Hello,

I am at the stage of my strip down on my project where the next step is to remove the engine. The front end is totally stripped, along with the rear except for the rear swing arm + rear wheel hub and spring setup, as is the engine aux bits and bobs (the radiators + pipes, carbs, throttle/choke cables, rear sets, wiring harness, and other electrical cables and water/brake system pipes etc have all been removed) my internet wont allow me to upload a pic regrettably but will get that sorted and start a proper thread asap I promise lol.

P.s. the main reason the motor is coming out is to get to the frame, as I have a plan to nickel plate it along with some other components. I am going to rebuild with a nickel/matt black theme.

So my questions are:

1 - How many engine mount bolts are there? The main rear one on the common shaft, then the two more a little forward of that one with the funny odd looking nut? Then the smaller frame mounts (2 on each side) so 7 in total?

2 - Can the motor be 'dropped' out the bottom of the frame once all the bolts are loose? while the rear swing arm is still connected to the frame? I want to be able to do it that way so that when I rebuild I can hopefully put the frame over the top of the motor and bolt it up, this seems the easiest way as I am doing this alone and dont have proper engine stands. I am making do with a jack/bricks/wood and patience.

3 - Can I leave the rear shock assembled for now? Or must this be loose before I go ahead.

4 - Will the rear exhaust manifold hit the frame? Must I remove this?

5 - What type of tool is required to loosen the rear engine mounts, is this a complicated job? Are there rubber mounts/grommets inside where the bolt slides in (is there any trick to this?) If so, are these re-usable?

6 - Anyone have any tips for me so I can avoid making a mistake someone else has already made.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the time you spend assisting me.

85

Get the service manual form the doanlwoads section. Read it.

Read it again, then look at your bike

Make sure you have the tools..

read it some more :)

Get busy!

I see.

I need to get one of those castle head sockets. Never seen anything like that before.

Hopefully Honda SA can order me one.

Thanks!

You can get them on ebay, the swingarm needs one too so worth getting both

Hi,

E-bay doesnt deliver to SA, maybe 1% of sellers ship here the rest dont.

also, if they do, shipping is huge.

The easy way is to remove everything ie swing arm subframe and lift the frame off the engine,have you emailed sellers on ebay asking them to ship to SA,im sure one of them will.

I read on another forum the below, the poster was referring to a Honda Fireblade though, I wonder if the same is true for the NC30 Engine bolt, Castle Nut?

''That nut is only a lock nut, and I'm not entirely sure why it's even there. The other end of that shaft, has a normal nut that I can take off, and then inside that locknut, is a 8mm allen head, so I can screw the entire shaft out without removing the locknut. Weird setup.''

I assume he is referring to the engine bolt not the swing arm one.

Then, does anyone know what size sockets I would need to cut up for these castle nuts? I am happy to sacrifise 2 sockets and then replace them, as a replacement socket is like 5Pounds and readily available as oppossed to like 150 each after delivery costs and I need to wait 6 weeks for delivery if they even ever get here for the Castle goodie.

thanks again!

Id be interested to know the socket sizes too as I'd be able to make them in work rather than buy them. Should save me a few pounds

Unfortunately I'm on leave now so I'm not in jhb to lend you mine. I had a friend machine the tool for me out of a steel tube which ear pretty easy and then I welded a nut on the back so that a Torque wrench would fit. Just measure the id and od of the lock nut to get the right tube and Then measure the length and depth of the lugs

thanks for the kind offer Tigerclaw, the advise does help too!