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1969 CL450 US Barn Find Restoration
MrDavo:
What, you mean my new airboxes? Thanks for the heads up James, Ashley kindly offered me a pair of the plastic cases, but as these ones had both the mounting studs and those funny triangular rubber horns that are so $ extortionate to buy new, and were in the UK for a change (DK) I clicked 'buy it now' as soon as I saw them. The fact that the inlets are FUBAR doesn't matter, as I have new filters from the States.
My parcel from Silvers turned up yesterday, so I got the chance to nip in the garage last night for a bit while she watched 'Coro'.
I tried on the NOS gearlever, now the right shape to make those all too common curved gouges in the stator cover when you fall off, which I could also temporarily fit with the new screws (originals well butchered by the PO and his blunt random screwdriver) and o rings. I was disappointed that the screws aren't plated silver, by the way, they are black. I'd given the cover a polish, but it still has a 'spotty' finish, so I think I'll attack it with some P800 and repolish.
I also fit the new kickstart seal and fastened up the primary side, then set about the cam damper rings. I thought they would take seconds to cut, but they had gone rock hard with age (actually, isn't that how they make rocks - take soft things and wait a VERY long time?) In the end I resorted to getting a part of each ring smoking with the blowlamp and piercing it with a small electrical screwdriver. Probably not best practice, but it worked.
In the bottom picture the rings on the exhaust cam have been changed, the inlet nearest the camera still has the originals. Its interesting that the inlet cam is all one casting, where the damper rings and sprocket on the exhaust is machined from a seperate piece of bronze material, I don't know why. The new rings are very soft, just as well as they have to stretch to fit, I'm sure they will work much quieter.
I'm sure my old cam could be reused, either without dampers or with the old rings, they are so hard I doubt they would make a bid for freedom. You couldn't remake just the retaining rings though as they are integral with the sprocket.
Finally I found some nice pictures of a restored very low mileage CL450 in the States to help inspire me, if I lived there I'd probably snap his hand off at $4,100, thats about three grand! Mine has the right tank badges on both sides though ;)
http://www.2040-motos.com/Honda/CL/honda-cl450-cl-450-scrambler-1968-k1-early-model-street-scrambler-7004/
JamesH:
Dave - sorry I meant the plastic covers. But I did notice the fittings / hardware so glad it helped...
J
MrDavo:
It did help, James, thanks, my box from DK turned up yesterday so I got back in the garage last night to try them on.
I fitted one of my new copy filters into the plastic box, fine, then fitted it in place using the mounting stud and the front bolt.
Then the moment of truth, as I'm using bits off more than one bike, will the cover fit? Straight on, everything lined up including the new stainless screw, made in Italy, bought from California. If you're reading this James, where did you get your sidepanel badges? Does Piki do them or did you have to use the guy on eBay who sells a pack of 3 (in case you mess up) for a King's ransom?
Back to the engine, I was going to fit the oil filter cover, but I realised it had been chewed up by the brake pedal in an off (I got another, straighter pedal from DK as well, mine had been knocked back into shape with a sledgehammer apparently). The cover is scuffed too deeply to polish out, so I nipped back in and ordered a better one on eBay.
The camchain idler wheel at the top had a lot of noisy sideplay and no rubber O ring between camwheel and spindle, so that got fixed, its nice and quiet now. Fit two O rings and it hardly moves at all, I must look more closely at the parts diagrams, and not waste money buying things I don't need.
I then lubed and fitted the inlet valves, and fastened down those pesky oil seals. Then as I was in there, I fitted the torsion bars to the valves. There is a knockpin that locates the bar in the right place, a bolt goes through. I'd seen a post on the twins forum by Jensen saying not to force the arm over the knockpin, as that puts a sideways bending force on the valve, so I gently warmed the head to pull the pins out.
It was then easy to turn the torsion bars so they held the collets in the right place, with a 14mm spanner, to get the knockpins and bolts back in.
Then in with the cam followers and eccentric spindles. I'd kept each valve and its hardware in a seperate freezer bag so nothing got mixed up. The red stuff is Redline assembly lube, buy the way, not my blood for once.
This seemed a good time to pack up, but I was on a roll, and wanted to know if the inlet cam fit without any excessive sideplay, in case I needed a shim - there was none fitted on the inlet when it came apart, and it was the same cam and carriers, though the gasket thickness matters, that's how Jensen adjusts his sideplay.
I put the cam in with the backs of the lobes nearest the followers, it turns just as far as the timing mark. I found that taking all these pictures as it came apart came in handy to work out what screws went where, so was glad I'm doing this writeup. Side clearance was 10 thou, within the acceptable range, so no shim needed.
JamesH:
Great progress Dave. Your posts do make me giggle... Looks like you've got good momentum now.
In terms of the side covers - I was really lucky with the blue bike. The side covers and badges were perfect. So before sending the covers to menno wit the tank I gently heated the reverse side of the panel with a hot air gun (to loosen the factory applied adhesive) and gently pried them off.
You might want to consider stripping/refurbishing yours?
MrDavo:
I doubt I could as they are very weather faded. They aren't really stickers, more badges, but the hard part would be restoring the chrome finish on the silver bit.
I may have to give it a go with the silver polish though to see what happens, as $90 for incorrect stickers sent to the Uk is taking the mick, unless I can find two people who have an extra left from his set of three! :)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-1968-CB450-CL450-SIDE-COVER-3-DECALS-EMBLEMS-GRAPHICS-AIR-BOX-COVER/292039903048
However that's cheap compared to the actual badges rather than vinyl stickers:
NOS Honda ones, only about £120 the pair posted ::)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NOS-Original-Honda-1968-CB450K1-Side-Cover-Emblems/222858215635
I found another source of replicas http://kz900.com/emblems-hon.html $70 EACH plus carriage taxes etc - God's teeth! >:( Are they carved from unicorn horns?
CMSNL list it for the CB450 K1 (same emblem) at Eu10, but at that price they have none of course.
You can get the whole bl**dy covers for less, but that doesn't help. I'm guessing not the easiest thing to replicate because of the metallic finish though, are you reading this Piki?
Thinking about it, it may not be beyond the wit of man to rechrome the buggers. I have a couple of other bits that need chroming like the cable guide between the bars, I found one but it's rusty.
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