Topic: **Updated 5/20/13** In over MY head 1975 cb550 cafe. thanks...Dave500, Twotired

[Syscrush]

sorry man im building a cafe bike im not restoring a cb550 to museum quality. the first frame i can understand because it did really throw off the measurements on the rake of the bike.

Dents in frame tubes are a structural issue.

i doubt at all that the small marks are ruining the integrity of my frame.

You may be right, but I would want a second opinion in your case.  Have you ever seen the demo where a rolled-up piece of paper is used to support a stack of heavy textbooks?  Everything's good until you flick the side of the tube of paper with your finger, then the whole thing crashes down as soon as the tube is dented.

This is not 100% the same thing, but it's a similar situation and dents in frame tubes should always be taken seriously.

but worst comes to worst ill just buy another frame.

You keep saying that, but keep not doing it for some inscrutable reason.

[jneuf]

I would imagine the dents in the frame would be a bit of a structural issue. I'd think any sort of impact at the front of the bike would cause that to buckle much easier than a straight frame.

Honest question...I understand you're excited to get your bike on the road so you have something to ride, which is understandable. That being said, your 550 is requiring a fair bit of work...and you have what looks to be a nice, complete, non-running 750. Would it be easier to just get your 750 titled, running and driving right now than the 550 you're currently working on? That would allow you to take your time, and not rush through the 550 build.

[SohRon]

Man. I feel your pain. I had my bike near completion when I ran across a frame problem that had been hidden; I had to scrap the whole project, get a new frame (ebay $125 w/title), and start all over again. The new frame was actually in much better shape than my old one, so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Bite the bullet and get a good frame to begin with. If you start out with a turd, nothing you can do will make it into a diamond.

[xsmooth69x]

I'm surprised no one else noticed this... maybe the confusion over your bent frame distracted people's attention. The compression numbers you posted are wild, because if I understand correctly, you poured oil into the cylinders to perform the test. Am I understanding this correctly? You squirted oil up your wall out of the spark plug holes??

First, cold compression numbers on these bikes are never 200+. 130 PSI would be a good average. Second, the only time you would add oil to the cylinders on a compression test would be if you had low compression and wanted to determine if it is the valves or rings leaking... a few squirts of oil in the plug holes will temporarily seal leaking rings for the test, which will bump the number up a little if they are in fact the problem. Adding enough oil to squirt across the room when you crank the engine over is significantly reducing the compressible space for air in the combustion chamber and could actually prevent the engine from turning over... or squirt everywhere if the plugs are removed.

Your oil gave you high numbers, and since (I'm assuming) you didn't measure the amount of oil put in each cylinder, the differences between the compression numbers you got are irrelevant. Try again, without the oil.

at that section of my bike build i was very stupid lol

i got my motor running, ran it for a while the preformed a compression test after then engine was cold again. i didnt want to burn myself doing it when it was hot.

150 151 148 140

those are the #

[xsmooth69x]

I would imagine the dents in the frame would be a bit of a structural issue. I'd think any sort of impact at the front of the bike would cause that to buckle much easier than a straight frame.

Honest question...I understand you're excited to get your bike on the road so you have something to ride, which is understandable. That being said, your 550 is requiring a fair bit of work...and you have what looks to be a nice, complete, non-running 750. Would it be easier to just get your 750 titled, running and driving right now than the 550 you're currently working on? That would allow you to take your time, and not rush through the 550 build.

trust me im taking my time with the entire build. the MN state gov just opened back up so if i where to title it now it will still take a month to title that 750. also the 750 needs new tires, battery, carb rebuilt, and theirs a spark plug broken off that i havent even looked at from the PO.

[xsmooth69x]

right now where im at is.........

perfected this art of polishing stuff without having to buy a bench polisher (granted it probably takes 4 times longer). i have 400, 600, 800, 1200, 2500, 3000 grit wet sand and mothers polish and everything looks like chrome now.

got my lower forks polished, clutch cover, chain side cover, rims, MC

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got my half fast paint booth up in my garage (i will post pics) so im spraying my triple tree, tank, frame, rims, engine.

this is taking forever btw, prime, prime, dry, wet sand, color, color, color, dry, wet sand, color, dry, clear, clear, dry, wet sand, wax/polish......

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also when i was trying to restore my seized front brake piston i broke off the bleeder nipple on the caliper then tried to drill it out and broke my EZ out drill bit in it so now im F'ed!

i was just trying to loosen it a little to stick my grease gun on it to pop that piston out but the bleeder nipple totally snapped 

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also i figured out that my rear wheel isnt the original 550  rim because it had a 33 tooth sprocket on it and the when i got my 37 tooth sprocket it didnt line up soooooooooo

now i have to buy a rear 550 rim then take the rim i have now with my good tire on it btw and get that dismounted and mounted on my new rim 

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so thats where im at now

[Syscrush]

I think you might be doing more sanding than you need to between primer, color, and clear.  I wouldn't be going all the way to wet sanding, it may actually be counter productive since you'll have a weaker secondary bond.  Consult with a real painting expert, I'm just someone who likes messing around with a spray gun.

[fastbroshi]

   I don't know if you're doing too much sanding, depends on the quality of the paint you want in the end.  MAYBE do it like that on the tank and sidecovers, but certainly not the triples.  Just because the rear sprocket is a 33 doesn't mean it's not a 550 wheel.  Have you taken any measurements of the rim?  Or maybe compared pics of your rear hub and compared them to a stocker?  Those are good clues to as if the rear rim/wheel's been changed.

[xsmooth69x]

lol ya im was just exaggerating on the really long spray paint process. although i am doing that for the tank.

the triple tree and all that other stuff im just going multiple coats on it maybe wet sand it down once to smooth things out and then paint and clear.

im just using regular home depot rattle can

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in regards to the cb550 rear rim/hub it is wrong.

i bought a 37t jt sprocket and the bolt pattern doesn't line up with the new sprocket 

maybe the rim is fine but the hub is wrong but either way i need to buy a new rim because im not taking the rim apart and try and put it back together with new hub. it will cost the same buying the rim with hub or just a hub

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some pics just for fun

this is where all the magic happens 





organized chaos ^

inside my makeshift paint booth lol



also the motor





the exhaust for the paint booth



the paint booth works pretty good. before i spray paint  i have a spray bottle of water and i wet everything down ( not the parts im painting) so over spray and dust or particulates will get caught and the exhaust fan works ok. i cant go through a whole can of spray paint at once because the booth is small.

i do wear a repirator btw  best investment i ever made. its also good to wear when im grinding parts down too because metal dust is never good.



^ that pic is for dave500 

[Syscrush]

I like the booth a lot.  Very nice.  FYI, you can get furnace filters really cheap at Home Depot.  Putting one in front of your exhaust fan will save the fan and prevent it from blowing paint onto anything outside the booth.  Nothing fancy, just something like this that you can get for under $10:

Good to hear that you're taking your time with the paint.  It looks good so far, good luck with it.  One thing I think you want to look into is using an automotive clear - the Home Depot rattle can stuff is almost certainly not resistant to gas, and it would be a shame to see your hard work ruined by a bit of spillage on the tank.

Love the ducklip douchebag picture!

[xsmooth69x]

I like the booth a lot.  Very nice.  FYI, you can get furnace filters really cheap at Home Depot.  Putting one in front of your exhaust fan will save the fan and prevent it from blowing paint onto anything outside the booth.  Nothing fancy, just something like this that you can get for under $10:

Good to hear that you're taking your time with the paint.  It looks good so far, good luck with it.  One thing I think you want to look into is using an automotive clear - the Home Depot rattle can stuff is almost certainly not resistant to gas, and it would be a shame to see your hard work ruined by a bit of spillage on the tank.

Love the ducklip douchebag picture!

that filter would have been a good idea but that fan i think was 10 and i havent turned it off for 4 days so nothing dries and makes the fan stop

ya that douche bag is my stand in douche bag for photo ops i take regarding my bike 

[Syscrush]

that filter would have been a good idea but that fan i think was 10 and i havent turned it off for 4 days so nothing dries and makes the fan stop

Even if the fan is throw-away, the filter will keep the fan from blowing the paint outside your booth and onto whatever the booth is there to protect.

Looking forward to seeing more pics.

BTW - an automotive paint shop can mix up some clear for you and put it into a pressurized can/jar that works just like a rattle can.  This is your best bet for a good gas-resistant finish.

[Syscrush]

Apparently you can get 2-part clear in a special kind of rattle can where you press a plunger or pull a pin to mix the 2 parts before spraying.  Check this out.

[paulages]

So you know, the electric motor in your fan can ignite the paint... typically spray booths use a squirrel cage fan so that the highly combustible fumes (especially if you're using catalyzed paint) don't pass by anything that could ignite them...

I'm not saying you're gonna blow yourself up, but at least if you do you can't say no one warned you!

[Greggo]

So you know, the electric motor in your fan can ignite the paint... typically spray booths use a squirrel cage fan so that the highly combustible fumes (especially if you're using catalyzed paint) don't pass by anything that could ignite them...

I'm not saying you're gonna blow yourself up, but at least if you do you can't say no one warned you!

Hmmmm, a fireball inside a plastic room...I'd go looking for one of those hampster fans 

[paulages]

So you know, the electric motor in your fan can ignite the paint... typically spray booths use a squirrel cage fan so that the highly combustible fumes (especially if you're using catalyzed paint) don't pass by anything that could ignite them...

I'm not saying you're gonna blow yourself up, but at least if you do you can't say no one warned you!

Hmmmm, a fireball inside a plastic room...I'd go looking for one of those hampster fans 

I took a painting class from an old timer who says he's seen 5 explosions in his life, personally. One blew a dude across an alley and into a brick wall. He was fine. Catalyzed paint is very combustible.

[Operator]

Nice to see that you are doing it all yourself!!!

Good Luck!

[xsmooth69x]

exploding plastic paint room....... #$%*.... i do have a full size fire extinguisher though right when i started the build. i do a lot of flammable projects

the booth is small to begin with so i dont really spray more than a half can at a time.....

im going to buy that clear coat stuff

ill probly get 2 cans.

im still going to clear everything with the regular stuff and put this stuff on as the last coat

that should be good right?

clear the frame and gas tank

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and ya im doing this all by myself. makes the build way more fun and personal. the only i could do was mounting and balancing the tires. other than that its all me 

[Syscrush]

im going to buy that clear coat stuff

ill probly get 2 cans.

im still going to clear everything with the regular stuff and put this stuff on as the last coat

The more of the good stuff you use, the better the end result will be.  Why scrimp on the materials when you're putting in so much labor to get a good result?

[xsmooth69x]

I like the booth a lot.  Very nice.  FYI, you can get furnace filters really cheap at Home Depot.  Putting one in front of your exhaust fan will save the fan and prevent it from blowing paint onto anything outside the booth.  Nothing fancy, just something like this that you can get for under $10:

Good to hear that you're taking your time with the paint.  It looks good so far, good luck with it.  One thing I think you want to look into is using an automotive clear - the Home Depot rattle can stuff is almost certainly not resistant to gas, and it would be a shame to see your hard work ruined by a bit of spillage on the tank.

Love the ducklip douchebag picture!

still working on all the paint on my bike and i have to say YUP YOUR RIGHT............

the over spray vents out of my garage because i opened my garage door about a foot like if you had a cat or something.

anyways i have my acura and my subaru parked outside but i made sure to park my cars at the end of my driveway because of the over spray coming out because of the fan. now my cars are parked at least a good 20-30 feet away...... well low and behold i walked by my car in the homedepot parking lot and noticed my car was a little hazy...... yup the wind definetly carried the over spray onto my cars............

i ran it through the car wash (touchless) and it didnt do anything.... so now i have to really scrub both my cars down and clay bar the living F'in Shiatz out of them to get the clean again......

im an idiot 

[sinister902]

If you need to replace the caliper I have a spare I would part with for $40 shipped, you can PM me if you want it.

for your exhaust fan for your booth, I've had nice results using some peices of wood trim to make a "flange" around a box-fan that fits one of the home depot filters very well. I'd swap that little round fan for a 2' box fan and a home depot furnace filter, you'll be glad you did.

DEFINATELY use good/real clear over the rattle can paint. You'll never know it's rattle-can underneath real clear and it will hold up to the same stuff standard paint will because the real clear will hold up against the occasional gas drip when filling up and other unforseen mishaps that rattle-can clear will just get destroyed by.

[paulages]

Yeah... but if you have the capability to shoot "real" clear, why not just shoot "real" paint? 

[jneuf]

Yeah... but if you have the capability to shoot "real" clear, why not just shoot "real" paint? 

Bingo...

[sinister902]

I've done rattle-can for small projects where it doenst make sense to spend the extra money on "real" paint.....clearcoat is cheap and fairly universal. I cleared a motorcycle for my buddy and he spent $50 in materials to paint the entire thing a wine-red-metallic using rattle-can and I sprayed $30 worth of clearcoat over it. Can't really touch that price with "real" paint for a paintjob.


here's the bike I am talking about with my CB550 in the background

[jneuf]

I've rattle-canned stuff, and painted stuff with my HVLP gun. While rattle cans have their place, when I get to painting my tank & side covers, i'll use my gun.

I've sprayed with all kinds of cans, from the cheap-o ones, to the expensive ones that I've bought from the autobody supply shop that I go to, and they're all hit and miss. I've laid down some pretty decent paint with rattle cans, but I find you can never rely on the nozzles. They just don't seem to lay down paint consistently...sometimes mid way through a can they'll start spitting globs of paint, or I've even had nozzles fall right off.

I'm far from a pro, but in my opinion the benefit to shooting with an HVLP gun is consistency. If you have a compressor, you can get away with getting a gun from harborfreight for pretty cheap. While they're not as good as a SATA or Devilbiss, I've seen some pretty good quality results from their cheap guns.