nc31 project

[Allrover]

OMG, the level of work involved in this is staggering. The work you've done on the radiator alone blows my mind.

[JamieCB400]

The finish on the the tank is spectacular. Recently purchased a CB400 with bubbling paint on the right side of the tank (assuming brake fluid). My bike is currently blue/silver, not the nicest in my opinion, although the bike is quite rough just now. Was considering all silver with gold forks and some trim around the tank and tailpiece.

I'll need quite a bit of practice after seeing the results you have achieved with the painting. Can't wait to see the before and after pics of the bike.

[bludclot]

some parts that i put in for powder coating have returned:



i re-fitted the side and main stands, they both look great and work beautifully once more, all smooth in action rather that grainy and course. the two small tubes however were supposed to be silver - they are the front engine mount spacers - but they looked rather grey and dull. it was a silver that i chose from their colour chart, i was hoping that it would be alright for the foot pegs and hangers but evidently not. i have sanded them and have them in primer ready for a decent silver.

my 'gamble' ebay forks turned up, the stanchions are showing a very similar level of corrosion to those that i removed from the bike, so it's either a re-chrome or replace job. any recommendations for this work please?

[JohnnyBoy]

Wish I had the space to get my old girl tarted up a bit. Zero working space in my current house, not even an effing shed, lol.

You've done a bang up job so far though, keep it up.

[bludclot]

Johnnyboy - thanks for the positive comment. yes, space is an issue for sure, i have a garage, shed and spare room for completed parts storage so am fortunate there. a very understanding missus helps loads too. my previous house had only a very small front garden, i used to work on bikes and leave them under a cover on the side of the road, meaning that rain and darkness stopped play. it used to frustrate me no end, but did motivate me to buy a more suitable house!

i have been trying to sort the locks on my bike. the chinese lock set from ebay was not such good quality so i prepared and painted my original fuel cap. some new shiny bolts completed the look:



look closely and a rubber edge strip all around the edge of the tank can be seen. not factory but i like it!

there is still work to do with the ignition lock though, as can be see in the next image, it and the top yoke are well worn:

- picture lost, sorry

so seeing as my ebay forks came with a top yoke i gave to my local powder coaters as they've bought a vapour blasting set up. they bead blasted then vapour blasted it:



the finish is slightly rough as though sand cast, but smart enough. i'm particularly interested as i want the foot pegs and hangers re-finished but until now have been unsure how. paint - too soft and easily marked, powdered - harder but still worn away from boots and anodizing - hard but not too shiny. so based on this i'll thoroughly clean then sand the hangers etc and put them in for vapour blasting (without bead blasting) and i'm hoping they'll be great. any other suggestions or knowledge as to how honda finished these assemblies would be appreciated.

many brake parts have arrived, loads of small honda bags. i decided to renew everything bar the caliper bodies with genuine new parts except for the pads which i'll go ebc. an expensive decision indeed! my father taught me two rules of vehicle maintenance - 1) never skimp on tyres or brakes and 2) never ever skimp on tyres or brakes.

[Patch29]

Wow!!! Looking good!!

[bludclot]

a pair of r&g crash bungs have arrived, these will allow the front engine mounts to be re-fitted, picture when done. it's the phase of the project now that requires some larger spending....

[royster81]

What's in the pipes line ?

[bludclot]

what's coming? well it's a truly as-and-when spare cash allows project this one, previously i have just bought whatever i wanted for bikes and worried about it later so in the medium to longer term the larger ticket shopping list items are:

fork stanchions, front brake disks (replace or refurbish), rear shocks, chain and sprockets, can and link pipe. that's easily a bag right there. (£1000 for non-locals)

already here and waiting to be fitted are: clocks, headlight and many and various little items that i have bought as i've gone along such as fork seals and bushes, steering head bearings, nuts, bolts and rubbers etc., the uninteresting bits and pieces that make re-assembly and use a much more pleasant experience. i tend to make a note of part numbers of bits that are worn or corroded as they come off the bike and order them as i go along.

having offered up the bobbins i think that the supplied bolts are too long and the metal spacer would be better in black, meaning more work of course. seeing as my web host organisation say that they have been hacked and have suspended ftp services i can't post any new pictures right now.

[royster81]

Keep this coming, how's the rebuild going?