Topic: '76 CB750F chop "20% Cooler"

[paulh1282]

build looks interesting. Will keep checking on this one...

[smurph]

Sounds like about the same pace as some of my projects. Sit and I gather parts forever and then jump on them. You have a lot of work ahead of you. Keep it going, I always try to get at least 1 thing done on my project a day to keep it moving along.

[hapakev]

Ever get that frame welded?

[nayto550]

Finally got some money rounded up, ordered a bit more than $1000 in parts last week and I'm back in full swing.  Started polishing the nasty old oxidized aluminum to a mirror finish over the weekend (I'll post some pics later).  Found out that my front drum hub isn't going to work, so I'm going to run with no front brake until I can bring myself to spend $300 on a custom rim and spoke set.  Hoping to have the frame out to the welder later this week or early next week.

I was going to do a dull flat black rat, but then my buddy got the paint back for his Sportster and I decided I liked shiny, so I bought paint for the fuel and oil tanks.  A crazy bright blue with rainbow metallic sparkles, PPG blue Prizmatique over silver metallic base.  Right now I'm looking for a shop locally that does anodizing with no luck, so I may be forced to send out the valve cover and engine side covers for blue anodizing or just do it myself (keeping large amounts of sulfuric acid around with small children isn't something I really want to do).

Things are finally starting to come along again, I hope to be on the road with the chop by September (fingers crossed).

Also, does anyone have a good way of removing the transmission countershaft bearing from the bearing holder?  I was thinking about baking the part and trying to drop it out that way.

[nayto550]

The parts have started trickling in the past couple days.  And I'm still busy polishing away at the aluminum.

The new headlight/speedo came today:



Got the mirrors and seat pan yesterday:

This going to awesome with the custom tooled leather cover my dad's gonna do for me.


And here's some of the polishing I've done so far:

Before and after.  Worth every second of the sanding/buffing headache.



Nice to finally be making progress on this project again.

And as soon as I'm done with my buddy's bike (below; just need to install electrical and plumbing) I'll get my roller put together and start the mock-up for tabs and mounts and junk.

[theofam]

I've been thinking about a Sporty hard tailed for an upcoming project.  What frame does your buddy have on his scoot?

[nayto550]

The Sporty has a Kraft Tech frame.  It's a nice frame, but it would have been better if it hadn't come with the oil tank and fender mounts on it. Ended up cutting them off and fabbing new ones, because we didn't want to use the Kraft Tech fender or oil bag.

[theofam]

Thanks for the info. Good advice on the mounts.

[Nick_701]

Ill keep my eye on this fellow bobber build, keep it up!

[nayto550]

Got the frame welded together today, and some more polishing done.  Slow going, but it will be worth it in the end.

[WhyNot2]

scribed......................"b  u  t  ful"....

[nayto550]

Bought some heavy-duty cleaner today for use on my engine.  It's BH-38 made by Spartan Chemical, and came by the recommendation of a mechanic friend.  He said it shouldn't be a problem cutting through 30+ years of caked on grease and oil at a 1:1 dilution.  I'll give it a shot tonight and post some before and after pics later.

[nayto550]

So the industrial cleaner worked pretty good, got most of the crud off and the stuff that was left was nicely softened up for easy scraping. 

oil pan before:


oil pan after:


lower case before:


and after:



So a little more cleaning, then I'll soda-blast it to rough up the paint and knock of the loose paint.  Then paint!  Gloss black cases, aluminum silver cylinders and gloss black head.

[nayto550]

Got my care package from Ken at Cycle-X today!

• batteryless power system
• new Dyna coils
• tach cable hole block-off plug
• vertical mount oil tank
• super duper blue anodized engine cover screws
• airfilters with shiny half-covers
• ...and new tapered neck bearings

That's the last of the stuff I need to put my engine back together.

[Retro Rocket]

Looking good mate, i like everything except those cheap nasty pods.....  K&N pods with the inbuilt stacks will save you much grief.....

[nayto550]

Looking good mate, i like everything except those cheap nasty pods.....  K&N pods with the inbuilt stacks will save you much grief.....

Well, the pods were cheap... really really cheap.  Ken even told me they weren't that good, but I liked the covers  .  I'll try them out, and when tuning turns into a complete nightmare, I'll pull them off and go with K&N.  Then I'll just put the shiny ones back on for the local bike shows.

[nayto550]

Finally got the first fork leg buffed out, now it's time to break out the polishing paste *phew*.  This hand polishing gig is for suckers, lol.  Here's a couple side-by-side pics of the two legs, both were in about the same shape when I started.

[WhyNot2]

Finally got the first fork leg buffed out, now it's time to break out the polishing paste *phew*.  This hand polishing gig is for suckers, lol.  Here's a couple side-by-side pics of the two legs, both were in about the same shape when I started.

Purdy.........................wanta do mine for me?

[nayto550]

Purdy.........................wanta do mine for me?

Only if you want to spend an exorbitant amount of money.  And it would be about a 10 month turn around to get them back to you.

[WhyNot2]

Purdy.........................wanta do mine for me?

Only if you want to spend an exorbitant amount of money.  And it would be about a 10 month turn around to get them back to you.

  I'll pass 

Still, they do look good.

[nayto550]

Progress has been slow.    

• Still polishing stuff.
• Still working on my wheels, I may get them painted tomorrow or sometime next week. Now going to powder coat them.
• Built a small blasting cabinet last weekend.
• Got my carbs completely tore down and soda blasted today, will probably reassemble them tonight after the kids go to bed.
• I'll be ready for the frame mock-up once the carbs and wheels are ready to go.
  
• Found out by complete accident last week that my original front fender will make an awesome rear fender for this project.
• Finally named the project.

On another note, I went to the local bike show today and met a powder coating guy, and apparently he can powder my frame to match my crazy blue metallic paint (and here I was AM STILL just going to paint it black).   

[nayto550]

Slowly but surely...


Started the first mock-up tonight.  Got LOADS of stuff done.   Back wheel in place and measured for spacers, and neck bearing cups installed.  Blueprinted the whole top-end in what little spare time I had over the past week and everything is well within factory spec, so that's a relief.

The CB750F rear axle is about a 1/4" longer than the K axle.  Just enough to be a pain in my ass.  So I'm looking to buy a new (to me) rear axle.

Now that I'm looking at the picture, I really need to clean up my garage. 

[fastbroshi]

   Dude, forget cleaning up, you need to get some insulation!!  You're in friggin South Dakota for frick's sake!  I know I don't wanna work in the garage when it's 40F, let alone the temps you guys get 3 seasons out of the year.

[nayto550]

40F is a fairly nice day most of the year.  You would be surprised at the temperatures that can be tolerated when properly dressed and acclimated.  Besides, my money is going into the bike right now, not silly things like personal comfort.   

[fastbroshi]

True, I didn't think about the acclimatization part.  My sister lives right outside the base of Mt. McKinley/Denali National Park in Alaska, and she said people oftentimes go outside in shorts when it's around freezing.  Not for me though.