Topic: FREE healthy 2 year old boy to anyone that wants him

[kbfromvt_400F]

People always told me I was crazy for having four kids and I'd say "Naaah", they're good kids and I'm happy with four.  I changed my mind.  I'm happy with 3 of the 4 but am ready to get rid of the 3rd born son.

I'm in the midst of a tear down and rebuild on a 75 CB400F and removed the rocker cover to polish.  I saw some guys had a neat little trick on this forum on how to keep track of which bolt goes where on the rocker cover by using a piece of cardboard and a crude overhead drawing of the rocker cover and putting the bolts into the cardboard in their appropriate places on the drawing.  I think I must have thought to myself "thank god for this trick" at least 10x during the removal of the cover.

I have a workbench that is exactly 3 feet tall from the ground.  My 2 year old son sometimes will come out into the workshop with me and stand on this small stepladder to be up within arms reach of the workbench and "pretend" to wrench around.  Mostly he just turns ratches in the air and pretends to be working.  Normally I love having him or any of my other sons out there, they're usually fun to watch "pretend" and it's a good "father-sons" bonding experience. 

Last night while out there working, before I even realized what was happening, he was removing and rearranging the bolts in my the cardboard.  It looks like he managed to move several, but I'm not sure.  As much as I wanted to scream, I had to hold back and calmly remove him from my workshop while ready to burst on the inside.  He's only 2, it's my fault for not watching him closely enough, not his fault. 

My question is obvious I hope, where do I go from here?  I looked through my Haynes and Honda Shop manual and didn't notice anything to help with which bolt goes where.  Well, I think the shop manual in combination with the CB400F parts list will do it, but seems like it would be a pain.  Any easy ideas to figure out which bolt goes where? 

Thanks in advance for any help.

-Kyle

[Cvillechopper]

I had that with the 550, but not a kid(well, not really).  I just put the bolts back in the holes as they currently were then looked for the ones that are a different height from the top of the cover.  Most were about a 1/4 inch or so from the tops of the rocker cover to the bottom of the bolt head.  You'll run into a slight issue in the area that will be loaded due to the cam position but you should be able to work it out.  Someone probably has the measurements around.  One question, how many different sizes do you have?

[kbfromvt_400F]

At first I would say 2 different sizes, but the it appears there may be 3.  I haven't taken the time to do a real comparison.  I thought I was good to go with my cardboard!!!  Doh!!!

[rhinoracer]

Well, at least you can blame the kids  . I lost track of where each rocker arm goes on the camshaft and have no one else to blame but myself for knocking the cardboard off the workbench    .

Use the method described by cville and you should be good.

[cleveland]

LOL!  Aren't kids great? 

At least once every time we are in the garage together I have to tell one of the boys to, "Put that down!  If you hit him with that (insert big heavy tool here) I will hit YOU with it.  Wouldn't like that would ya?!  Then put it down, NOW!"

I'm sure they know I wouldn't hit them with the tool, but I give them a look that makes them wonder. 

I don't have an answer for the bolts, but I thought you should know that you are not alone. 

[steven400/4]

hi again kyle i,ll do you a swop! i,e got 5 year old twins aaron helps all the time he loves bikes now for katie she does not like bikes at all  if she gets into the shed all sorts go missing and its a pain but i have one over you  i find all my bits in her dolls pram anyway good luck? steve

[RSV12K]

Fava beans, a nice bottle of Chianti and a two-year kid, can it get any better than that?

[kbfromvt_400F]

It's good to know I'm not alone! I did contemplate a "no kids in the workshop rule" but that would be tough, they enjoy being with me so much.

In all actuality, I don't blame my son.  It's my fault for having it in an area where he can reach and for not paying close enough attention to him.  I'm lucky he didn't do something much worse and possibly get hurt.

Look at that face, how can I get mad?

[Gordon]

Just start with the longest bolts.  Keep trying the holes in an orderly fashion until you have all the longest ones in, then repeat with the next longest, and then what's left are the short ones.  That's how I did it on my first engine rebuild before I discovered the cardboard method, and it doesn't really take too long.

[malcolmgb]

my 400 came with socket head bolts of varying sizes so I bought the correct Honda bolts. Look in the parts manual drawing all bolts are shown in their correct position, then note the numbers and the bolt sizes are given in the listing, 2 bolts have a larger shank to align the cover I guess, any problems let me know and I will try to find my notes or work it out again.

[cleveland]

Just start with the longest bolts.  Keep trying the holes in an orderly fashion until you have all the longest ones in, then repeat with the next longest, and then what's left are the short ones.  That's how I did it on my first engine rebuild before I discovered the cardboard method, and it doesn't really take too long.

Simple, yet genius!   

[kbfromvt_400F]

Just start with the longest bolts.  Keep trying the holes in an orderly fashion until you have all the longest ones in, then repeat with the next longest, and then what's left are the short ones.  That's how I did it on my first engine rebuild before I discovered the cardboard method, and it doesn't really take too long.

Simple, yet genius!   

I concur.  I'm just a simple man...

[merc2dogs]

 I never worry about keeping them in order, just pile them.

 when reinstalling just place them in holes, don't turn them, they will all stick up about the same length (1/4 inch or so) over the top of the holes if they're in the right place.

 If one sticks up way high, there will be one sticking all the way in, so swap them about.

 very seldom will you find bolts that stick up hgher than the others in the same application unless they are larger bolts, and then the larger diameter is the guide.

Ken.

  Edit:

 A while ago I built a 2.3 turbo, after the build I had it sitting in the garage while I worked on the car for it, so I placed rags in the intake/exhaust ports to keep crud and dust out of it. when I got ready to install it my 5yr old daughter was in the garage helping, got the tranny in while she was playing around with the motor, got ready to put the motor in went to pull the rags and didn't see them looked on the floor and Kendra was playing with the rags, no problem, so I install the upper manifold, hook everything up and start it up. and nothing, played around with it for a bit, and it would just turn over not start, it's got fuel, and I can hear the injectors clicking, so I start digging around, pull the intake back off and find that she had stuffed the rags as deep as she could into the intake ports and must have picked up other rags she was playing with. thought the valves would be toast because I had to take the entire intake off and rotate the motor around to get the rags out of the valves. turn it a bit, pull on the rags, took longer to get the rags out than it did to install the motor and trans in the first place.

Ken.

[malcolmgb]

a copy of my note about bolt lengths if of use to you, the 38mm bolts are the special UBS bolts, never did find out what UBS means.

[dkruitz]

When I worked on antique outboards and my (then) 2+ year old daughter came along, I handed her her favorite red-handled nut driver and she pretended to loosen this and that.  Dull (safe) tool, colorful handle, happy kid!  Good luck and be happy they're interested and hanging out with you!

[RSV12K]

It's good to know I'm not alone! I did contemplate a "no kids in the workshop rule" but that would be tough, they enjoy being with me so much.

In all actuality, I don't blame my son.  It's my fault for having it in an area where he can reach and for not paying close enough attention to him.  I'm lucky he didn't do something much worse and possibly get hurt.

Look at that face, how can I get mad?

I know, with a face like that you can only feel sorry for him.

[medic09]

You're one lucky dad!

Wait, before you know it you'll be in my shoes.  My youngest is 20 and living on the road.  Calls one day because she needs $300 towards an old bus to travel and live in.  Three days later she was stuck by the side of the road somewhere in CA.   

Just give that kid of yours a big hug.  Before you know it he'll be asking for the key to the bike! 

[mikedialect]

You're one lucky dad!

Wait, before you know it you'll be in my shoes.  My youngest is 20 and living on the road.  Calls one day because she needs $300 towards an old bus to travel and live in.  Three days later she was stuck by the side of the road somewhere in CA.   

Just give that kid of yours a big hug.  Before you know it he'll be asking for the key to the bike! 

Hey! Sounds like me about 5 years ago! I was snowboarding on a semi professional level in Park City Utah and  he gets a call... "Dad, I just blew out my right knee again. I'd like to come home, but I'm broke with medical bills and college doesn't sound half bad." Most expensive decision he ever made

I never did understand why my dad didn't like bikes when he was always tinkering with the cars I had- 67 mustang, 67 galaxy 500, 79 300 M. I just recently found out that he had several indians when he was my age. I found out that he loved the bikes (mothers always have the best dirt on dads), but he didn't want me to get hurt.

[csendker]

I've attached the parts fiche for your bike.  The bolts are identified in the parts list (#22, 6x60...).  Print it out and have him help figure out which bolt is which.   

[KB02]

You're right. Too cute to yell at.   


Try the Micro Fiche site: http://www.crotchrocket.com/fiche_section_detail.asp
Might give you a heads up

KB from VT? Gee, that could have been my moniker, too. Do you live in Vermont? Where abouts?

[nickjtc]

I echo the other sentiments. You'll blink twice and the boy will be graduating high school; twice more and he'll be having kids of his own. They can be rotten little s#!ts at time, but it's best to enjoy them before they reach the age where they are being lippy, or want the keys to the proverbial car!!

My youngest and fiancee are expecting grand child number one. Can't wait.

Do sohc T-shirts come in baby sizes?

[Mountainman]

I totally feel your pain. My boys (my 2 year old is my avitar )are always trying to get into everything when I’m working on my bikes. It's hard to get mad at them when all they’re trying to do is be like daddy.   

[marcshep]

Kids ..... mine are 22 and 20 and they still every now and then pop in while I am working on something and step in to give a hand, but when they were about 4 and 2 I was restoring a '67 Toronado and i can't count the number of times I pulled toys or bits out of places I was working on. Just kept smiling and handing them back. My youngest got the bug but the oldest still can cut a board twice and it's still to short.

[kbfromvt_400F]

It's good to know I'm not alone! I did contemplate a "no kids in the workshop rule" but that would be tough, they enjoy being with me so much.

In all actuality, I don't blame my son.  It's my fault for having it in an area where he can reach and for not paying close enough attention to him.  I'm lucky he didn't do something much worse and possibly get hurt.

Look at that face, how can I get mad?

I know, with a face like that you can only feel sorry for him.

Why don't you spread some of that class around?  You're obviously way to classy.

[kbfromvt_400F]

a copy of my note about bolt lengths if of use to you, the 38mm bolts are the special UBS bolts, never did find out what UBS means.

This is great, thanks a lot for the help.  I know this will come in handy.