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Author Topic: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450  (Read 7320 times)

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Markcb750

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Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« on: July 04, 2011, 12:32:33 PM »
This is the 67 CB450 I received as a paycheck from a friend for restoring his '69 CL450

I have had it a about a month but just today I had time to start tearing it down.

The bikes history, as I understand it, is that it was the sellers uncle's bike and had been in his family in Goshen NY since new. Which means it was probably purchased at Ayres Honda in Middletown NY. This was a Honda motorcycle dealer that also sold International tractors and trucks.

The Ayres shop was on my walk home from school, so I stopped in to admire rows of glimmering machinery on a regular basis. Including the 1969 CB 750 when it was first ridden by Honda Hank from the shop to the show room.  Memory  tells me it was a gold bike; butt hoo nose? ;)

This lovely CB450 last wandered the highways in 1982, it has 8946 miles on what looks like a working speedometer & tachometer. The nephew of the owner (deceased?) who sold the bike stated he had started it a few years ago, I wonder what a "few" means. It has sat under a shed roof with no walls in upstate NY weather for about 29 years. Without even the benefit of a tarp.

Numerous life forms have made the Honda and its natural latex seat cushion home. Including the snake that left his skin and inspired the name Black Mamba. That and the fact that I get to use the term "Gargantuan" project. 

My first EBay purchase for this project...A shop manual for the 450.  :o

I am talking to radiator shops to clean & preserve the tank as opposed to doing the job myself with one of the available treatments. Anyone had a radiator shop do their tank?
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Offline Flying J

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2011, 12:38:57 PM »
looks like it will be a fun project.
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Offline MoMo

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2011, 01:40:04 PM »
Mark,  if that turns out anywhere near as well as the CL, you'll have a treasure.  Good luck with the rebuild...Larry
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Offline bill440cars

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2011, 01:44:44 PM »


  Awright, Always good to see another 450 being brought back to the "living", especially a "Black Bomber". Looking forward to this.  ;)
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Offline Greggo

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #4 on: July 04, 2011, 07:41:43 PM »
I just had a radiator shop do the tank on my CA95.  It had been Kreemed in the past (poorly) without being cleaned properly.  So, there was rust underneath the Kreem job.  The radiator shop owner is an old friend of my dad's, so he did it for free :)
« Last Edit: July 04, 2011, 07:43:14 PM by Greggo »
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Offline BeSeeingYou

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #5 on: July 04, 2011, 11:53:17 PM »
Never though of smuggling marijuana in the headlight bucket and battery compartment of an old bike.  Excellent! ;D
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Offline hoodellyhoo

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2011, 04:53:50 PM »
member Johnis had a couple 750 tanks done at a radiator shop and they both ended up with small leaks along the seams. He seemed to think their process was a bit too harsh for these old tanks.
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Markcb750

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2011, 08:44:11 AM »
I Have been making progress, slow but sure... ::)

Thanks for the advice Hood, I heard about others having problems also so I cleaned the tank with a combination of Drano, CLR and a Pressure washer with chains clanging around.  Pretty nice inside now, but an amazing amount of rust, tar and the smelliest petroleum remnants I have ever experienced. 

Just have it coated inside with WD40 now need to select some sort of epoxy to finish. No leaks so far.

I have access to a Sand blasting booth with my new job.  I can prep a part in a fraction of the time it took me in the past, but I only have a fraction of the time I had because I have a job.   :o

Any one have experience with building up bad rust pitting on parts to be chromed?  I know copper can be used but do not know the practical thickness limits of the copper layer. 

Best I can tell it would take about 0.008 to 0.01 inch (0.2 to 0.25 mm) to fill in the rust pits on the fork sleeves to make them smooth again.  The only other process I know would be sputter welding but the part is so thin I would have to build a mandril to hold it for turning, pretty time consuming. 

Mark

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Offline Stev-o

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2011, 01:14:13 PM »
Nice project and good name. Oh, and thanks for including the pic of Uma!
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Markcb750

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #9 on: November 20, 2011, 12:21:22 AM »
I just acquired a 1982 B900F!

Tank is shot but the bike is in good shape, can't wait to take delivery next week so I can have two projects going on.  Black Mamba is going slow & steady as I am trying to do everything as well as possible and parts are hard to find: just a set of seat hinges cost more then half what I payed for the 900F. 

Wife thinks I have a sickness.. ??? :-\ :D
« Last Edit: December 13, 2011, 01:24:04 AM by Markcb750 »
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Offline socalenduro

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2011, 08:28:25 AM »
If you dont get a tetanus shot after working on that bike you might just have a sickness!
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Markcb750

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #11 on: December 13, 2011, 01:07:30 AM »
A couple of before & after shots of parts I am working on.  The aluminum parts are proving to be a significant problem due to pitting.  lots of material needs to be removed.  This restoration is going to take some time.  Particularly with tasks like rebuilding and restoring the carbs from the 900F tossed in.   ;D
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Markcb750

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #12 on: December 29, 2011, 04:07:23 AM »
More progress just the motor to disassemble now.  Hoping to just take the top end off, clean it up, have the valves seated & new seals, and new rings.  Will not know till I have it apart.

The starter motor ran smooth and quiet after 28 years without a revolution!  Amazing. 

Did a preliminary polish on the alternator cover, it is going to take a very long time to remove all the little pitting to put the covers in proper condition.  This has a small dent/crack that I hit with an aluminum drift from the back. 

Lots to do, and parts to find!
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Offline Simpson

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #13 on: December 31, 2011, 04:15:29 PM »
Now I'm doubly interested in this thread. Looking forward to seeing how the 450 works out for you. I restored one last year. Really neat engine. I was fun and easy.

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Markcb750

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #14 on: January 11, 2012, 04:03:38 AM »
I wanted to paint some parts for my CB900 project so I set up the paint booth and sprayed a few bomber parts that were ready.

I used rattle-can SEM paints on the CB750 parts that where not powder coated, but when I did the '69 CL450 I bought some equipment and started spraying catalyzed urethane.
The results are far superior:
smoother & higher gloss
small sags & runs can be flowed out by reversing the vertical orientation of the part on its drying hook
the paint is petroleum resistant almost as soon as it is dry, important for tanks and parts exposed to oil drips.


The headlight fork ears are a challenge because the damaged chrome part is welded to the sheet metal. Anyone with experience restoring this part? Your experience would be appreciated. Note the pitting through the chrome & copper into the base metal.

Also note the improvement in my paint booth from 4 years ago when I did the cb750...  ;D  ::)
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Markcb750

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2012, 06:42:25 PM »
Painted the side covers for the 450, a new set for my friend's CL450 and  a trial using house of color samples for the 900F project. Thanks John!

also painted the 900f side & center stand, and the bottom of the 450 bomber rear fender.  Good day!
« Last Edit: January 29, 2012, 06:48:04 PM by Markcb750 »
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Offline cmonSTART

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2012, 07:08:56 PM »
What a great bike!  I had a '70 and a '73 but I always liked the '67.  Good luck with the project!
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Offline lucky

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2012, 08:07:09 PM »
I would love to see the black bomber  restored back to stock. It was a beautiful bike.
I was a mechanic and took one of the first ones out of the packing crate when it came to the Honda dealership.
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Offline Stev-o

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2012, 09:02:09 PM »
Paint work looks great!
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Offline lucky

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2012, 10:07:14 PM »
The CB450 was a bike that made everyone know that Honda was a serious motorcycle.

IT had duel cam front brakes.
electric start.
center stand.
side stand.
Easy to get to tool kit.
Duel instruments in one housing way before the V rod.
It could carry two people in comfort. No asses way up in the rear.

Click on the photo once for larger picture.
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Offline Retro Rocket

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #20 on: January 29, 2012, 10:28:44 PM »
Quote from: lucky on January 29, 2012, 10:07:14 PM
The CB450 was a bike that made everyone know that Honda was a serious motorcycle.

IT had duel cam front brakes.
electric start.
center stand.
side stand.
Easy to get to tool kit.
Duel instruments in one housing way before the V rod.
It could carry two people in comfort. No asses way up in the rear.

Click on the photo once for larger picture.

That would be "DUAL" not "DUEL.......   Dual as in 2 of,  and Duel as in a prearranged fight between 2 people.... :P
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Offline lucky

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #21 on: January 30, 2012, 06:09:55 AM »
Quote from: Retro Rocket on January 29, 2012, 10:28:44 PM
Quote from: lucky on January 29, 2012, 10:07:14 PM
The CB450 was a bike that made everyone know that Honda was a serious motorcycle.

IT had duel cam front brakes.
electric start.
center stand.
side stand.
Easy to get to tool kit.
Duel instruments in one housing way before the V rod.
It could carry two people in comfort. No asses way up in the rear.

Click on the photo once for larger picture.

That would be "DUAL" not "DUEL.......   Dual as in 2 of,  and Duel as in a prearranged fight between 2 people.... :P

Ooops!
« Last Edit: January 30, 2012, 06:12:19 AM by lucky »
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Offline dagersh

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #22 on: January 30, 2012, 12:12:08 PM »
I think Duel works well for for Mark here....

Seriously, Mark great job!  Keeping on this one.  I love my Bomber!  Such a nice bike to ride, lots of guts and handles pretty nicely considering its age.

Gersh
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Markcb750

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #23 on: January 30, 2012, 04:03:08 PM »
There are days on this batch of projects that I feel like I am dueling, between my wife's complaints about the garage and working to restore  abused components from sitting under a shed roof in Goshen NY for 28 years.  Now I pilled on the CB900F which I am anxious to ride ASAP so I can clean up the 750 and keep it for just showing off. :o

But somehow I suspect you are referring to my firm defense of physics from people simply trying to make less educated people look ridiculous, or my defense against those who think calling out people for poor customer service is in poor taste...



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Offline cmonSTART

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Re: Black Mamba A 1967 CB450
« Reply #24 on: January 30, 2012, 05:42:29 PM »
Quote from: lucky on January 29, 2012, 10:07:14 PM
The CB450 was a bike that made everyone know that Honda was a serious motorcycle.

IT had duel cam front brakes.
electric start.
center stand.
side stand.
Easy to get to tool kit.
Duel instruments in one housing way before the V rod.
It could carry two people in comfort. No asses way up in the rear.

Click on the photo once for larger picture.

The unique valve spring spring system also allowed it to rev over 10K, which was quite a thing back in the day!
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