My CB550 K3 Restore Project

[heli_madken]

I ended up having to remove oil pressure switch filling pump through oil pressure switch hole, replacing pressure switch and oil pressure came up quickly. Shouldn’t have to but worked for me.

Thanks for the help everyone, turned out to be a loose connection on the pressure switch, as soon as I tightened it the oil light went out straight away.

So did all my checks, stuck the tank on, petrol on, choke and she fired up almost straight away YIPPEE!! idles much nicer then she used to and no more nasty rattles.

But!! one of the exhaust studs stripped on No.3 so she is blowing a little. I will fix this over the weekend as I have an 8mm to 6mm stud already, I will have to take the forks off to get at it (oddjob I promise to put them back on the right way this time!).

I absolutely love the K3's four into four exhaust -
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Amazingly I am only short of two parts, no idea where they have gone, one is the rear brake switch and the other is the handlebar mount for the choke cable, both on order.

I do have some bits left over, this one has me puzzled any ideas where it is from -
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Once I have the stud sorted my next task is to strip the tank and get it in some primer and flatted ready for painting which may not be until later in the spring.

Definitely some celebratory alcohol tonight!

[Bryanj]

That bit goes on one of the centre stand pivot pich bolts to hold owerflow/vents

[SteveD CB500K0]

I’m a great believer in celebratory alcohol.

At present I’m celebrating Friday evening!


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[heli_madken]

That bit goes on one of the centre stand pivot pich bolts to hold owerflow/vents

Thanks I can see it in the parts book now I looked through twice and missed it!

I managed to drill and tap the exhaust stud housing out to 8mm and fit a reducing stud in place.

Started her up again I still cant believe how nice she is running so I took a video, sorry its a bit shaky -
https://youtu.be/cByWq17VzZk

A few bits to do then on to stripping the parts to be painted. I dont fancy the current Candy Kent Brown so I am going to go with Flake Sunrise Orange (dont shout!)

[Johnwebley]

It does sound sweet.

I managed to like the video. But couldn't comment.




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[heli_madken]

But couldn't comment.
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Thanks I have fixed the comment thing.

Look what I have got -
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My next project in from the US, perhaps not as sexy as a Z or an A but its a CBX at the end of the day and I have always wanted one.

Cosmetically the bike isnt perfect and its obvious it hasnt run for a while as the tank is rusty inside and the air box had a very large mouse nest. I spent a couple of days checking over and replacing oil, plugs etc and this afternoon hit the starter.

I only intended running her for a short while just to assess for any nasty mechanical problems but I am glad to say after a few seconds on the starter it sprung in to life. I had a nasty fuel oveflow problem on number six due to a stuck float so I shut down but in the meantime the sound was fantastic.

So this will be another bare frame restoration, my plan is to change the colour (dont like the white) possibly to the Z red colour (Candy Glory Red).

I have to say there isnt an ounce of rust on this Michigan bike, compared to the initial work on my 550 it is a dream to work on albeit a lot more complex!

[Kelly E]

Awesome project. We looked at one just like yours but it was too much money for the amount of work it was going to need. Some people want restored prices for their projects. We do have it's brothers, the 750F and 900F.

[heli_madken]

Yes they can eat money, I think I have touched lucky though as the engine itself seems in very good order.

On with my 550, despite the weather I have got part way through the painting process. I stripped the tank back to bare metal partly with a DA sander and the rusty underneath with a power file. For the more difficult areas I used a chemical stripper. After a good rub down with wet and dry I gave the whole tank a wipe over with phosphoric acid to kill off any remaining rust and prevent any surface rust developing in the damp conditions.

Next up was a coat of acid etch primer followed by a guide coat of 2K primer. There where a few little dings that needed to be taken care of with filler then a further coat of primer.

The colour I am going for is Flake Sunrise Orange which needs a silver base coat which was applied next and allowed to dry.

Then I applied 3 coats of the colour, I dont want it to go any darker so I have stopped here -
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Really pleased with the colour, once I have applied the flake and clear coats I think it will look great.

I will let this bake for a couple of days in my purpose made drying oven (otherwise known as my wife's airing cupboard) before moving on to the side panels which I am going to do based on the 750 K3

[heli_madken]

Making progress with the paint really pleased with it so far, I have gone with a modified 750 K3 style -

Before stripping the tank I made a paper template to help me get the top line of the stripes similar to the original -
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Then masked out the initial black panel -
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Allowed this to dry overnight then did a 6mm wide white line -
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For the inner 8mm wide line I have gone with silver as opposed to gold. The original Honda gold must have been very 'reddy' all the golds I have just dont seem to go with the deep orange colour, I am happy with how it looks -
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Test fitting on the bike I could not be happier. The side panel badge gave me some trouble to start with but I found the best method was to spray on two heavy coats of white followed by a light coat of black. Once cured I could carefully sand the black away with some 800 grit wet and dry and a small flat block to reveal the white on the proud sections. I will do the tank badges in the same way but it will be silver and white to make the badge stand out more against the black panel -
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Next up is to use some flake carrying intercoat on the orange areas quickly followed by some 2K clear. Looking at the weather I dont think I am going to be able to do this for a while so I will carry on with other stuff.

[Menno]

Interesting work.
I am going to do something very similar for a German customer.

[heli_madken]

The joys of painting....

Did the sensible thing and did a test panel early this morning using the flake carrier intercoat and left it for an hour to make sure everything was ok, looked lovely.

So pressed on to do the tank and panels, as I went back to the first piece I coated I could see it reacting, watched as all the panels went the same way -
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You do have t be very careful what you spray over these COB paints, in hindsight I should have sprayed a coat of 2K clear which generally isnt reactive.

Oh well start again, I wont have time now before I move house so It will be next year before I can get back to this probably.

[paul G]

Nightmare i do feel your pain after suffering the same fate on a couple of occasions 
It was looking so good as well.

[heli_madken]

Thanks Oddjob, I think you have pointed out everything I have done wrong on this build so far it is just what I needed to spur me on, i will get there in the end, thanks again, ken

[heli_madken]

Thanks, dont forget what you are looking at is a matt finish base coat initially then an intercoat containing the flake. You will not see the true colour or how the flake looks until several coats of clear are applied which will lift the colour and change its appearance significantly.

It is incredibly difficult to match the Honda colour exactly as modern paints behave in a completely different way. After spraying on the Silver base coat each individual coat of orange will change its colour towards red. Ideally I think two coats would give the desired effect but its very difficult to get an even finish so I needed to apply three.

As far as I am concerned I am not shooting for originality with this build I have polished too many bits for that, rather I am hoping to achieve something I like.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Just read your thread - some great pictures of the rebuild(s) it will spur me on for my project 400.