Topic: Early Sandcast Found......

[RAFster122s]

Painter being warned to not blast the welds smooth and fill them, right? Recall hearing someone crushed by results of blaster and painter prettying it up and as a result the fram no longer looked original after being painted.

[754]

 It can get out of hand real fast.. I would just spot in the bare area, then its still 80 percent original...

[BenelliSEI]

Painter being warned to not blast the welds smooth and fill them, right? Recall hearing someone crushed by results of blaster and painter prettying it up and as a result the fram no longer looked original after being painted.

Soft media blast, and a light coating. Nothing extra!

[Terry in Australia]

Painter being warned to not blast the welds smooth and fill them, right? Recall hearing someone crushed by results of blaster and painter prettying it up and as a result the fram no longer looked original after being painted.

Soft media blast, and a light coating. Nothing extra!

Good job John, those ugly factory welds are proof that it hasn't been messed with. Customisers of the day ground all those delightfully disgusting welds smooth then bondo'd over them again to make the joints even smoother. I prefer my K0's welds factory flawed......

[BenelliSEI]

Painter being warned to not blast the welds smooth and fill them, right? Recall hearing someone crushed by results of blaster and painter prettying it up and as a result the fram no longer looked original after being painted.

Soft media blast, and a light coating. Nothing extra!

Good job John, those ugly factory welds are proof that it hasn't been messed with. Customisers of the day ground all those delightfully disgusting welds smooth then bondo'd over them again to make the joints even smoother. I prefer my K0's welds factory flawed......

Met the painter today and guidelines set. He’s busy, so 3-4 weeks. I have lots to do in the meantime.

[BenelliSEI]

Moving ahead, slowly.  That’s the plan....... the instruments are out to “cb750Faces”. Still collecting up a few missing parts, stripping and rebuilding a some bits and generally organizing what I need, before I get started. For once, I’d like to have the engine ready FIRST, so I can “lower the frame onto it”. Never started that way...... plan is to make this as the Winter 2021-22 Project bike.

Today I picked up the frame, etc. Decided this one needed to be paint, not powder. A local painter I know agreed to tackle it. Epoxy primer, two coats of lacquer and two clear. It looks great and feels tough enough.Swing arm and frame are paint. I plan on riding this one, so the battery box and “smalls” got powder coated. Progress! .

[grcamna2]

That looks nice John 

[Terry in Australia]

Looks good John, and (Imho) paint is the way to go, Honda painted them in the factory, and even though Honda used the cheapest possible paint available with no primer, many original bikes have survived with the OEM paint still looking good.

Is the centre stand original for a sandcast? An “expert” told me that the early K0’s shouldn’t have the little brace on the left hand side “leg” of the stand? My K0 didn’t have a centrestand on it when I bought the frame, so I just grabbed a spare one out of my garage and called it good as I’m not that fussed about originality, but when I saw your stand, well I’m wondering if that “expert” is full of sh1t?

[BenelliSEI]

Looks good John, and (Imho) paint is the way to go, Honda painted them in the factory, and even though Honda used the cheapest possible paint available with no primer, many original bikes have survived with the OEM paint still looking good.

Is the centre stand original for a sandcast? An “expert” told me that the early K0’s shouldn’t have the little brace on the left hand side “leg” of the stand? My K0 didn’t have a centrestand on it when I bought the frame, so I just grabbed a spare one out of my garage and called it good as I’m not that fussed about originality, but when I saw your stand, well I’m wondering if that “expert” is full of sh1t?

Terry....... you’re not the first person to ask about that stand. There is no damage to the frame or hardware, so I’m pretty confident it’s the original. Definitely felt like I was pulling off original parts when I dismantled it.

Most of my restorations get powder, but this one got me thinking a bit differently. I’m keeping a bucket of all the original hardware for fresh zinc and the body work may get straightened, touched up, rubbed down and clear coated..,,,,

[BenelliSEI]

That looks nice John 

Thanks. He finished the clear yesterday and kept it in the slowly cooling powder coat oven over night. I wanted to keep it warm and dry for a few days, so FIRST motorcycle I’ve managed to sneak into the house! The boss says “out by the weekend”.

[Prospect]

I'm pretty sure the early sandcast didn't have the brace. Mine doesn't have it. Not sure when they started to put one in.

Looks good John, and (Imho) paint is the way to go, Honda painted them in the factory, and even though Honda used the cheapest possible paint available with no primer, many original bikes have survived with the OEM paint still looking good.

Is the centre stand original for a sandcast? An “expert” told me that the early K0’s shouldn’t have the little brace on the left hand side “leg” of the stand? My K0 didn’t have a centrestand on it when I bought the frame, so I just grabbed a spare one out of my garage and called it good as I’m not that fussed about originality, but when I saw your stand, well I’m wondering if that “expert” is full of sh1t?

Terry....... you’re not the first person to ask about that stand. There is no damage to the frame or hardware, so I’m pretty confident it’s the original. Definitely felt like I was pulling off original parts when I dismantled it.

[RAFster122s]

She realizes the investment given it is a 20k+ bike after finished...

[HondaMan]

My mentor Jimbo had the first sandcast sold in Peoria, IL in 1969 at our shop. It didn't have the little brace on it's sidestand.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, the “K0 Expert” told me that the early die cast K0’s didn’t either, but Mine is a 1/70 build, so I figured that no-one would care. If the worst became the worst you could just cut it off, but I don’t see the point, Honda must have put it there for a reason.

[BenelliSEI]

Yep, the “K0 Expert” told me that the early die cast K0’s didn’t either, but Mine is a 1/70 build, so I figured that no-one would care. If the worst became the worst you could just cut it off, but I don’t see the point, Honda must have put it there for a reason.

My early ‘70 has one too. I’ll compare and see if they are the same? I’m building this one “as found”.

[BenelliSEI]

Terry.....Here’s a photo of another S/C, 100012XX (only a few before mine) and guess what? Braced side stand.......

[Terry in Australia]

Terry.....Here’s a photo of another S/C, 100012XX (only a few before mine) and guess what? Braced side stand. So much for the EXPERTS.

Very true John, we all know about “Experts”, but I have seen K0’s without the brace too, so who knows? There were 4 different K0 heads, a couple different sets of carbs, different shift mechanisms, fenders, etc etc, so who really knows what they came out with, and what may have been changed over the years? It’s a mystery!

[754]

Its a bit like the frames, early ones have horn on left side.... many people have never seen it , or maybe never noticed.
Now centerstands.. they did get removed for some pipes or to save weight.... and then sometimes they get back put on. And then if you have a few around its like... this one looks good..lets use it..

[Terry in Australia]

Just to add more confusion, I pulled out my K0 owners manual and took a look, and look Ma, no side brace!

K0 manual by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 manual 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

But right when you think you have the "definitive" answer, look closely and you'll see this bike is a "prototype", not the garden variety sandcast or diecast. I must check the factory parts manual and see if there are two (or more) different part numbers for center stands for K0's. Fascinating! (sort of.....)

[754]

 As far as I know there is.. I found around 50 pieces that changed between  first sandcast and last ones... .. during my study of revisions in the old partsbook I have..

[britman]

That looks nice John 

Thanks. He finished the clear yesterday and kept it in the slowly cooling powder coat oven over night. I wanted to keep it warm and dry for a few days, so FIRST motorcycle I’ve managed to sneak into the house! The boss says “out by the weekend”.

Damn that looks beautiful.  I can only get away with the smuggling MC bits in the house thing doing the winter.  There is almost an unwritten list, tires to be mounted-must be hidden under the Grand-daughters bed, gas tanks treated with Caswell and small painted bits-in the back bed room next to the heating vent.  There is not a specified staying time, but it is close to a New York City cab driver's reaction time before blowing the horn at a red light. 

[BenelliSEI]

As far as I know there is.. I found around 50 pieces that changed between  first sandcast and last ones... .. during my study of revisions in the old partsbook I have..

Frank.... I joined the “Sandcast Only” forum. They take it to the limit. I may take some liberties...

[BenelliSEI]

Just read that really early bikes did not have the rubber guide for the speedo cable, in the front fender. Checked mine and sure enough, no hole, no guide. Learned something today?

[754]

Should not have rubber boot on brake hose where it enters caliper , on that.
 And the metal end pipe part of hose is very short...

[Terry in Australia]

OK, so after much "Research" (in other words I looked at my OEM parts manual) The jury is definitely in:

CB750 Centre Stand 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

CB750 Centre Stand 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

CB750 Centre Stand 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

CB750 Centre Stand by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Yes, dear reader, all "Experts" bullsh1t aside, ALL CB750's from the earliest of sandcasts to the K4 (inclusive, my manual only goes to 1974) have the exact same centre stand. I'm happy about that, as I was contemplating "modifying" my centre stand with my "Non-OEM" Angle grinder. John, you can rest in the knowledge that the stand on your bike is probably the same one it was born with, and once again, all's right with the world.......