74 CB360 City Bike

[DashGordan]

bike is shaping up nicely...reminds me of the holiday cb

Thanks man. Check out their latest yamaha on pipeburn.  http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2012/3/5/yamaha-xs650-holiday-customs.html

[DashGordan]

I wish I had some before and after pictures of my cylinders, they cleaned up so nice I almost left them in factory paint that was still pretty much there.

Soda blasting will/will not remove paint?

[freerideordie]

Not very well. I like aluminum oxide or beads for paint removAl. Soda is really just good for delicate parts.

[frogman]

And grease, and crap, and mineral deposits. Good for cleaning not so much for taking it to the bare metal.

[DashGordan]

Is it the only thing that's safe to use on an engine I don't plan on tearing apart?

[ejb]

This bike is looking dope. I'm going in a similar direction with my 74 cb360. Trying to get the rear tire clearance figured out as well. I'll definitely be building one of those cheap soda blasters. Good tips.

[DashGordan]

This bike is looking dope. I'm going in a similar direction with my 74 cb360. Trying to get the rear tire clearance figured out as well. I'll definitely be building one of those cheap soda blasters. Good tips.

Thanks Man, it seems like it goes in spurts. Let me know if i can help with any clearance issues.

Soda blaster worked really well. Went with the one that frogman recommended for $20.
The only problem I had was the moisture in my air hose mixing with the soda and temporarily clogging the gun. You're gonna want to do it on a less humid day. Which really doesn't exist in Oklahoma.

[frogman]

Yeah was the biggest problem I had, I'm gonna pick up one of the water separators from HF next time I'm in there and put it in line.

[klx678]

And grease, and crap, and mineral deposits. Good for cleaning not so much for taking it to the bare metal.

Sorry to tell you, but that is totally false.  I had my SR500 soda blasted - no paint left and the surface was perfect for painting.  It does not take away metal, that is the main advantage.  Possibly easier to clean afterwards too... and maybe you can brush your teeth with the left over soda. 

It will take off corrosion, rust, paint, etc, but not damage the metal.  Key point - it will not damage exposed threads.  Not a single one of the welded on threaded fittings needed chased or anything else.  The work was so good it almost looked like the paint was chemically stripped, the metal was that clean and no coarse pitting like sand blasting or bead blasting.  Car people love it because it will not cause issues when the sheet metal is really thin, like warping panels and such.  I love it because it doesn't hose up threaded holes.

I learned about it when I spoke with the guy who did the work in Worthington Ohio, near me.  He was at the Goodguys Streetrod Nationals at Columbus, with a frame on a rotisserie and I think a cab from a vintage truck sitting there bare metal. 

One point though.  If I was doing an older European bike - aka doing a Bultaco - I'd do bead blasting on the cylinder and head.  It is pretty much a match to the original cast look.  Sand blasting leaves a sharper unnatural look on the head.  Then paint the cylinder black as usual for a Bul.  As smooth as some of the Japanese stuff was it might be wise to do the soda blasting there too.  No aluminum removed, but the surface comes out clean of any paint, grease etcetera.

[CurtisR]

Sorry to tell you, but that is totally false.  I had my SR500 soda blasted - no paint left and the surface was perfect for painting.  It does not take away metal, that is the main advantage.  Possibly easier to clean afterwards too... and maybe you can brush your teeth with the left over soda. 

It will take off corrosion, rust, paint, etc, but not damage the metal.  Key point - it will not damage exposed threads.  Not a single one of the welded on threaded fittings needed chased or anything else.  The work was so good it almost looked like the paint was chemically stripped, the metal was that clean and no coarse pitting like sand blasting or bead blasting.  Car people love it because it will not cause issues when the sheet metal is really thin, like warping panels and such.  I love it because it doesn't hose up threaded holes.

I learned about it when I spoke with the guy who did the work in Worthington Ohio, near me.  He was at the Goodguys Streetrod Nationals at Columbus, with a frame on a rotisserie and I think a cab from a vintage truck sitting there bare metal. 

One point though.  If I was doing an older European bike - aka doing a Bultaco - I'd do bead blasting on the cylinder and head.  It is pretty much a match to the original cast look.  Sand blasting leaves a sharper unnatural look on the head.  Then paint the cylinder black as usual for a Bul.  As smooth as some of the Japanese stuff was it might be wise to do the soda blasting there too.  No aluminum removed, but the surface comes out clean of any paint, grease etcetera.

Thank you for explaining this to us noobs.lol

OP: Following this build for sure.

[DashGordan]

Sorry to tell you, but that is totally false.

Wow, that's a plethora of knowledge in the field of blasting. Good to know!

As for the soda blasting, I'm sure that a professional soda blaster will remove paint, but the one I used (pictured above) did not. It's not actually a soda blaster though. It was great for removing the grime only. Actually, the heavy caked on stuff needed to be scraped off first. But you could have eaten off the engine when i was done. Several hours of work but well worth it.

Here's a glimpse of what the engine now looks like. Polished the covers, started replacing gaskets. I sanded them with 60-100-220-400-600. Followed that up with some mothers polish by hand. I think they look pretty good. Almost like a stainless without the brushed look.

I plan to paint some of the engine, just not sure what parts yet.

Can anyone recommend a good engine paint that will resemble my polished covers?

[DashGordan]

Here are a few things I've done since my last post. It seems like I've spent a lot more time than the pictures lead into. A lot of additional time lately has been spent on engine tear down, cleaning, and paint. Hopefully engine pics will follow in a couple weeks once I have it ready to shove in the hole.

New coils. MikesXs mounted on a makeshift aluminum strip from lowes.


Seat pan cut out and shaped to fit over tank mount. Got the metal from lowes. Cut it out with an angle grinder and shaped it a bit with my bench grinder. Then, I clamp an angle iron to it in order to create a press to get the double bend.


New headlight mounted using the same piece of iron that I used for my press above.


Painted my controls and polished my levers. Still need to clean up the red kill switch. I never thought picking out grips would be so difficult. Next to the tank and seat, I feel like they're the most important cosmetic decision.

[DashGordan]

Wiring harness is good to go. Cleaned all the terminals and rewrapped the bundles with this: http://www.tapebrothers.com/Black-Dry-Vinyl-Tapes-p/dvt76b2.htm
Really good stuff. A cleaned up harness somehow makes the wiring fiasco ahead seem not quite so daunting.

[trek97]

your coil brackets are a great idea.  The whole machine looking super.

[DashGordan]

your coil brackets are a great idea.  The whole machine looking super.

Thanks Trek, one of many brilliant ideas ive gathered from this site. I'd be lost without DTTers.  The bike is getting there, stop by any time.