'77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Calling it Done (for now...)

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

Whats wrong with flaps?

Flap.

IMG_2957 by belch_brother, on Flickr

I like it. Heaps clean. Each to their own I guess. Personally I'd weld it. Welding is fun. Indiesol's forum has some good talk about welding.
mmmm welding smells good. ;D

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

Nothing personal against flaps per se, just wanted my tank to stand out a bit more without a full replacement.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

My problem is the gap between the back of the flap and the lip of the tank.

Edit: Damn I love that paint, Belch.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

Yeah... I'm hoping to shore that problem up with the new seat/tail I'm fabbing.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

Agreed. That gap shits me. Why honda why! haha Only became apparent to me AFTER paint. Oh well. Looks like I might need to redo the paint anyways, have a slight leak and some tiny bubbles forming. Going to give it a try with jb waterweld and see if it holds up.

hahaha just wanted to say flaps again. flaps. great word.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

I'm talking about this flap gap.



But yeah....those gaps bug me too...not so much on bobbers.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

IndieSol said:

I'm talking about this flap gap.




But yeah....those gaps bug me too...not so much on bobbers.

Click to expand...

Did you say Bobber's?

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

You mean this gap?

gap by belch_brother, on Flickr

I guess with a bobber there isn't really a transition between seat and tank so the gap just becomes the back of the tank. With a cafe seat it makes the gap more obvious.

All this talk and suddenly I feel inadequate... flap and gap insecurity... :-[

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

It doesn't take away from your bike, it's just something that I personally notice. I've seen a lot of nice bikes with some kind of gap there.

You ever get your giblets stuck in there during an emergency stop and you may think it a necessary mod though. And don't think I don't notice you taunting me with your finished bike.

Like the use of "Giblets"? An aussie chick I used to have a thing for told me that one.

Sorry for the thread jack, Sonny.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

No worries. I'm a big fan of thread jacking, myself. Makes the read a bit more interesting...

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

Not taunting, actually it is me attempting to keep my motivation up to get it finished. 250 engine is still wreaking havoc on me, and the 360 is turning out to be great but slow. Fingers crossed I can get it running by the weekend and registered!

Thread jacking is half the fun of forums!

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Now with crap welding pics!

Well... I finally picked up the welding torch and started some fabrication work. I have to say that I truly have a gift for getting welding wrong. My first weld (piece of scrap metal) came apart in my hands. On my second weld, I burned my arm with some sparks/slag (T-shirt + welding = bad idea). My third weld finally worked, but looks like it was done by a two year old... *sigh*

Anyway... after about an hour I got something that stuck together and didn't injure me. It's not the prettiest job (by a long shot), but I'm not welding here for aesthetics or for much structural purpose. I just need the metal to stick and so I'm going to grind it flat anyway.

Pic 1: Practice piece. I tried to run a bead across two sections of 16 gauge pipe without blowing through or failing to get enough penetration. Not really sure how I did...

Pic 2: Some 1/4" steel tacked into the indent in the top of the tank. Final plan is to have it all nice and smooth.


Pic 3: Added a steel hoop onto the end of the frame. These welds are terrible and I'm probably going to redo them.


Pic 4: Welded a bit of metal onto the frame where my "chopping" left some steel exposed.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS)

Its more fun, wont argue with you on that...

LOCKARD666 said:

i stand corrected... i never thought about the fiber type fillers... i guess i just like to weld stuff.

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Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Now with crap welding pics!

Got a bit more work done this last week, but not much to show for it, so no pics this time.

• Last of the hardware (bolts, washers, nuts, etc) cleaned up

• Bottom of the gas tank stripped of paint and a few rust spots cleaned as well

• Sheet metal received some further tacking into place to help for flap mitigation followed by some grinding to get it to sit flush

• Rear hoop on frame cut off and re-welded. Looks a bit better now

• Stripped the bunny ears and other various hardware bits attached up front

• Removed rear sprocket and cleaned it up as best as I could, it probably needs to be blasted

After all that, I started to take a rear tire off of the bike when I realized that it didn't want to move too much. Is there a special tool and/or method to getting the tires off of the wheels without breaking something?

But the best thing of all, my stock piston goes in the mail today. I'm sending it to a custom piston fabricator in Cali so they can take all the relevant measurements. In a couple of weeks they'll send back two new pistons that are +2mm over and compression will be raised from 9.3:1 to 10:1. Also, the valve pockets are being deepened to accommodate an extra .040" of lift from the new cam, which I have yet to order.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Now with crap welding pics!

Sonreir said:

But the best thing of all, my stock piston goes in the mail today. I'm sending it to a custom piston fabricator in Cali so they can take all the relevant measurements. In a couple of weeks they'll send back two new pistons that are +2mm over and compression will be raised from 9.3:1 to 10:1. Also, the valve pockets are being deepened to accommodate an extra .040" of lift from the new cam, which I have yet to order.

Click to expand...

That's awesome. Is the cost reasonable?

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Now with crap welding pics!

Can't believe I missed this thread... Anyways, cool man. Keep welding! You get better the more you do, and the more you get used to your welder. My forearms are covered in little slag scars from my dislike of PPE, btw.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Now with crap welding pics!

IndieSol said:

That's awesome. Is the cost reasonable?

Click to expand...

Define reasonable?
The two pistons (+ rings) are setting me back $400.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Starting tank mods!

Well... I've spent a good deal of time today getting my tank ready. I found some knee pads from a CD175 on eBay and have decided to incorporate them into my design. Now that the tank has been (mostly) stripped, it's some to put some dents into it!

I used the knee pads as a bit of a guide to help me know how much dentage to put in and where to apply it. I'm going for soft curves rather than inches of indentation. I think it's turned out pretty well so far, but I'll know for certain once the bondo gets applied tomorrow.

I also took a trip to harbor freight and picked up a tube flaring kit for $8. I've started the fabrication on my brass fuel lines. That's right, I'm going with hard lines. There's only so much I can do without the engine reassambled and put back into place on the frame, but I'm doing what I can.

Finally, I disassembled both rear shocks and gave them a good cleaning. The dampeners are going to get a lick of paint tomorrow.


Mocking up the knee pads to the tank to see how much denting needs to be done.


Left side completed


Both sides completed and ready for filler


Not a motorcycle or motorcycle parts


Marking off where I want to start taking it easy on the bondo. Gotta make sure the cap still fits.


Cleaning the tank in the kitchen sink. Don't tell the Mrs or she'll have a coniption.


Picked this up from Harbor Freighter for $8 and got some 1/4" OD brass tubing from the hardware store for $1.69 for a 16" length. Everything you need for a DIY fuel hardline.


Tubing inserted in to the flaring contraption


The flaring clamp left some nasty tool marks on the brass. Cured with a bit of time with the wire wheel and then black and brown buffing compounds


Fits over the petcock quite nicely. Just need to make it permanent.


Rear shocks before:


And after:

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Starting tank mods!

And I kept busy on Sunday as well!

Up first was was to use my new found welder and slowly progressing welding skills to save myself $60 and build my own spring compressor. It's not pretty, but it works.


After that, I shined up the springs as best as I could but noticed that they were still pretty mucky and rusty on the inside.


So into a gallon of vinegar they go (along with a couple of tablespoons of salt).


And a random pic of me after dunking the springs. My 4yr old boy took took this one and insisted I post it.


With the springs soaking for the next 24 hours, I got the first layer of bondo onto the top of the tank and the right side.


A couple of hours later, the second layer goes onto the top and I had enough left from that batch to most of the left side. Tonight I'll do the third (and hopefully last) layer along with a bit of touch-up on the right side.


And finally, I got the first coat of primer onto my forks.


Not a bad day considering I watched the game and spent 4 hours at work, as well.

Re: '77 CJ360T (Café SOS) - Tank mods underway!

mmmmmm hard lines. Looking good Sonreir!