The F2 Restoration

[Bryanj]

Lookin real purdy mate

[Spitfire]

Looking really good, I like the way you are laying the stuff out, that's what I did with the F1, found sheets of cardboard really useful as well.

Cheers

Den

[UK Pete]

I have been doing some more spraying, while i had the paint mixed up i done both my cylinder heads and rocker covers, i have to say they look great, when i have reasembled the engine its going to look almost new, i do hope the finish lasts a long time.
It takes a huge amount of time to get it all to this stage, ie all the repairs and the cleaning and preperation, i am quite glad this is done now
I have slowed down a bit on the rebuild as i have been riding my bikes alot more now the spring weather is hear, the next stage for me is to reassemble the top end, and get the engine into the frame, that is when things get really exciting its that stage where you see liight at the end of the tunnel
Pete

[Read Replica]

Hi there,
About to change the tyres on my own F2 and like the look of the Roadriders that you have gone for. Could I ask what sizes you have fitted?

[Seamus]

Nice one Pete. That will look really good when complete. Keep the pictures coming.

[the-chauffeur]

Good goin' Pete.

Who did your powdercoating?  You're just round the corner to me (literally) and I'm intrigued as to where you found to do it locally.

Nice lookin' spray job on the engine - it took me a while to work out how you managed to get such a good finish.  I've used cans in the past, and they don't give anywhere near as good finish as you've ended up with.  What mix did you use with the POR in the gun?

Keep going, chap.  Looks like it'll be quite a sight when it's done.

Regards

Neil

[UK Pete]

Hi there,
About to change the tyres on my own F2 and like the look of the Roadriders that you have gone for. Could I ask what sizes you have fitted?

Hi the front is 100 /90/ 18 and the back is 11 /90 /18, the tyres look real nice although i have yet to ride them as the bike is not finished yet
Pete

[UK Pete]

Good goin' Pete.

Who did your powdercoating?  You're just round the corner to me (literally) and I'm intrigued as to where you found to do it locally.

Nice lookin' spray job on the engine - it took me a while to work out how you managed to get such a good finish.  I've used cans in the past, and they don't give anywhere near as good finish as you've ended up with.  What mix did you use with the POR in the gun?

Keep going, chap.  Looks like it'll be quite a sight when it's done.

Regards

Neil

Hi Neil , The place i got the powder coating done was in crayford , i would not recommend them as they do mostly commercial jobs such as  gates and railings, the finish is really nice but they coated over a real rough patch of grit that they left on the frame ,and also managed to scuff the bottom rails where it was moved around on a concrete floor, oh year they also lost my brake light bracket that was amongst the small items that belong to the frame,
next time i have a frame done i might spend a little more and get a bike specific powder coating firm.
The engine paint POR 15 is quite hard to use i mixed it up with 10% por 15 thinners, if you are going to use it , be sure to only use it on bare freshly blasted metal, and do not recoat until next day, it does not stick to painted surfaces very well, it is a urethane paint and does not behave like  2k or cellulose paint, so it is worth doing a few test pieces first.
Do you also live in Sidcup ?
Pete

[pae]

Hi there,
About to change the tyres on my own F2 and like the look of the Roadriders that you have gone for. Could I ask what sizes you have fitted?

Hi the front is 100 /90/ 18 and the back is 11 /90 /18, the tyres look real nice although i have yet to ride them as the bike is not finished yet
Pete

I fitted these to my 650 project, they come in loads of sizes... http://www.avon-tyres.co.uk/motorcycle/roadrider

Phil

[Yoshi823]

It's coming along nicely Peter. I must admit to getting out on the bikes now that the good weather is here...i'm glad that I have a choice...


But the 125 is coming along nicely & wouldn't it be good if your 750F2 & my 125T2 were ready at the same time...

[K2-K6]

Pete, this is really good to see the build and that you've logged it so well for all of us to see.

Some observations that may help others, When cleaning threads in castings it's often easier to make a tool out of an allen bolt as a good quality black one is effectively forged and has a much higher torque capacity than a tap which is brittle. Particularly if you get any blast grit in the hole, the tap snags on this and will not cut it so bingo / snapped before you know it. If any interest I can post a method in tips maybe.

If a hardened tap is really stuck and inaccessible, if you can find anybody to do it then spark erosion can desolve it, (you'd normally have to be stripped down to a bare casting though as it has to be immersed in turps to carry out.

I bought a genuine snap-on six sided socket for the valve adjust caps years ago and it's never rounded any caps off, some people do these up as if they were going to lift the bike up by them not just to keep the oil in.

Same for the oil filter bolt, Honda put a small head on that one so you can't over torque it. It just needs doing up until the o-ring is squashed and you can feel that by gently twisting the housing left to right as you tighten until you feel the housing just contact the cases, Done.

It'll be good to see the F2 when It's running.

[UK Pete]

Good advise about the thread cleaning, i was really enjoying the restoration of this bike and logging my progress, but i am enjoying the summer so much at the moment riding my other bikes that i cant bring myself to get on with it, although at some point i will have to get a move on because i have  another  cb750 f2 cafe racer project to build 3 gpz550's to restore, 2 klr600's  to build, 1 klr tengai, and a italjet MB5  for restoration. so the next ten or so years is already mapped out restoring .
Pete

[K2-K6]

Oooh that is a lot to do, don't they call that "time bankrupt" I'm just on painting the outside of the house, started a couple of years ago got halfway down then bought another bike, end of painting!

Noticed you've had a go at V8 Rovers as well, I've had that addiction, still not over it.

[UK Pete]

I cant stop myself from buying older bikes , and then spending time and money on them its an obsession i am sure many of us have.
I had my v8 rover p6 when i was 20, petrol was alot cheaper then and i could afford to run it , i like the engines and did alot of work on mine in my bedroom of all places, i could not afford to run one of those engines any more 15 to the gallon is about the best i got from it
Pete

[K2-K6]

I know it's off topic for this forum but those P6 rovers are nice. There was a manual white one with period minilite wheels at newlands corner the other month, very nice.

I don't know if you recall but I've got an original spec blue colour 750 F2 stored at my place for a freind so if you need any details give us a shout, no dismantling though. It has a genuine Yoshimura pipe on it that looks really nice and an original standard set with it.