Honda-SOHC

How petrol resistant is the Simoniz paint after baking. It seems almost inevitable that some leaks will occur onto the crankcase at some stage in fettling. Does it need resistant lacquer as well ?

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.

Thinking ahead to the rebuild what’s the deal with cam chain ? I plan to to put crankcases together with engine upside down to avoid the difficulties with selector forks and bearing pins. Will the cam chain stay on the crankshaft teeth during the rebuild or do I have to find a way to keep it tensioned, including refitting the barrels,  so it doesn’t drop off the crank and get all messed up?

Anyone got any thoughts on the powder coating? Thanks guys.

Starting a thread on my bike. Im in no rush and need to delay spending until its needed for that stage of the rebuild. Bike has been repainted and has lots of new cables, refurbished clocks, new spokes etc. It had just been 'sympathetically' restored but I wanted the engine to look brighter as I feel that is the centrepiece. Decision to strip engine taken out of my hands when it dropped a shifter fork due to incorrect replacement of the fork shaft retainer. Was thinking originally to fit an aftermarket 4/4 exhaust but seeing how low the prices are for fully restored bikes am certainly reigning back my spending plans. Im not looking to make a profit but having paid 3K for the bike and being personally happy to enjoy using a non mint restoration for a few years I am weighing up the restoration spend carefully to not to spend money that actually wont actually  be appreciated by the eventual owner.

 I'm chewing over what to do with the cases but present thinking is paint strip and repaint with perhaps a vapour blast of the barrels and head only.

 have managed to buy a later gen rocker cover with secured rocker shafts. The oil restrictors were blocked with sealant from the rebuild and there was barely any oil making it up to the top end. Also managed to get some headlamp ears from USA that will be suitable for rechroming unlike my dented ones.

I have stripped the frame completely which was a lovely easy job due to the recent rebuild. Going to send off the frame/ swingarm  for powder coating gloss black and need advice re the centrestand, side stand, footpeg mounts and steering yokes. Should these be satin black powder coated to look original or the same gloss black as the frame ?

Thanks in advance for all helpful advice that is typical on this site. I will try to use search and link in previous advice for others viewing this thread when useful.

all the best

David

Many thanks Sesman. I didn’t like the look of the galleries to and from the oil filter in terms of visibility. What is the problem with the cylinder head gallery isn’t it just a straight  drilling from top to bottom? Or do you mean the gallery that feeds the bottom end bearings ? Is soda blasting quite a new thing then ?

Glad to hear that Ken. I have really learned a lot from your historic posts. BTW everything seems to be working out OK with my original bottom end.

New ones were from a K3 David. The engines are identical, put 2 side by side and cover the numbers up and you wouldn't be able to spot the difference. It's not like putting a 550 in a 500 frame or vice versa. As I said IF it was so important, keep the original cases and sell them with the bike, let someone else have the expense of fixing them. £120 for a set of cases with marching shells, really good shells as well and a matching crankshaft is beyond a bargain, check ebay and see. Now you've got to pay for alloy welding and that's IF you can get the pins out, new shells, which if going by the state of the mains the rods will be buggered as well, that's 18 shells each around £20, another crank, ask Ted how much he paid for one, another £100-150, that's the fat part of £500-600. That's money you will NEVER get back, the 550 is not that collectable, it's not an investment bike like a 500K0 or even a 500K1 or a 750K0.

But it's your bike and your money and your choice.

Oh and it's a 550K1 not a 550K0 Julie. Not worth even half as much, not that the K0 is worth anything anyway.

Really sorry for the thread hijack Simon, I really wanted you to avoid the mistake I made with the clips, you have a lovely bike and it's important to me that you keep it that way, the 500 has always been MY bike, it's my first love so if I can keep one on the road that's worth going that little extra mile for. In an effort to stress how important it was to made I made that statement on your thread instead of starting a separate one which was always my intention. Sorry mate.

Ken if you would like to keep in touch about this ( I haven’t yet got any idea on the sizes, cost or availability of shells for my  engine which is pretty crucial)  pls pm me your email since I  can’t message you. Sorry for the Thread hijack Simon