Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => CB350/400 => Topic started by: H2Eric on February 02, 2018, 02:35:49 PM
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Hi folks
Here is my latest restoration, a 1972 CB350f imported from the USA. It's been a fairly straight forward job. Take it all to bits, powder coat and re-chrome as necessary and replace various parts with new ones from David Silver / CMSL adding to their already bulging bank accounts, but what would we do without them. A big thanks to both. Phil Denton also provided some lovely stainless components - Cylinder studs, axles and swinging arm pivot to name but a few. More of him in a moment.
The snags, well there had to be a few. On getting the bike I noticed a bent fin on the right side of the cylinder head, nothing that a gentle tap with a piece of wood and hammer wouldn't cure, but then I noticed some damage around the number 3 spark plug. A strange place to get broken fins and also the top of the cylinder stud in that area had taken a beating. Once the cylinder head was off it was easy to see why. It had obviously suffered a seized / broken spark plug at some stage and some clown had tried to drill it out going off center in the process. Part of the old spark plug was still there! Cost of repair, well north of 100 of your best pounds. Plenty of second hand cylinder heads on ebay, all in the USA of course and cheaper than repairing the damaged one except that the cost of shipping was stratospheric. Fortunately DK Spares came to my rescue with a spiffing example, 80 quid all in, result. On removing the original cylinder head I also noticed that the oil feed pipes that distribute the lubricant to the camshaft and rockers were missing. Probably omitted by the same miscreant that damaged the head in the first place. Ebay to the rescue.
The one thing that did cause a problem and delay to the restoration were the fork covers that sit on top of the bottom fork cases. They were a devil to remove, but thanks to those on here that came up with the solution and I got them off without damage. The snag of course is that these components are no longer available and are so thin that a re-chrome would probably finish them off completely. The odd second hand one appeared on ebay in a far worse state that the ones I'd got. Enter Phil Denton into the equation and a commission to make a pair out of stainless. Very nice chap Mr Denton and he likes a challenge. Slight drawback in that he is a very busy man so the components did take some time to appear from his emporium, but well worth the wait and they wont rust. Hurrah!
So there you are, it's all tickety-boo, tip top and ready for the road whenever the weather decides to improve. Hmm, could be a while.
A special thanks to;
Terry Chambers (Racepaint UK) for the paint job
Triple S for powder coating.
My good friend John Edge for the chrome work
Phil Denton (see above)
Steve Lomas (5-one Wheels) wheel building and tyres
David Silver, CMSL and J. T. Marks (USA) for various new parts and DK Spares for the second hand ones
plus my trusted friend Graham Wood for all the help with the spanner work.
Hope you like the end result
Cheers
Eric
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Forgot to mention;
Steve Smethurst for cleaning and treating the crank cases, cylinder block and cylinder head etc.
Peter Bond for the speedometer and rev counter restoration.
Rob Davies-Evans of Kernow Shocks for restoration of the rear shocks.
CC's for the carb cleaning.
John Kenworthy (FAB Fastenings) - stainless screw kit
John Kemp (Inox Fasteners, Southampton) - stainless nuts, bolts, washers etc.
Cheers
Eric
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That look sweet Eric, job well done ;D
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Great looking bike Eric, still have not bumped into you as you only live round the corner, or maybe we have met and did not make the connection ;)
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Very pretty bike Eric, I'm quite fancying one for myself. Just love that colour.
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That's a great looking bike Eric - well done on the rebuild, and I hope you enjoy using it !
Andy
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wow superb restoration.. looks stunning!
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Great restoration Eric (a little more straight forward than your superb CR build that inspired mine) - they're a lovely looking bike and wouldn't mind a 350Four for when my big bikes get to heavy for me! Maybe a few projects away though
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Thats a thing of beauty, Eric, I bet it runs as sweet as it looks.
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Very nice looking bike, and restoration. The four pipes on these look so good.
Some time ago a friend ran a small engineering company, principally bikes, he could almost leave a milling machine setup full time to work on those two centre plugs of these heads. Bike shops would run them to him to usually bore out the old plug body which if they hadn't been chewed and butchered, could be machined until the thread was just about down to a helicoil like remains, remove waste and clean up with a tap. 12x1.25 pitch. If I remember correctly.
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What happens, do the plugs corrode in place and get stuck?
Thinking about it, it's very exposed to the weather, and that iffy mix of steel and alloy, coupled with not being disturbed for a long while if the bike isn't being used or maintained.
I've never had it happen, but I can see how it could. I don't want to contribute to sabotaging Eric's restoration thread, just interested in why this happens a lot.
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What happens, do the plugs corrode in place and get stuck?
Thinking about it, it's very exposed to the weather, and that iffy mix of steel and alloy, coupled with not being disturbed for a long while if the bike isn't being used or maintained.
I've never had it happen, but I can see how it could. I don't want to contribute to sabotaging Eric's restoration thread, just interested in why this happens a lot.
It's called Electrolytic corrosion Trig, get it a lot on old Landrovers where the alloy body panels bolt to the chassis. Dissimilar metals + water, over time the steel rusts and the alloy dissolves to white powder. Obviously similar is happening to the heads of some old bikes, as you said, lack of maintainence is a major contribution to it.
Sent from my X6pro using Tapatalk
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lovely job. nice to see another one back on the road
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Well done Eric, great looking resto and paintwork is stunning as is the whole bike. Summer is on its way :D
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What happens, do the plugs corrode in place and get stuck?
Thinking about it, it's very exposed to the weather, and that iffy mix of steel and alloy, coupled with not being disturbed for a long while if the bike isn't being used or maintained.
I've never had it happen, but I can see how it could. I don't want to contribute to sabotaging Eric's restoration thread, just interested in why this happens a lot.
It's called Electrolytic corrosion Trig, get it a lot on old Landrovers where the alloy body panels bolt to the chassis. Dissimilar metals + water, over time the steel rusts and the alloy dissolves to white powder. Obviously similar is happening to the heads of some old bikes, as you said, lack of maintainence is a major contribution to it.
Sent from my X6pro using Tapatalk
Galvanic corrosion is method by which the metals are partly dissolved. Each metal appears on the galvanic scale with a differential between them, the greater the difference, the more likely to corrode one component. Usually requires an electrolyte to get the reaction going. In most cases that's going to be salt water solution, so road salt in the rain is the normal culprit.
Can be protected against with another metal as sacrificial anode (think that's correct) so use of copperslip or similar can prevent the main components migrating.
Front brake caliper also subjected to the same.
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No good on motorcycle spark plugs, but Landrover restorers/repairers put lumps of old rubber conveyer belt between the chassis and body, and use rubber or fibre washers on the body nuts and bolts to help prevent it happening. One thing nobody seems to be able to work out, the Earlier positive earth Landrovers seem less prone to it than the post 1965 negative earth vehicles. :o
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Looks lovely.
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Apologies Eric, it was my that set off that side track about plugs.
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Now that's a nice looking bike, glad it's not mine as i would be scared to use it and get it dirty and it does not come cheap to get them looking that good, side note, mine passed it's mot today.
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Beautiful work well done. Lovely looking example...you should be very proud of that...
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Spot on Eric you must be a proud man ! Mr. Honda's favourite model too I believe.
Where did you get pipes? .. I know RoyH had problems obtaining decent quality ones.
These Yamiya one look the business double skinned headers too. It puzzles me that they can't do 400/4 ones double skinned though.
http://www.yamiya750.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=146&products_id=3715
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Lovely restoration.... well done!
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Spot on Eric you must be a proud man ! Mr. Honda's favourite model too I believe.
Where did you get pipes? .. I know RoyH had problems obtaining decent quality ones.
These Yamiya one look the business double skinned headers too. It puzzles me that they can't do 400/4 ones double skinned though.
http://www.yamiya750.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=146&products_id=3715
Hi Ash
The pipes I got came from CMSL, which probably originated from the same source in Japan as the Yamiya ones although I can't confirm that. I suspect those currently on offer from DS are also from the same source.
Cheers
Eric
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Apologies Eric, it was my that set off that side track about plugs.
No apologies necessary, I'm sure we've all learned something and here is another pic.
Thanks for all the kind words guys, they make the restoration so much more worth while.
Eric
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Very nice. That should put a smile on your face every time you look at it or ride it.
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Looks awesome Eric, have you any pics pre restoration, this looks like a picture of a new bike, hahaha.
Sam. ;)
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Glad to oblige Sam. Here is what I started with.
Paint somewhat faded, usual Jardine 4 into 2 pipes, but overall a fairly solid bike and I was well please with what I got. There was some rust, which is to be expected, but nothing too bad at all. The initial plan was to get it registered and ride it while there was still a bit of summer left, but it didn't run too well, so I decided to crack on with the restoration and dismantle it. Just as well really given the missing oil pipes in the cylinder head!
Eric
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That's looking really nice Eric. Must say though, you started with a way better example than mine was. Don't think I would want to do one as rough again.
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Did you get the exhausts from Silvers or are they the originals? When I did mine a couple of years ago I had real trouble getting an exhaust set where the welded seams were acceptable. Just wondering what they are like now as they had loads returned.
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That's looking really nice Eric. Must say though, you started with a way better example than mine was. Don't think I would want to do one as rough again.
(Attachment Link)
(Attachment Link)
Did you get the exhausts from Silvers or are they the originals? When I did mine a couple of years ago I had real trouble getting an exhaust set where the welded seams were acceptable. Just wondering what they are like now as they had loads returned.
Hello Roy
The exhausts came from CMSL, see post above. Since buying them I've heard a few stories about the earlier ones not being up to the mark with poor welded seams, but the ones I've got from the latest batch that have become available are perfect.
Cheers
Eric
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Thanks Eric I shall get some ordered. The silvers ones are the same as the Dutch ones. I had sets of the original ones from everywhere and they all had to go back. Cheers.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
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The bike has been nominated for Bike of the Month (March) on the USA site;
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,170405.msg1980882.html#msg1980882
Any support once the voting starts would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Eric
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Canvasing already, you should put in for Prime Minister, I'm sure you'd do a better job as well. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Voting for Bike of the Month on http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,170658.0.html
is now open.
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Vote cast.
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Ditto
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Ditto
Ditto