Tank update

I worked on the tank some more today. I think I have the exterior right about where I want it. I have yet to treat the inside. I will most likely leave the liner for last.

 

I used paint stripper to get the decals off. After a couple coats of paint stripper, the paint and decals wiped off. I cleaned the rest of the tank up with the sand blaster. Then I sanded the tank using 180 grit paper on a soft block. This is what I came up with.

Looks much better than this...

 

You can also see that I de-tabbed the frame (removed side cover mounts).

The tank looks even better in person. I might go a bit higher with the sand paper maybe 400 then 600. I did however come up with a way to protect the raw metal. After reading tons of stuff online, I came across a product called "Gibbs Brand" lubricant. It is extremely popular with hot rodders and die hard mechanics. It goes on clear and protects the raw metal for up to four months at a time (according to a guy who has a whole car that is raw finished, protected with only Gibbs). You can paint over it at any time because it's isopropyl based and doesn't contaminate the metal. Isopropyl is a key ingredient in Rain-X so it's no surprise that it also makes water bead off like wax. I'm pretty happy with the finished product. I could have done clear coat for about $100, but why? It takes all of 5 minutes to wipe the tank down with Gibbs, and that also helps keep the bike clean. Clear coat seems to be very hit or miss as a permanent solution as well. Gibbs is said to work 100% of the time, as long as you aren't too lazy to re-apply every now and then. I'm the kind of guy that keeps 6 coats of wax on his car, a little gas tank is easy!

Fuel tank

So I started messing with the fuel tank yesterday. The original plan was to do a raw finish. After looking around I decided that a raw look has been done too many times. Last night I sanded the tank with a sanding block to get an idea if what I was going to need to fill in preparation for a new paint job. 

For its age this tank is great shape, but in order to paint it the right way it's going to be a lot of work. I'm not above doing that work, that's not the issue.

 As soon as I got through the paint on the tank and saw the bare steel I though "wow this looks cool." I am now seriously reconsidering the raw finish and more likely than not, it's probably what I'm going to go with. The reason is the look you get, with so little work (relatively). I think the small dents will be unnoticeable when the tank is raw and the dents that are visible will give the bike some character. The biggest issue is the clear coat, there are probably a hudred ways to do the job. I have been doing tons of reading on this, picking up where I left off when I was iniatially thinking about the raw finish. I have come up with a couple of ways to accomplish the look I want. I will be prepping the rest of the tank as soon as I get time, probably in the next week or two.  

Productive weekend.

I got a lot done this weekend. Jorge helped me weld the tail section on to the bike. 

We also made the frame bracing for the new frame loop. 

 

I think I have finally honed my skills using the die-grinder. Previously, I used the die-grinder to smooth out the old welds after removing the old seat bracket. This time around I noticed I was much, much better. After about 30 minutes I had a roughly finished product. 

They look even better in person. Jorge filled in pin holes that developed while I was blending the metal. 

I have a little more work to do in the bracket before paint, but I think they will look factory-smooth when they are done. 

I will be posting the rest of the progress throughout the week. Until then, thanks for reading.

Soda blasting the motor

I prepped the motor and started soda blasting the other day. 

I used about 8-10 pounds of soda. I think il need about 15-20 pounds more for the motor, good thing it's cheap! It made short work of most of the rust and oxidation on the outside of the motor. I took a bunch of pictures of the motor before I started. The engine isn't completely done so I don't want to show those yet. I did take a couple of shots that give you the basic idea of how awesome soda blasting is.

The left side of the cover is after one pass with the blaster. The right side is untouched.

 

A bit harder to tell in this picture, but the right set of fins got a couple of passes with the blaster while the left side was left untouched. I ended up hitting the fins a bit more and they now look better. Il have the motor finished in the next week or so. 

Busy weekend.

This weekend I had planned on going to a motorcycle show in Kentucky with Sofia (my girlfriend). Instead, I decided to save the gas money, stay in town, and work on my motorcycle. 

One of the first things I did this weekend was run the new fuel lines for the carbs and make sure everything was ready to go. 

The carbs are done and awaiting installation. 

Next, I decided to rebuild the master cylinder. I got a bunch of baking soda at Walmart to run through the media blaster. Between a little sand paper, soda blasting, and a little paint, the lever came out pretty good. Before...

And after...

I sand blasted and repainted the bracket on the underside of the cylinder. Before sand blasting.

After sand blasting.

And finally, painted and installed.

After working on the master cylinder I sand/soda blasted the exhaust header collars. Before: 

And after.

They cleaned up pretty nice.

 I used the master cylinder and exhaust collars to hone my skills in preparation for my goal this weekend, the motor. Before pulling the motor apart, I talked to Jorge to get his opinion on the best course of action. He said to check compression and if the compression is good, to not pull the motor apart. That seemed like a decent plan. If anything goes wrong, I have a full seal kit on standby. 

The issue with checking compression was the spark plug threading. It's a pretty uncommon thread pattern and size. We had to use the lathe to make the socket into a thin walled socket.

 

Thin wall mod.

 

Jorge's compression checker would not fit. I have been wanting to learn how to use the lathe for a while now, and today I learned a lot. Yes, I could have just gone to AutoZone and picked one up for 15 bucks (although I hear its hard to find an adapter for these bikes), but I learned so much more by making my own. Jorge even learned a couple of things during the course of this little side project. 

We made the adapter and compression tested the motor.

The compression was fine. Readings were (from left to right) 135, 135, 125, and 130. The original Honda manuals say you should be around 150-170. That reading was taken with a Honda specific tool that uses a hard line from the engine to the gauge. Using a car style tester will yield lower numbers. Because of this, the general rule (according to forum gurus and ex Honda techs) is if you're over 90psi and within 10% of each other then you're good. The higher the better with the psi. So, my motor seems pretty healthy. More to come later this week. 

It's been a while

It's been a few weeks since I have updated the blog, but this doesn't mean I haven't been working on the bike whenever I have time. My schedule has been crazy busy since school started up again. I have still managed to put in a couple of days work on the motorcycle.

 I finally decided to reassemble the carbs. I had previously planned to wait for the exhaust and jet them for the exhaust I pick up. My options for an exhaust are still wide open so I'm going to just rejet the carbs later, meaning they are going to come apart again. 

Side note. Part of the reason for reassembling the carbs is to make room for the engine disassembly. I ordered a full seal kit for the motor and will be attacking the engine within the next month. While I have the motor apart I plan to soda blast and engine paint. 

While reassembling the carbs to the bracket I noticed I was missing a retaining cylinder for one of the slides. This for sure would render the carbs useless. I looked around the shop for about half an hour and found nothing. Jorge saved the day big time. He came downstairs and looked at what I had lost. Luckily I had three for the other slides (there should be four total). I gave Jorge the part and he went to the lathe and made a new part. He was worried about it being within half a thousandth of an inch of the original part. I looked at him and laughed, he was totally serious. The guy is a perfectionist. He saved me a very annoying eBay parts hunt and most likely made a part that far surpasses the factory spec.  Retainer on the left was made by Jorge.

I know the silver one looks bigger, it's an allusion. I confirmed with the caliper, the parts are identical.

In other news, the new seat, frame loop, and handle bars have all arrived. I haven't had a chance to get the new frame loop on the bike yet, but here is a picture that gives you the basic idea.

I bought a sand/media blaster and getting that dialed in for this project ate up a good amount of time on Sunday. I did manage to get everything working the way I wanted and do some testing. I cleaned up the rear fender in preparation for paint. I was so excited about the sandblasting, I forgot to take some good before pictures. The fender was the original fender that came off the line in 74, it was rusty as hell. 

 Here are some "before" shots I took half way through getting the blaster dialed in.

 

You can see in the picture above that I had already blasted a lot of the fender. The corner on the left was some of the lightest pitting on the fender when I started.

The picture above shows rust that formed on the chrome that was under the factory seat. 

.

..outer side of the fender. And after...

As you can see all the rust is gone. Now I have my system set up and I can get to work on a couple other parts of the bike. This motorcycle is constantly on my mind. I'm really excited with the direction the project is going. I'm going to try to be better about posting stuff. Thanks for reading!