Topic: Phaedrus: CB750 RestoMod - Update: 09/23/21 w/ new video

[bwaller]

No sense living life while looking over your shoulder for the grim reaper Ron. If you weren't having fun building your bike you would have quit or toggled it together by now.

You take your time & we'll check in from time to time. 

[MCRider]

No sense living life while looking over your shoulder for the grim reaper Ron. If you weren't having fun building your bike you would have quit or toggled it together by now.

You take your time & we'll check in from time to time. 

Oh I'm not worried about it, just aware. Got lots of projects planned after this one. 

I want to ride my CB77 on the route in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

[Ecosse]

I want to ride my CB77 on the route in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

another one i'll have to tune in for. might even have to pick up the book too so it puts things into perspective.

[MCRider]

I want to ride my CB77 on the route in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

another one i'll have to tune in for. might even have to pick up the book too so it puts things into perspective.

Regardless of what one thinks of the book, the route is something. I would come home on Hiway 50, the lonliest road.

http://www.psybertron.org/zammjourneyframe.html

http://ponyexpressnevada.com/ponyexpress_loneliest_road.html

[Ecosse]

the book has been recommended by gear heads and non gear heads alike enough where i figure the book inevitably will be in my hands.
 
speaking of reading... a self-published documentation, minus follower commentary, of this thread on cd (dvd? lmnop?!) seems only right. 

[MCRider]

the book has been recommended by gear heads and non gear heads alike enough where i figure the book inevitably will be in my hands.
 
speaking of reading... a self-published documentation, minus follower commentary, of this thread on cd (dvd? lmnop?!) seems only right. 

I haven't tried but i wonder what printing the thread would produce? Not any time soon, though.

[Tintop]

Printing a thread is an interesting idea.  Wouldn't mind doing that with mine, sort of a chapter 1.

[MCRider]

I see there is a print button right below this post to the right. (Its at the top of the page as well). Hitting it causes the screen to go white, it may be trying to spool up 68 pages. I tried to print from the File menu and on print preview, IE crashes.

[MCRider]

And so...the engine is in the frame. Friend Pat, of Triumph rebuilding fame, showed up so with 6 hands it was fairly easy. Took it off the bench onto a milkcrate on a creeper. Rolled the creeper up to the frame, and lifted it in. No hangups dropped right in. Tapped in 2 motormounts, removed the tape, whew. A lot more unjustified anxiety put to rest.


Cleaned up the shop, laid out the next set of parts, chased all the threads on the head, cleaned up the cam bearing mounting hardware. Hopefully buy a battery this week and install it and the head next week.

[KB02]

Looking good. I can't wait to see you get this bugger up and running. It's been a long time coming.

[MCRider]

Looking good. I can't wait to see you get this bugger up and running. It's been a long time coming.

That's for sure.

THis week we prepped the head for install. As usual excess time spent finding the exact per manual hardware from my misc bins. Sized and polished up some knock pins. Located and cleaned up the 4 hex w Phillips cross bolts that draw down the head prior to the main nuts. Realized that I don't want to use the stock nuts and ordered HD nuts. selected my 4 best studs for the cam bearing hold downs. (Why do I have so many different lengths in my hardware bins?) Installed with Permatex thread sealer.

Cleaned my best 4 exhaust spigots as my Marshall pipe requires their use. Still too nasty to use, soda blaster time. Chased the exhaust threads and ran out of time.

Pictures later in week. Not much to see.

[MCRider]

Some pics referrring to the last post. Nothing earth shattering, just for the color.
Here's the Klingerit gasket spoken of here and in another post at SOHC forum

At least at the time (2000) it was a superior material.
Chasing threads for the spigots.


Installing studs with the Stud Extractor used in reverse. Never liked the "double nut" approach as i see it weakens the threads.  OCICBW



Bot a battery YAY!  But I'll be gone this weekend to re-connect with the wifer after a busy work load in the office.

[Ecosse]

Installing studs with the Stud Extractor used in reverse. Never liked the "double nut" approach as i see it weakens the threads.  OCICBW

arg... to think of all the years of me doing that. you really do learn something every day. thanks ron. 


oh yeah... and looking good there!

[MCRider]

Installing studs with the Stud Extractor used in reverse. Never liked the "double nut" approach as i see it weakens the threads.  OCICBW

arg... to think of all the years of me doing that. you really do learn something every day. thanks ron. 


oh yeah... and looking good there!

Thanks. Can't say for sure that double nutting weakens the threads. Seems to me like it would. And once you have a tool to do it another way, why not?

I'm being real sensitive about those studs. In previous incarnations, I had removed them and used bolts. The threads in the head had weakened, and oil would dripout of the bottom of those holes into the sparkplug cavities and blow back outthe fins. Don't want that happening again, it was a mess.

This is a "fresh" head, having only been apart once. The head on Phaedrus I had been apart MANY times, being the head on my roadracer then pressed into street service. The studs were removed on this head for porting purposes, may not have been necessary. I've replaced the studs with fresh ones, very clean holes and threads and then used thread sealer.

No update this week, went to Madison IN for the weekend. The Ohio River was breaching its banks and coming into the backyard of the Riverboat Hotel. Very powerful and ominous looking.

Now have a fresh battery to test out the electrics. New head nuts, so head is near ready. Gotta soda blast the exhaust spigots and install. Hope to make progress this weekend.

[MCRider]

Installed the head. Problem from years ago. A few of the studs sit lower and the nuts aren't grabbing all the threads. i installed the studs in 1980. They worked for many years, But the proper way to have done it was outlined by MRieck. Thread them in the cases with locktite. Then put a dummy cylinder and head on to verify the stud height is proper, to catch all the thread nuts threads. Then let the locktite set. I'll run with what i've got as they took the torque i needed 18ft lbs without strippping.  but will know better for the next time. Picture later but not much to see.

[MCRider]

I actually worked on the bike Thursday PM. Till now, work time's been strictly Sunday AM. Gotta make some headway. Finished the torquedown of head, searched the shop for the next round of parts, sodablasted the exhaust spigots. Not happy with the results so I took them to Indy Powdercoating to be sandblasted and ceramic coated in silver. Along with the oval head screws. Getting 2 sets done, so one set will be for sale.

Disassembled the chrome S&W shocks. They have blue tops and adjusters. That won't do. Cleaned up the shock bodies from years of shop dust and rust around the edges. Disassemble the old black bodied shocks from Phaedrus I. Thought they were 12 Series Progressives, but they say S&W on the bodies. They are 13 3/8" vs the 13 in of the chrome ones. I will use the chrome for show, and the longer ones for go. With my 17" low profile tire, with a load, I may need some height. Springs, adjusters, tops, all at powdercoaters for refinishing.

Hope to get the cam in and maybe the ignition, alternator, clutch and shifter this weekend.



Got some 2 point case guards for sale. USed, nicks but no rust.


Called "Furious George" the Painter. He's good to go. Told him it was a 72 CB750 and his voice picked up, that's a good sign. He said "wasn't that the first of the Superbikes? Sounds like a good project".  Told him it was a tank and sidecovers. He asked about the headlight bucket and the ears. So he knows what it looks like. So I think i can work with him.

[Ecosse]

lookin little like a bike from where i sit! 

"Called "Furious George" the Painter. He's good to go. Told him it was a 72 CB750 and his voice picked up, that's a good sign. He said "wasn't that the first of the Superbikes? Sounds like a good project".  Told him it was a tank and sidecovers. He asked about the headlight bucket and the ears. So he knows what it looks like. So I think i can work with him."

sounds like a solid guy. a good sign in deed.

[MCRider]

I've seen a lot of his work in pictures. Including a pinstriped toilet seat. 

I expect I'll have the whole thing running in primer, ride it over to his place and figure something out.

Bottom line, if I don't like it, its easy to change.

[IndyFour]

I've seen a lot of his work in pictures. Including a pinstriped toilet seat. 

I expect I'll have the whole thing running in primer, ride it over to his place and figure something out.

Bottom line, if I don't like it, its easy to change.

Hey Ron....if you need a backup painter, the guy who did mine is a real great guy.  He currently has my tank redoing it.  After the gas spillover ordeal last summer, he has been more than willing to take care of it free of charge to make it right.  When I was over at his shop to drop it off last week, he was showing me some of his current projects.....they range from beautiful classic repro to outrageous.  Highly recommend.  He gets alot of work shipped to him from all over....one of the tanks was sent with instructions to "make it looks like it just came out of a barn".  He did different paint treatments to make it had rusted, been painted with a paint brush, and even painted a faded picture of a pinup girl on the side.  Very cool.

I'll PM you his name and info...he's over your direction in Downtown Brownsburg.  I'd love to refer some business to him since he's been so good to me.

Your bike looks great.  Can't wait to see it in motion.   

[Tintop]

I've seen a lot of his work in pictures. Including a pinstriped toilet seat. 

I expect I'll have the whole thing running in primer, ride it over to his place and figure something out.

Bottom line, if I don't like it, its easy to change.

Do you have a link to a web site for your painter MCRider?  Always interested in finding new sources.

[MCRider]

I've seen a lot of his work in pictures. Including a pinstriped toilet seat. 

I expect I'll have the whole thing running in primer, ride it over to his place and figure something out.

Bottom line, if I don't like it, its easy to change.

Do you have a link to a web site for your painter MCRider?  Always interested in finding new sources.

Just a cell number. No ta big time name I guess.

[MCRider]

Thanks Chris, if FG doesn't work out I'll get with you/him.

Bot a chain Friday, ORing with spring clip. Something new to me, but I haven't bot a chain in a while. The problem with master links on Orings is the chance of squeezing the Orings too much when pressing the sideplate on.  This chain came with spacers to keep this from happening. Probably common now, but new to me.

I bot an oil cooler set up from Tweakin. I have a cooler, but its a black one with the spigots on top. No hoses, no bypass switch.  So Tweakins set up had all this, plus I get a chrome radiator with spigots on the bottom, a bypass switch, and one of Terry's spin on filter adapters. Couldn't pass it up.

Phaedrus I had a chrome radiator but after a year of racing and years of touring it sprung an unfixable link.

While looking at stuff on the bench we got sidetracked on the clutch. I had some bolts for the clutch lifter plate, but something didn't seem right. They wouldn't draw the plate down tight. Turns out the bolt holes in one pressure plate are 18mm deep and 27mm on the other. Pretty important to have proper length. Since I'd had both pressure plates cryo treated we opted for the one with the longer stud holes.



It helps to mark the clutch hub and the top of one of the lugs, the 2 pieces must go together properly so all splines engage and the hub compresses fully. Top right lug and dot on hub in this case.






So we got the cam in today. No secrets here, but some tips others may find helpful. pass the cam in from the left, holding the chain up, then then sprocket. Pass the cam the rest of the way thru turning it to get thru the Micky Mouse cutout ears of the sprocket.




Ignition stud installed with stud extractor in reverse.

Advancer cleaned and lubed, Prestolite ignition wires doused in Rubber renew as they are hard, but coming around.

All tappets replaced with new. Tip, old tappets can pit, or wear in pattern that interferes with proper adjustment (left and center). New on right.

I should have several evenings to devote to the project this week, pressing on.

[wannabridin]

Thanks for those tips ron!  Those will be quite helpful when I get back to work on my build!  Everything is looking good, can't wait for the next big step!

[mickey6]

subscribed, just did a quick skim through and I think there is gonna be tons of tips I can use on my build.
Great work

[MCRider]

subscribed, just did a quick skim through and I think there is gonna be tons of tips I can use on my build.
Great work

I'm slow as molasses, but we're getting there. Virtually every conceivable issue with rebuilding a CB750 from the first bolt and nut forward is in this thread somewhere. Except for the tapered steering bearings, I'd done those before starting the thread.

The only pieces from the original K2 are the frame and the crankcase halves. Maybe the triple trees. Everything else is bits and pieces from lord only knows what.

Enjoy!