Partially Restored 74 CB550

[davidcumbria]

Thanks that helps. Briefly, What prep did you do on the engine case before spraying Ted. They look smart.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Prep was cleaning with industrial paint stripper, washed off, hand wire brushing, Wet & Dry, Brillo Pads, Pan scourers as needed to remove oxidation. Insides cleaned using petrol  with bottle brushes in galleries etc.
Prior to painting I washed with thinners. Gasket surfaces to remove Hondabond using mainly Acetone.

[davidcumbria]

Stripping down the carbs noticed that one of the rubber straps in the throttle  piston linkage where it goes into the carb is missing and pretty sure some the others are damaged. Can find very little about these safety or security straps on line, much less a source of replacements. Any ideas on where to get them, what their function is and any consequences/ workarounds for omitting them ? Thanks guys.

[Oddjob]

The are mainly dust seals to stop anything dropping down into the linkage. Can't buy them separately, only as a set and they are very expensive as a rule. Try repairing them with superglue.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

https://www.400fourbits.co.uk/#fuel


Worth trying Steve there are some shown in the photo F 140 worth an e-mail his prices are sensible.

They look the same as a 500/550 at a glance - looking at them might not be impossible to make some out of some thin PVC type sheeting or part of a plastic bottle etc?

I thought they were just to hold stuff in place during assembly - if it's to keep dust out would some sort of plastic washer do the trick?

[davidcumbria]

Thanks Ted I’ll give him a try. They are described as safety or security straps in one write up.makes sense to keep dust out of that ball joint Ken.  I wonder if they are also intended to act as retainer in case the arm tries to jump off when you hit a bump when riding. Not surprising these flimsy little parts are struggling at 50 years old….

[Oddjob]

No, it's just a dust seal, if you look closely you can see they are shaped to match the openings in the throttle linkage, they break so easily they'd never withstand the force that would be exerted if the linkage ever comes apart, which it wouldn't as they are all sprung loaded, so bumps etc wouldn't bother them in the least. The hole which goes over the ball joint is just to hang it off so it stays in place and it's normally where they break as it's so flimsy.

[davidcumbria]

Thinking ahead I’m a bit confused about fitting the primary shaft through the starter  clutch etc once the cases have been assembled upside down and bolted together. The u tube video I purchased shows the American guy thoroughly heating the case next to the right hand bearing then just simply pushing the shaft and bearing home together but the video is unclear at this point. He has fitted a new primary chain. On here it is suggested to prise the primary shaft into place through the sump opening. Is the rh bearing fitted before after or during  that ?

Ps had a minor success today pressing the lower shock bushes out of the swing arm. Rusted in for 50 years but came out nicely using two sockets in a vice. Pretty sure the heating with my mapp torch helped a lot. Others have had to hacksaw them out so I’m feeling a bit  smug. Replacements are available  for reasonable cost  so  new rubber will be good especially after the heating. Off to pick up the frame from the powder coaters  tomorrow and check out ceramic coating of the engine with a local supplier.

[Oddjob]

Depends on what you mean by the R/H bearing, you mean clutch side?

If so then the American fella is just being a prat, really, some people just overthink things, never needed to heat the engine casing up to knock that bearing into place. fit the bearing on the oil pump side but remove the oil pump, as you slide the shaft through you can see which way the shaft needs to be moved in order for it to slide into place. With a new primary chain and more importantly new primary cush rubbers you'll find the shaft doesn't really want to go in as there isn't enough slack in the chain to allow it, that's when you need to lever the shaft backwards in order for it to line up. Just protect the crankcase as you lever against it, doesn't need a huge amount of force TBH.

Shock rubbers, heat is ok but if the paints good it's not ideal. Use a drill and just drill out the rubber surround, that lets the middle drop out, then a hacksaw blade just cutting through the shell of the damping rubber is enough for it to collapse and fall out. Saem process kind of with the swinging arm bearings, especially if they are the steel kind which the 550 aren't.

[davidcumbria]

Thanks Ken. Yes I did mean the clutch side bearing. Video American had not fitted new Cush drive rubbers ( I will) so possibly he didn’t need to lever. When do you knock the clutch side bearing in - after levering and locating the shaft in the oil pump  side?
I’m having the swing arm the powder coated ( mainly why I wanted the bushes out ) so no worries about the heat on paint.

Got to decide whether to get  bottom cases vapour blasted today. Only reason is to prepare the small proportion of visible outer surfaces for paint/ ceramic prep. Have heard that media gets embedded then releases when engine hot. Doesn’t seem like a worthwhile risk , though others have had it done without problems. 2 months I’ve been vacillating !

[Laverdaroo]

Get it done it’ll be sorted then. Just make sure you’re fastidious with the clean afterwards. The bottom case is the easier if the two to clean anyway. Both my engines have been  vapour blasted and cerecote’d and zero dramas.

Can’t spell cerecote


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[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

That's cuz it sounds like Creosote Roo.

[Oddjob]

The clutch side bearing stays on the primary drive shaft Dave, it will just slide into place as you knock the primary drive shaft into place. Just don't forget the spacer that goes onto the primary shaft when you're fitting it. Also don't forget the bearing plate to stop it coming back out.

Embedded? How hard to you think the media is? it's a lot softer than the alloy and they'd be out of business soon if that was to happen as engines would be failing all over the place, you may be confusing that with being trapped, if you leave a pocket of grease somewhere by not cleaning the case properly then the media will just stick into that and heat would release it later, so long as the cases are very clean (and by that I mean check every oil gallery) you'll be fine. A good clean after, just to make sure, using bottle brushes etc and a visual check down oil galleries and that should do.

[Matt_Harrington]

Got to decide whether to get  bottom cases vapour blasted today. Only reason is to prepare the small proportion of visible outer surfaces for paint/ ceramic prep. Have heard that media gets embedded then releases when engine hot. Doesn’t seem like a worthwhile risk , though others have had it done without problems. 2 months I’ve been vacillating !

If you don't want the hassle of cleaning the cases yourself, you could always have them soda blasted. That process will allow the cases to be washed and thus dissolve the soda. Can't remember but I have a feeling that Roo had that done. I am about to have a pair of cases done that way and then Cerakote'd

[Matt_Harrington]

Ignore that! Spoke with Nathan (who Roo and I use) and cases are dipped in paint stripper, washed, vapour blasted, air/water cleared passages and then washed again. Dried and then cerakote'd.