Author Topic: My CB400/4 rest project (Fareham UK) (Read 1695 times)

Barney1982 · « **on:** April 23, 2020, 01:36:16 PM »

Hi all and welcome to my restoration thread.
So, my Dad died 2 years ago and it got me thinking that I wanted to do something in his honour.
I have had many many bikes over the years but have fond memories of my first ever biking experience as pillion
on my Dads Red 400/4.
A year later I found one for sale locally, £2500 later and I'm riding home on a rattling and seriously noisy CB with a silly grin on my face yet wondering what the heck have I bought!!
The rattling was the cam chain, and the serious noise was where 2 3rds of the underside of its Motad exhaust was rotten through.
Pretty much the following day I began the tear down to start restoring her.
The tank and side panels had been recently redone although I'm not happy with the decal positioning.

Mark1976 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 24, 2020, 11:26:40 AM »

That's a great bike as well as a great starting point, I agree, the decal positioning is a bit off, but all in all it looks quite clean.

Stev-o · « **Reply #2 on:** April 24, 2020, 11:41:53 AM »

Subscribed...so what is the plan?

Barney1982 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 25, 2020, 09:00:28 AM »

So the plan is I want to restore this bike to a good standard condition and to look as close to what my dad has as possible.
Something like in the photo below would be great.

Mark1976 · « **Reply #4 on:** April 25, 2020, 09:59:25 AM »

Well, ya got a great start! Really clean very intact place to begin.

Barney1982 · « **Reply #5 on:** April 25, 2020, 11:26:56 AM »

Thanks Mark.
This story so far is, shortly after picking her up I dropped the motor out and stripped the bike to the point of being just a rolling chassis.
This was just before summer kicked in last year, then as summer began between sailing and working, the project came to a complete standstill.
Now thanks to coronavirus I have finally had some time to get back into the project, plus the garden is looking better than ever lol.

So over the past 3 weeks I have completely stripped the frame and amassed all the bits I want to take for blasting and powder coating. This brings me to a question, is it a good idea to remove the VIN plate or can this be protected somehow?

The forks are completely stripped, should i paint or polish the fork lowers? and the stanchions are pitted so will need either replacing or re-chroming, which is the cheaper option here?

The motor has been stripped mostly now with just the crank case left to split. Will update on this with some photos and yet more questions soon.

PS, I am having problems posting images with my posts. Any tips on this? I am using a MacBook Pro.

Mark1976 · « **Reply #6 on:** April 25, 2020, 04:45:41 PM »

Ask your powder coater about the vin tag, my powder coater removes the vin tag, its just part of the prep for powder coat process. The front fork lowers you can do as you please, I prefer to polish them, but I like the shiny bits. Replace the stanchions, its just simpler. I've had the same issue with the site, tried starting a thread and it doesn't take.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #7 on:** April 26, 2020, 09:16:11 AM »

The best way to preserve the VIN tag is to drill out the two rivets and reinstall the tag after powder (versus masking the tag).

PeWe · « **Reply #8 on:** April 26, 2020, 10:52:34 AM »

I drilled the rivets away holding the tag on my bike before I repainted it.
Drilled the holes with correct drill for rivets I used when attaching the tag after paint.Just a tiny bit bigger.

Cover the tag with tape and paint frame will not look good.

Stev-o · « **Reply #9 on:** April 26, 2020, 10:57:58 AM »

+1 Remove the VIN tag, polish the fork lowers and replace the tubes. Re-chomeing is getting difficult to find and expensive when you do. Unless you have a good connection?

Barney1982 · « **Reply #10 on:** April 29, 2020, 02:27:16 PM »

Ok thanks for the advice.
I will replace the stanchions.
As for the vin rivets............ any idea what size i should drill to and where to source replacement rivets?
I have had a quick google and haven't managed to find any so far.

Barney1982 · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2020, 10:36:11 AM »

Latest update is I have completed the strip down of the motor.

I have used Plastigauge to measure my crank clearances and have 0.063mm on all positions which is in tolerance (0.08mm Max). .

I have bagged up and labelled every bearing so I know exactly where it came from.

Trying to understand the shell bearing number and letters. And after reading many many other people’s posts on here and the other site I have come up with the following.

Left to right looking forward

Crank case.
B B B A A

Crank shaft weights.
2 A1 A1 A1 A1

So I think that means?
B2 B1 B1 A1 A1

Which I think means I need
Brown Green Green Yellow Yellow?

Con rods markings.
C2 C2 C3 C2

So bearings I think I need are
Brown Brown Black Brown

Can anyone verify this is correct for me please?

Also all my frame and black bits are off being powder coated at present. And one fork bottom is now polished with new stanchions on their way.

Barney1982 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2020, 11:29:34 AM »

kap384@telus.net · « **Reply #13 on:** May 06, 2020, 11:57:21 AM »

Subscribed. Excellent project choice. Yeah, COVID has provided me more time to hit the garage and work on projects as well!

jakec · « **Reply #14 on:** May 06, 2020, 04:58:56 PM »

If all of your bearings are in spec and you know where they go, no need to figure out what bearing shells are in there. Unless you want to replace them for some reason.

My crank marks were all gone. Also I'm pretty sure the manual for the 400 says to use crank diameter to determine shell size (they have a table for it). NOT a marking on the crank.

Barney1982 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 07, 2020, 01:11:02 AM »

Ok thanks jakec.
They aren’t through to the copper or pitted so I probably will just re-use them then.
I will probably never strip the engine this far again so was considering replacing them with the same but new to bring the clearance down nearer to the original spec.
One less thing to spend on I guess

Barney1982 · « **Reply #16 on:** May 13, 2020, 01:28:33 PM »

Got the frame back from the powder coaters a few days ago, mega happy with the result, it looks like new.

Have started to bolt a few bits back on this evening.

Also a box full of parts from David Silver arrived, new fork stanchions, seals and oil so tomorrows task is to rebuild the forks.
I aim to have a rolling chassis again by the end of the week, however the wheels will be unrestored as I plan to do them at a later date. They will look a bit scabby next to the newly painted parts lol.

Need to source some rivets so i can re-fit the Vin plate.

Question. Was the rear brake painted or polished originally? I'm thinking the brake and hubs were painted?

kap384@telus.net · « **Reply #17 on:** May 13, 2020, 01:39:24 PM »

Shiny

Mark1976 · « **Reply #18 on:** May 13, 2020, 02:38:19 PM »

Gotta love powder coat...

jakec · « **Reply #19 on:** May 13, 2020, 03:21:36 PM »

Rear brake pivot arm has to go on before swingarm. Make sure you do that before you start putting wheels on and stuff.

Barney1982 · « **Reply #20 on:** May 14, 2020, 12:35:22 AM »

Yeah thanks jake. Already noted that so installed beforehand

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Author Topic: My CB400/4 rest project (Fareham UK) (Read 1695 times)