Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => Project Board => Topic started by: gbjeppm on October 15, 2020, 04:43:20 PM
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Hi All,
Further to my intro post, I said that i would post up how I am getting along, so I am starting a project thread.
I bought a CB550 K3 (Registered Jan 1979), Chassis number CB550K-202*****. Seems a little odd that it is a Jan 1979 bike yet it is a K3, but i am not arguing with DVLA. It is a UK registered bike, that is HPI Clear, and has not been on the road since 2006.
That is it as far as History is concerned. Bought at auction with no V5. The speedo says it has done approx 26k miles.
The bike arrived from the auction house a couple of days ago by courier, and I have started to get into it, to assess what I have, what is missing, what needs doing etc.
Here are a few pics of the initial state.
(https://i.imgur.com/v9uULFA.jpg)
The Exhaust
(https://i.imgur.com/CNOaPLB.jpg)
The Front Rim
(https://i.imgur.com/OmFKcsV.jpg)
So hopefully you get the general idea. My hope was that it would still clean up well, as most of the rust was surface rust, and with a lot of elbow grease it could be dealt with.
Here is a shot of the right hand pipes after a bit of effort with the wire wool.
(https://i.imgur.com/1ScMnAp.jpg)
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Looking better already. Wire wool is so underestimated
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So i start to go through the bike to potentially think about starting it.
It has oil in it at the right level, it has spark on at least the two outside cylinders (I have ordered the correct spark plug socket, so that i can get the middle one's out.)
I opened the Carb drain screws up, and nasty green sludge dropped out, so I removed the carbs, stripped and cleaned them. Most of the jets were blocked, and most of the float bowls stuck.
Luckily the fuel tank was empty, and not too bad, so that should be fine to use when I am ready.
Amyway with a temp fuel tank hooked up, and a new battery, all of the lights lit up, the starter whirred and she came to life on the 4th press of the starter.
Definitely running a bit rough, and cylinder 3 is not firing at all as far I can tell.
I have ordered new plugs, along with the spark plug tool. So when they arrive I can change all the plugs, and test for compression etc and hopefully dial the bike in properly.
Also ordered a new clutch cable, fuel tank front rubber, horn (it was missing), oil, oil filter etc,
Slightly cleaner, lots more cleaning to do while I wait on parts.
(https://i.imgur.com/mxBghIS.jpg)
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You do know wire wool works best when lubed with a bit of diesel or petroleum?
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looking better now looking at your pillar drill is it made in swadlincote by o bryans i think they called it fobco ?
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looking better now looking at your pillar drill is it made in swadlincote by o bryans i think they called it fobco ?
Yes it is a Fobco, its a fantastic drill
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You do know wire wool works best when lubed with a bit of diesel or petroleum?
Yes thanks
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You spot the pillar drill, I have bike lift envy....
I grant you that the wire wool has done a good job with the rust, but how durable is the result? Will it come out in a rash of rust spots after being out in the rain?
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I’m sure my K3s (I had three or four in the day) had no front stay on the front mudguard.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Eg:
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201015/d8f9b706ed1d23ba3a12fedaeeec1ae1.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201015/69b7f678f4b7bd50f460add4db8f87b5.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20201015/a076440b13c1c6a55e3c4f7cc93e1b9f.jpg)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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K3's had stays, including my 500k3
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"I grant you that the wire wool has done a good job with the rust, but how durable is the result? Will it come out in a rash of rust spots after being out in the rain?"
Good question. It's one of those things that generally is not looked at very closely. The chrome doesn't rust, chromium being the significant element making steel "stainless" when alloyed with steel.
The visible rust is the steel structure material corrosion coming out through pores in the chrome plate. In effect not curable, but rub it off and keep just a little oil on it, and it'll stay reasonably good but difficult with hot exhaust.
As I understand it, really good protective chrome would use nickel and copper "undercoat" with decorative chrome to finish, effectively making impermeable barrier to the base steel rusting.
Think all chrome of this era ultimately needs coating with oil to preserve it as it's more decorative than long term protection.
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"I grant you that the wire wool has done a good job with the rust, but how durable is the result? Will it come out in a rash of rust spots after being out in the rain?"
Good question. It's one of those things that generally is not looked at very closely. The chrome doesn't rust, chromium being the significant element making steel "stainless" when alloyed with steel.
The visible rust is the steel structure material corrosion coming out through pores in the chrome plate. In effect not curable, but rub it off and keep just a little oil on it, and it'll stay reasonably good but difficult with hot exhaust.
As I understand it, really good protective chrome would use nickel and copper "undercoat" with decorative chrome to finish, effectively making impermeable barrier to the base steel rusting.
Think all chrome of this era ultimately needs coating with oil to preserve it as it's more decorative than long term protection.
I have no doubt that the exhausts are rusting from the inside out, and in fact the no 3 pipe has a couple of holes on the underside of the silencer about 10 cm after the join to the header. I think i am going to get a stainless patch tig welded in to it to make it solid, but i am a little concerned how thin the steel inside is now.
I am just hopeful that getting them clean and keeping them clean and dry, and oil coating, and stored inside will prolong its life.
Oh and it needs to be used...... that will help a lot
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Mine has never had a front stay.
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Mine has never had a front stay.
Interesting on the stay. I keep looking at the pictures, and i think that my bike with the mudguard/fender with the stay extends further over the top of the tire, although I can't be sure.
When i take it off I will look for a part number, it may be after market.
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I own a 550 K3. All that's left of my original bike is the frame and rear hub 😁😁😁😁
[attachimg=1]
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Nice looking bike Julie.
You have the front fender stay :D :D
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Nice looking bike Julie.
You have the front fender stay :D :D
Yep, that's the nice thing about building a Mongrel, you can fit whatever you fancy or whatever you have laying around😊😊😊
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the factory that made is about one mile from where i live. they also made cement mixers in the 60-70 factory now gone supermarket on site now . i agree well made british engineering . :)
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the factory that made is about one mile from where i live. they also made cement mixers in the 60-70 factory now gone supermarket on site now . i agree well made british engineering . :)
It will likely last another 100 years if looked after. I am just a sucker for old engineering!!!
Whether it is a Ransomes Lawn Mower, a Myford Lathe, Fobco Drill, Startrite Bandsaw etc etc.
I guess that is also why I am attracted to the older Honda's as they are built beautifully, and need to be cherished.
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This looks like a very familiar story, really nice to see it being brought back to life! 8)
It's amazing how much can be hiding in places, but really impressive what you can do to bring the chrome back up.
Be sure to have a thorough going over of the wiring, its scary what I've found in places and the honest thing would be to just replace the lot now however that'll be waiting as a future project.
What are your plans for the restoration? Just being mechanically sympathetic and getting it back on the road in good order or more serious ideas?
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Plan is to keep it as stock as possible, with original paint etc. That may not be totally possible but we shall see.
Noted on the electrics, but so far mine actually seems to be better than i expected.
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Decent crimper, not the cheapo insulated terminal type, and the special one if you want to do block connectors plus connectors from vehicle wiring products (doublers and treblers elswhere) plus time and you can refurb a loom to a high standard
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Quick update:
She is now running very nicely indeed.
New plugs, cleaned and reset the points, retimed it, cylinders 2 and 3 were well out. Checked and adjusted all of the valves, and reset the cam chain tension.
Changed the oil and oil filter.
My only observation is that the exhaust is venting quite a lot of water from the pin holes. I am putting this down to me only idling the bike. ( I cant ride it until it has new tyres and the paperwork back from DVLA etc). Any thoughts on this? I am hoping it will stop when I can take it for a proper ride.
I started to dive into the seat today, and discovered that the floor pan is totally rotten on the edges, so will probably source a new one from DSS.
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Condensation - thats quite normal when weather is cold - the cause of many rotton exhaust back in the day - to many short rides and winter weather caused this though
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retimed it, cylinders 3 and 4 were well out.
How do you do that? It would rather be 1 and 4 or 2 and 3.....
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retimed it, cylinders 3 and 4 were well out.
How do you do that? It would rather be 1 and 4 or 2 and 3.....
Oops, well spotted, i meant 2 and 3, now corrected.
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;D
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I have managed to make more progress.
First off I needed to sort out the exhaust, as Muffler No 3 had a couple of holes in it. All of the others were fine, and it seemed a shame to junk it.
(https://i.imgur.com/0kgV2zk.jpg)
I managed to find a local welder who after looking at it said that he could weld in polished stainless, and make it structurally sound. As the holes were underneath, that was fine by me.
The result was much better than I imagined.
(https://i.imgur.com/jJTUII8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/q6Ueye3.jpg)
So now the exhaust was sorted out, my new seat arrived from Vietnam, and it was ready to ride.
(https://i.imgur.com/w6MvlSw.jpg)
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First ride was underwhelming to say the least.
In neutral, the bike was running nicely, idling at 1200, and stable.
Under load, the minute I hit 3500 revs it started to stutter and backfire, it felt like fuel starvation.
I read lots of forum posts, that the bike needs to run a bit rich etc, but no amount of playing with the mixture and idle helped much.
I was trying to narrow down the issue.
I had new plugs, all the leads tested good. I had cleaned the carb, I knew I had fuel, the timing was correct, so i was fairly convinced that the condensers were the problem,
Two new condensers this morning, and wow its a different bike. Idle is better, no stumbling or backfiring all through the rev range. Finally I can ride it without thinking about breaking down :)
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So pic from today, more or less done for now. Ready to be enjoyed.
(https://i.imgur.com/L0OeVjH.jpg)
Outstanding items:
Rear wheel respoke and refresh (when DSS has them back in stock)
Rear grab bar
Engine and frame paint (next year perhaps)
New tank trim
New mirrors
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Looks good to me, I'm a sucker for 4 separate pipes they never fail to impress me.
Cheers
Dennis
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That's a good bit of faultfinding