1970 CL350 resto

bmfenn

New Member
Hello, been lurking for a few months, and figured it might be about time to start a thread on my project.

It's a 1970 CL350, with some family history. My grandfather owned a marina, and took it in on a trade back in 1971. It supposedly only had about 1000 miles at that point. My parents, had been dating a few months, and my Grandfather let my father, who was a motorcycle cop at the time, ride it for a summer. After the summer of 1971, the gas was drained, and it sat in my grandparents basement/garage. My grandparents forbid anyone from taking it.

I remember wanting the bike since I was a little kid. It was in absolute mint condition, and only has 2k miles on the odometer. But, in 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the Jersey Shore, and flooded the marina. After the water receded, on of the mechanics hosed it off, put fresh oil and gas in it, and it supposedly started right up when they jumped it. He rode it up the street and back, and then parked it.

Due to the saltwater exposure, the Lowe part of the frames has started to rust, but hasn't appeared to spread past the surface. The chrome has significant putting, but the paint is in excellent shape still. My father gave me the title this past Christmas.

My plan is to strip it down, repaint the frame, and get it running right after sitting for 34 years. I plan to keep the original orange paint, and fix any small rust spots in it, then have it clearcoated.

Sadly I only took one picture of it before starting to strip it down.
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You seem a little short for it, but that is a hellofa nice bike and will be a great ride once done.

I will suggest one tip only right now. Buy and replace the cam chain tensioner and rollers.

The original materials are of poor quality and will disintegrate

cb350-cam-chain-tensioner-and-roller-wear.preview.jpg


High quality can cost, but you can find them on eBay for better prices.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-CB250-CB350-CL350-SL350-CB750-Cam-Chain-Tensioner-Roller-Wheel-Set-/231576401099?hash=item35eb0774cb:g:GKIAAOSwstxVZygr&vxp=mtr

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Thanks. Right now I'm slowly working towards getting it running before I start anything major. The gas tank had rust on the inside, so I tried a bunch of stuff I read on the internet. After draining the 2012 era gas from it, I flushed it with detergent and oxyclean to get out any leftover old gas and varnish. I put a couple dozen 1/4" bolts in it and shook it up to get any loose rust out. Then I tried the battery charger electrolysis method, and got some more out. After that, I filled the tank with vinegar, and let it soak for a few days. It's pretty darn clean inside now, and didn't cause any damage to the paint.

It took me awhile to get the oil drain plug out, to which the process included impact guns, a mapp torch, and a 4ft Jack handle on a 2 ft breaker bar before it loosened up. Drained out some chocolate milk looking oil.

Here's how its currently sitting:
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I cleaned out the oil filter, filled the case with kerosene to flush out any old oil and crap, and its been sitting for 2 days. I also pulled the spark plugs, and squirted a mix of kerosene and ATF in there. I plan on draining and refilling with rotella tonight. Next is new fuel lines, new plugs, a new battery, and then to see if I can get it to start. Then once I can make sure it will actually run, I will start tearing it down to fix the rust and corrosion.

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Welcome in mate great start for a project and the motor done no work at all, hopefully not gonna have too many internal issues mostly cosmetic and any upgrades you fancy look forward to your progress mate ;)
 
I have a '71 basket case that is waiting to be turned into a AHRMA Novice Production racer. I'll watch this thread with great interest.
 
Well, she runs! New 1/4" tygon fuel lines with filters, new plugs, and a new battery, and she started up and idled on the 3 tap of the starter button

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Now I have the decision of whether I should completely strip it down to the frame, or just clean it up, replace the cables and brakes and whatever else should be replaced and ready it for this season and strip it down next fall and winter

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Well, overnight some gas leaked out of the bowl overflow tube, and some puddle in the carb throat in the left carb. I also neglected to turn off the petcock, but that's done now. My assumption is the float is either stuck or has a pinhole. Next plan is to take off both the carbs and stick them in the ultrasonic cleaner at work to clean them up a bit.

Also, what are everyone's thoughts on the uni filter kit that retains the stock side covers? There's some rust on the inside of my filter boxes, and the uni seems like a reasonable alternative to NOS paper filters. I've read people go both ways as to needed to rejet afterwards. I'm planning on keeping the original exhaust, and hadn't planned on pod filters, but there doesn't seem to be a clear consensus.

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Fantastic. I've read of people replacing the stock filter paper with new paper or foam, without any details how they did it. That article explains it nicely

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Are you planning on taking the engine apart? Just curious since you said that the oil was milk chocolate, that's usually a since of water in the oil. I've been through a couple of engines like that and they all had rust on the gears and other parts after sitting for awhile. The parts that sat in the milky oil weren't rusted, only where they were above the oil level.
You can hit the chrome with wet aluminum foil too to get rid of the rust. That method works really well.
 
I hadn't planned on taking the engine apart at this point. After I drained the old oil, I filled the engine with kerosene up to the oil fill hole, about a gallon, to hopefully help with any corrosion. I let it soak for a week, then drained and left the drain open overnight, refilled with rotella, let that sit a few days, and then drained and refilled with rotella again. I looked inside the cylinders and where I could see in the crankcase with a borescope, and didn't see any rust. Fingers crossed

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With the warm weather, I took the bike for a quick ride around the neighborhood yesterday. She ran beautifully. This afternoon I'm going to go down the street to the seeks serve carwash and blast some grime off. Pics to come.

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Time to start chasing electrical gremlins.... The headlight works, but that's about it. When I turn on the right turn signal, the front right and rear left light up, but don't blink. If I turn the key to parking lights, the tail light lights up, but only if I pull the front brake lever. I know the rear brake switch is no good, and ordered a replacement. Going to put in a new flasher also, and if that doesn't get me going, it looks like I'll be getting intimate with my multimeter

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