Topic: CB 500 Four (1972?) Full Restoration

[MickB]

Well I'm looking at my tank and side covers ready to start the bog and rub down when my wife said why don't you get a professional to do it seeing you've put all that effort into it (and she knows I'm not the best painter around, she's painted the house).
I had the tank and side covers down at Dave the Painter (only does restorations) that same afternoon.

ETA late next week.

[Bootsey]

What colour are you going with Mick?

[MickB]

Bootsey long time, tank and side covers are a standard Honda layout but colour will be candy apple red with red metal flake, black sides on the tank with the white stripe separating black from candy apply red.

[RAFster122s]

Mick, sounds like she's a keeper to have you go to the pro for the paint. She wants you to have a good bike that you can enjoy.

[MickB]

She's a keeper alright, 34 years married and still going strong.

[MickB]

I didn't want to go away from the Honda original style but I didn't like their colours, I wanted something that would really pop and had the old school look of metal flake. Metal flake was big in Oz back around the '70s, as also was pin striping.
There was Vic Bogna (spelling) who was the best in Australia, just up one of the streets off Elizabeth St Melbourne. Elizabeth St was and still is the centre of motorbike shops in Oz, 3 blocks of bike shops on both sides of the street, Saturday mornings would find 300 + bloke's bikes parked in the morning, it was a real scene.

[RAFster122s]

Interesting thing about silver metal flake is it picks up the candy color or the base color if flake is applied over the base color with no candy.
So, a Corvette yellow with micro metal flake in clear is blazing day-glow, gotta have polarized lenses to look at in bright sunshine. Gorgeous when done right.

[MickB]

RAF I'm using red flake applied in the clear only on the candy apple paint but not on the black.

[RAFster122s]

I understood that. It will look great. Flake is different today, they have a little more variety available.  The pearls weren't around back then.
Still done old school way. The metallics are so common now on everything,  but metal flake is still a multiple step method and it takes skill to apply properly.

Look forward to seeing the tins come back, as you certainly are as well.

David

[MickB]

Thanks David, I hope it looks ok, as you say it still takes skill, thus the pro painter.
Pulled the stainless exhaust off and wiped it down with wax and grease remover but couldn't come at using a scourer on it, it looks too pretty all polished, so I'll leave it as is for a while.

Rerouted the clutch into the correct position

[MickB]

Because of the rain the tank hasn't been painted! Should be next week, and the forecast for next week isn't great.

So I've gone over the bike with a tension wrench and made sure they're all correct.

Greased the swinging arm, polished stainless washers where there were zinc washers.
I had never tensioned the head correctly  I had only tightened it by feel so I took the tappet cover off and loosened all the head nuts, lo and behold I found an extra 12mm head nut in between no 2 and 3 cylinders, I have no recollection of how it got there. After all it was 12 months ago when I finished the engine, I tensioned the head to the correct (13 - 17) I used 15ft/lb.
The offending nut



Question should I let it sit over night and loosen and retighten as I read by the brains trusts in the forum?

[bryanj]

Let it sit but do not loosen just add an extra Ft Lb and re check

[MickB]

Thanks Cal

[MickB]

Cal I checked them already and oiled as suggested in the manual.

[MickB]

Cal well after I'd replaced the rubber puck gaskets with high temp gasket goo and decided to ask the question, I then thought I'm going to have to remove them and clean them! As I bet there'll be a way to do this and it's not the way I've done it!

Cal I've done what you recommended (sorry Bryan).

I've loosened them off in the correct sequence and retensioned them to 7 ft lbs or in my case with the mini tension wrench 84 in lbs after I did the conversion.

Question: Do I loosen them off again and then tension to 12# or do I just tension them from the 7# to 12#?


When I pulled off the old inspection caps they were all rough and scratched from the removal



I decided to get new caps, chrome. Not my preferred (was black), but the only black anodised were Joker which I didn't like and were far too expensive.



I've resprayed the rocker cover as it was getting greasy marks on it due to my on and off again process, I now look at the engine and it's had my greasy hands over it during assembly and looks a bit dull.

I'm thinking I might pull the engine out and give it a wash with wax and grease remover and respray it.



Any comments?

[MickB]

Repainting the gauges as I wasn't really happy with them, I blame SohRon for this reviewing and redoing.

[MickB]

I'm worried about the lean on the side stand, this one is 20 cms long. I sold one that was longer, is this too short?

[onetruepunk87]

I'm worried about the lean on the side stand, this one is 20 cms long. I sold one that was longer, is this too short?

Not sure what the length is on my kick-stand but it's got way more lean than my 750 does.

Bike is looking good!

[bryanj]

To head torque Honda don't even recommend a retorque at all and deffinately not a loosen and torque, In all the years i have ben doing them I have never had a gasket go

[RAFster122s]

70s knowledge versus today's knowledge.  I personally would go with Cal's and the list's wisdom.

[MickB]

Thanks boys for all the collective wisdom with these old bikes, I'd be lost without it.

The gauges had orange peel look and so more sanding and respray, SohRon and many others have set a high standard.

While waiting for the tank and side covers to return, I've got to put crush washers on the bottom of forks, refill with ATF, bleed front brake, finish the head torque, redo tappets and timing.

All little jobs but doable in time for the tank.

[RAFster122s]

Your orange peel could be because of high humidity or insufficient paint - if the distance from the spray can was correct.
Some can nozzles have a little better tolerance on the range from the object than others.  As long as you are flattening the paint with some color sanding to prep for respray, then your orange peel should be reduced greatly if there isn't an issue...

That first coat of paint sure shows you anything you missed in body work...
gloss acts like a big magnifying glass saying look at me, look at me...

Good luck Mick!

David

You aren't the only one lost without the wisdom from this place... x2

[MickB]

Thanks Raf, it took a week but with lots of sanding and respraying I got there, major hassles getting the lacquer right. I think the nozzle (Rustoleum) was dodgy, it didn't take much to put it on too heavy and get runs.



Fixed the leak in the forks with new copper crush washers, refill with ATF.

I repainted the rocker cover and now have to redo the tappets.

Had lots of tropical rain which has slowed the paint job.

[Restoration Fan]

I'm not suggesting bryanj's method won't work, but offering different advice I've received from engine builders on all my motors. And using it, I've never had a leak or snapped stud. (Knock wood).

+1
We did this on Stella and (*knocks on wood, too*), we haven't had a leak on her.

[RAFster122s]

Looking good Mick! Glad she's turning out to make you happy!
SohRon and now Folsoe have turned out beautiful examples of stock CB550 and CB500 respectively.  SohRon of course has a fantastic documentation of his rebuild.  I think he is considering selling a more in-depth version with different format ad more in-depth version for some areas thr thread did not dig as deep.
It will be a great resource for us 550 owners.
David