left and shook that around in the tank to accelerate the evaporation of moisture still in the tank. I then took a blow dryer and ran hot air into the fuel tank hole for a while until I felt that it was all dry. To prevent flash rust, I misted the inside of the tank with WD-40 because it’s all I had at the time. Hope this holds over until I get some real petrol in the tank.

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minimo · « **Reply #27 on:** January 02, 2018, 11:32:17 PM »

Holiday break is over and it’s back to work this week. It’ll be a short work week, thank goodness. Got some solid chunk of time to wrench the last few days but it’s never enough really, is it?

I adjusted the tappets on the inlets and exhausts. At first it was difficult to determine TDC on 1-4 and whether or not I was getting any compression and so I tried the kickstart and there then I got the nice suction pop on my thumb while covering one of the spark plug holes as I thrusted the kick down with my other hand. I tried this on the other spark holes and seems to have compression across the board (I hope).
Gave a cursory glance at the electrical area and uncovered this

That top fuse is the tail light and it’s missing the tab. No biggie and I don’t think I need that for this initial test start. I will eventually change these to blade fuses too, if it’s worth it. Meanwhile, I figured a little start attempt was in order so I connected the battery and just for fun I pressed the push-button start that the previous-previous owner mounted on the left side cover and to my surprise the starter turned over and this was while the key was in the OFF position! I suppose as long as the button switch isn’t being activated all the time it won’t drain the battery, or would it?
I don’t have adequate light in my patio so that’s as far as I’ll get tonight. Next chance I’ll try to dig into the points cover. I figure it’ll be a good way to see if I get any spark and if the electrical is being routed through ok. Won’t know for sure now especially since I just noticed that the main fuse blew out and I’ve no replacements. Ugh. So close yet not enough time in the day (not enough light in my patio).

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calj737 · « **Reply #28 on:** January 03, 2018, 04:58:08 AM »

Pour a half gallon of diesel in the tank, slosh it around, and then let it sit. WD-40 won't get to the underside of the top, and it takes a LOT more fluid in there from an aerosol than you think to coat the interior of that tank to avoid flash rusting.

Godffery · « **Reply #29 on:** January 03, 2018, 07:08:06 AM »

Best thing to do with that tank now is to seal it with POR15 https://www.por15.com/ Then you will have no worry's about it rusting again.

minimo · « **Reply #30 on:** January 03, 2018, 07:29:22 AM »

Darn, I wish I had known the half gallon diesel trick.

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SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #31 on:** January 03, 2018, 08:15:43 AM »

Glad the tank cleaned up so well. It has a great hue to it. I would polish what I can and then re-clear it and preserve the patina.

minimo · « **Reply #32 on:** January 03, 2018, 01:49:09 PM »

Thanks, SOHC4 Fan. I’d like to try to preserve the patina. That seems to be what peeps are doing these days and polishing up the original and throwing a clear on top. I like it. I’d be curious to see how much a paintless dent repair will cost.
I’ll need some instruction on how I should go about that when the time comes.

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SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #33 on:** January 03, 2018, 03:40:03 PM »

Quote from: minimo on January 03, 2018, 01:49:09 PM

Thanks, SOHC4 Fan. I’d like to try to preserve the patina. That seems to be what peeps are doing these days and polishing up the original and throwing a clear on top. I like it. I’d be curious to see how much a paintless dent repair will cost.
I’ll need some instruction on how I should go about that when the time comes.

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The location of it lends itself to a paintless dent repair shop (I recently had a small dent removed from my car). I have seen some people use air pressure to pop out the dent, but that requires some finesse.

JoeCooley · « **Reply #34 on:** January 03, 2018, 06:42:28 PM »

Pm me your address and I'll send you a fuse block. I have o e layi g around.

minimo · « **Reply #35 on:** January 04, 2018, 06:00:46 PM »

Quote from: JoeCooley on January 03, 2018, 06:42:28 PM

Pm me your address and I'll send you a fuse block. I have o e layi g around.

Very kind of you to offer, JoeCooley.

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CBJoe · « **Reply #36 on:** January 05, 2018, 04:08:26 PM »

Absolutely no idea if that exhaust patch is going to work...but I do believe it wins an award for something! And if it lasts a season and you shake everything else down then its a win

Totally agree on the tank...love the patina

Cheers, Joe

minimo · « **Reply #37 on:** January 07, 2018, 09:56:57 AM »

Thanks, CBJoe.
After replacing the petcock, the fuel tank is all filled up and ready to go. The only question now is, how about the rest of the bike?

Well, this comes as no surprise as I may have mentioned before about the push-button start

Pop open the cover to reveal that the wires have been snipped and seemingly repurposed in other places

The button start wires were taped together (they’re snipped on the other end; already noticed the yellow/red snipped at the starter solenoid :-/)
Also found that the key ignition has been broken into before

I’m going to guess that the folded piece of washi paper was an attempt to tighten up the space that was created when the tab on the plastic housing snapped

Now, because of the loose housing, it’s lifting up the contacts from their springs on the inside of the switch and not making proper contact, I’m guessing. With the key at the ON position, continuity is made intermittently (when I apply some pressure to the bottom to lift up the housing) and the P mode gets zero checks on continuity (across the browns). Defective? Tape up the housing for now? Hotwire Black and Red to get past the startup test?
Ugh. A waste of a weekend.

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Bankerdanny · « **Reply #38 on:** January 07, 2018, 10:06:54 AM »

You can hot wire the switch with a simple jumper. I had to do it on my '77 550F in 2011 when it failed at a stop light. Now I carry a jumper wire with me in case I need to do it again. Make a small jumper (a couple inches is more than enough) with a male connector at each end. Jumper the red to the black wires at the harness connector side. This will get you ignition power but not a headlight light.

minimo · « **Reply #39 on:** January 07, 2018, 10:17:20 AM »

Thanks, Bankerdanny. Maybe make use of my alligator clips for this :-)

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minimo · « **Reply #40 on:** January 07, 2018, 11:03:24 AM »

Blew another 15A Main fuse. Before I wipe out O’Reilly/Pep Boys/Auto Zone of their stock of Bussman fuses, what should be my approach to chasing the wires for a short here? My guess is gonna be the RUN switch. I’ll begin by taking it apart and cleaning it up a bit.

Yeah. Thinking it might be good to start here

minimo · « **Reply #41 on:** January 07, 2018, 03:49:04 PM »

She’s alive! Alllllliiiiiiiiive!!!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CZ2TeZqb1KIF1Q9ZdEqDCm8iwyKJSX29
I cleaned the fuse block contacts with my Dremel (brass wire polishing bit) and that seemed to do the trick. I guess as clean as I thought they appeared, the fuse clamps were anything but.

The exhaust patch seems to be holding up ok too after about a few minutes of running idle. Will put it to a true test soon enough. Cam chain is rattling a little so will make that easy adjustment. The bike starts up like buttah and by the way, that janky side cover push-button start actually works quite well - although I think I’ll end up replacing it once I swap out the throttle control for a real-deal push-button.

What else is there to report?
Oh, I would like to change out the idle adjust screw eventually. The original one was all bent and I snapped it off in an attempt to straighten it

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Stev-o · « **Reply #42 on:** January 07, 2018, 04:01:44 PM »

Congrats! Great feelin' bringin' one back from the dead, aint it?!

minimo · « **Reply #43 on:** January 07, 2018, 04:56:23 PM »

Quote from: Stev-o on January 07, 2018, 04:01:44 PM

Congrats! Great feelin' bringin' one back from the dead, aint it?!

Feels real good, Steve-O. There’s nuthin’ like it that I’ve experienced. It’s like what Dr. Frankenstein must have felt when the monster comes to life. Funny thing is that I could just stop here and that would be fine - the ride has always come secondary to the build experience for me. And then when I get on the road it takes on a whole other meaning and the experience is heightened yet again.
Thanks for all your support and praises!
The build shall commence!

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minimo · « **Reply #44 on:** January 14, 2018, 04:36:13 PM »

She rides!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XpHJZnB_4Y6gyqFqK8o-l1Jm7UeHM6sl
First ride around. Took some great risks here riding without a helmet and being out in public wearing my black Crocs. Call the cops!

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SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #45 on:** January 14, 2018, 07:18:37 PM »

Sweet!

minimo · « **Reply #46 on:** January 14, 2018, 07:45:39 PM »

Still some electrical issues to chase, mainly on the push-button start not being responsive.

It’s a brand new aftermarket throttle switch (4into1.com) so I’m ruling it out being defective. I also fitted the bike with a replacement “newer style” ignition switch (styled like OEM but with newly designed plastic base that’s screwed on as opposed to being held on by clips).

So, I can’t get the START button to work. That’ll be the Yellow/Red wire. I see one of those coming out of the starter solenoid and it checks out on continuity from there to under the tank wire bundle.

At which point I meter Y/R to G and I get 10.30-10.45V upon pressing the START at the solenoid and under fuel tank bundle connections.
Also tried jumping the neutral G/R to G at the headlight bucket to bypass the clutch switch and nuthin. Signs pointing to a faulty SOLENOID?

Meanwhile, this funky button works like a charm

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JoeCooley · « **Reply #47 on:** January 14, 2018, 11:24:27 PM »

Quote from: minimo on January 14, 2018, 04:36:13 PM

She rides!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XpHJZnB_4Y6gyqFqK8o-l1Jm7UeHM6sl
First ride around. Took some great risks here riding without a helmet and being out in public wearing my black Crocs. Call the cops!

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Hell yeah Brian! It sounds good. I love seeing these rescue builds.

I have a RH switch off my bike you can have. It worked when I replaced it with a new re-pop unit. I'll send it your way. Better than tossing it in the trash...

minimo · « **Reply #48 on:** January 14, 2018, 11:31:51 PM »

Joe Cooley for Presidente!

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minimo · « **Reply #49 on:** January 29, 2018, 12:26:38 AM »

Well, this was the weekend to wrap up the rebuild on this baby. There are some small touches like turn signals and mirrors to fiddle with but it turns out that this is a mean machine with a sweet response to throttle.

The weekend started off with a new solenoid to replace the weirdness that was going on with the old one that I couldn’t pop open to clean without cutting or bending out some tabs - not worth the effort. Anyway, a fresh solenoid was all it took to get the push-start button to work. Done.

Next up, a fresh set of Dunlop K70 tires complete with new IRC tubes and fitted rimstrips.

I love the look of these rubbers, especially that knobiness. MmmmMmmm

Had the rear wheel off to examine the brake pads and they still look decent (and OEM)

Drained the old oil and scrubbed the pan and the filter cover a bit. Someday I’ll make a mold of these and produce some silicone cereal bowls out of them

I noticed that the oil filter was missing the spring seat (aka washer) that goes missing sometimes - I may have inadvertently thrown it away. Went to a TrueValue hardware store and picked up the largest stainless steel washer I could find, an M20 which still wasn’t large enough so I had to bore it out with my trusty Dremel and some hard metal cutting bits. This was not too fun to do but I eventually whittled a larger hole to fit and work. Slapped the covers back on with new o-rings and gaskets, filled the engine with some Home Depot-issued Shell Rotella 15W-40 Diesel engine oil and ran her for a hot minute. Removed the tappet covers to see the oil splash up to the top and then ran a carb sync which was wildly off to my surprise; meaning that it could only run better which it did after adjustments
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1INFwqmUmQy5G_4woPFDpWrlkA9McCjtU
She was begging for a ride around the block, so I took her out. Ran it up to about 72 MPH in 5th gear. She purrs.

Humble beginnings. Took a couple of months worth of my holidays and weekends but definitely worth it, I think.

Look out for another classic hitting the LA streets soon. Next up, process of registration and CHP inspection.

Thanks for all your support!
Good night.

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Author Topic: 1977 CB550F Desert T-Rex (Read 6395 times)