1976 Gold Wing Swamp Thing

Picked up a part #7733 radiator hose from Napa (it has a similar shape once it's cut to the two rad hoses you need) and chopped up the bugger -

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I'm also told that hooking up a garden hose to the engine block (after removing the thermostat so as to not impede flow) and flushing the bejeezus out of the cooling system in the engine block is a good idea. There's loads of sandy looking stuff in there from some product or other and I want that out. So that's next on the to-do list.

And have a litre of Prestone radiator flush in the the rad - I'll leave it in there for three days to clean out the 46 years worth of crap that's accumulated. Other than that, not much doing. My CB has been giving me fits, so I've been preoccupied trying to get the Better Devil sorted. Living up to its name that one.
 
So a PO put sil8ca based coolant in there. Silica=sand. That is why your pump failed. Get that flushed good. It is great heat transfer stuff but only in systems that are designed for it. GL's are not. Folks sometimes just think coolant is coolant but it isn't all the same.
 
The same hose I use. Hint; a little silicone lube (I use Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease because that is the industry I was in, plumbing grease is Ok) on the inside ends of the hoses, spouts on the radiator, thermostat housing and water pump cover allow easier installation.
 
Updates. Been trying to get the shittily running CB back in good shape so the GL has taken a bit of a back seat. Waiting on parts however has meant I can turn my attentions back to this old girl. With the water pump rebuilt and timing belts changed, I flushed out the engine's cooling system the only way I know how...messily -

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- but largely effectively. Left some Prestone radiator cleaner product in the rad for three days or so so clean that up and flushed it with distilled water. No overstatement to say a fair bit of crap came out of the thing -

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Went to check if the thermostat still worked and discovered there was no thermostat in place -

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but drug up a couple from the ol' spare parts boxes, found the least cruddy, did the checks to make sure the thing still worked (it did) so installed that along with the new o-ring for the housing. Hooked up the radiator with its new hoses, filled it with coolant (I ended up using OEM brand from Canadian Tire - they have a formulation specifically for Honda engines, no silicates), filled the engine with oil (still using Rotella T4 15W 40) with a new filter and fired up the bike to start the vacuum synch.

Things were going ok until I noticed the brand new battery was having a tough time turning the starter - killed the engine and noticed plumes of black smoke pouring from the left side of the bike. Turns out the starter motor was on fire - literally. Think it was caused by a loose connection between the cable and the starter. Panicked the fuck out (had the aux gas tank suspended just above it) and dumped a load of water on the thing. Which saw to the fire, but also to the ongoing operational abilities of the starter motor. Utterly trashed the thing.

Not for the first time I thanked Andre the PO for supplying me with a trove of spares when I bought the bike - dug in and found a starter motor which looked useable. Getting the old one out is thankfully not the huge ball ache that Clymers suggests it is (they say engine removal from the frame is required - utter bollocks). I had to remove a couple of bolts securing the starter, the gear shifter, the headers and an exhaust stud bolt and the job was a good'un. Also, had read that the bike must be on the side stand in order that the starter chain in the engine does not dislocate. But I'd also read - and had on good authority - that this was an old wives tale, that there was in fact no way for the chain to dislocate due to the internal anatomy of the engine casing. So I put my chips on that, and kept the bike upright, which worked out just fine. Pulled the starter apart for shits and giggles - the internals were deeply fried and the smell of burnt grease was truly, truly awful. I also learnt what a planetary gear is, cool looking set-up. Installed the replacement and whaddya know, the thing worked. Beauty.

Back to the vacuum synch - idle was all over the map which turns out was caused by me not properly securing the lid on the air filter. I've got the carbs pretty close now and a fairly steady idle -


Thing is, I then decided to dial out the mixture screw on carb #1 from 2 turns to 2 1/2 out, and then things went pear shaped again - idle surged bigtime. So more tinkering is required, but I'm told I'm on the right track. Which is good, because the CB is giving me fits.
 
The CB has been one step forward one step back for the last month trying to figure out what the fuck is wrong. So yeah, progress on the GL feels good man
 
I feel ya, I keep getting road blocks on the little CB with the one carb, let alone 4. I hope to have it sorted tonight, if I can't get it tuned I will bite the bullet on the $45 needle and seat as it would be the only thing left to be the issue.
 
Think I've narrowed the problem on the CB down to a weird heat-related vacuum leak. DHL are dicking around with parts that were supposed to be here yesterday, so all bets are off as to when I can have another crack at getting the thing roadworthy. No worries, giving me some time to get stuck into the goldwing - the more I work on this bike the more I'm loving it
 
Also have some time on my hands so teaching a friend's young son what I know about internal combustion engines by taking apart some old lawn strimmers. He wants to get into car restoration so I gently/not-very-gently-at-all suggested to his old man to nurture that vibe and get him some old engine to hack into. It's been fun, I'm learning more too and the kid's really into it. Pulled the totally janked engine apart already to see what gives and will tear into #2 this eve in the hopes of bringing the thing back to life. The tiny pistons in these things are great, and now the kid has his first scalp -

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Carb syncs will soon be 15 minutes finding and connecting the rig, 10-20 minutes to get her good and warm, and one minute actually sync adjusting. Just make sure timing is righf first.
 
Hiatus over, big old girl is airborne again -

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Like me she has lost little-to-no weight over the last year and a half, is a little rustier, but happy in the new digs. Checked the valve clearances yesterday (they were miles off) and just re-read this thread to remind myself what work I've already done (some), what still needs doing (most) and what I've forgotten (almost everything). Deep breath people, it's amateur hour o'clock.
 
Ha, Nice to see her on the lift Jim! I'll be refreshing mine over the winter as I have no new projects. Pretty sure she needs belts this year and needs a few wires fixed as well as fresh paint. May recover the single seat and the 2 up seat needs some fixing etc. Following along!
 
Last winter was a learning curve of wood stoves, tree husbandry and general survival - life in the sticks is totally new to me along with most things that go with it. So last night was the first time I've lifted a spanner in anger in a year and half - this winter maybe I'll actually have time to work on this thing a bit. Hope your fixes go smoothly Mike, and keep you entertained until the sun comes up again in April.

Pretty sure there's no coolant in the rad, and remember that this thing was idling really awfully last time I fired it up. Hopefully the carbs are still relatively clean and now that the battery is back to full charge I can have another go at getting the engine running right. Have to check the timing, a procedure that is another utter mystery at this point. There's a solid write-up on how-to over on NGWclub forum so all being well I can get that a ticked off the list without setting fire to something else.
 
Glad to see you back at it Jimbo. Missed you round here.
 
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