81 CM400 Resurection
- Thread starter tsbigdog
- Start date
baconpocket
eating bacon
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
the bolts on mine were like that too. i just put each back in the correct hole and hoped for the best
i bought a gasket kit off ebay for the head gasket. it leaked, but that could be mechanic (me) error
the bolts on mine were like that too. i just put each back in the correct hole and hoped for the best
i bought a gasket kit off ebay for the head gasket. it leaked, but that could be mechanic (me) error
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
I had a broken fin on my head so I got another one on epay. Before i started tearing it down, I needed a spring compressor. Being that I'm too cheap to buy one for 50 bucks I decided to make one. I went down to HF and picked up a 6" C-Clamp for about 6 bucks and made this.
I made the end out of some flat stock I had laying around. I bent an "L" shape into a small piece and then cut another small piece and welded them together. Then I just welded it to the top jaw of the clamp. Please excuse my welding (i'm a newbie).
10 minutes later the head was stripped.
The compressor worked pretty dang well. I was happily surprised. It did slip off the last valve which caused everything to go flying across the room, but I have an extra head laying around so it wasn't a big deal.
I had a broken fin on my head so I got another one on epay. Before i started tearing it down, I needed a spring compressor. Being that I'm too cheap to buy one for 50 bucks I decided to make one. I went down to HF and picked up a 6" C-Clamp for about 6 bucks and made this.
I made the end out of some flat stock I had laying around. I bent an "L" shape into a small piece and then cut another small piece and welded them together. Then I just welded it to the top jaw of the clamp. Please excuse my welding (i'm a newbie).
10 minutes later the head was stripped.
The compressor worked pretty dang well. I was happily surprised. It did slip off the last valve which caused everything to go flying across the room, but I have an extra head laying around so it wasn't a big deal.
baconpocket
eating bacon
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
add that to the $50 mod thread
add that to the $50 mod thread
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
I bead blasted the head the other day and cleaned up the combustion chambers. Pics to follow. I taped over the combustion chambers and the top side of the head with duct tape. I still got glass bead everywhere. Man that stuff gets into everything, but it does work. The outside of the head looks great. I cleaned up the combustion chambers with Gumout and some soft brushes. Then I hit the gasket surface with a scotchbrite pad to get rid of the remaining gasket material.
Next it's on to the cylinders. Anyone out there use a ball hone to cross hatch the cylinders?
I bead blasted the head the other day and cleaned up the combustion chambers. Pics to follow. I taped over the combustion chambers and the top side of the head with duct tape. I still got glass bead everywhere. Man that stuff gets into everything, but it does work. The outside of the head looks great. I cleaned up the combustion chambers with Gumout and some soft brushes. Then I hit the gasket surface with a scotchbrite pad to get rid of the remaining gasket material.
Next it's on to the cylinders. Anyone out there use a ball hone to cross hatch the cylinders?
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
I'm still working on the motor disassembly and I thought I'd post up a few make shift tools I used for tearing apart the motor. Let me know if you guys think I should post any of these in the $50 Mod thread.
Here's a before and after on the pistons. You can't see it in the pictures but the skirts are in perfect shape.
After I removed the pistons, I went to work on the rotor and stator. I didn't have anything to hold the motor steady so I wrapped some duct tape around it and put a 1/2" breaker bar in one of the holes and clamped it to my drill press. It worked pretty good. I was able to get the bolt out. I bought a flywheel puller online and used it to pull it off. Best 12 bucks I've spent so far. It popped right off with no issues.
Next, I removed the clutch and oil pump.
Surprisingly it was pretty clean inside other than some sludge.
Next it's on to cracking the case apart.
I'm still working on the motor disassembly and I thought I'd post up a few make shift tools I used for tearing apart the motor. Let me know if you guys think I should post any of these in the $50 Mod thread.
Here's a before and after on the pistons. You can't see it in the pictures but the skirts are in perfect shape.
After I removed the pistons, I went to work on the rotor and stator. I didn't have anything to hold the motor steady so I wrapped some duct tape around it and put a 1/2" breaker bar in one of the holes and clamped it to my drill press. It worked pretty good. I was able to get the bolt out. I bought a flywheel puller online and used it to pull it off. Best 12 bucks I've spent so far. It popped right off with no issues.
Next, I removed the clutch and oil pump.
Surprisingly it was pretty clean inside other than some sludge.
Next it's on to cracking the case apart.
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
Can a few of you post up a recommendation regarding what to do with my cases? I've got them apart and need to get them cleaned up. I'm trying to determine if I should get them powder coated or just use engine paint. I don't want it to peel or come off from gas spilling. I also want to make sure that powder coating won't affect cooling. Either way they'll have to get bead or soda blasted first.
Thanks.
Can a few of you post up a recommendation regarding what to do with my cases? I've got them apart and need to get them cleaned up. I'm trying to determine if I should get them powder coated or just use engine paint. I don't want it to peel or come off from gas spilling. I also want to make sure that powder coating won't affect cooling. Either way they'll have to get bead or soda blasted first.
Thanks.
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
Got the case split last night. I couldn't get the case apart for the life of me, so I decided to find something to split the case. Seeing how they don't make a tool for horizontally split cases i found that a pair of bar clamps converted to spreaders were a tremendous help. Man that Hondabond or whatever it was is tough and not very elastic.
Got the case split last night. I couldn't get the case apart for the life of me, so I decided to find something to split the case. Seeing how they don't make a tool for horizontally split cases i found that a pair of bar clamps converted to spreaders were a tremendous help. Man that Hondabond or whatever it was is tough and not very elastic.
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
The engine tear down is complete. It's actually quite clean inside. There was some sludge in the bottom of the case, but it could have been from just sitting for 20 years. I picked up a soda blaster and blasted the cases. It took off some of the corrosion, but it didn't bring back the shiny luster I was hoping for. Definitely need to use the bead blaster for that. I'm going to paint the cases anyway so I won't bother with the bead blasting.
These are before pics. I'll post the after pics when it's painted.
Below you can see where the greasy muck from a leak protected the aluminum from corrosion.
The engine tear down is complete. It's actually quite clean inside. There was some sludge in the bottom of the case, but it could have been from just sitting for 20 years. I picked up a soda blaster and blasted the cases. It took off some of the corrosion, but it didn't bring back the shiny luster I was hoping for. Definitely need to use the bead blaster for that. I'm going to paint the cases anyway so I won't bother with the bead blasting.
These are before pics. I'll post the after pics when it's painted.
Below you can see where the greasy muck from a leak protected the aluminum from corrosion.
NvgtrWiggles
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
Looks really fucking good.
Looks really fucking good.
SloKrt
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
Damn, that does look really good!
but if you were going with silver/aluminum color... why not just have the part blasted and run it bare with no paint... at least then it wouldnt chip or anything... Im all for paint, just curious?
Nice work so far, keep up the progress and pics too.
Thanks,
AD
Damn, that does look really good!
but if you were going with silver/aluminum color... why not just have the part blasted and run it bare with no paint... at least then it wouldnt chip or anything... Im all for paint, just curious?
Nice work so far, keep up the progress and pics too.
Thanks,
AD
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
Hey sorry it took me so long to reply. I've been off the site for a while. I don't have a blaster strong enough to really clean that aluminum properly. It was really badly oxidized. The paint seems to be pretty durable I did a sample and tried rubbing it with WD40 and some other chemicals and it held up pretty well. Hopefully it will last for a while at least.
I have the case halves back together and I am working on the cylinders now. Once they are done, I will finish the re-assembly of the motor and post some more pics.
Hey sorry it took me so long to reply. I've been off the site for a while. I don't have a blaster strong enough to really clean that aluminum properly. It was really badly oxidized. The paint seems to be pretty durable I did a sample and tried rubbing it with WD40 and some other chemicals and it held up pretty well. Hopefully it will last for a while at least.
I have the case halves back together and I am working on the cylinders now. Once they are done, I will finish the re-assembly of the motor and post some more pics.
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
I bead blasted the heads and left them for a couple of days and they became oxidized right away so there was no way paint wasn't going on the cylinders. I checked rings and cylinder bores and everything appears to be well within spec so it's all going back together.
I bead blasted the heads and left them for a couple of days and they became oxidized right away so there was no way paint wasn't going on the cylinders. I checked rings and cylinder bores and everything appears to be well within spec so it's all going back together.
onetruepunk87
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
Any updates?
Any updates?
tsbigdog
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
Hey sorry about the delay. Actually I have gotten a bit done on the bike. I will post some pics soon. I'm being very lazy lately. Must be that time of year. The motor is on and I got a new battery for it.
Today I just got my brand new 7" headlight from DCC and I have a bit of a dilemma. The wiring harness doesn't fit into the bucket. What should I do with all the wiring that's left behind? Can i just zip tie them all together and keep them tucked up behind the headlight?
Hey sorry about the delay. Actually I have gotten a bit done on the bike. I will post some pics soon. I'm being very lazy lately. Must be that time of year. The motor is on and I got a new battery for it.
Today I just got my brand new 7" headlight from DCC and I have a bit of a dilemma. The wiring harness doesn't fit into the bucket. What should I do with all the wiring that's left behind? Can i just zip tie them all together and keep them tucked up behind the headlight?
onetruepunk87
Been Around the Block
Re: 81 CM400 Resurection
I have the 6-1/4 headlight and bucket from them and it all fits in there,It just may take a few tries and a lot of swearing to get it all in. Zip ties shouldn't hurt anything (I wouldn't think) and would probably make it easier and cleaner. Be careful what bulb you use in it though,mine came with a 55/65w bulb. I wasn't sure how it would jive with the stator but figured I'd test it out for a bit. All was fine for a little over a week when,while on my way home from work,I saw smoke coming out of my headlight. When I got home and took it apart I saw the headlight wiring had started to melt. I've been using a 35/35w bulb ever since without incident.
I have the 6-1/4 headlight and bucket from them and it all fits in there,It just may take a few tries and a lot of swearing to get it all in. Zip ties shouldn't hurt anything (I wouldn't think) and would probably make it easier and cleaner. Be careful what bulb you use in it though,mine came with a 55/65w bulb. I wasn't sure how it would jive with the stator but figured I'd test it out for a bit. All was fine for a little over a week when,while on my way home from work,I saw smoke coming out of my headlight. When I got home and took it apart I saw the headlight wiring had started to melt. I've been using a 35/35w bulb ever since without incident.
