Topic: 1973 CB350F "Freakshow Build" completed! Stay tuned for updates...

[mattcb350f]

Let's say I end up helicoiling.  Should I try to find a "standard bolt" to complete the foursome, or should I just helicoil the hole to the proper depth to accomodate the different bolt and get on with life. 

I'd get the proper length bolt Tim, that matches the other three. You don't want to make that hole any deeper than it is.

Looks like another heli-coil job for now  Better to do it right than to do it twice.

Well done on the progress so far 

 Matt.

[hoodellyhoo]

You've already seen the photo with head gasket on.
Here we have the head back on.  Be sure to follow the criss-cross tightenting pattern specified in the manual.

Glad to know I'm not the only one that takes his laptop right out to the garage to work.

Not sure what to say as far as a stuck cam chain guide. I had issues with the horseshoe arm at the bottom being stuck. I'd say do like scunny says and try to pry real carefully. Did it slide in easily?

[mattcb350f]

That tesioner thing sits in a tapered grove at the bottom and can easily get stuck. Try wriggling it around while pulling up and it should  break free.

 Matt.

[Tim in Ohio]

Scunny and Matt:  You guys were right about that stuck cam shaft guide...  I just had to put some pliers on it and give it a good hard pull.   

I started working on the engine this evening and had the most amazing serious of unfortunate events.   I could keep this to myself, to hide my bufoonery, but hopefully, by sharing, some other noobs out there will take heart and realize that if I can pull off this rebuild, then surely they can. 

First, when I pulled out the "slipper" part of the cam chain tensioner yesterday, the little u shaped damper came of the end and was laying on its side... perched precariously on TOP of the little nook that it normally rests in.  I had decided that I would pull the head off the base to helicoil that hole that needed fixing and that would get me a few inches closer to being able to fish out that damper, so it was just going to sit in there and wait for me to get to it.

Then, I started playing a little with threading bolts into the questionable hole that I thought needed a helicoil.  Seemed like now the threads were grabbing fine now that the engine was pulled again and the cam cover was off.  I began to doubt the need for a helicoil.  So, to cut to the chase here, I ended up fumbling around and dropping one of the bolts that holds the cam sprocket onto the cam...  yep, you guessed it... down into the engine!   DOH!!!  I broke into a cold sweat and almost became physically ill at that point.  Look closely at this picture... 


I got lucky... It came to rest on top of the cam chain!!! 

[Tim in Ohio]

Remember that game "Operation"  where you tried to extract the patients bones with a pair of tweezers without setting off the buzzer?  Yeah... it was going to be like that.

All I can say is God bless the man who invented the "magnet on the end of a rod" device:

[Tim in Ohio]

I felt pretty good after that successful extraction.  (Remember, that was extraction number 2... the first being that stuck cam chain guide.)
I still had my third and final (and most challenging) extraction ahead of me.  I could not even take pictures of this one.  With the cam chain guide out now, and the bolt no longer in danger of falling into the nether-regions of the engine I could now carefully pull off the head.  This got me a few inches closer to reaching that damper.   I was 2 for 3 now and I wasn't about to let that damper fall down into the cases.  I spent about 10-15 agonizing minutes with a long skinny screwdriver in each hand and a small (thankfully) flashlight stuffed in my mouth illuminating the hole.  I used those screwdrivers like a pair of chopsticks and time after time came SO close to getting it only to have it twist around in yet a more impossible angle to reach.   Sweat pouring down my face...  if my mouth had not been full of flashlight, I assure you every obscenity you have ever heard and some you haven't would have been streaming from my mouth.   Finally, I got it out, and decided not to push my luck any farther for the day.   I'll get back on it tomorrow. 

[mystic_1]

These "pick up tools" are priceless:




mystic_1

[hs2k007]

i have one, they are great.  they always remind me of the movie Total Recall, when Arnold pulls that thing from his nose.

[Tim in Ohio]

Thinking ahead to synching my carbs...  Has anyone ever REALLY built one of those homemade manometers dirt cheap and successfully synched their carbs...  I would like to hear some opinions. 
Is this one of those "Build your Own Robot at home for $4.00" kind of things I used to see in the back of comic books when I was a kid, or is it a viable option?

[kghost]

Thinking ahead to synching my carbs...  Has anyone ever REALLY built one of those homemade manometers dirt cheap and successfully synched their carbs...  I would like to hear some opinions. 
Is this one of those "Build your Own Robot at home for $4.00" kind of things I used to see in the back of comic books when I was a kid, or is it a viable option?

Depends what your time is worth.....

[Tim in Ohio]

Good night tonite.  No mishaps.  Got the head back on and torqued down.
Does anyone put a little oil in the head before putting the cam cover on?  It doesn't say to in the manual, but it seems like I read that somewhere??

[Spikeybike]

Tim .... you put OIL in a motor !!!!  thats ludicrous!!!

 

you definitely want some lube on the cam, but ive never heard of just putting oil in the head ,  it couldn't hurt. but i don't think it's necessary 

 you work fast, better hurry seasons almost over      

[Tim in Ohio]

Spikey,
Good to hear from you again.  Been missing your input.  I plan on getting tha engine back in the bike tonite if possible.  How do you recommend lubing the cam prior to closing it up?

[mattcb350f]

How do you recommend lubing the cam prior to closing it up?

Just pour some oil all over the cam, the chain, and squirt a little on the rocker arms. That should be sufficent.

If you have an assembly lube, I recommend putting it on the cam bearing surfaces. If not, Oil will do.

 Matt.

[Spikeybike]

Spikey,
Good to hear from you again.  Been missing your input. 

well thank you tim,    i've been watching, and all of you questions have either been answered before i had the chance , or i didnt know the answer 

but i didn't want to pass on the opportunity to poke fun

[Tim in Ohio]

OK.  Before I get down to business tonite.  First, I aquired some new tools: Never again will I suffer the indignity of working on an engine with a flashlight stuffed in my mouth (courtesy of the "head light") or use screw drivers as chopsticks:


OK, I got some assembly lube if Kghost and Mattcb350 recommend it, then I consider it a must:


Now, I know this is a dumb question, but you know...  I don't want to just bumble ahead and screw up when I could just ask...  I put the assembly lube on the cam journals and bearing surfaces.  I will put some on the rocker arms as well.  But...  to follow Matt's advice...  since I went with the assembly lube instead of oil...  is this stuff still suitable to be squirting all over the cam chain?  OK...  I'm either a dummy because it is either the best thing for a cam chain (like mothers milk for a baby) or I am a dummy because only a total moron would put THAT on a cam chain...  just put an end to my suspense...  which is it?  Lube that chain with this stuff or no?

[scunny]

just oil the chain, that assembly lube is more for bearing surfaces etc to provide lubrication until the oil is pumping around.

[Tim in Ohio]

Thanks Scunny.  Oil the chain I will.  OK.  I am off to finish this engine.  I will check in later to update. 

[TwoTired]

Look at the label.  If it says there is molybdenum in your assembly lube, use it sparingly.  Unless you think a slipping clutch would be nice to have.

Cheers,

[Tim in Ohio]

  Major setback.  I totally screwed up this time.  I may be looking at a replacement head.  I went to helicoil that stripped hole.  In reviewing the instructions, I noted that for deeper holes, two inserts can be used.  I ran the first one in fine.  The remaining space would not accommodate a second full insert, so I used a cutoff wheel and removed what I thought would be enough threads prior to running in the second insert.  I threaded in the second insert until I felt resistance from it meeting up with the first insert down in the hole.  The insert did not have enough room to fully go in... leaving a few millimeters of insert sticking out the top of the hole.  I considered trying to cut off the portion that was left sticking up too far, but the cutoff wheel did not seem like a good option.  I thought about backing it out, it wouldn't come.  So I foolishly thought, maybe if I go ahead and try to continue driving it into the hole, top insert will just drive the bottom one on down further and we would have one happy, sufficiently deeply threaded hole with a nice continuous set of threads as if it were just one beautiful insert.  Yeah, that is not quite how it turned out.  The top insert did cooperate and sink on down into the hole from the force I applied...  However it did not drive the bottom insert.  In fact, it just started sort of "piling up" against the bottom insert and basically narrowing the diameter of the hole by a couple millimeters at the point where the two inserts meet.
CALAMITY!  There was no way this was going to back out. And now, I couldn't feed a bolt down in there beyond where the two helicoils meet!!
I tried drilling out the hole, just as if I was sitting down to do the helicoil process from the very beginning, but it does not want to be drilled... it is too hard.  I feel like puking.  What now? 

[Spikeybike]

hmmm ... did you try just pulling it out with a pair of needle nose (twisting at the same time)

[kghost]

hmmm ... did you try just pulling it out with a pair of needle nose (twisting at the same time)

Yeah twisty pully maneuver time.

believe its counterclockwise.....basically trying to wind up the helicoil.

[Tim in Ohio]

Thanks for talking me down there guys.  I was able to successfully do the twisty-pully manuever.  Removed the helicoil(s), re-drilled, re-tapped, re helicoiled (just 1 this time.)
Enough fun for tonite.  Gonna let that Thread locker set up over night.

Since the head has somewhat lubed up with assembly lube, there may be some very small clingy metal shavings.  My gut tells me that I better get it clean as a whistle if I don't want my Cam journals, etc to get a nice grind job courtesy of the metal shavings once it starts spinning in there.  Please tell me how you would approach dealing with that prior to continuing on with the build.  Do me a favor and just blurt out your ideas even if you think that it is so obvious that it is not necessary to even mention.  Remember, I am a half-wit. 

[scunny]

just wipe it with a rag soacked in turps or other thinner-even wd40 do't get too carried away, then wipe clean with a clean rag and re-lube.

[kghost]

Was gonna suggest same as above.....little carb cleaner douche might do the trick.

Just make sure its clean clean...