Author Topic: CB350F mild cafe (Read 6106 times)

jsedacca · « **on:** March 07, 2011, 05:18:20 PM »

I recently moved down to Tampa and the bike bug bit me again. I picked up a 2010 Triumph Bonneville in December for everyday riding. In January, I scored a 1974 CB350F off craigslist from NC for a great price. Upon delivery, I was able to get it to run on starter fluid. The tank was rusty and carbs needed a good cleaning. The bike was in overall excellent shape with only 54xx miles on it.

Here are some pictures the previous owner sent me and how I received the bike:

After contemplating what I wanted to do, I began the cleaning process and tear down to get an idea of the direction I intended to go. I picked up a 4-1 MAC exhaust from a fellow member for a great deal and test fitted the system.

The engine covers came off without too much of a fight with the impact and some decent whacks. Instead of having them powdercoated, I used a gift card I had for harbor freight and picked up their 8" buffer. I ordered the wheels and compound from eastwood and the polishing bug has bit me! I still have more steps to do and what you see is only from the sisal wheel and emery compound.

While working on the bike yesterday, I decided I wanted to change the color of the frame and the only proper way was to remove the engine and POR15 the frame. Here is how the bike sits as of now with the motor resting nearby. The engine will be cleaned and certain parts painted for some contrast against the polished bits.

The POR supplies will be in this week. I decided to use their hardnose light gray as I have had great success with it in the past. The wheels will be removed and powdercoated along with the forks to be polished/rebuilt. The tank needs some dents filled after I have it boiled out at a local radiator shop. The frame will be untouched and the stock seat pan will be utilized with a custom foam cafe bump seat ala giuliari cb750.

The next big purchase will be some rearsets from 400fourstore.com but that will wait until the bike is assembled and in rolling form again. Hope to have more updates as the week goes on but have limited time to work on it except on the weekends.

Jared

johnny · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2011, 08:07:59 PM »

Great start! The "before" pics prove what a perfect bike this is for a makeover.
My 350F just finished a transformation. Check the link in my signature.
I can't wait to see your progress.

midnightrider · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2011, 06:42:57 AM »

Exciting project, Jared!
Your work with the HF buffer makes me want to go buy one...

I'm watching!

jsedacca · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:26:16 PM »

Quote from: johnny on March 07, 2011, 08:07:59 PM

Great start! The "before" pics prove what a perfect bike this is for a makeover.
My 350F just finished a transformation. Check the link in my signature.
I can't wait to see your progress.

I followed your build. Came out extremely clean and love the stock styling with the cafe cues thrown in. I'm the member who bought the 4-1 MAC exhaust from you as well. Thanks for the awesome deal again!

P.S. Where did you get the clear points cover?

johnny · « **Reply #4 on:** March 08, 2011, 05:27:19 PM »

Quote from: jsedacca on March 08, 2011, 03:26:16 PM

P.S. Where did you get the clear points cover?

That is a custom piece from member Godffery. You'd have to contact him to check availability.

jsedacca · « **Reply #5 on:** March 12, 2011, 04:19:49 PM »

Finally had some time to work on the bike today after coming back from the beach. The POR15 supplies came in earlier in the week and I had the bike completely stripped when I got in from work last night. I degreased it and etched the frame and hung it in the garage. I used the hardnose light gray and after 2 coats, it looks very smooth and like PC. I still need to do the swingarm and let everything dry for a solid week before reassembling. Here is the only pic I could get in the dimly lit garage. Hope to have more progress for you guys soon!

jsedacca · « **Reply #6 on:** March 15, 2011, 07:28:54 PM »

Not much progress from last time. The frame is basically fully cured along with the swingarm. This weekend, I plan on degreasing the motor and getting it prepped for some paint and hopefully stuffed back into the frame. Here are 2 pics of the finished frame/swingarm. The more I use the POR15 products, the more impressed I am

midnightrider · « **Reply #7 on:** March 15, 2011, 08:27:19 PM »

That looks great! Keep us posted....
What are you thinking for engine paint?

jsedacca · « **Reply #8 on:** March 20, 2011, 06:53:34 PM »

Didn't have much time this weekend to work on the bike. I was able to squeeze in an hour or so of work today and got the motor degreased/etched in preparation for paint. I'm thinking of going with a cast iron color accented with the polished side covers and valve cover. I used POR15 products again (marine clean and metal ready) to get the motor cleaned up. With some light scrubbing, the marine clean dissolved all the little grime and rinsed away with no residue left over. Hope to get it taped up this week and get some color laid down since the forecast is for weather in the 80's.

jsedacca · « **Reply #9 on:** April 04, 2011, 04:22:49 PM »

Been a while but I was able to get some work in yesterday. Finally able to tape the motor up and get it in primer and some color. I let it setup for a good 6-7 hours and reinstalled it into the frame. The lower case is duplicolor cast coat aluminum and the fins/cylinders are cast iron. The top cover will be polished. Below are some pictures of yesterdays progress. It's going to be a slow build but will update whenever progress is made. Thanks guys!

Engine prepped/taped up

Primer laid down

Finished in 2-tone

Stuffed back into frame

syverter · « **Reply #10 on:** April 04, 2011, 05:50:21 PM »

looking good! looks like your making some fast progress.

johnny · « **Reply #11 on:** April 05, 2011, 05:04:11 AM »

Great progress!

jsedacca · « **Reply #12 on:** April 17, 2011, 07:15:44 PM »

Got some parts in this weekend. The big order was from Kevin at the 400fourstore. I received his billet tappet covers, rocker bolts, headlight brackets, steering nut, and chain adjusters. I also have his rearsets coming in from South Africa.

I decided to paint the valve cover in cast iron. The billet parts are installed

Earlier in the week, I dropped the tank off to a radiator shop. They boiled out all the rust and coated it.

Got the tank prepped for some filler/sanding and primer.

I also just bought a camshaft off ebay to use as a core to send into Web and get their grind #2. The valve springs will be replaced as well with kibble whites from the 400fourstore. Also thinking of going with CR26 carbs to make this a ripper once the cam in installed and electronic ignition fitted. Any thoughts/insight on the plans would be appreciated. Thanks guys

CB550CAFE · « **Reply #13 on:** April 17, 2011, 08:39:17 PM »

Love the color choice for frame and block. Keep the updates coming.

jsedacca · « **Reply #14 on:** April 18, 2011, 11:29:27 AM »

Quote from: CB550CAFE on April 17, 2011, 08:39:17 PM

Love the color choice for frame and block. Keep the updates coming.

Thanks for the support/insight. I have some free time so more progress has been made. Got the tank filled in and blocked with 80grit. It still needs more sanding with finer grits but just laid some high build on as a guide/reference.

I just placed an order with DSS for a new wiring loom and other bits. Looking forward to some more progress and will post any pics.

I dropped off a bunch of parts to the local blasters last week. I picked them up and got to degreasing/prepping for paint. Here, the battery box and top triple is sprayed in black epoxy. The lower triple got the same treatment.

Also finally got the gauges pulled apart and installed the new faces from DCC. Install was straight forward. The needles were taped off and got some red touch up paint to restore them. The black buckets will be stripped and given a coat of fresh paint.

midnightrider · « **Reply #15 on:** April 18, 2011, 06:34:24 PM »

Looking good brother...how did taking the gauges apart go? Did you cut the rings?

jsedacca · « **Reply #16 on:** April 19, 2011, 06:58:15 AM »

Quote from: midnightrider on April 18, 2011, 06:34:24 PM

Looking good brother...how did taking the gauges apart go? Did you cut the rings?

I did cut the rings. It was easier in the long run and I'll just JB Weld or devcon the 2 halves together when the time comes.

Chicago550 · « **Reply #17 on:** April 19, 2011, 09:37:40 AM »

Your bike's really coming along. How do you like that frame paint? I'm thinking of painting or powdercoating my frame and various bits in the fall.

jsedacca · « **Reply #18 on:** April 19, 2011, 06:51:08 PM »

Quote from: Chicago550 on April 19, 2011, 09:37:40 AM

Your bike's really coming along. How do you like that frame paint? I'm thinking of painting or powdercoating my frame and various bits in the fall.

I love the POR15 products. I've been using them for a couple years now. I didnt thin the paint this time and probably should have for a smoother finish but it is still smooth and very durable. It dries to a nice shell. When I installed the motor by myself, I clanked the frame a couple times and no chips resulted.

jsedacca · « **Reply #19 on:** April 20, 2011, 04:40:50 PM »

Got a couple hours in the garage today. Was able to break the front forks down. The front tubes have a good bit of pitting/rust where the bottom clamp was. I'm currently looking into options to replace/re-hardchrome them. I'm going to send the fork lowers, front/rear hubs and rear brake plate out to vapor blasting. The wheels will be PC'd and respoked to look like new.

I also decided to amp the build up a bit and make it a performance oriented build. I have a web camshaft order in for their grind #3 and CR26 carbs on the way from Kevin at the 400fourstore.com. Looking forward to receiving everything and fitting the parts.

pitted forks

closeup

overall view of the bike

DannyBhoy · « **Reply #20 on:** April 22, 2011, 03:12:36 PM »

Great build. looking forward to seeing the finshed product

jsedacca · « **Reply #21 on:** April 23, 2011, 12:47:06 PM »

Just a delayed update. I decided to pull the head and jugs on Wednesday. I had everything disassembled in an hour or so. Cleaning the old gasket material was tedious but was made easier with some gasket remover and a gentle scraper. I have decided to bore the jugs out to 51mm to fit stock CB400F pistons for a bit more displacement. The head will be disassembled, ported/polished, cleaned and reassembled with kibblewhite valve springs. A web camshaft gring #3 will be installed as well. Below are 2 pics I snapped after cleaning everything up. More progress will be a bit slower as I start post-academy training for the department on the 28th. Updates will be posted when new parts arrive. Have a Happy Easter everyone!

jsedacca · « **Reply #22 on:** April 28, 2011, 05:21:28 PM »

Not much more progress on actual work but more parts have been pouring in. The CR26 carbs came in yesterday and the stock cb400f pistons arrived today.

jsedacca · « **Reply #23 on:** May 21, 2011, 02:43:14 PM »

Had a little bit of time to work on the bike today after a couple weeks at a standstill. Nothing too significant but its something.

Scored these CB900F shocks and gave them a quick cleaning.

I replaced the wheel bearings in the front/rear hubs and sprayed them with "iron coat" paint from NAPA. Also pictured are the speedo/tach buckets. The wheels will be XS Performance alloy shouldered wheels

Lastly, Kevin at 400fourstore has been a huge help with the project. The rearsets are works of art and a simple bolt on affair.

Still looking for a reputable machine shop down in the Tampa.

leogriss · « **Reply #24 on:** May 21, 2011, 09:12:55 PM »

Looks amazing!

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Author Topic: CB350F mild cafe (Read 6106 times)