Topic: Project 13 CB400F. Now putting on the miles...

[fasturd]

Oh and another neat little bit of 400F build history.

When I had the swingarm off the bike I noticed a serial number. It didn't match the vin. # but it did match the date code of the bike. 10/4/1974 was when the swingarm was dated. It is the same build month as the bike but interestingly the frame is only month dated, the swingarm is DAY dated... Pretty cool useless bit of restoration trivia. You can figure out almost the exact date of birth...lol



Anyone have an earlier build date on their 400?

[HondanutRider]

Where exactly on the swingarm did you find this date?  Also, was it stamped into the metal or was it a paper label or something?

[fasturd]

The Stamp is on the under side of the swing arm on the front cross piece. Mine matched the build date of my motorcycle but included the day built as well as year and month.

[fasturd]

Besides getting a lot done on the 400 tonight I also found out that It got accepted to be shown at the Donny Smith Invitational Motorcycle Show. I am pretty #$%^&! Jazzed! The show is in just under 3 weeks!!!!
Better get my sorry ass in motion.

With the aid of a Martini and my 750 building buddy I got a bunch done. The rear brake parts were painted with high temp paint and baked. Actually just the master mount. All the other bits are hard annodized. The caliper carrier was left raw, it is too cool looking to paint.

The master all all the related bits are now in place.
The rear wheel is mounted and the rear fender is being reassembled in order to refit.


The rear fender cleaned up nicely as did the tailight mount and light. The whole assembly looks almost brand new.


Check the routing to make sure nothing is pinched or out of place.


In place and looking pretty good.


I sorted out some of the wiring. Just making sure everything is nicely laid out. Tomorrow night the front wheel goes back on and the engine gets a final detail, including the factory exhaust. The new front sprocket didn't show up so it will have to be installed after the show.

[HondanutRider]

Your 400 Four is looking beautiful and it is a tribute that you are keeping it looking so much like the period piece that it is. 

I have a low-mileage, late production 1974 350 Four that likely was produced a few months before your bike.  Mine has the typical pitting of the chrome pieces and I was particularly impressed with how your chrome pieces look so nice in the pictures.  Did they have any blemishes that your acid treatment removed?  The pitting that I refer to seems to create a small dimple that I would expect only to be removed by sanding/grinding and re-plating.

Also, by comparing the before and after pictures it looks like some blemishes on the wheels have been removed.  Your wheels seem to be alloy with a ceramic or painted coating.  What did you do to clean them up?

[fasturd]

Hello,

The metal prep will remove surface irregularities. Obviously it does not fill any pits but you would be amazed at how nice the chrome will turn out. If the chrome is thin hazy or scratched it is pretty much time to re-plate. I work for Wurth USA and I use our products exclusively.
On the wheels I used Wurth wheel cleaner which is pretty aggresive. It will remove stains and other collected junk. Other than that the only part I had to repaint was the Brembo master cyl. clamp. It really bothered the P/O and I wanted to fix that issue!

The 350s are super cool. Some day  I would like to have one in the garage. I love those stock pipes.

[strynboen]

hey,, i have a 400 f.vith frame nr 104-7586..engine nr 1044632..have this mc same nr engine and frame from start..
is my engine not orginal..

[fasturd]

Engine numbers on almost every Honda do not match frame numbers they are usually a few hundred off one way or the other. There really is no way to verify if your engine is original or not other than to compare engine numbers with other "know" bikes and see if your engine number series matches others of the same year. I will try and get mine tonight and I will post the difference between my frame number and my engine number. But that would only give you an idea of early build numbers as mine was built in 1974.

[fasturd]

Another night another cheese burger. Bad news is Culvers screwed up the order... Good news is Culvers is buying us dinner next time! LOL.

Didn't get as much done tonight as I wanted. The front wheel is back in place as is the caliper and speedometer cable. (Make sure you route that cable before you secure it in place).
Made a new to do list and it is still pretty full but at least "13" is starting to look like a bike again.

Got the front back on and on the ground(lift).


Everything ready to roll. The gren tag is the NJ permit. Last renewed in 1985. I am going to leave it in place for now. It provides a little Patina and charm!


Before you tighten everythig up make sure you have every thing routed the way it is supposed to be...


Back where it belongs!


Really starting to look like a bike again.


After the front was done I finally mounted the vise and the grinder to the table. Should be nice to have a grinding wheel I dont have to chase all over the bench and a vise that no longer threatens to smash my toes!

[HondanutRider]

The 350s are super cool. Some day  I would like to have one in the garage. I love those stock pipes.

The stock four-into-four mufflers on the 350 Four's are nice, but the originals are quite fragile and rot out easily.  They only started making replacement original designs last year - they had been almost impossible to find.  However they are quite expensive and probably still won't last long.  I have some aftermarket cone-style mufflers on mine that came from MIVV, and they are quite a bit more substantial and about half the cost.  Unfortunately, I believe MIVV no longer make these slip-ons for the 350 Four - too bad as they work great on mine and look sharp also, I think.

[Zaipai]

Man its looking great! Nice work on it.

.: Scott :.

[fasturd]

Thanks for the pat on the back, thats half the fun of building up a bike!

[fasturd]

Tonight along with trying to start on a CB450 cafe project, I made a new wiring harness for the aftermarket horns that are attached to "13". The P/O did a great job but used incorrect wiring colors. I am remaking it in green and black to match factory colors and help it blend in a little better. Nothing to exciting to see here...lol.

Turning the red wires into green and black.


Not too exciting but the little details make a big difference.


 I will wrap the wires to help them blend in after I get all the routing right.

[strynboen]

my 400 have this honda named silincer..it fit 100% but not for shure it is orinal on 400 f,

that viring in right kolor, are great..elektric vork are just as importning for problem less driving as a perfekt engine..and a veak point on this mashines,,,but after 30 years it can not be  as new,,vith aut some work..
i have jused more time on elektric then on engines on my mc,,,

[fasturd]

I like your muffler.I have never seen one like it here, I assume it is an aftermarket piece?

The wiring was in great shape, the P/O had just used the wrong colors. I really like things to match and look original even if they are not...

I am sure it is a sign of some sort of insanity.

[fasturd]

The new front sprocket showed up. So last night was front sprocket, chain and left side cover. WOW was the vintage chain lube hard to remove, I am pretty sure it was just about petrified!
The guard cleaned up nicely. The sprocket went on with no complaints and I only had to swear at the chain for a few seconds... I need a 530 chain tool, I only have a 520. Hmm maybe for my birthday?

Forgot to take the before picture. But if you saw the inside of the sprocket cover in my earlier post youhave a pretty good idea how it looked. Amazing how much crap gets in there considering this bike was very well maintained in the first place. Now it is nice and clean ready to refit.



Polished up pretty well.



Front chain gear ready to go.


Side cover on chain guard in place.




I did a little digging in the box of spares the P/O forwarded to me and wrapped up and safe was a mint grab handle! I don't mind a good surprise once and a while.


Not much left to do. I still need to finish the horn wiring. A little bit of engine detailing and some other fussy stuff. It is so tempting to go grab the body work and stick it on...

[Zaipai]

Nice work!!!!

.: Scott :.

[fasturd]

Thanks Scott. It is all comming together pretty well. It should be a blast once the salt and other crud is off the streets!

[fasturd]

This is unrelated to the current thread but I couldn't resist posting it. My buddy and I were poking around a local Harley swap meet and I found these Dunstall rear sets!!! Brand new. The seller was trying to figure out how to use them, as forward controls of his chopper...
From what I can see they are the proper controls from a Dunstall 750 kit. They are missing the backing plates but I never liked the dunstall plates. It wont be a big deal to make another plate as I have a set of John Tickle rear sets that use almost the same set up. The "Hayashi Rat" project has the Tckles and I would love to put these on the chopper I am going to resurect as a cafe bike.

Dunstalls


Nasty ass chopper to be converted to a less nasty cafe racer...
Look closely there is a trailer hitch on the rear under the sissy bar. The rear tire is way over sized and apparently with the trailer and the 235 extra pounds of chrome it wore its way completely through the inner fender and into the bottom of the seat...

"Honey, something smells funny..."
"What?"

[theofam]

13 is looking great!  I can't believe how clean it is compared to my daily grind to de-rust my 550!

Looks like the chop's PO tried to double as a long-haul driver . . . sweet trailer hitch.  The Twizzler headers are pretty awesome, too!

[fasturd]

The chopper shold be pretty cool. The lesters and headers will be tough looking. Not sure about the rest yet.

I have been following your thread. I like the solution you are using to clean up parts I willbe giving that a try on the next bike. For now I have to get back to 13. I have a little less than 13 days! .

I got the Factory wire colors all sorted for the aftermarket horn and the harness looks GREAT. I will post a pic or two tomorrow.

[theofam]

Lookin' forward to the harness porn!  Good luck getting the bike ready in the final stretch.  I see a "Best of Show" for you in my crystal ball.

[fasturd]

Dang forget the regular camera for the elec shots. So cell phone shots are going to have to do for now. The aftermarket horn is now correctly wired with Honda colors. Everything is routed as nicely as possiable with the stock harness. The aftermarket rec/reg is in place on the right. I removed the factory set up and put it in a safe place (with ALL the other original bits). There is also a harness for a battery tender semi-hidden in there too.

Not sure if its wiring porn , but it all looks pretty good!

[fasturd]

Ahh crap...

Now that I look at the pic. I see I need to get that ground strap out from under the battery strap. Working too late makes you blind sometimes.

[strynboen]

are you not afraid for  the battery,,are that reg /diode  thing not getting hot..the orginal vas sitting om that bolt back..aut in air