Honda-SOHC

SOHC.co.uk Forums => CB750 => Topic started by: Mr_Sheene on November 20, 2017, 03:04:52 PM

Title: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Mr_Sheene on November 20, 2017, 03:04:52 PM
This may not work! I have been on this site for two years and have not even managed to successfully send an e-mail to another member yet, so please bare with me. A couple of years ago, in a fit of madness, I broke my own rule and bought a 1970 CB750 on e-bay. I think that the vendor was well meaning but not talented. As a result, I have not been able to ride a bike I only bought for that purpose, so I have decided to strip the engine and with the help of a talented friend, re-build it. The cases appear to have been painted with a rattle can and need to be professionally cleaned and painted in the correct colour of engine paint. I live in Essex and am prepared to travel 150 miles or so if necessary.  I have been told that 'Ice Blasting' is the best way to have them cleaned and then I need a company that can provide a good quality finish in the correct standard and quality of paint. Does anyone know of companies that provide these services and is there any advice on the subject that may prove useful?
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: RGP750 on November 20, 2017, 03:21:34 PM
Hi Mr Sheene.
Welcome to the forum, (albeit from lurking in the shadows ;D)
If you put crank case painting in the top search bar you will fin hours of reading and
pick what suits you .
ask again when you have digested as much as you can take .
Good luck
Rich
Title: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Mr_Sheene on November 20, 2017, 03:52:17 PM
I don't know why that didn't work before but it did this time, thanks. I have many hours of happy reading ahead of me. If you think that I'm not very good at this, you'd be correct but I can only get better. On the other hand, I may forget what I did and have to go back to lurking. Can I have my status changed to incompetent? 

Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Nurse Julie on November 20, 2017, 04:09:58 PM
Welcome to the forum Mr Sheene. You will find all the answers you need on the forum somewhere. What is wrong with the engine / bike that has made it unusable?.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: BigAl (Alan) on November 20, 2017, 04:25:14 PM
Viewed a CB750 at the Stafford Show, Oct 2017 (as small image) with a very good engine finish.  If he or she contributes on here, then definitely the person to ask.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: MarkCR750 on November 20, 2017, 04:43:25 PM
I don't know why that didn't work before but it did this time, thanks. I have many hours of happy reading ahead of me. If you think that I'm not very good at this, you'd be correct but I can only get better. On the other hand, I may forget what I did and have to go back to lurking. Can I have my status changed to incompetent?

Hey, hey, hey!, if anyone is getting their status changed to incompetent that’ll be me thank you very much!
Welcome Mr Sheene 👍
Title: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Mr_Sheene on November 20, 2017, 04:54:55 PM
Sorry about the delay, I went for coffee. There is a picture of the bike in 'Gallery'. I put it there the other day when I was trying to learn how to use the site. Without boring you, I bought the bike to cheer myself up. I went with a couple of friends to Swansea to collect it and it came down like stair-rods all day. As  a result, I didn't test ride it. Mistake? The vendor appeared to be a nice bloke and gave the offer of leaving it, if I wasn't happy but I think he was more optimistic than talented. He started the bike easily and it sounded okay, so I took it home. A few days later, I put fresh fuel in it and went for a ride. It was difficult to start and sounded like a bag of nails but I thought that I would take it easy until it warmed up. I have only ever ridden one other bike that explained the term 'wooden brakes' and that was a Harley. After 500 yards I decided that this was the second, so I took it home. I have a friend who is an experienced motorcycle mechanic and we went over the bike together. He was happier than me. When I looked at the carbs, one of them had a cracked housing where the main jet had been cross threaded. The repair was a jubilee clip to close the crack. I couldn't understand why the clips holding the upper of the fork bellows was not sitting correctly, until I realised that the bellows were on upside down. When I tried the kick-start, it wouldn't return without help. Do you get the picture? I can fix the bellows and strip the brakes in my sleep but I have never stripped an engine more complicated than a 'British Twin'. Bill will help me. The vendor gave me a list of parts that he had used to build the engine and there doesn't appear to be much that may need replacing. As I want to keep the original engine/frame combination, I decided that it would be best to re-build the engine. I have just read an account by Trigger on cleaning the cases and may become a lurker again!
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: mike the bike on November 20, 2017, 05:23:26 PM
Never heard of ice blasting, I've just googled it.   Most intriguing I must say.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: royhall on November 20, 2017, 05:47:15 PM
I think these Honda's are easier to build than a British twin. I'm doing a Triumph twin right now and they are fit where it touches quality. Honda's are so well made they almost put themselves together. With a bit of help on here you will manage just fine.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: RGP750 on November 20, 2017, 07:01:42 PM
Yes Roy i agree, Easier than a British bike to rebuild.
Just do it bit by bit.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Trigger on November 20, 2017, 07:13:53 PM
Welcome to the mad world of the SOHC, did see your 750 in the gallery, has a few wrong parts, should of asked on here before you took the plunge. The advise is free  ;D ;D
Title: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Mr_Sheene on November 21, 2017, 10:34:01 AM
Hello Trigger, I would have asked, if I had known the site existed at the time I was bidding. I'm from an earlier age. For example, my mobile is a phone! Also, as I said, it was a mistake to buy on e-bay, as there is a certain pressure not to lose the item. I believe that it's called 'auction fever' and I seem to have caught it on this occasion. I paid £5k for it and would have been happy if I could have simply ridden it. I am not looking for a concours winner or an auction champion, I just wanted a Sunday morning ride. If I can get the engine sorted, the rest of it is workable, although I will change the colour to the candy red alternative. I can't get original carbs as they appear to be unobtanium but I have got a decent set from a K1 to replace the set that are on it. All advice and observations are welcome. I'm too old to be 'proud'. The cylinder head seems to have a 'sand cast' finish. I don't have delusions of grandeur and know that this head was common but was it common to all CB750's.  Some clot in the past has obviously tried to lever of the head and damaged a couple of fins but I put that down to patina as I don't have the missing bits to get it fixed. What is your opinion of 'ice blasting'?
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Sgt.Pinback on November 21, 2017, 03:04:55 PM
Never heard of ice blasting, I've just googled it.   Most intriguing I must say.

You call it vapour blasting.

Works great.
Title: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Mr_Sheene on November 21, 2017, 04:34:30 PM
I know marginally less than the square root of nothing about engineering but I love the internet. Vapour blasting, also known as wet blasting or liquid honing uses water and an abrasive medium blasted at the component. I think that these are very small glass or plastic beads. The water buffers and lubricates the particles on impact allowing fine finishes to be produced without damaging the component. I was going to use that until I was directed towards ‘Ice Blasting’, which uses dry ice that evaporates on contact taking the muck with it (it says in the blurb) and leaves no residue to block oil-ways etc. I was happy with that until I read Triggers entry about acid baths and ovens to get oil out of metal, so now I am doing more research. Thanks for the input though as it is the only way that the job will get done. My first entry asked if anyone knew of companies for cleaning and painting that can be recommended in south-east England. The request still stands, although if they are that rare I will consider going further afield.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Trigger on November 21, 2017, 05:35:01 PM
Never heard of ice blasting, I've just googled it.   Most intriguing I must say.

You call it vapour blasting.

Works great.

Vapour blasting is glass bead and water  ;) ice blasting is dried ice  ;D
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: mike the bike on November 21, 2017, 05:40:56 PM
Not a fan of vapour blasting, having an engine trashed my some stray glass beads lurking somewhere.   Ice blasting sounds far less risky.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Trigger on November 21, 2017, 05:49:42 PM
I know marginally less than the square root of nothing about engineering but I love the internet. Vapour blasting, also known as wet blasting or liquid honing uses water and an abrasive medium blasted at the component. I think that these are very small glass or plastic beads. The water buffers and lubricates the particles on impact allowing fine finishes to be produced without damaging the component. I was going to use that until I was directed towards ‘Ice Blasting’, which uses dry ice that evaporates on contact taking the muck with it (it says in the blurb) and leaves no residue to block oil-ways etc. I was happy with that until I read Triggers entry about acid baths and ovens to get oil out of metal, so now I am doing more research. Thanks for the input though as it is the only way that the job will get done. My first entry asked if anyone knew of companies for cleaning and painting that can be recommended in south-east England. The request still stands, although if they are that rare I will consider going further afield.

Ice blasting was introduced for the removal of graffiti from walls and was promoted to local councils who use them until they found out that the running cost was well over the top, and went back to chemicals. The ice blasting sales people had no one else to promote it to, so they went for engine cleaning about 8 years ago. I had a sales person try to impress me with his new machine so, I gave him the worst head known to man (well, a grubby one from the work shop) he spent a hour trying to clean it and failed. The running costs were out of this world.
The best I have ever seen was a laser blaster which did a perfect job but, I would need a sub station to supply the amount of electric needed to run it.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Woodside on November 21, 2017, 09:25:22 PM
 :o :o :o
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Nurse Julie on November 21, 2017, 09:56:26 PM
 :o :o :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Sgt.Pinback on November 22, 2017, 11:50:07 AM
Never heard of ice blasting, I've just googled it.   Most intriguing I must say.

You call it vapour blasting.

Works great.

Vapour blasting is glass bead and water  ;) ice blasting is dried ice  ;D

That’s what I meant and we call it dried ice blasting here. Had that done to my old cars and that works good. Nothing left over, just water.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: paul G on November 22, 2017, 12:19:53 PM
I gave him the worst head known to man

Well Graham I never knew you swung that way, does Julie know?
Got to say when I first read it that is exactly what I thought. Dirty boy  ;D ;D ;)
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Yamahawk on November 22, 2017, 12:54:47 PM
Mr._Sheene, that's a nice looking Honda CB750! I am sure that you will enjoy it once it is sorted out. As far as the worst head known to man comment... well, practice makes perfect  :o :o :o ... Just kidding!  ::)

On another note, sometimes questions and instructions can be misinterpreted, as per my Space Quest IV game, where the hero Roger Wilco finds a hint book in a Space Mall software store... The question was, "My game came on 3.5" disks, but I have a 5.25" disk drive...  how do I get a bigger disk?"
The answer read...
"First of all, don't be misled by ads depicting hormone injections, pumps, or enlargement tools... and, try to remember, it's not the size that counts! Oh... did you say, 'disk'?"
Charlie
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Laverda Dave on November 22, 2017, 05:48:13 PM
Mr Sheen, welcome to the forum.
Having read your thread I can recommend I-cleenz machinez in Penge, South East London. They do an excellent vapour blast clean job in house and they really are meticulous both being bikers themselves. As well as vapour blasting they also have a blasting booth big enough for frames.
I have no connection with the company but have used them when restoring my 400/4, Morini 350 and the CB250RSA. Vintage car engine restoration companies also use them, enough said! They are not cheap (£25 to vapour blast a single carb) but worth the money.
The father is called John and the Son is George,  call them and tell them you heard about them through the forum and who knows, you might get a discount!
Title: Re: Penge
Post by: Mr_Sheene on November 22, 2017, 06:27:47 PM
Thanks for the advice. I am collecting all the advice that I can get at the moment. Then it's engine out time. £25 a carb is a bit eye watering but if they clear all the muck it may be worth it. I only paid £150 for the carbs but they do need cleaning. The old vinegar and salt solution won't work on these.
Title: Re: Painting Crankcases
Post by: Laverda Dave on November 22, 2017, 08:39:09 PM
I forgot to mention the £25 is for a vapour blast AND ultrasonic clean! You need to strip the carbs first though but at least that allows you to get the zinc parts replated  :)
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