Topic: 1972 CB350 For the Daughter

[Harsh]

Well I guess I threw the tensioner away that I took out of the wife's bike.  I think I have sourced one though.

Figured I would install the clutch basket, primary drive gears, and oil pump.  Well that came to a screeching halt due to the incomplete gasket kit.  It is missing the oil pump gasket.  So the engine is officially done until I get some parts in.

[Harsh]

Since I was at a stopping point I decided to do some cleaning of parts that way when I am ready for them I can just install them and go.  Well the hits keep coming.  I think I figured out why the PO could never get the bike to run.

[RAFster122s]

Better to find than go through head pounding after it is all together...

Just a bit of Murphy showing up, you can't keep him out forever.  Give him a few now so he can't strike later.

[Harsh]

Well now I am not sure mine is bad.  I was looking last night and found this NOS.  The wire not being connected looks a lot like mine.  I did some quick measurements this morning before heading to work.  A-B=.7 ohms  B-C= 1.1 ohms  A-C=1.7 ohms.

[RAFster122s]

That is a lot of variation between branches. What does the 350 shop manual say the resistance should be?  What is the sting ($) of a new stator winding?

[Harsh]

I haven't looked up what the manual says it should be yet.  If I were to get a used one probably about $50 I would guess.  The one I pictured is $220.  One from Ricks is $225.

[RAFster122s]

BTW, Ricks makes a high output single phase output kit with new regulator that provides 25% more power and they mention it will allow battery charging if the headlight is on or off and it supports a 55W headlamp.  The on or off is probably a function of the higher wattage headlamp with stock stator would not charge if headlamp were on.  But, in case it is not you should dig a bit to find out on the honda twins forum if there are issues with charging running the headlamp.  I looked on ebay and there was one for sale the seller quoted the winding readings as .8, 1.4, and 1.8   so, yours is probably good.  Any broken insulation/enamel/ or epoxy should be coated to prevent a problem from developing.
David

[Harsh]

There is a charging mod that can be done on the 350's to get it to charge when the headlight is on or off.  The manual only shows to measure two legs.  I will have to try and figure out the colors, but I think mine is good.  Yellow - Pink = 1.1 ohms  and White - Pink = .55 ohms.  The only thing I can think of is the wire comes out of the covering and connects to the stator out of view and they just leave thee excess covering there for some reason.  Probably for rubes like me to see it and think there stuff is bad.

[Harsh]

The good and the bad tonight.  Checked the stator when I got home and it is indeed good.  Well at least it ohms out good.  My local dealership had a oil pump gasket in stock.   They actually had three and the last time they sold one was 1987.  They have done their annual inventory every year since then and accounted for them.  A whopping $1.01 a piece.

Managed to get the clutch basket, oil pump, oil slinger, and stator installed (in the cover).  However, when I went to put the cap on the oil slinger I couldn't get the snap ring to seat fully.  Then I took a good look at it.  Sometimes I will never understand people.  Whoever was in the engine before decided it would be better to grind down a snap ring vice getting the correct one.  So another part I have to go get.

[RAFster122s]

Harsh,  hope the dealer isn't to far away.  Best to look ahead and see if anything else jumps out at you for potential PO "good deeds".

[Harsh]

Received my replacement cam chain tensioner wheel and was able to remove the rivet without boogering it up this time.  A co-worked made the mandrel last night for me so I can set the rivet.  Tonight I should be able to assemble the tensioner which will allow me to finish assembling the engine.  Tracking shows the snap ring is at the post office so hopefully it will arrive today.

[RAFster122s]

Nice tool your friend  and coworker has made.  You should rent that tool...

[Harsh]

If anyone wants to borrow it for the cost of shipping all they have to do is ask.

[Harsh]

All the parts I needed finally came in so I was able to finish assembling the engine today.  As expected getting the rocker boxes on gave me fits, but I managed to get them on.  It took a few tries though.  The first two times I couldn't rotate the engine through two complete revolutions.  It kept locking up for some reason.  The third time was the charm though.  To make sure I must have rotated the engine half a dozen times to make sure it wasn't a fluke.  All that is left is to set the cam chain tensioner and adjust the valves.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Sweet!!! 

[calj737]

You sure do nice work, Sailor... I doubt your daughter deserves such a great looking little bike. Better have me drop by and pick it up to deliver it to some more deserving creature. Say around 3:00 today? 

[Harsh]

I doubt she does either, but it is what I do.

Set the CCT and adjusted the valves today.  The engine is now complete except for installing the electronic ignition, but that has to be done after the engine is installed in the frame.  The engine is now in a lawn bag and put away in the corner.

So I am not much for sitting around.  Ordered the gauge overlays then proceeded to tear open the gauges.  The tach gauge was in fantastic condition.  The speedo...not so much.  This is going to take a lot of work to get usable.













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[RAFster122s]

Harsh, I think your time would be better spent rebuilding a new/replacement used gauge as the corosion is likely to be impeding proper operation.  Complete disassembly of these complex instruments  is often a bad idea...difficulty reassembling without some specialized tools I am betting is impossible.  Would one of the speedo repair shops quote you a ballpark number if you sent them the photos?  What would Marcel charge, if he could do it?

Definitely looks like it has been very wet inside the case or sat upside down exposed to rain or it was flooded.  Was there a dark stain around the needle?  Storing them improperly leads to the oil soaking into the face plate.  They should be stored face up. Or, installed on bike...

Hard not to do a good job for your kids...

With the colder weather what do they have her doing?  Still same sandblasting/ media blasting?  Or, did they find a new level of hell, I mean work assignment for her?

I have a set of old CB175 gauges...wonder if they are compatible, or what they would be compatible with...

David

[Harsh]

I don't know.  I cleaned up the corrosion with a brass wire wheel and everything seems to look good.  More importantly everything moves easily and smoothly.  Since I have had them off the bike I have kept them face up and they were on the bike prior to.  No dark staining, just some surface corrosion.  I need to search here to try and find the lube/grease that is recommended to use on the gears.  There was a small tear in the boot that goes over the trip rod that looks like that is where the water got in.  I know both of the PO's and I think the first one kept it outside uncovered.  He lives just north of DC and I remember seeing a pic of some high snowdrifts so that could explain it.  Neither of the PO's did anything to the bike though.

They still have here doing the same stuff.  Blasting and powder coating.  They do a number of other things there, but she has shown some talent for those two things so they like to keep her there.  Fine for me since I am going to order the powder after Christmas so she can apply it.  That will be a nice savings

[grcamna2]

Harsh, I think your time would be better spent rebuilding a new/replacement used gauge as the corosion is likely to be impeding proper operation.  Complete disassembly of these complex instruments  is often a bad idea...difficulty reassembling without some specialized tools I am betting is impossible.  Would one of the speedo repair shops quote you a ballpark number if you sent them the photos?  What would Marcel charge, if he could do it?

Definitely looks like it has been very wet inside the case or sat upside down exposed to rain or it was flooded.  Was there a dark stain around the needle?  Storing them improperly leads to the oil soaking into the face plate.  They should be stored face up. Or, installed on bike...

Hard not to do a good job for your kids...

With the colder weather what do they have her doing?  Still same sandblasting/ media blasting?  Or, did they find a new level of hell, I mean work assignment for her?

I have a set of old CB175 gauges...wonder if they are compatible, or what they would be compatible with...

David

That speedo is rough..

[RAFster122s]

I hope they work ok,  got an old cable you could cut to allow you to chuck one end in a drill and the other attached to speedo to test it.  I think it is reverse rotation...

I think it is a light silicone grease as they tend to be high temp stable and low temp and generally don't run/melt until very high temps.

David

[Harsh]

I got the speedo gauge all cleaned up last night.  After I removed the corrosion with the brass wheel I applied a light coating of phosphoric acid to the metal surfaces and let it do its thing for a little bit to help seal the metal.  Lubed all the gears with some white lithium grease.  Not sure if the damper needs the RC car silicone grease yet or not.  Tonight I will hook up the drill (in reverse) and see how she functions as well as get some pics.  Still gotta see what I can do about brightening up the tenth mile wheels since they are a bit yellow.

[Harsh]

Tested the gauges tonight and they work flawlessly.  The damping rate is excellent so no need to go any further with the dissection to put some silicone grease in the pots.  I ran them for about a mile varying the input speed.  That takes a surprisingly long time with a cordless drill.

[RAFster122s]

Congrats on the success on the gauge I really thought it looked beyond hope. You are not alone on the missing/torn grommet for the trip meter.  I have one like that.

Any hurdles ahead you can see now?

It is good your daughter has a knack for the blasting and refinish work.  She needs to learn vapor blasting... I saw where Larry Cargill on the CX/GL forum bought a vapor blasting cabinet and it was not that expensive. Larry is expert class on the CX and GL bikes and has been restoring a few bikes a year and taking them to Mecum Auctions...he is working on a couple for early next year's auction.  He has done some very nice custom builds with close direction from the owner.  He is working on a 79 CX500 currently and vapor blasted the cases/motor back to bare aluminum.
He will vapor blast carb bodies now whereas he used to glass bead them. I had a stuck main jet that was pressed in and I sent them to him for assistance and he extracted the jet and replaced it, glass beaded the carb bodies, ran them through his industrial ultrasonic cleaner,  etc. Top shelf work all around.
Email me if you want the thread link to where he showed the vapor blast setup.

Not that you are going to run out and buy a vapor blaster...it was not as expensive as I thought it would be.

David

[Harsh]

The tear in the boot wasn't that bad and it wasn't dry rotted either.   Regardless, when I put it all back together I think I am going to pack the boot with some silicone to help it seal out the elements.

I don't really see any hurdles ahead, but I think we all know they will rear their ugly head at an inopportune time.  Right now I am going through the parts trying to decide what color they should be.  I am struggling with the below parts.

wheels - silver?
speedo gear on wheel - green or silver?  green would match the rotor carrier, but silver would match the wheel
brake caliper - silver? would allow rotor carrier to stand out a bit more
brake caliper bracket - silver?
rear brake hub - silver to match wheel or green to match front rotor carrier?
front fender - green with cream stripe? leave it chrome?

Sure send me the link, can't hurt.