Topic: GK's 75 CB400f cafe project/ UPDATED

[RickB]

GK,

Loving your build. I too have nothing but great things to say about Woody at Hyrdo Blast. I couldn't believe it when I got my CB400F casings back. I actually can't believe more people don't do it. I had mine blasted about 2 or 3 years ago and after a lot of to-and-fro I decided to leave them raw and unpainted. I was concerned about oxidization. So far, nothing. The casing have held up fantastically. And the bike lives in a mates shed a couple of KM's from the ocean.

As for issues putting it back together. Besides all the 'usual' problem of soft old aluminum cases and threads (I think I have upwards of 8 helicoils in my head), the only lingering issue I've had is oil leaking and inferior quality jetting. I didn't use a Honda OEM head gasket or carb jetting because at the time, I didn't know how crappy they both were. I've since replace all my Keyster carb jets and emulsion tubes with OEM. I will replace the head gasket soon as the oil seeping is getting annoying now.

I had some issues with a worn-out/faulty rectifier causing my battery not to charge but found a replacement from Metropolitan Motorcycle Spares in Sydney.

If you haven't already it may pay to have a read through my build thread and avoid some of my mistakes!

Best of luck to you,
Rick.

[GK]

Cheers Rick, I will revisit your thread as it is a great read, I should document more of my building and take more pics but i'm old skool and keep forgetting to take pics or present my problems to the forum it's all head down bum up and when i'n done I think "#$%*, I should have taken a before and after of that" 
thanks for the Woodys tip mate.

GK

[WhyNot2]

Carbs are now dipped,soda blasted, rejetted with new o rings, gaskets and polished,  just need to bench synch them and they are sweet to go on.
Just waiting on a new cam chain and the ttr cam adjuster horseshoe and the motor can go back together.

To the guys that have built these little sohc beauties over the years are there any pitfalls I should be on the lookout for as I put this back together?

Those two inside carbs need to have the bowls switched.

[Kwality]

Yes.  Drain screws to the outside.

[GK]

cheers fellas, hadn't even noticed, still need to bench sync them too, does anyone have a base line measurement to go on?

[GK]

Ready to start

[kyre]

Wow that's nice! Wish there were hydro blasting near me that'd do engine cases. No luck so far.

[GK]

Transmission in place and in neutral as instructed, not that the manual gives you a lot of instructions for putting these back together 

[GK]

This seal has me confused, the one I took out when dissasemling was wrapped around a steel plug, but this one was flexible as you can see so I put the old one back in with a smear of three bond.

feel free to tell me i did the wrong thing

[GK]

Iv'e hit a snag, I am missing one of the crankcase bolts   one of the six long ones that run along the crankshaft.

I had the two halves together with threebond and have put all the case bolts in and nipped them without torquing them do you think until I find another bolt to replace the missing one i should split the cases and wipe off the threebond until I can put the cases together and torque them all properly?

[neevo]

Thanks for the tensioner info GK. Did you have the inside of the cases blasted too? Can't see any of the gold coating.

[knowsnothing]

This seal has me confused, the one I took out when dissasemling was wrapped around a steel plug, but this one was flexible as you can see so I put the old one back in with a smear of three bond.

feel free to tell me i did the wrong thing

i am just guessing here, but can you remove the old rubber around the steel plug and put the new one in its place?

[GK]

I thought of doing that knowsnothing, but it was not coming off without a fight and I didnt want to ruin it, in the meantime it has sealed well and everything is back together (pics soon)

Yes Neevo the inside was done as well, it shines like a top inside there and has made working on it a dream  as any minute particle of dirt or foreign matter stands out like dogs balls, gaskets and seals or surfaces for sealant are all mated to a spotlessly clean material.
It's the best 200 bucks spent so far.

[knowsnothing]

I am glad it sealed up alright.  The old rubber has probably hardened from age and use which would be why it wouldn't come off.  If it ain't broke don't fix it 

[GK]

Bottom end together, now just gotta find the circlip that flew past my chair with a rag on it that is meant to stop flying circlips lol

[RickB]

Looking good!

[neevo]

Bottom end together, now just gotta find the circlip that flew past my chair with a rag on it that is meant to stop flying circlips lol

What pistons are you putting in?

[articblue]

Awesome, thanks for the good pictures. I'm just about to put my 350F cases back together and the pictures from the manuals are rather bad.