Yellow '76: Getting Some Sun

[Lucien Harpress]

Another area I wanted to address was the oil sight glass wiper. The rubber seal around the screwdriver slot leaked pretty badly from what I could gather, and because I REALLY didn't want to split the engine cases to replace a part I don't even think I can get anymore, I decided to improvise. Some faucet parts and liquid gasket maker/adhesive later and...



Will this work? Who knows! But I gotta figure it'll be better than nothing. And (as I'd rather not switch to a dip stick if I can help it yet) this comes with the benefit of keeping the sight glass usable.

[Lucien Harpress]

On a whim I decided to see how much work it would be polish up my timing belt covers. About a half-hours worth of work later, and results are... not bad.





(Polished is on the right side of the picture, not polished is on the left)

Now, it's not mirror-smooth for a couple of reasons. First, I had a coolant leak at my top radiator hose for a long time, so there's some pretty bad pitting and corrosion I'd have to deal with. Second- that's not really a look I'm going for. I don't think factory was ever super-shiny, and if I wanted chrome covers, I'd get them.

Regardless, I hope to have the other belt cover and both valve covers done by this weekend. Then it's new gaskets for the valve covers, glue the old gaskets back on the belt covers, and prep the frame to get the engine back in it.

[Lucien Harpress]

The closer I get to being able to put the motor back in the frame, the more I'd like to address some of the shortcomings of this bike OTHER than the engine. The intent was to clean up the frame best I could and paint all the rough spots. As it turn out most of the frame is in pretty good shape- a bit of minor rusting on the front lower cross-tube (that the bottom of the radiator bolts to) due to an earlier long-term coolant leak, but that's nearly it. Almost all the other "problems" were just grease and dirt.

The one MAJOR exception was the battery box. Due to (I'm guessing) years of battery acid leaks, nearly the whole box was solid rust. You can actually see this in the very first image of this thread. Nothing that compromised any integrity, but very ugly. Figured it was time to fix that.



You can see the rust pitting from but let's be honest- it's a battery box.

I've got a bit more paint to touch up on the frame directly under where the battery box bolts in to, but I see no reason why I can't get the motor back in next week. Hopefully.

[Oldewing]

Nice work, it's all about what they can't see, but WE know it's done..

[Lucien Harpress]

I'm quickly running out of reasons to keep the engine out of the frame, so I figured I'd knock out the few I have left. First off, a little issue I knew I had for a while, but just now got to fixing.



This is the wire for the neutral light switch. At some point somebody decided to cut this wire and splice in a short section of another piece of wire for reasons I'm not entirely sure off. Unfortunately, all they did was pigtail the wires together, then (poorly) wrap the joint with electrical tape. Because I've already replaced the neutral switch, I'm choosing to believe that the switch was the reason my neutral light never went off, NOT because of this wire shorting on the engine.

In any case, that quickly got sorted correctly.



While down there I hit the majority of the surface frame rust with some chassis paint, along with painting a majority of the removable sub-frame. It's not the cleanest of jobs, but nearly all of this will be next to invisible when the engine is in place.



And that's... kinda it. Once the paint is dry I'll do a one-over to see if I forgot anything, then it's time for the engine to get back where it belongs.

[Kingpin06]

Just like a dog. Show it a little love, and it'll pay you back a thousand times.

[Lucien Harpress]

Things have been super-hot here the last few days, but a quick thunderstorm rolled through today and cooled things down JUST long enough for me to accomplish a major milestone- getting the engine back in the frame.





Everything is still fairly loose (except for the subframe)- I figure I'll tighten everything up once I get everything in place. I still need to fit the front heat shield, but it needs a bath and possibly some paint first. I need to start picking at the connections (cables, wiring) as well, but figure I need to go through and see if there's a preferable order to things. There's also valve covers once I get the bolt grommets in, but that won't take long.

I do need to start thinking about other major things I've been putting off- I've decided to get my exhaust ceramic coated, mostly because I'm lazy and don't feel like dealing with a rusty exhaust system every couple years. I may have found a place local, but regardless I gotta start making some phone calls. Then there's the fuel tank that will need help fairly soon (cleaned and painted) and some carb issues (saving those for last).....

Hey, turns out the list is still fairly long, huh? In any case, yay for small victories.

[desertrefugee]

Good news! Now that your Solex diversion has been satisfied, it's good to see you after the "real" stuff again!

[Lucien Harpress]

Yeah, progress feels good.

Unfortunately, I'm also dipping into maybe looking at ignition coils now too. The ones I have work just fine, but being able to just drop in a brand new (pattern) set into my CB750 was SOOOO nice.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like the same sort of thing exists for the early 'wings. And I'd rather not take out a loan for a set of Dyna coils that I have to hack up an airbox to fit.

[desertrefugee]

Nothing really special about the coils unless you're a stickler for originality. Pretty much any that fit will work - especially if you're running points. Lots of options electrically, I'm not so sure about fitment, but here is a reasonable amount of room behind the frame neck.

[Lucien Harpress]

I did some looking at coils, and for now I think "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Coils seem fine, albeit a bit dusty, but have always seemed to work. Besides, I've got other things to throw money at.

Namely this!



I don't know how much difference it makes as far as engine alignment, but I want to get this shield in before I tighten up all the engine mounts. And as is customary with this build lately, I may as well hit it with some paint to cover up the (admittedly minor) rust along the edges. I was missing one of the top rubber half-crescent bushings that fit against the frame, so I've got one of those coming.

The big project next up I think is the gas tank. It's going to need cleaning, plus paint, so that will be it's own adventure. Rattle can is fine for some chassis parts, but I'd like something a bit more durable for the tank. Ah well. All in good time.

[Lucien Harpress]

The motor doesn't run, I've still got a LOT of work to do, but I'm happy to say that for the first time since I've owned this bike (several years now), the neutral light FINALLY WORKS!

https://youtu.be/nux0IwZlbRo

[Chainman]

That's nothing, mine works all the time.

[Lucien Harpress]

I finally got all the rubber bits for my valve covers, so it was time to shine those up as well. I was going to do both, but it was hotter outside than I was anticipating, so I only got the left done so far.



The valve cover emblems are off for now, because they need the paint touched up a little bit- thankfully the chrome is quite good shape. All of the gaskets and grommets are OEM or NOS (unlike the last round), so I'm REALLY hoping this takes care of my left side valve cover leak. I'm getting real tired of oily boots.



Hope to get the other valve cover done in a day or two, and the front fan shroud in by this weekend. Until then!

[desertrefugee]

Dang that’s a nice motorcycle. Now please, don’t go getting a big head over it.

Seriously. Going to be nice. I have a thing for yellow motorcycles anyway.