luckystrike
New Member
Well, I thought I would show my restoration and introduce myself all at the same time.
I live in the Dallas, Texas area. CBS are getting harder to come by in these parts, at least in somewhat decent condition anyway. I found this one in Houston on craigs, spent the night and picked her up in the morning. It turned over after a push start, but wouldn't idle. Everything else appeared to be solid. No oil leaks, no weird smells or clouds coming from the exhaust. It hadn't been registered since 86.
So, after 5 days of locating and running the roads, we had two bikes in the back yard under a makeshift lean-to that we made out of a tarp. After 3 nights of turning wrenches and swatting mosquitoes, we had bare frames and wrapped motors, setting on 4x4 pallets.
I soon moved the bike to my family’s’ shop. I picked up a sandblaster, built an engine stand, bought a powder coating gun and a bike jack. As soon as the engine was snugly hung on the stand, the whole top end came off and was rebuilt. The gaskets were a pain, but came off after a good soak and some elbow grease. I re-honed the cylinders, and replaced a set of rings on one piston because of signs of blow-by. The valve springs were cleaned and reset. Every gasket and O ring was replaced. The sandblaster made quick work of many parts that needed to be cleaned. I took special care not to let any debris or sand get into the case. Most parts were taken off and soaked in kerosene after. I covered the holes and blasted the engine with walnut shells afterward. Then, I took a mist gun and sprayed it down with kerosene. And took special care to mist the inside as well. I pulled the oil pan off and let it drain.
The frame was sent off to be powder coated and I soon bought my own gun and built my own oven. I ran my propane oven alongside a small convection oven. I cleaned and refinished side covers and misc engine parts. I powder coated and relaced the wheels, bought new tires, spokes and bearings. Trued them and got them balanced. I then set to getting all suspension powdercoated and assembled. The suspension went on and the engine soon followed.
I decided to lop off the tail end and go for a loop. After some time with a pipe bender and a mig welder, she came out pretty nicely. Two pieces of pipe were bent in a 16 ton tube bender, then cut, then joined together with a small metal rod, slid into the bike and welded and smoothed out with various grinders. I also lopped a foot off the rear fender. I ran lights and gauges as well as new instruments, handle bar and grips.
I bought a Dyna ignition over the summer. I installed it and began to turn it over. It was sounding like it wanted to start, but never could. I racked my brain trying to figure it out. So I started looking. I read through a whole post on here and found the solution 7 pages in. The green and the yellow wires on the coils were backwards. Viola! It started up. I cleaned and rebuilt the carbs. Soon after I got it go idle. I built a seat pan from plate and plywood what was treated after cutting and fixed them with T nuts.
<a href="http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Luckystrike077/media/adfaweee_zps6539c9b3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a626/Luckystrike077/adfaweee_zps6539c9b3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo adfaweee_zps6539c9b3.jpg"/></a>
Not long after a few run tests oil began to drip steadily from the #2 exhaust. I decided to pull the engine apart once more. The thought of not replacing the cylinder spigot o rings was eating at me as well. Plus I wanted to be able to fully diagnose why I was getting an oil leak out of the #2 exhaust. I pulled the cam cover off and it revealed that the gasket had pinched and snapped, taking one of the pucks with it. That explained the leak around the top, but I dug further. I tore it further down and pulled the jugs. I found that the walnut shells that I used to blast the engine seeped in between the jugs and the case. I decided then to clean the studs and flush the case for good measure. When I pulled the jugs off I saw that #2 piston's oil ring was broken and hanging (There was my problem). Luckily, I had a new set of rings on hand. I flushed the case and set to re honing the cylinders and found my biggest problem. #2 and #3 cylinders were both scored. I honed them a little bit, but stopped. I took it to the local shop and he said he could hone the cylinders for me with a tool I didn’t have.
While I waited for the cylinders to be worked on, I pulled the rear off and installed some bronze bushings I had picked up.
Right now I have a bike that has a torn apart engine sitting in the frame. As soon as I get the block back, everything will go back on. The guy at the shop told me I may need new pistons heads because the skirts were scared.
Well, that's my build so far. Sorry for the huge post.
I live in the Dallas, Texas area. CBS are getting harder to come by in these parts, at least in somewhat decent condition anyway. I found this one in Houston on craigs, spent the night and picked her up in the morning. It turned over after a push start, but wouldn't idle. Everything else appeared to be solid. No oil leaks, no weird smells or clouds coming from the exhaust. It hadn't been registered since 86.
So, after 5 days of locating and running the roads, we had two bikes in the back yard under a makeshift lean-to that we made out of a tarp. After 3 nights of turning wrenches and swatting mosquitoes, we had bare frames and wrapped motors, setting on 4x4 pallets.
I soon moved the bike to my family’s’ shop. I picked up a sandblaster, built an engine stand, bought a powder coating gun and a bike jack. As soon as the engine was snugly hung on the stand, the whole top end came off and was rebuilt. The gaskets were a pain, but came off after a good soak and some elbow grease. I re-honed the cylinders, and replaced a set of rings on one piston because of signs of blow-by. The valve springs were cleaned and reset. Every gasket and O ring was replaced. The sandblaster made quick work of many parts that needed to be cleaned. I took special care not to let any debris or sand get into the case. Most parts were taken off and soaked in kerosene after. I covered the holes and blasted the engine with walnut shells afterward. Then, I took a mist gun and sprayed it down with kerosene. And took special care to mist the inside as well. I pulled the oil pan off and let it drain.
The frame was sent off to be powder coated and I soon bought my own gun and built my own oven. I ran my propane oven alongside a small convection oven. I cleaned and refinished side covers and misc engine parts. I powder coated and relaced the wheels, bought new tires, spokes and bearings. Trued them and got them balanced. I then set to getting all suspension powdercoated and assembled. The suspension went on and the engine soon followed.
I decided to lop off the tail end and go for a loop. After some time with a pipe bender and a mig welder, she came out pretty nicely. Two pieces of pipe were bent in a 16 ton tube bender, then cut, then joined together with a small metal rod, slid into the bike and welded and smoothed out with various grinders. I also lopped a foot off the rear fender. I ran lights and gauges as well as new instruments, handle bar and grips.
I bought a Dyna ignition over the summer. I installed it and began to turn it over. It was sounding like it wanted to start, but never could. I racked my brain trying to figure it out. So I started looking. I read through a whole post on here and found the solution 7 pages in. The green and the yellow wires on the coils were backwards. Viola! It started up. I cleaned and rebuilt the carbs. Soon after I got it go idle. I built a seat pan from plate and plywood what was treated after cutting and fixed them with T nuts.
<a href="http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/Luckystrike077/media/adfaweee_zps6539c9b3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a626/Luckystrike077/adfaweee_zps6539c9b3.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo adfaweee_zps6539c9b3.jpg"/></a>
Not long after a few run tests oil began to drip steadily from the #2 exhaust. I decided to pull the engine apart once more. The thought of not replacing the cylinder spigot o rings was eating at me as well. Plus I wanted to be able to fully diagnose why I was getting an oil leak out of the #2 exhaust. I pulled the cam cover off and it revealed that the gasket had pinched and snapped, taking one of the pucks with it. That explained the leak around the top, but I dug further. I tore it further down and pulled the jugs. I found that the walnut shells that I used to blast the engine seeped in between the jugs and the case. I decided then to clean the studs and flush the case for good measure. When I pulled the jugs off I saw that #2 piston's oil ring was broken and hanging (There was my problem). Luckily, I had a new set of rings on hand. I flushed the case and set to re honing the cylinders and found my biggest problem. #2 and #3 cylinders were both scored. I honed them a little bit, but stopped. I took it to the local shop and he said he could hone the cylinders for me with a tool I didn’t have.
While I waited for the cylinders to be worked on, I pulled the rear off and installed some bronze bushings I had picked up.
Right now I have a bike that has a torn apart engine sitting in the frame. As soon as I get the block back, everything will go back on. The guy at the shop told me I may need new pistons heads because the skirts were scared.
Well, that's my build so far. Sorry for the huge post.
