Topic: Alan's CB750K3 RestoMod version 2.0

[cosmo]

While Hondaman had my swingarm I asked him to add some real grease fittings to both ends of the pivot bolt, it was only $5 or $10 more so why not?

Did he ever mention how he accomplished this?  Looking to do something similar

[Alan F.]

Cosmo it looks like he simply tapped the ends of the pivot bolt to 1/4" NPT and threaded in the grease fittings, that's how I'd do it but since He already had my swingarm and parts...and I don't own any NPT taps...I jumped at the chance.
Good Question and thanks for checking out my build.
-Alan

[greasy j]

I'm planning to have HondaMan do the same for my swingarm. I want his book, too! one thing at a time, though.

wish I was rich!

[Alan F.]

Yeah I know it, the swingarm work is the single largest investment I've made in this project.  And it should make the largest improvement too.
-A

[Alan F.]

Finally here's a little mock-up with the polished side covers on:

[greasy j]

lookin good!

[Alan F.]

Thanks man!

[Alan F.]

I successfully removed all of the stock cylinder studs! I'd never been through this before and I was a little nervous...but with the double nut in place and a box-end wrench on the lower nut, they all broke free with an audible 'CRACK!' and all came out cleanly!   I'll add pics later on, I'm stoked!
-A

[Alan F.]

Last night I put in the APE HD studs too. 
First I unpacked the studs and soaked them in denatured alcohol to clean the oil from them.
Then I cleaned out the case threads with dozens of cheap cotton swabs and denatured alcohol, when they began to come out of the holes clean I knew I was done. 
I had one moment of minor panic when I realized that I hadn't measured the height of the 4 short studs or the height of the rest of the tall ones...uh-oh.  A quick search of the forums and a few measurements and I came to realize that the correct height of the APE studs is a matter of correct design, and isn't left to chance. 
Just clean up the case threads well and chase the threads out, a dot of red loctite on the stud threads (longer threads go into the case, nuts don't thread well onto this end, but thread easily onto the other end where they belong) and torque the studs to 8 ft/lbs.  My Craftsman torque wrench has inch/lbs so I set it to 96 in/lbs and went to town. 

As was mentioned in a previous thread, I mocked up the cylinder block on the studs and set the head on top of that, all of the studs were long enough with only a millimeter or so of variation on one or two of the tall ones.
Moment of panic averted, I'll post pics later on.
-Alan

[traveler]

Engine pics Sir?

[Alan F.]

Here they are:
Old skinny studs, notice the front left stud, one of the 4 short ones, with the double nut and box end wrench on the stud below the bottom nut




I've marked the 4 short studs with the ratchet on the left, and three sharpie caps, I don't recommend this type of ratchet, I'll get one with the little lever to change direction next time...


Old studs out, this engine had never been stored open outside, so I was able to get all of the studs out in one piece, I don't think I even twisted any, they all just broke loose with the wrench from below, I didn't even have to add the ratchet from above, or use two pairs of visegrips near the bottom as I read in so many other threads.  I didn't use any PB blaster or anything, just did it dry.




And here are my APE HD studs all installed, they're visibly beefier, and are substantially stiffer than the skinny stockers.  This engine is remaining stock, I only added MC rings, kept the 3 piece oil rings (since I broke one of the MC 1 piece rings, oops) Honed the cylinders, cleaned a ton of carbon out of the head ports too, Valves held gas... so I'll leave em alone, camchain and tensioner are being reused, they weren't that bad and I'm a cheap bastard, it should be ok....  This engine only has 20K miles on the clock so I'm not very worried about it.
-Alan

[traveler]

Looks good, Al.  Nice and clean, with good parts going in.

Are you staying at 736cc?

~Joe

[Alan F.]

Thanks Joe, it's not really as clean as the pics show, but I'll be cleaning the engine cases next since I'll be painting everything. I'm gonna build an enclosure right there on the bench so I can heat-cycle the engine without running it...then I'll retorque the head gasket (maybe give it an extra ft/lb too) I'll heat cycle it a few times using a heat gun and an infrared thermometer to keep it up to.... I dunno 200 degrees? I'll have to search for acurate operating temps.  Then I'll mask off what's not getting painted and spray VHT's SP127, let it dry as the label says and then heat cure it a few times with an exhaust fan running, and a few windows open too.  Maybe I'll run the self-cleaning oven too, just so nobody asks what's going on....heh-heh.

Yeah, it's 736.  I didn't want to put too much money into my first rebuild ever. Maybe I'll go bigger sometime, but I'd like to get at least one successful rebuild under my belt first.
-Alan

[fastbroshi]

  I see yours came out easy, but would it be a good idea to maybe tack weld on a nut down near the base of the stud near the case to then put a piece of pipe over the wrench and turn it loose? Might be a good alternative to chance snapping a stud.  Slap me if this sounds stupid. 
  It makes sense that studs that are really seized in there snap given the length and diameter of them.

[Alan F.]

Here's the latest:

Old worn sprocket + bad PO =


A few scratches where the chain had slipped.

It looks good but I'll still be painting it. After these pics I cleaned up all of the gasket surfaces with 400 grit paper and cleaned up the motor mounts.
Then I hit the top of the head with the 400 looking for burrs, I didn't find any.
-Alan
I just kept cleaning and working my way around.

[HavocTurbo]

Looking good Alan!!!

You are much further than I anticipated. Very nice!

[Alan F.]

Thanks man!

[Alan F.]

Made a little time to begin to deal with a nagging thought in the back of my mind this morning.  The rear wheel's sprocket carrier is a little wide to fit in my K3's swingarm, all of the mockups I've shown are with the rear axle all the way back in the adjusters, ideally I'd like full adjustment.

The original measurements I'd made took into account only chain line, not swingarm clearance. I had calculated that with an additional .055" shim between the sprocket and carrier, I'd be a full 3/8" out from center and I'd simply use one of Cycle-X's offset front sprockets.  Can't do that, so I'm saving $70 and milling or turning down the height of the sprocket carrier.

I got the studs out today with a double nut, and a little heat.


I calculate that removing .320" should bring the chain line back to stock.

[makemann]

Found this build thread by searching for side covers. Very interesting. Anything new on this since last November Alan?

[Alan F.]

Not so much since last november. I sort of disappeared from the forums for a while (except the dive bar) while I moved out of my house into an apartment of my own away from (soon to be EX) Wife and my Kids. The good news is I still have everything and its all in a basement workshop, but this time I won't be bumping my head on a pipe anytime I move around.....
I'm not setting any completion dates, but I'm finding money here and there to buy parts to get this thing done right. I've got a spraycan of Hylomar on the way to seal those pesky pucks, not the Permatex stuff either, this is the real thing. And today I ordered up an engine bolt kit from Jim Spillaine. I still need to get the forks back together, the bushings in there should run me about $75 and that'll be my next purchase. My day job is slow, but hell I'm salary so if they don't call me in I'm expected to simply 'be available' and cash the paychecks, not a bad deal if my budget wasn't as tight as it is.
But I'll have enough free time to really get things done, limitted only by money and creativity. There are plenty of things I can get done that won't cost a dime so I need to get them done first. I've got my eye on a Hondaman ignition and some of his relay kits and a fuse panel kit too. There isn't much sense in doing it myself when HM has already done all the design and test work for us.

So thanks Makemann for asking, I'm trying to do what I can so stay tuned.

[Alan F.]

I've decided to take page from Terry's playbook and rebuild my previous incomplete, cheap-ass rebuild based loosely around Terry's Redneck K0 'Special'.
Every time he writes about riding that bike, it just sounds like so much fun, I've decided to find out why.
First I'll lace up some spoked wheels, those alloys I'd tinkered with have found a home on my 250 Nighthawk Basket Case Build, so no more eyesores from them I promise. I've got a genuine 754 Weldless Frame Kit to make things easier. I'll first run the flat black Kerker that came with this bike but maybe I'll buy a stainless Delkevic pipe, tbd. I'm hunting for a K0 cam, but I've already picked up a pair of 300 ignition advancers, and I've found the Kokusan electronic ignition is available in the States, so I'll get one of those too. This bike will run a dual disc early GL1000 front end and will sport a ducktail seat, and the swingarm has Hondaman bushings still with zero miles on them ten years later.

I'm probably missing something.... Pistons! I researched the CB/CL77 pistons that Terry used (4th over are 61mm) and determined that CA77 pistons are the cost effective way to go, they're the same damn thing for all practical purposes, they're cheaper and are plentiful, rings and wrist pins too. I'm not going to discuss cast vs forged in a streetbike though, ok?

So pistons, cam, electronic ignition, Advancer, sprocket ratios, tire sizes... Jetting, but not early single pull carbs, I'll use the round tops that came with the K3.... And I'll have to look up the airbox differences K0 to K3.

Thoughts?

[BenelliSEI]

Good to see you back on it! My grand kids Z50 Honda(s) have me totally distracted.....

Be flexible and have fun with it!

[Alan F.]

Thank you!

Having a plan is half the battle right? Something of a budget helps too. And like everyone else in the time I've been away from this bike I've grown my skills and tool collection.

[Alan F.]

Just took delivery of a pair of smoothly functioning ignition advancers from ebay...and not the $65 ones either, these were each ~$15 always search for items in eBay stores folks! I also received a cb750 headlight trim ring complete to go with a new repro headlight bucket I picked up from a forum member a few months back. Stoked!

[BenelliSEI]

Nice find..... springs look healthy too.