So, I did a thing and bought a 1969 CB350 and a 1972 CB350F from a guy In Mississippi for $250. He brought me the bikes in New Orleans and I started stripping down the 350F. After sitting in a broken up barn since the mid 80’s I had to fight every single bolt and pan head on that bike. At least 1/4 of them were stripped from PO so that made it a good bit more difficult but I got it all stripped down. After removing the valve cover, I found the pistons were rusted into the cylinder head. Lots of Marvel Mystery Oil, heat gun, tapping and finally a 7 Ton Jaw puller, I got the pistons without any damage to anything but the pistons themselves. I couldn’t believe I didn’t score the cylinder but aside from the rust buildup on top of cylinder 2 I was free. I got the cases apart and everything looks pretty happy aside from the cam chain tensioner, the two chains inside the motor and the rubber inside. The valve cover is pretty nasty as well since there were spark plugs that the PO pulled out and never actually put them back in the bike. (Two of the plugs were screwed one turn in and water was able to get through there and sit in the valve cover. The valves were all closed so the sleeves all look happy so far but I haven’t cleaned it back up yet. I’ve already ordered all new seals for it as well. Worse comes to worse I’ve seen a couple on EBay for not too much. I’m going to look at some bikes to use for parts bikes this week and hopefully that will save me a lot of money seeing as most of the parts on this bike were rusted out. This week I plan on getting I cases cleaned, valves cleaned and carbs rebuilt. I will be posting updates and questions regularly. What do you guys reccomend for getting 30 years of dirt and oil out of all those really tight spaces on the outside of the motor? I tried some purple power and a scrub brush but is there a better way without me getting it soda blasted? Also what do you guys reccomend for engine paint? I was thinking about rattle canning it.
