Author Topic: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....  (Read 18575 times)

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Offline Rich361

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1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« on: December 12, 2009, 05:34:48 PM »
Hi My name is Rich, I'm from Christchurch New Zealand...  I have a 1975 CB400f which was given to me by my Dad for my 25 birthday!!  Stoked!!  I rode the bike for a while but after a couple of Rallys it started an oil leak in the head gasket and also started blowing a lot of blue!!!  (Broken piston ring...)
So I needed to do a bit of engine work... Lucky for me a work mate of my Dads was an ex motorcycle mechanic and has done ALOT of work on these bikes...

Long story... short...
Heads re-faced...
Cylinders de-glazed...
1 new piston...
4 sets of new piston rings... 
New valves and seals...
Full new Gasket kit and oil seal kit...
Discovery of cam chain bolt snapped clean off... lots of screaming and swearing!!!
Split the bottom end and got snapped bolt removed...
All bottom end bearings inspected and passed!!
New cam chain and primary chain...
and engine put all back together... 

Also got tank and side panels panel beated and re-sprayed...

Unfortuantley while all of this was done I didn't know anything about this forum, if i did I would have gone through the step by step process...  that was two years ago...  I put the bike all back together and one of the first rides I went on... brakes locked on and almost dropped the bike... being eager to get out and ride with spare cash brought another bike a lost interest in the old CB400f....  (young and stupid!!)

I'm now 28 and have pulled the old Honda out of the Garage and am ready to complete my project with more of a focus to to clean up the frame and re-chrome a fe bits and pieces , sort out those pesky brakes and sort out some electrical issues...  Busy Xmas for me!!!!
« Last Edit: August 17, 2010, 09:23:19 PM by Rich361 »
1975 CB400F

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2009, 06:17:11 PM »
Merry Xmas everyone!!

Finally made a start today!!

Decided to tackle the front brake and forks first, don't want to take too much apart as i'll probably forget how to put it back together...

Took front wheel off, found reason speedo wasn't working... broken cable will do that!!
Also had a look at pesky front brake, few problems with this... bleed nipple broken off... will either have to find a way of removing it or get a whole new front brake caliper I guess??  Does anyone have any ideas on removing it??  

Also the aluminium braket that holds the calper has completely seized up... I was reading that the arm should be able to move freely so the brake pads can centre themselves.  So will have to work on this too....

I don't have any problems with hoses and master cylinder as I replaced and restored those parts last time...  Should have looked at the whole system when I first worked on this bike...

I partly polished the front forks 1st time but stupidly decided to use a cheap clear coat which has now started to chip and yellow off...  I will need to strip this back and start again... Bugger!!

Does anyone know if I need to re-polish the forks of could I use some sort of paint stripper??  

« Last Edit: December 28, 2009, 06:19:42 PM by Rich361 »
1975 CB400F

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2009, 06:41:38 PM »
Hey Rich, welcome to the forum and to the tiny section that hails from New Zealand (5 of us at last count).
I wouldn't bother clear coating the forks again, leave them bare, it's how I remember them being and alloy don't rust.
For that broken brake bleed nipple, use a reverse thread screw remover, ask at Mitre 10 they'll know what you need, simply the sharp end taps in then the more you screw it out, the more it burrows in, should pull that sucker right out but give it a good soak in CRC or something else that soaks in.
Nice project the CB400F very collectable and well worth restoring, check out Rick's thread on his one in Aussie, he's making a nice job of that too.
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=51957.0;topicseen
« Last Edit: December 28, 2009, 06:43:45 PM by Hush »
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #3 on: December 29, 2009, 04:59:58 PM »
Thanks for the welcome Hush...

Yes I saw Ricks page.  His and other pages motivated me to pull the old girl out of storage again.

Lot's of fun working on these bikes and I hope I can make a better job than I did last time.

Went down to Bunnings (hardware store) and got me a set of easy outs and I have soaked the bleed nipple over night in WD40 so will have a go at it this afternoon.

While I was there also got a brush that attatches to my power drill to try and get rid of the old clear coat before I start polishing the forks.  I think I am going to have a go with a polishing pad on the bench grinder.  The forks have a few deep marks and gouges in the so I'm not going to be too fussy.

Well I guess I should stop mucking around here on the computer and get out and start working!!
 

 
« Last Edit: March 31, 2010, 01:28:34 AM by Rich361 »
1975 CB400F

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #4 on: January 03, 2010, 05:50:35 PM »
Today I have started to re finish my front forks and brake arm.

Got some paint stripper and stripped them back to bare metal. I had previously coated them in clear coat which was not a good idea, it was yellowed and scratched and didn't look very good.

Gave them a quick sand with 400 grit sand paper (I hate sanding!!)

I thought I might try something a bit different as a whole lot of sanding didn't really appeal to me...  ha ha...

I got some cutting compound and the buffing wheel on my bench grinder... and i was quite surprised with the outcome...  I coated and buffed the forks and brake arm a couple of times and quite a shine now comes off them,  sure it's probably not a perfect finish, there are a few very small marks but for what i'm looking for it's fine.  The forks have some deep grooves in them to start with... I'd never get rid of them...


« Last Edit: January 03, 2010, 05:55:36 PM by Rich361 »
1975 CB400F

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2010, 09:34:02 PM »
They came up OK.
I was wondering why I didn't clean my forks but then realised that they are painted...duh!
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2010, 01:48:40 AM »
Today I started to rip down more of the front of the bike,  Took the headlight and indicators off, gauges and idiot box.  Tried to label all the different wires and plugs but no doubt I will get them all confussed!!  Found a full colour wiring diagram so that should help when it comes to putting back together

Also removed the air box, from what I remember from the first time I worked on the bike, It was alot easier to take it out of the bike than it is to put it back in!!  Some thing to look forward to!!

Had ago at getting the bleed bolt of the brake caliper...  had a complete disaster...  As I was drilling out the centre hole to fit the ezi-out in... The drill bit snapped in the hole... I won't be able drill out the hole now and I'm guessing I will need to get a new caliper now...  No bike wreakers in Christchurch have any kind of early to mid 70's Hondas so my search will need to go further a field.  Got a quote to send a second hand brake caliper from the states on Ebay but with freight the cost over $200NZ!!!!!!!! Quite a bit of money and not in my budget (cheap and cheerful)... I think I'll leave that in the too hard basket for now!!

My father will come around with his bike lift in the next couple of days so will be able to work on the back of the bike, he can also give me a hand removing the engine.

1975 CB400F

Offline fmctm1sw

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #7 on: January 09, 2010, 08:28:50 AM »


I'm going to get a couple of quotes to get the frame powder coated but because i'm on a limited budget I may spray the frame instead... Could anyone give me advice on the types of paint I can use??  I'll search through the forums, i'm sure there will be something for me to study.

Do a search on Brightside interlux polyurethane paint.  You can look at my thread "350F (budget) build."  I'm on hold until the weather warms up, it is FREEZING here.  Well, ok, as freezing as the gulf coast of Florida gets...
Quote from: 754
Dude is that a tire ? or an O-ring..??

Quote from: inkscars
This is not a pod thread
This is not a #$%* on my vacuum gauges thread
This is a help or GTFO thread.

1973 CB350F
1973 CB350G
1975 CB550K
1983 GL650I
1973 CB750K3 (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=92888.0)
1984 Kawasaki KLT-250 (AKA 3 wheeler of death)
1994 Honda TRX300
1999 Honda TRX250

Offline strynboen

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #8 on: January 09, 2010, 10:40:07 AM »
fine vork,,i vod set a nep pistin in caliber and new seling, even it vorks,så you are shure it vorks for long time
are doing almost same vork on my 550 this vinter
« Last Edit: January 09, 2010, 10:44:42 AM by strynboen »
i kan not speak english/but trying!!
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=60973.0
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=144758.0
i hate all this v-w.... vords

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #9 on: January 09, 2010, 07:14:49 PM »
 Thanks fmctm1sw for your suggestion on the Brightside interlux polyurethane paint, I've also had a look at you post, will study it a bit more has will be helpful to strip my frame. I've had a look and it is avaliable in New Zealand, which is helpful... it was $65NZ for half litre.  I'm going to see how much powder coating is but my guess I'll paint the frame.

Took the back wheel, rear guard, suspension etc off today so I am now left with a bare frame pretty much.  The triple trees and swing arm is still on but will remove these in the next few days.
1975 CB400F

traveler

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #10 on: January 09, 2010, 07:23:58 PM »
Good on ya!  I am following your progress, but this is my first time chiming in.

On the frame....Engine block paint.  Irregardless of what the can says, give it a full day drying in the sun.  Stuff really works!  2 good coats ought to do the trick!  Tie it to the rafters with a rope through the fork stem and have at it.  Engine block paint dosen't need a primer...jsut shoot and let it harden up.

On the brake caliper.....that's really a shame.  I have one that has a frozen nipple in it....will try heating it with a MAPP gas torch.  It has been soaked with PB blaster a couple of times, but this baby is STUCK.

The polishing work you are doing really looks good.  Keep it up!

~Joe

Offline strynboen

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #11 on: January 10, 2010, 10:09:38 AM »
that air nippel, on caliber,take a 12 mm skrue and veld it on the nippel...then it can get be skreving off..done it more times
tig velding is giving most heat,,but co2 can alså do it,,give it a gonk,,vith a hammer before you trying to move it arraund
i kan not speak english/but trying!!
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=60973.0
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=144758.0
i hate all this v-w.... vords

Offline strynboen

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2010, 10:43:23 AM »
test
i kan not speak english/but trying!!
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=60973.0
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=144758.0
i hate all this v-w.... vords

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2010, 04:51:23 PM »
Had another go at the brake caliper today using Strynboen's advice...  sorry to say it didn't work, I welded a bolt to the top of the bleed nipple and tried to unscrew it... resulted in snapping off the the top of the nipple and now it's bloken off flush with the caliper!!!   I think it's stuck in there and it dosn't want to come out!!!!  haha

So I think I will have to get a new brake caliper... 

Has anyone had any experience with updating the front caliper to a more modern version??
I have been reading posts about twin disk conversions etc etc... which does seem like alot of work and would no doubt be worth it if you ride to extremes or your bike has had power modifications.  My bike i'm keeping the same stock engine (no mods)  I just want a bit more confidence in my front brake... 

I guess the first thing would be to find a bike that has a similar brake arm set up and then fabricate a brake arm to fit the caliper and the stock forks??

May need to do some reaserch... or if anyone has had experience with this??  will keep you posted...

I you think this is a completely stupid idea, please let me know too...
« Last Edit: January 13, 2010, 04:56:58 PM by Rich361 »
1975 CB400F

Offline fmctm1sw

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2010, 05:17:43 PM »
Had another go at the brake caliper today using Strynboen's advice...  sorry to say it didn't work, I welded a bolt to the top of the bleed nipple and tried to unscrew it... resulted in snapping off the the top of the nipple and now it's bloken off flush with the caliper!!!   I think it's stuck in there and it dosn't want to come out!!!!  haha

So I think I will have to get a new brake caliper... 

Has anyone had any experience with updating the front caliper to a more modern version??
I have been reading posts about twin disk conversions etc etc... which does seem like alot of work and would no doubt be worth it if you ride to extremes or your bike has had power modifications.  My bike i'm keeping the same stock engine (no mods)  I just want a bit more confidence in my front brake... 

I guess the first thing would be to find a bike that has a similar brake arm set up and then fabricate a brake arm to fit the caliper and the stock forks??

May need to do some reaserch... or if anyone has had experience with this??  will keep you posted...

I you think this is a completely stupid idea, please let me know too...

You may have better luck taking the front end entirely off of another bike for use of the brakes.  I think I've seen that done more than I seen fabrication of the brake assemblies themselves.  A guy had a kawasaki ninja front end on a 400F frame I got once.
Quote from: 754
Dude is that a tire ? or an O-ring..??

Quote from: inkscars
This is not a pod thread
This is not a #$%* on my vacuum gauges thread
This is a help or GTFO thread.

1973 CB350F
1973 CB350G
1975 CB550K
1983 GL650I
1973 CB750K3 (http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=92888.0)
1984 Kawasaki KLT-250 (AKA 3 wheeler of death)
1994 Honda TRX300
1999 Honda TRX250

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2010, 10:07:12 PM »
Had my sister in law to do a bit of Photo Shop work on an old photo I had of my bike.

I think it looks quite mean...   The only thing I don't know about is it silly of me to break up my reasonably STD 1975 CB400F??  I live in New Zealand where they are getting very rear...  I've seen two since I've had mine??  and I go to alot of rallies!!

Things to think about!!!
1975 CB400F

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #16 on: January 15, 2010, 07:22:03 PM »
Anyway enough wondering what I can do... and more work on my bike...

Started stripping the paint off the frame today,

Started with Paint Stripper which worked really well...  Lifted the top coat all most instantly, don't know but maybe this bike has been stripped and painted before.

Dad told me the bike had been in a accident and rebuilt so my guess it has been.
But anyway the paint they used can off quite easily.

For the bits that the paint stripper didn't remove, I attacked it with a wire brush on the electric drill which finshed it off quite well.

How clean do you have to get the frame before you re-paint??  Is it alright to have a few small patches of paint??  It's mainly in the small nooks and crannies I can't get too??

I'm gonna take the frame into a Powder Coater and a Spray Painter to get a couple of quotes.. . See what the budget can handle....
1975 CB400F

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #17 on: February 10, 2010, 12:22:47 AM »
Hi,

Thanks to the advice from Scunny (Another Christchurch member of this Forum and also a mate of Dads) he told me of a place get get my bike powder coated for a reasonable price... $260NZ for frame, triple trees, swing arm, indicator stems, motor mounts, centre stand and side stand... all sand blasted and coated...  came up really well and i'm very pleased...  I would of cost me that atleast + all the labour...

Waiting to get a set of All Balls tapered head bearings, it seems most the projects I see on this site use them so they must be good...

Took a couple of photos of my frame and bits and pieces

Also thanks for you help Scunny!!!
1975 CB400F

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #18 on: April 10, 2010, 01:11:50 AM »
Where did those two months go??

Got back into the garage finally and started installing my "All Balls" Steering Head Bearings. 
Read a few posts and threads and followed everybody else’s advice and experiences and it went quite well I thought. I was going to post a step by step but so many other people have done it already with much more detail and expertise than I ever would. So I left it too the experts!!

I put bearing races and the steering head in the freezer for a couple of hours.
The races pushed into the frame without too much trouble,







The bearing has to be pushed down over the large end of the steering head, but the freezer trick worked a treat. Gentle persuasion with a hammer and a large ring spanner and it pushed home quite easily.



Steering All Finished.

For the past few weeks I’ve been cleaning and degreasing my engine ready for painting.  I've once again searched previous threads and took some notes.  I've gone into the engine cleaning process with the motto... "Clean it as much as you can and then clean it some more"



Engine Degreaser in action



Washed off

Exactly how clean do I need to get it?  It's very hard to get in between all the cooling fins, I’m happy with the rest of the engine but I’m a bit worried about the cooling fins, do they need to be spot less??
The local garage has a steam cleaner with I was thinking of using??  Would this be of any use??



Finally I chucked the tank and seat back on for a bit of motivation and to remember to she looked when I started...

Feel like I made a bit of progress today and hopefully it won't be another two months before my next post!!

Cheers

Rich
1975 CB400F

Offline Hush

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #19 on: April 10, 2010, 01:47:27 AM »
Look'n pretty good mate, engine clean is up to the owners wish. ;D
Lots of elbow grease and time is best, there are some good polishes on the market for doing the cases.
I think the thing I most like about motorcycling is the speed at which my brain must process information at to avoid the numb skulls who are eating pies, playing the ukulele, applying make-up etc in the comfort of their airconditioned armchairs as they make random attempts to kill me!!!!!!!

Matt23

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #20 on: May 16, 2010, 03:09:59 PM »
Hey fella,

I have done a full restoration on a 1976 CB400F.It won best honda at last yers classic Japanese Motorcycle show.Im in Christchurch as well so if you need a hand just sing out.

Cheers

Matt

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #21 on: May 16, 2010, 04:27:51 PM »
Hey Matt,

I'd love to see it!!!   To be honest I've only ever seen two other CB400F's in the skin, They were in very poor condition.... It would be awesome to see a fully restored one...

I've just finished painting the engine for mine and about to put it back in the frame... going to post some update picks soon...

A 2 year old son and new baby daughter slows down progress that for sure!!!  Ha Ha

When and where do they have the Japanese Bike show??

Cheers

Rich
1975 CB400F

Offline RickB

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #22 on: May 16, 2010, 06:59:10 PM »
Rich,

Hey mate, great bike!

I noticed you're having some trouble with your front caliper bleed screw. Don't ditch the original caliper, you'll get it out. I had the exact same problem and had my girlfriends engineering father get mine out. You can see a photo of how they did it in a recent post of mine:

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=51957.msg771266#msg771266

That doesn't look too hard to do.

My advice with this build would be not to do any major, irreversible changes. Your CB400F is in good condition, I think you'll regret chopping bits off or doing large modifications years from now when originals are selling for much more. At least that's where my build has evolved to.

Good luck and if you ever decide to sell any parts, let me know!

Rick.

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #23 on: May 16, 2010, 08:53:21 PM »
Hey RickB,

After pricing up a few brake callipers from the USA and England, I think I’m going to have another go at the bugger.  As you probably know shipping costs and exchange rate kills any good deals you can get.  (NZ dollar is lower the Aust!!!) Cheapest I can get shipped to NZ will still cost me over $200NZ...  and the calliper will still need refurbishment...Stuff that!!   
I've brought my self a dremel so will have a go at notching the top and un-screwing it that way... That is what they did with yours??

I agree with the modifications part too...  I was contemplating turning into a more chopped cafe racer... changed my mind heaps of times!!!  I've finally decided to keep everything as stock as I can afford at the moment.  I may do more restoration to it later on.   I'm going to keep all the original stuff and put it in storage so I can change it back if I want to.


Cheers

Rich
1975 CB400F

Offline Rich361

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Re: 1975 Honda CB400f... Tidy up and restore....
« Reply #24 on: May 17, 2010, 03:10:09 AM »
Just a few pics of my motor after I painted it. 

I was going to polish/clean/finish engine cases but after the many weeks of scrubbing all the grime off, I noticed quite a few deep grazes,chips, knocks and imperfections on the cases and I think the engine would have looked worse if I tried to have a polished finish.... So paint it is!!  Hopefully it will dull down a bit once the final cure is finished... one word for it at the moment.... BRIGHT









Now I have to get it in the frame without damaging all the engine enamel paint...  Might give it a blast with a heat gun to harden the paint a bit more...  I have read on other posts that you put the engine on is side and lower the frame over top and then sit the frame up right...  More pics to come soon...

PS Tin foil is awsome for covering stuff up, poking in holes etc etc...  I managed to paint my whole engine with a roll of tin foil and a small amount of masking tape... cher cher
« Last Edit: May 17, 2010, 03:12:16 AM by Rich361 »
1975 CB400F