1974 Honda CB360 Garage Find Cafe Build

[Noah Zarq]

For stuck screws, there are a million ways to do it but here's what I did on my Suzuki when 12 of 15 screws were stuck:

I sprayed them with a liberal dose of PB Blaster and let it sit while I was at work. Then I took a really sharp chisel and small hammer and tapped the chisel on the bolt head in the direction the screw needed to turn. Kinda like this: O\ OK admittedly that's clear as mud, maybe somebody can explain what I mean. Anyhow it worked great. I replaced all screws with allen head bolts.

Nice bike!

 

[blkgsx90]

I like the color you picked for your engine, its different. I'm doing almost the same thing with painting. Just spraying it from a can, I hate paying to have stuff done. I have a feeling this is going to turn out great!

 

[sbaugz]

I'm really happy with the way the paint turned out. I thought I was going to pull out my hair trying to get a paint scheme down (I work in printing and design so color is a big deal to me). That said I started to paint the motor black and polished but thats been done about 12,000 times on these cafes. I always like to try something a little different so I substituted a flat, iron grey paint.

I know there are some who will scold me for not prepping my parts a little better or filling in some of the pitted areas or just "going at it" but I am personally happy with the way it turned out and most importantly, I did it myself. I was going to sub-contract out the work in the beginning but A) that is way to expensive for a poor guy and B) the entire point of the cafe racer culture is doing this work yourself! It may not be perfect in the end but I will be really happy with the fact I tackeld this myself.

Enough motivational speaking....here are some pics of paint job.


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr

I had an old set of spark plugs so I just screwed'em in there to keep out the paint.

Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr

I really like the paint. what kind of primer and paint did you use?

 

[loganrm]

It's too late now, but for the screws use an impact screw driver. Like $9 @ harbor freight.

I really like your engine paint. how much you ask? I just bought 5 cans of the same stuff. Dang it! I really hate it when someone does my idea first.

I actually did go buy the HF special for 6.95 or something to that effect. There were a few that were just beyond saving. it might have had something to do with the freaking lock tight the PO put on them!?!?

Glad you liked the paint idea! Lemme see some pics of it when you get it on here.

 

[loganrm]

sbaugz,

I used Duplicolor self etching primer on everything except the jugs. I took the advice of a fellow member and just sprayed the engine paint right on there. I was going to use Duplicolor for the engine paint as well but couldn't find the exact shade of grey I wanted so I ended up using Rustoleum. I found that the Rustoleum is really terrible to work with but in the end...its a rattle can...so I can't expect to much.

 

[loganrm]

Lets talk about fins. I have seen lots of posts regarding the fins and a dremel tool. I like a dremel shortcut just as much as the next guy but after burning through about 3 of those little sanding sleeves and not liking the control of the dremel I went to a good ole hand file. I've been working on these about 30 minutes now and I like the look of hand filing much better. The dremel was not giving me a smooth edge and kept walking around a lot. Here are the pics so far. I'd say I have another hour of work here before I have these cleaned up and really looking uniform.


Fins by loganrm, on Flickr


Fins by loganrm, on Flickr

 

[loganrm]

Sorry for the lack of updates the last few days. My 96 year old grandmother had a stroke and things have bee kind of rough here lately. I plan on spending as much time as possible with her on the weekends now since you just never know when your going to lose someone that special. That said I have been actually working on the bike and getting things in. I finished filing out the fins and they turned out really nice. I FINALLY located a set of CL scrambler pipes and got those in the mail last night. They look really nice for what hey are, minimal surface rust, and no dings. The mufflers are absolutely toast but I am going to probably run the 12" shorty's from Dime City unless someone has something sexier looking the would like to suggest. My piston rings and gaskets should be here on Monday and my interceptor seat from Roc City should arrive on Wednesday. I'm hoping to get the motor back together next week and mock up the seat so I can start painting and powder coating.

 

[blkgsx90]

Sorry to hear that man, hope everything gets better for you.

Nice find on the CL pipes, post some pics up!!! I'd like to get some of those but there hard to find. Especially in decent condition.

 

[loganrm]

The odds have been against me on getting work done with this cafe build but I managed to finally get down into the cave and do some work. I started putting the top end back together last night and I gotta say, IT WASN'T THAT BAD! The worst problem I had was with the piston rings. The night before I had removed the old rings and ended up breaking a couple. I went out yesterday and bought a pair of piston ring pliers and they were so incredibly frustrating I ended up just putting them on by hand. I was going to finish the top end last night but running out for some anti seize at 1am was not an option after all that rolling rock. I will get back on that tonight and hopefully get this motor back into action!


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr

As for the seat, I had looked and looked and looked...then I looked some more. I am a firm believer in DIY and while I think making a fiberglass seat from scratch isn't that bad of a project, there are somethings you just need to go ahead and buy if you ever want to finish a big project like this. I went with Roc City "Interceptor" since everyone seems to love his work. I can say this seat is crafted very nicely and fits on the bike good too. My only problem is that for the time being (even though I've seen a dozen on other 360's) it looks quite large! I'm hoping once I get the wheels and everything painted it will look more proportional and consistant.


Seat by loganrm, on Flickr

I also ground the fins on my points cover and discovered the best way to handle the dremel tool when grinding.


Cover by loganrm, on Flickr

Finally....My new best friend.


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr

 

[loganrm]

I spent about two hours trying to get this bastard to sit flush last night and I have NO idea as to why this cover will not seat properly. If someone has a clue, please make my day.


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr

 

[blkgsx90]

Check and make sure all of you oil filter stuff is together correctly. When I put my cover on I had to push hard because of the two collars that line the cover up. Good luck. Don't break anything!

 

[Frito Bandito]

No words of advice here, just encouragement. Your doing a brilliant job! And I'm very, very impressed that your doing all the work yourself! I've always thought that the Honda 350/360 made terrific kaffs, and I'm sure yours is going to be very impressive! The seat really doesn't look too big and once you cover it, it will look great (you might try doing it yourself. It's not that hard). Thanks for keeping us posted so well, I love reading (and seeing) other peoples projects!

 

[crazypj]

The pin for oil pump idler gear hollow shaft isn't seated in the recess

 

[loganrm]

The pin for oil pump idler gear hollow shaft isn't seated in the recess

Forgive the ignorance but could you or someone reading elaborate on this idea a little further? Thanks in advance.

 

[loganrm]

O.K. the plot thickens. I came home and checked everything over again. I made sure the cover itself is flat again and that everything is as it should be. I went as far as putting the bolts in to see if they easily slid into their slots. They did and I put a little tension on them to see if the cover would "pop" into place but the whole thing seem to just feel like it was in a bind. I felt like it was gonna crack on me so I just backed off. Here are some pictures that may help someone identify whats going on.


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr


Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr

Here is as close as I've gotten but it just does not "feel right". You can tell their is pressure on this thing and it is not correct.

Untitled by loganrm, on Flickr

 

[loganrm]

Well...I just got the cover on with the help of a guy named "Fox" here at DTT. He posted up a photo tutorial showing me where my problem was. The little gear under the oil filter was not seated properly causing the case to not sit down.

Thanks Fox! Really made my night man!

 

[crazypj]

That's what I said, pin not located in slot on oil pump idler gear

 

[loganrm]

That's what I said, pin not located in slot on oil pump idler gear

Crazy, you were dead on but I had no clue what the heck those were until I got pictures from Fox last night. Thanks for the answer and my apologies for being a complete goober.

 

[AlphaDogChoppers]

"Goober"
Maybe that would be a good name for the bike.

 

[crazypj]

LOL, ;D
It's all good when it gets fixed.
I didn't check back to see if you knew what the parts were and when I did check, fox had posted pics which was pretty quick.
I guess he must have had the same problem (or just happened to be in the same point of engine build?)
I'm glad you were smart enough to walk away and not start attacking it with a big hammer