Author Topic: 76 CB750F The Wrench (Read 24530 times)

articblue · « **on:** January 23, 2010, 01:43:01 PM »

So after a bit of wrenching on the goldwing and finally getting some time and motivation, I've decided to start
on my own build thread.

I picked up this wreck of a bike. With grand dreams of converting it into a cafe style with a bit more power then stock.
So I'll eventually be getting down to the engine once I get the frame rolling again.

I've gotten it stripped down and powder coated and it looks a lot better so far.
Just recently laced up the rims and hope to have those back together with the forks and slung onto the frame within the next 2 weeks.

articblue · « **Reply #1 on:** January 24, 2010, 10:23:03 AM »

Forks are assembled and look nice, and since I've managed to lose a box of wheel bearings I've had to re-order those.
And while I was at it, I've also ordered the all balls tapered steering bearings. So once that all comes in I should be close to rolling around on the frame and making
engine noises since I'm still a ways off on the engine.

articblue · « **Reply #2 on:** May 03, 2010, 09:16:44 AM »

Wo Hoo, I made some progress this weekend.
Finally warm outside.

I hate being unable to work on the bikes without it being nice outside.

Anyway, I got the swing arm back on, wheels have new bearings in them and will get the tires on maybe this week.

Working on getting the tapered bearings in the neck. Before doing that, figured I'd clean the lower triple tree off.

Neat way to do this is electrolysis cleaning. Takes some time, but it's easier and saves me the time of sanding, wire brushing ect.

Once the triple trees back together then the forks will go on and hopefully this weekend the bike will roll.

Then it'll be onto the engine.
pictures to come later.

articblue · « **Reply #3 on:** May 07, 2010, 05:44:36 PM »

Working on getting the tapered bearings into the neck.
Got the old ones off with lots of patience and tapping.

Then put the new races in, and stuck the lower triple tree in the freezer.
I'll check on that in the morning.

Hoping that the neck and triple tree comes together tomorrow, then I'll put the front forks on and it'll actually look like a motorcycle.

articblue · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2010, 04:22:39 PM »

And another update.

I got the awesome tapered bearings into the neck and on the stem.

And the forks on. It almost makes it look like a real motorcycle.

Things to do, and this will wait until the tires go on the wheels and put those in, figure out the seat attachment and what I need to clear / chop to make it look good.

Then clean up the engine, and check compression...not sure if I really wanna rebuild the engine.

ksmith0034 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 09, 2010, 04:58:11 PM »

I'm not sure what all your build plans entail, but if you're not rebuilding the ingine then I HIGHLY recommend putting the frame back on the engine before you put everything else back together. Trust me, it is a TON easier to lay the engine on its side and lower the frame over it. There are several threads on how to do it, you'll just have to do a quick search to find them.

articblue · « **Reply #6 on:** May 09, 2010, 05:13:18 PM »

thanks for the advice.

Looking at your thread http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=66225.0 you have some helpful tips.

I actually have a the gordon frame kit. http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=64333.0 which will go in soon...
Although messing up the powder coat is something I wanna try to avoid.
But since I didn't plan things out in the beginning it might just have to go that way.

articblue · « **Reply #7 on:** May 14, 2010, 07:35:40 PM »

Another big step todayish for the overall build.

Wheels are on the bike.
Granted I'll probably need to pull them back off to put the motor in and work on other things, but it looks like a bike now.

Tomorrow is hopefully get the rear drive hub apart and replace the bearings / retainer ring on that.
Then if I'm feeling ambitious start making the marks for putting the gordon kit in, and weld.

articblue · « **Reply #8 on:** May 15, 2010, 03:34:50 PM »

Gordon kit almost in place...needed to stop before I got too carried away.

HedNut · « **Reply #9 on:** May 17, 2010, 05:16:07 PM »

Man! Your build is looking awesome!!! Love the rims! I wish I could lace mine...but that'll have to wait until the budget grows a bit more! Love the Tank... I'm gonna keep my eye on this!!
Cheers!

articblue · « **Reply #10 on:** May 17, 2010, 06:43:35 PM »

Thanks for the complement. Tank is Carpys'. I like some of his builds. However, the inspiration on the forum here is amazing.
I'm always like wow that's really cool and neat.

It's going to be a little quicker I hope now that it's becoming summer and the days are longer and warmer

I have an idea of what I'm going for, I just need to sit down and actually lay it out now so I don't spend a lot of time back tracking and so I don't forget.

articblue · « **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2010, 07:14:53 PM »

Got the frame kit tacked in, I'm going to take it to someone to weld up though.
My tacks look pretty pitiful.

Good news is I managed to clean the shed up though, so now I have more places to store and put stuff without a lot of junk in the way.
Not that its a really big deal since I can't actually put the bike in the shed and work on it. But it's something.

articblue · « **Reply #12 on:** May 27, 2010, 07:04:58 PM »

So project is slightly delayed. Gotta work on the goldwing a bit, and waiting on a new carb rebuild kit from http://www.randakks.com/ for it.

However, this weekend is a long one so I should be able to get some welding sorted out.
And chat with the shop that should've balanced and trued my wheels/rims and it appears that they didn't.

articblue · « **Reply #13 on:** May 30, 2010, 01:51:46 PM »

Lucky me, I got the carb rebuild kit in before the weekend. Which means a long weekend to rebuild the carbs on the goldwing.

I was further ambitious and welded the frame kit in place. The welds look crappy, but they'll grind down. There's good penetration and I was pleasantly surprised at how
much better I got as I went along.

So with that in place, I need to grind the welds a little, clean it up and spray.

I decided next to find the rest of the spacers for the rear wheel, so I could at least get that all together and in one place.
Well here's the issue, I dont' know where the spacer that is supposed to be on the left side went to. The one on the side with the drive.
Anyone happen to know the size of it? Length, ID, and OD?

And I uncovered the engine. And looked at it :p The first step in actually getting it on the table / engine stand and working on it.

articblue · « **Reply #14 on:** June 14, 2010, 04:50:20 PM »

Well it seems that I can make progress on two bikes at once...although it's quite tough.

I have the goldwing back up and running, after needing new brake caliper pistons and then with the long sit, a nice rebuild on the carbs.

So that's one down.

I have some touch up welding to do on the 750 Gordon Frame Kit then it'll look nicer, and I'll take a grinder to it and make it pretty.
Currently it has some rustoleom on there to keep it from flash rusting though.

So the goals for the week are:
Sync the carbs on the goldwing.

Get some of my friends to help with the engine.
And get it mounted to the engine stand.

Finish the welds and match the paint job to the nice powder coat as much as possible...it's under the tank as it is so it's not a big deal.

HedNut · « **Reply #15 on:** June 23, 2010, 08:58:15 AM »

How's it coming!? Looking very forward to seeing this slick mo-chine come together!

Cheers!

articblue · « **Reply #16 on:** June 23, 2010, 06:51:22 PM »

1)
Actually sit down and plan more of the build out.
It'll go faster that way.

2)
Plan for the weekend clean up engine, put kick stand back on.
Check compression...check funds for newer hopped up engine goodies..probably will stay away.
May just rebuild motor, and possible over bore a step up...less expensive.

Hoping to get the clutch cable in for the goldwing so I can stop drinking gas with my truck, and instead drink it up on some curves.

articblue · « **Reply #17 on:** June 26, 2010, 06:20:39 PM »

Well I had some time to dress up the welds and make them prettier on the frame kit.

Then I turned my attention to the engine...and here things went south.

I know when I got the engine out it turned freely...unfortunately now it won't budge.

I've blasted some PB plaster down into the cylinders and poured some oil down as well...which is something I managed to forget about before I stowed it away...
Yeah so -1 for me +1 for at least getting into the engine.

So hopefully the pistons will break free, however, since I have the full gasket set on hand I'll rebuild the engine anyway. I gotta setup a work area to do it in since it'll probably take a week to get it apart and back together assuming I don't have any mishaps.

I'll see what state the pistons are in as well and determine if I should over bore or not.

I've decided unless things are really bad, which they shouldn't be since the oil that came out when I drained it wasn't bad and the screen didn't have much in it, I'll keep the engine as is with maybe the overbore. And then after riding for a while and stuff I'll upgrade the engine.

articblue · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2010, 10:08:55 AM »

PROGRESS:

Engine is just about to be broken in half to clean up and rebuild.

Steps backward...

new piston rings, possibly an overbore not sure yet.
And the valves are in rough / rust shape...
I'll have pictures up soon.

articblue · « **Reply #19 on:** July 07, 2010, 03:46:00 PM »

case is split...now to find the stupid piece of gasket that fell in and fish it out.

Now that I have the case split....what now?
Any suggestions. The top end looks like it was into back in 02, by some date markings scribed in 6.19.02 in the cylinder head.

Anyway, now I'm down to the case split, i was planning on just oiling and rebuilding back up.
Replacing the oil seals and putting new gaskets on the way up.

Anythign I should pay attention to, in particular?

Shaft run out? balancing? ect? or is that overkill.

The main reason with splitting the case was the siezed pistons and then just to paint the cases.
And to find the pieces of crap i dropped in the engine...yeah i know should've cleaned the engine before I split the case....

articblue · « **Reply #20 on:** July 12, 2010, 04:55:40 PM »

Electrolysis Cleaning, yay for washing soda, sodium cabonate.

Add in a trickle charger and boom, sit back and watch the bubbles.

And remember kiddies, negative to the piece being cleaned, positive to the sacrificial rebar or scrap pieces of iron / stainless if you have it...

articblue · « **Reply #21 on:** July 13, 2010, 07:55:32 AM »

Well after doing some more reading...yeah I gotta learn sometimes...

Electrolysis cleaning on aluminum while it works, can possibly lead to pitting...
Soooo not a great choice on cast aluminum engine blocks. Especially the case internal machined pieces.

Well I suspect this would happen if you are driving the system with a large current > 12 Amps, and have voids in the casting...using the trickle charger I was only hitting just at 1 A.

So I guess I'll just revert to using good old elbow grease and scrubbing for the cases.

articblue · « **Reply #22 on:** February 24, 2011, 05:39:30 PM »

So after a very long break from motorcycle stuff I'm back at it.

Got new piston rings in, and should have the engine back together complete soon. Maybe by Mid March.

I'm excited.

MasterChief750 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 16, 2011, 05:40:04 PM »

hmm doesnt look familiar with me.could someone be playing a joke on you, my buddy did something like that when i was rebuilding my carbs

articblue · « **Reply #24 on:** March 17, 2011, 05:30:00 PM »

Quote from: masterchief1112 on March 16, 2011, 05:40:04 PM

hmm doesnt look familiar with me.could someone be playing a joke on you, my buddy did something like that when i was rebuilding my carbs

Thanks for the input.

Yeah actually one of my buddies went through the fiche's with a more methodical eye, found the really big washer was part of the starter motor gearing on the outside near the sator.

There was much rejoicing with that news and the news of 'hey at least you don't have to split the case...again'

On another note, any advice on if i don't use the circlips on the pistons, and use ring clips of a similar size? I'd assume so unless I can't find them in the smaller size.

MasterChief750 · « **Reply #25 on:** March 18, 2011, 05:32:44 AM »

i would be worried about them slipping out. and circlips are cheap

MoMo · « **Reply #26 on:** March 18, 2011, 06:35:23 AM »

Just came across your build, which is starting to look good. Where did the tail piece come from? I like the little bob at the rear...Larry

articblue · « **Reply #27 on:** March 21, 2011, 09:12:06 AM »

Quote from: photolar on March 18, 2011, 06:35:23 AM

Just came across your build, which is starting to look good. Where did the tail piece come from? I like the little bob at the rear...Larry

The tailpiece and tank came from Carpy. It's been over a year and a half since I started.
http://www.cb750cafe.com/
Good quality, not quite bolt on

Hopefully I'll get back to working on it this week...although house projects are taking up a lot of time.

articblue · « **Reply #28 on:** April 03, 2011, 02:44:18 PM »

Good news for once...Got the cylinder block on the engine, ring clips instead of the circlips on the wrist pin.
Didn't break or forget to put anything back in

I'll have some pictures up ~~soon~~. Umm later tonight. Gotta set a goal

articblue · « **Reply #29 on:** April 12, 2011, 05:13:54 AM »

Good news bad news time.

Good news, I got the engine in the frame. With the Gordon Frame kit, the engine went in under 5 minutes, and I didn't have to pay for a trip to the chiropractor. The frame kit, if you don't have one is worth every penny.

Bad news, I was torquing the cylinder head down to the block...and one of the engine studs sheared.
So the engine will be coming back out soon.

In the mean time, I have new studs from cycle X coming in, and a few other pieces.

MoMo · « **Reply #30 on:** April 12, 2011, 05:18:14 AM »

Good learning experience-have everything torqued before installation, and good exercise

...Larry

articblue · « **Reply #31 on:** April 14, 2011, 05:38:29 AM »

I think the appropriate lesson here: Don't re-use 30+ old engine stud bolts if you've already gone through the trouble of doing an engine rebuild from the crank up.

articblue · « **Reply #32 on:** May 30, 2011, 06:03:52 PM »

Wow, ok so time flies.

Lets see, got the engine studs out

Decided since the engine looked like crap well I'll go ahead an paint it...might as well since I've now broken the cases apart for the 3rd time.

So I've prepped the cases for some good ol' media blasting.

I love getting new tools in it's always fun.

Built the blasting box from some scrap wood. Spent I think 30 bucks to build the box and an afternoon.

articblue · « **Reply #33 on:** June 18, 2011, 05:38:02 PM »

So I got a little work done today on the 750.
Painted the engine cases and they look much better then before.
This was a bit of work to get them cleaned and down to the metal.
I used the POR 15 engine enamel stuff which went on well, just a little time consuming.

All in all i'm pleased with the results.
Now I just gotta get around to putting the guts back in.

articblue · « **Reply #34 on:** June 30, 2011, 06:40:16 PM »

So I've recently been working on the 75 cb 400F engine. Mainly because the 750 is back to the cases, and the 400 just needs the cam chain back in and the rockers and stuff put back on to be complete. Then it'll be out of the basement

So I was torquing down the cylinder head on the 400F thinking, man this is pretty easy, I'm not having to tourqe really hard or anything...thinking back to when I sheared the cylinder stud bolt off in the 750 block...well good news I got the 400F all torqued down b]without[/b] a miss-hap. THen thinking back.. i must have set the old torque wrench wrong or something cause it was just a lot easier this time around.
Granted my torque wrench is a few inches longer...<--- 'insert that's what she said' so maybe it was the added moment force that helped.

Anyway, I figured I'd jack my own thread an post a pic of the 400F motor so far

articblue · « **Reply #35 on:** December 14, 2011, 05:47:27 PM »

So after a very long break, house things getting in the way.
(The house owns you, you never own the house)

The really cool 1978 Goldwing is now off to a better place, after making its way around craigslist.

I've finally gotten the engine for the 1976 CB750F into the frame.
This took a bit of doing, and some unfortunate events with broken engine studs. Which required me to pull the engine back out, tear it down again and then rebuild with new studs, cam chain ( cause I might as well) and some non-burnt out valves, and stronger springs.

So a lot of work has happened on the 750 since the last post, there's still a far amount left.
I just need to start working through the immediate list:

Rear Sets
- Fabricating the rear set brackets, I want to avoid having to weld a fixed bracket to the frame

Electrics
- The rats nest that is old electrics, will be meeting a swift end with the addition of a solid sate rectifier / regulator instead of the mess that was the older semi-discrete electrics without the rectifier / regulator in one.

The tank is actually a 400F tank that I got for a good price. No rust inside or out which was amazing. Fixed the dents and put some cool indents in the front to clear the clip ons and stuff.

News:

Author Topic: 76 CB750F The Wrench (Read 24530 times)