75' cl360 build photos

I'm a total noob and started this project to learn basic mechanics and skill sets. Only had access to a few hand tools, my buddies mig welder (which i learned how to use during this process) and hardware store supplies. completed project in my unheated garage last winter. learned a ton and am happy with how it turned out.

project started as a parts bike that i intended to strip for a donor frame.
turned out to have good compression and got it started with ether.
sourced a good carb for it (origional was totally frozen solid) and got it around the bock on gasoline.
this opened up the rest of the project.
 

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got a beat up cb350f tank for 10 bucks (presumed value of the petcock). didn't leak but had big dents in sides and front corners. Rather than try to pull the dents out, i hammered them in further and copied the contours on both sides to make hand and knee dents.
some body filler and lots of elbow grease evened out the small dents i couldn't smooth with hours of light tapping with wood blocks. saw this done on youtube and gave it a try. i was surprised it actually worked.
i love the shape of the stock tank and basically just tried to enhance it while making the best of the contours the dents forced me to work around.
 

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found an old buffing wheel on craigs list for $40. turned out to be quite the find. buffing nasty parts to a shine became a nightly relaxation exercise for me. after the first night, i learned to keep my face out of the mess and wear mask/glasses.
 

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a few more parts pics. the stock triple tree was cracked so i found a replacement from another model that fit perfectly. polished it up and looked good. i sprayed all the small rusted steel parts with high temp enamel then baked the parts in my toaster oven. (yes, my wife loved every second of this)
 

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took apart the controls and fixed wiring problems. multiple loose contacts and solder breaks. this is one of the few skills i had before i took on this project. tried polishing the casings. factory finish was really hard to get off so i gave up after buffing the top covers and painted the bottoms.
wheels had surface rust too but were true so i painted them flat black but polished the breaks.
kids got into the action with a bit of finish polishing too. the youngest wasn't much help but was entertaining.
 

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headlight bucket cracked while taking the lamp out. i ended up using epoxy to fix the crack and repainted the bucket. looks pretty good now. pictured sitting with the pile of other parts that are "done"

pic of mostly stripped frame. i kept parts on the frame until they were being worked on. this limited my chances of loosing them or forgetting where they went.

before i pulled the motor, i marked off any tabs on the frame that were not needed. these were then cut off with a saws all and grinder

gave the engine a good cleaning but didn't take it apart. i figured, why mess with something that is working. I'll deal with problems if they arise in the future.
 

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a couple pics of my "shop"
notice the working cl360 under a tarp. this was my model when i forgot how to put something back together.
 

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after all the extras were removed from the frame and any scars were sanded/filled smooth. i started work on the seat/tail.
i looked all over for a shape and size that fit the bike well but came up empty handed. my only option was to learn how to build one from scratch. ended up using fiberglass. This was my first time working with the stuff and didn't know what to expect. much like the body filler on the tank, there was a bit of a learning curve and thanks to the great process details on this site, i was able to get something pretty nice on the first try. I didn't intend on making multiple copies so i didn't bother making a mold. i just formed the shape from foam, covered it in a layer of tape (so resin wouldn't melt the foam) and laid up the glass mat on the plug. In hind site, i should have added some extra spacers between the frame and the glass to allow a bit more room for upholstery and hardware but with some careful prep in the later steps this ended up working OK.
 

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more tail pics

laid up a seat pan inset to hold upholstery without having to snap to the main seat/tail section
 

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made up a few washer nuts with large fender washers welded to them to increase the surface area. these were epoxied to the upholstery pan. the idea is that screw will come up through the under side of the frame tubes and thread into the seat pan.

foam glued to the upholstery pan (covering the washer nuts).

Heated the stock tail loop and bent it to better fit the shape of the new tail piece. had to cut some length too.

welded a few struts and some sheet steel across the seating area. made up a battery box under the tail as well.
i hind site i should have planned the size needed inside the tail more carefully. i really had to work and get creative with battery brand/model and placement to get everything to fit inside the limited space i had. live and learn i guess. i got lucky this time though cause it all JUST fit. i actually had to get a bit of a smaller starter solenoid so it would fit in the given space.

my welding skills are not what they should be so some grinding was needed. i pretty much made a mess of a few pieces but by the end started to make some decent joints.
 

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painting was done with rattle can as i was working on a very tight budget and don't have multi part paint tools.
it was the dead of chicago winter when i got to this point so painting in the frozen garage was not a good option.
solution:
heat the garage with a space heater, keep the parts warm inside until they are ready to be painted. move them to the garage and spray. immediately run back inside with the wet part and hang it on a door frame or cabinet door in the kitchen.
(again, my wife loved this part)
 

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tank and seat were painted metallic silver and frame burnt orange (somewhat inspired by other builds i have seen on line) but also wanting to give a nod to the original paint color of the 75' cl360.

after clear coat i tried my hand at wet sanding (another first) i really underestimated how time consuming this process can be. Dang

Got new rubber and some tire irons. After watching a youtube clip on how to change tires, i gave it a shot. I had to do some touch up on the rims after prying the tires off and on but i got it done. i have to say, soapy water and layer of milk jug plastic disks to pry against are two tricks worth passing along. made a seemingly impossible job doable.
 

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with most the stock parts fixed, cleaned and polished, it was time to start the reassembly.
again, this is a part that in hind site should have been done already as a dry fit assembly first before paint but i didn't know better (well i thought i did). assembly became a long process because of this. every tweak was painful because it meant somehow messing with and cutting/welding finished parts.
cable loom was cleaned and wrapped in snakeskin. tons of little bolts needed to be shortened/tweaked to fit the new mounting scheme.
I also ordered clipons, signal lights, tail light, rearsets/linkages, pod filters, from the guys at dime city.

Still in the dead of winter, the mother of all favors was granted by my loving wife. the bike stayed in the kitchen while i worked out the fitting kinks and put it back together.

i decided to keep the controls to save money rather than purchase stripped down throttle/break/clutch levers. in my mind, this meant that all the buttons and switches needed to work too. for this reason, the starter motor was kept along with the horn, blinker relay, etc... All these extra doodads found homes either under the tank, wedged between the sheet steel and seat pan, or stuffed under the tail piece. I didn't want any extras showing when looking at the bike. lucky for me the cb360f tank is a bit wider so there was room to strap much of this under the tank.
I moved the key under the seat as well. hides under there quite nice now.
the tank doesn't mate quite right with the frame when stock so i cut off the tabs and welded on some pins to hold the tank to the frame. welding was done before paint and after a multi day rust removal treatment (vinegar bath which worked very well)
 

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i decided to run a tach only so i made a set of mounting tabs and got some treaded rod and brass tubing to rig a mount that sets the stock tach center between the forks and dropped down into the space between headlight and tree.

flasher mounts and license plate/light mount were also cut/welded from sheet steel

stock tailpipes were used but all the heat shield tabs were cut off and the pipes were sanded dull.
heat shield was cut and welded back together to shorten it then painted flat black

rearset linkages were made from threaded rod and aluminum tube with threaded joints on either end. I found brass tubing that slipped perfectly around the aluminum. cut and polished this to add a bit of class. (matches the tach mounts)

upholstery pan was covered with a piece of suede (actually its a swatch of leather from an old black couch turned inside out and glued to the foam)

pinstripes and emblems are vinyl and adhesive backed.
 
finished pics
 

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a few more
 

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and another
 

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