Topic: CB500K2 Turbo Project

[Bob3050]

Alright now that it runs it's time to get after the body and paint work. To start with the tank is not too badly banged up. It had only one thumbnail size dent just to the right front of the cap.It had been painted several times so I took it down to bare metal.

Under the paint I did find some repaired dents but they looked good

Primed and sanded and sanded and primed multiple times.

The side covers had to be shaped to clear the air filter on the right and the exhaust on the left and then primed.

The seat that I used is a Hot Wings flat track seat/tailpiece. It was too narrow in the front so I cut it on each side and spread it open to the width I needed. I cobbled together a jig to hold it while I glassed it.

I used waxed paper to keep the glass where I wanted it .


Cover the repair with Bondo and file and sand to shape.

Then it's off to the paint booth for priming.

To mount the seat I made a couple of brackets and drilled and tapped the frame to bolt them on.Some rubber biscuits go between the seat and the brackets.

This is the seat mounted, before I primed it. Seat pad is velcro attached.

I really didn't want to cut the frame off so I mounted the rear turn signals in the original fender mount holes. I have the original rear fender, handrail and tail light so I could go back to the stock seat set-up. I did cut the seat hinge mount off but I saved it so it would be possible to sew it back on.

I'll try to post some more later or tomorrow.
Bob
 

[Greggo]

Very nice.  I like that you're keeping the stock stuff too. 

[Bob3050]

I guess the next thing on the list is the front fender. I wanted to keep the bead around the edge as much as possible so I cut the fender to the length I wanted by taking it all off the back end.Then I drilled out the rivets holding the mount.

Next I had to weld up the holes I no longer needed.

After that it was a matter of grinding, bondo, filing, sanding and priming.
   
I used 6m round socket head screws because they look almost like the rivets that I had removed.

To go with the yellow I went with white for the tank,seat,side covers and front fender.




To keep it from looking to plain I went with a yellow racing stripe down the tank and rear tail.



 The stripes look OK from a distance.


But on closer inspection you see that the tape I used let the edges bleed through.


So I have a friend who is very good at rubbing and buffing paint. He has the tank and seat now and when he is through I'm going to see about pin striping the edges of the racing stripes. I hope to get the pieces back tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.


 

[theofam]

It's too cool that you saved the turbo all those years. Thanks for taking the time to show us your build. I don't recall a pic on this forum of all the turbo pieces laid out, so it's interesting to see how they all go together in your pics.

What is your step-by-step polishing process?  Those pieces look nice!

[Bob3050]

Theofam: Thanks for the kind words. I think the secret to good polishing is prep by sanding with progressively finer grades of paper. With me it's awfully easy to get lazy and stop too soon. But I'm learning to stick with it.

[theofam]

How fine do you get - 800, 1000?  Thanks!

[Bob3050]

Theofam: I've had good luck with polishing after I get a good finish with 600 paper.
Like I said it's easy to get lazy so stick with it.
Bob

[fantino]

Really cool project both mechanically and visually. You make everything seem really effortless!

I notice it looks like you used regular old blue painters tape for your line work. That stuff works great for thick house paints, but as you found out, doesn't always give the cleanest line when using spray and other thin paints.

In the future if you decide to try something similar, I'd suggest buying a roll of "fine-line" tape. It's used by sign and auto-body guys for those really sharp details. Quite thin, and much easier to pull off as well.

Keep up the great work, can't wait to see it all come together. Please post a video of it running with the turbo once it's up and running :-D

[Bob3050]

Fantino: Thanks for the tip about the tape. I should have done a little more research before I jumped in. Hopefully my buddy can rub it out enough so that pin striping will cover any of the remaining flaws. We will see. Post #24 on this thread is a video of the bike running. I plan on posting another when it's all ready to hit the road.

[lucky]

Great workmanship. I would like to know more about how you tune the turbo for each particular engine. Jetting etc.,.

[fantino]

Fantino: Thanks for the tip about the tape. I should have done a little more research before I jumped in. Hopefully my buddy can rub it out enough so that pin striping will cover any of the remaining flaws. We will see. Post #24 on this thread is a video of the bike running. I plan on posting another when it's all ready to hit the road.

Aha, you're right! I totally just saw the video as a picture when I passed through that post. That's really mean sounding :-D I'm really curious as to what sort of power the bike will put down to the ground.

[Bob3050]

Great workmanship. I would like to know more about how you tune the turbo for each particular engine. Jetting etc.,.

Thanks for the compliment.
 The Harley carburetor has an adjustable main jet. So it's always been a matter of plug reading, make an adjustment, teat ride and repeat until I'm satisfied or wind up in jail.

Fantino: Thanks for the tip about the tape. I should have done a little more research before I jumped in. Hopefully my buddy can rub it out enough so that pin striping will cover any of the remaining flaws. We will see. Post #24 on this thread is a video of the bike running. I plan on posting another when it's all ready to hit the road.

Aha, you're right! I totally just saw the video as a picture when I passed through that post. That's really mean sounding :-D I'm really curious as to what sort of power the bike will put down to the ground.

So am I. All the other bikes I have had this on performed really well. In the early seventies I rode with two friends who both had Kawasaki Z1's. I was never a match for them off the line but once I got the turbo spooled up they were not able to match my top end.

[Nezhac]

Great progress,
as has been said, you make it all look really effortless nice stuff
Hope that the racing strip gets sorted out to your liking, as you said, it looks fine from a distance.

The power and mechanics of this bike seem really cool to me, as to fantino it seems.
Putting it on a dyno would be really interesting, have you ever done it?
What do you know, if anything, about reliability with a turbo? I know it'll wear faster just because there's higher overall compression and more force on the piston, but then again, the SOHC 4's are reputed very sturdy.
What's the turbo like? When does it spool up and when is the peak power?

Sorry for all the questions, just think an original ATP turbo on this cool bright bike is so cool 

[Bob3050]

Great progress,
as has been said, you make it all look really effortless nice stuff
Hope that the racing strip gets sorted out to your liking, as you said, it looks fine from a distance.

The power and mechanics of this bike seem really cool to me, as to fantino it seems.
Putting it on a dyno would be really interesting, have you ever done it?
What do you know, if anything, about reliability with a turbo? I know it'll wear faster just because there's higher overall compression and more force on the piston, but then again, the SOHC 4's are reputed very sturdy.
What's the turbo like? When does it spool up and when is the peak power?

Sorry for all the questions, just think an original ATP turbo on this cool bright bike is so cool 

   I have never had any dyno testing done. As far as reliability goes I used all the previous turbo equipped bikes with absolutely no problems due to the addition. I rode them every day and took several 500 to 1000 mile trips.
I was not on the boost most of the time. To tell you the truth I'm going to have to learn a lot all over again. I don't honestly remember at what rpm the boost would
come on. I'll have to get back to you after I know more. I do remember I could red line the tach in high gear, but I doubt I'll be doing that much anymore. My seventieth birthday is only a couple of months away and I want to be here for it.
Bob

[Bob3050]

I just got back from my friend's house where he sanded and buffed my tank and seat.He used 1500 and then 2000 paper. You really can't see much difference in the pictures but the edges between the stripes are considerably smoother and the orange peel is drastically reduced to the point of almost completely gone.

Tomorrow morning I'm taking them to be striped. I'm not sure what color yet. I was thinking of possibly lime green or black or maybe even purple. I'm going to listen to the striper, he has the artistic eye, I sure don't.
Bob

[theofam]

Lookin' forward to seeing the pinstripe color decision!  Very cool that your buddy was able to sand out the orange peel.

I didn't notice anything in the thread.  Did you paint with a compressor/gun or rattle can?

[fastbroshi]

  That's a neat turbo, I don't think I've ever seen one for the 550.  You should definitely dyno it, especially if you were beating those Z1s.  Just for reference, a stock '76 Z1 will make around 80hp and 50lb-ft of torque.   
  I'm not surprised the bottom end stayed together as the 550s are notoriously strong there.  Did you ever run into any problems in the valvetrain?  How many lbs of boost is that Rajay pushing?

[Bob3050]

Lookin' forward to seeing the pinstripe color decision!  Very cool that your buddy was able to sand out the orange peel.

I didn't notice anything in the thread.  Did you paint with a compressor/gun or rattle can?

I've got an older Harbor Freight touch up spray gun. It's the type with the trigger on top and a small 8oz. can. It actually works pretty good.

  That's a neat turbo, I don't think I've ever seen one for the 550.  You should definitely dyno it, especially if you were beating those Z1s.  Just for reference, a stock '76 Z1 will make around 80hp and 50lb-ft of torque.   
  I'm not surprised the bottom end stayed together as the 550s are notoriously strong there.  Did you ever run into any problems in the valvetrain?  How many lbs of boost is that Rajay pushing?

No, I never had any valve train problems but every bike I put it on was brand new at the time. As far as boost goes I believe it ran between 6 and 8 pounds but to tell you the truth I truly don't remember exactly. I'll see how well it still works when I get it on the road.
Bob   

[Bob3050]

I took my gas tank and seat to be striped this morning and an hour later was on my way back with the finished job. The striper liked my idea of the lime green stripe so that's the way we went. It took care of my tape bleed through fiasco so I'm well pleased. Now I can go ahead and finish assembly. I'll keep you up to date as I go.
Bob
   

[unheatedgarage]

Bookmarked.

Thanks for taking all the pics and posting this thread -- it's inspiring me to head out to the shop to continue my 550k project.

[lordmember1969]

I took my gas tank and seat to be striped this morning and an hour later was on my way back with the finished job. The striper liked my idea of the lime green stripe so that's the way we went. It took care of my tape bleed through fiasco so I'm well pleased. Now I can go ahead and finish assembly. I'll keep you up to date as I go.
Bob

Looks great Keep the pictures coming

[Bob3050]

I took my gas tank and seat to be striped this morning and an hour later was on my way back with the finished job. The striper liked my idea of the lime green stripe so that's the way we went. It took care of my tape bleed through fiasco so I'm well pleased. Now I can go ahead and finish assembly. I'll keep you up to date as I go.
Bob

Looks great Keep the pictures coming

Lordmember:
         I really appreciate the encouragement from you. I have been watching your build and I am thoroughly impressed. That's not a build you are pulling off it is an exercise in engineering. I'll continue to follow your progress and I will no doubt continue to be amazed.
Bob

[lordmember1969]

I took my gas tank and seat to be striped this morning and an hour later was on my way back with the finished job. The striper liked my idea of the lime green stripe so that's the way we went. It took care of my tape bleed through fiasco so I'm well pleased. Now I can go ahead and finish assembly. I'll keep you up to date as I go.
Bob

Looks great Keep the pictures coming

Lordmember:
         I really appreciate the encouragement from you. I have been watching your build and I am thoroughly impressed. That's not a build you are pulling off it is an exercise in engineering. I'll continue to follow your progress and I will no doubt continue to be amazed.
Bob

Thank You The build has been a bit slow lately for several reasons. But picking up speed now when winter comes to Norway.. Most of the parts are already made and ready to assemble Your build looks great, and I hope one day to come across one of those turbo`s to put on my other SS750.

[Bob3050]

I'm posting some pictures of my completed bike even though it's not really completed.I finished putting it together last night and fired it up and warmed it up good and then found the carburetor was leaking from the accelerator pump. After I found the leak I went to SOHC/4 to see what was happening and I ran across someone saying that O-ring chains will damage the cases on CB500's.Then I went to the FAQ section and checked it out. By what I saw there I'm going to remove the brand new O-ring chain and go for a non O-ring replacement. When I put the O-ring chain on I noticed it was obviously wider but it seems to clear everything and I get no feel of any rubbing when I spin the wheel by hand. But I would rather be safe than sorry so I will take my lumps and buy another chain(don't tell my wife). I am certainly glad this forum stopped me from doing some damage. I also have the carb parts coming to repair my leak. So with any luck I will have it completed before too long. I still need a mirror but I can't decide what I want. Maybe these projects never really get done?
Bob






                             

[Greggo]

Jealous doesn't even begin to describe the feeling.  That bike is...wow.