Thanks guys I accept the nomination.
No build tread as such, but did I did start a thread on the UK SOHC site, which I will repeat here.
My latest restoration, a 1972 CB350f imported from the USA. It's been a fairly straight forward job. Take it all to bits, powder coat and re-chrome as necessary and replace various parts with new ones from David Silver / CMSL adding to their already bulging bank accounts, but what would we do without them. A big thanks to both. Phil Denton also provided some lovely stainless components - Cylinder studs, axles and swinging arm pivot to name but a few. More of him in a moment.
The snags, well there had to be a few. On getting the bike I noticed a bent fin on the right side of the cylinder head, nothing that a gentle tap with a piece of wood and hammer wouldn't cure, but then I noticed some damage around the number 3 spark plug. A strange place to get broken fins and also the top of the cylinder stud in that area had taken a beating. Once the cylinder head was off it was easy to see why. It had obviously suffered a seized / broken spark plug at some stage and some clown had tried to drill it out going off center in the process. Part of the old spark plug was still there! Cost of repair, well north of 100 of your best Bitish pounds. Plenty of second hand cylinder heads on ebay, all in the USA of course and cheaper than repairing the damaged one except that the cost of shipping was stratospheric. Fortunately DK Spares came to my rescue with a spiffing example, 80 quid all in, result. On removing the original cylinder head I also noticed that the oil feed pipes that distribute the lubricant to the camshaft and rockers were missing. Probably omitted by the same miscreant that damaged the head in the first place. Ebay to the rescue.
The one thing that did cause a problem and delay to the restoration were the fork covers that sit on top of the bottom fork cases. They were a devil to remove, but thanks to those on the UK SOHC site that came up with the solution I got them off without damage. The snag of course is that these components are no longer available and are so thin that a re-chrome would probably finish them off completely. The odd second hand one appeared on ebay in a far worse state that the ones I'd got. Enter Phil Denton into the equation and a commission to make a pair out of stainless. Very nice chap Mr Denton and he likes a challenge. Slight drawback in that he is a very busy man so the components did take some time to appear from his emporium, but well worth the wait and they wont rust. Hurrah!
So there you are, it's all tickety-boo, tip top and ready for the road whenever the weather decides to improve. Hmm, could be a while.
A special thanks to;
Terry Chambers (Racepaint UK) for the paint job
Triple S for powder coating.
My good friend John Edge for the chrome work
Phil Denton (see above)
Steve Lomas (5-one Wheels) wheel building and tyres
David Silver, CMSL and J. T. Marks (USA) for various new parts and DK Spares for the second hand ones
plus my trusted friend Graham Wood for all the help with the spanner work.
Oops nearly forgot
Steve Smethurst for cleaning and treating the crank cases, cylinder block and cylinder head etc.
Peter Bond for the speedometer and rev counter restoration.
Rob Davies-Evans of Kernow Shocks for restoration of the rear shocks.
CC's for the carb cleaning.
John Kenworthy (FAB Fastenings) - stainless screw kit
John Kemp (Inox Fasteners, Southampton) - stainless nuts, bolts, washers etc.
Two more pics
The second one is what I started with. Paint somewhat faded, usual Jardine 4 into 2 pipes, but overall a fairly solid bike and I was well please with what I got. There was some rust, which is to be expected, but nothing too bad at all. The initial plan was to get it registered and ride it while there was still a bit of summer left, but it didn't run too well, so I decided to crack on with the restoration and dismantle it. Just as well really given the missing oil pipes in the cylinder head!
Hope you like the end result
Cheers
Eric
