'Diamond in the rough'

[NobleHops]

Mike, I like the little touch of taking photos of parts on top of the service manual! Very classy!

Yeah and that is a cool tool, useful!

N.

[bikeymikey748]

Mike, I like the little touch of taking photos of parts on top of the service manual! Very classy!

EMS, I'm glad that someone pointed that out.
Its like this: Tom Neimeyer, in an act of kindness to a forum newbie ( ME!), sent that very manual. He asked for nothing in return....nothing.
Wow, still puts a silly grin on my face just thinking about it. What a nice thing to do huh?
So, that's my little way of acknowledging Tom's kind gesture, of reminding him, and you mugs, that a lot of what I'm doing is thanks to the information he sent.
"It takes a village"....er, forum

Also, its not often my name and the word 'classy' get used in the same sentence

[bikeymikey748]

Under the heading of "Never throw Nuthin' Away", I just finished my battery tray. Seems my buddy,Bruce, had done some cleaning at his place and had dropped off some alloy bits he no longer needed. I was considering tossing them too when, and who could have guessed (?), turns out one of the pieces ( a 'U' shaped extrusion) was 'made' for my battery;





I was able to fab some extensions out of alloy bar stock and these tie into the rear gas tank support. There are two drop-down straps that it hangs from at the sides. I have yet to finish it (grind/paint/polish), because the body of it is perfect for tapping into and mounting my electricals (regulator/rectifier, t-signal relay....etc.)
Here's a peek at how it looks in place;





That's it for the ,major, frame mods ( ). I started in on taking the motor apart later in the day. First suprise (!);




RATS!! I mean, not only are the brushes worn down to nubs, not only do copper collars have wicked deep chanels worn in them, but the rotten collars are actually worn through (the bike had 35,000mi. showing on the odometer).
I saw a 'School' CBX alternator up on e-Bay. I was toying with the idea of placing a bid, until I watched the price climb, and climb, and climb....
I managed to pull the head off too. It felt almost archelogical in nature, what with the the prying and opening of long-unmoved fasteners abruptly being removed. Hey, I even managed to leave the fins undamaged, no small task, let me tell you!
But...I had a quick look in the bores. The good news? If the bike had 5 cylinders, I'd be in business. Bad News? It has SIX .
#1 shows evidence of having been stored for a long period with improper preperation. There's a noticeable 'tatoo' on the wall.
I'll have a better look tomorrow. I'm hoping (please, please, please) that I can catch it with a hone and a set of rings.
Stay tuned, cadets !

[daves79x]

I'd try to buy just a used rotor, if you can get the seller to confirm OHM reading between slip rings. If you find a known bad one, you can get it rewound for $125 or so. Not bad if you don't pay much for the core. Otherwise, looking good!

Dave

[bikeymikey748]

Well, let's see....why not get the BAD news out of the way from the start?
Seems that nasty #1 cylinder just wasn't going to cooperate
I gave it a good effort to save it with a decent honing, but,sadly, it was not to be ;





The new pistons (say it with me kids; OVERSIZE !!) are inbound. I talked to the only folks I trust with boring any of my motors ,JPrecision, just south of Montreal, this afternoon. They are open to helping me out as soon as the parts get in.
Man, I gotta sell off some stuff, bills you know !
On to the good news....All my bearings (rods/crank) are minty! Spec'd out well, no obvious wear, even on #6 rod bearing.
Cams/journals, primary chain & related bits, as well as shifter forks/drum/dogs, clutch plates...likewise...minty.
No appreciable grunge in the pan either.
The only negative were a number of small cracks on the edges on the rear cam chain adjuster. Only when it compresses fully under pressure of the return spring. The face looks good enough, no wear/cracks. As this part is no longer available (so far as I know ??) I may just 'roll the dice' (not that its my first choice) and hope for the best.
Right now, it looks like my motor blew up in the (tiny) garage. Lots to clean, prep for blasting/painting.
Give me some room.....I'm goin' in !!

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

With everything else being custom no way you could have gone with a stock motor.
Did you buy one of the 1147 kits from Japan?

[NobleHops]

Wow, no stone is going unturned on this build. Pretty cool Mike! Sorry about your #1 cylinder - that's an unexpected bummer.

Did you buddy tackle the frame welds yet What comes after that with the chassis? Grind/smooth/prime/powder?

What's your plan with the front end? I think I know that modern front ends can be problematic on the CBX if only because of the longer length of the stock fork tubes. How are you working out the chassis geometry? Do you have target numbers?

N.

[deadbanana0717]

im so out of my league on my rebuild project. i look at mikeys progress in awe and fear what nightmares lies ahead of me for mine...

mikey can i send you mike bike instead?? (Y) !!

[bikeymikey748]

Feedback, I love it

With everything else being custom no way you could have gone with a stock motor.
Did you buy one of the 1147 kits from Japan?

Yup, Steve, that's exactly where they're coming from.I hadn't planned on replacing the pistons,though I had an uneasy feeling after noting slight smoking when 'blipping' the throttle. I had planned on replacing the con rod and crank bearings. Couldn't beat the price, and,suprisingly, the quality looks to be good too.Turns out that,excepting for the rebore charges, the piston kit will set me back less $$$ than the bearings. There's a gentleman selling the same kit in OZ. His price was double what I paid, and shipping was considerably more too. Does anyone else have experience with these kits? My Visa balance is now dictating where I have to buy stuff

Wow, no stone is going unturned on this build. Pretty cool Mike! Sorry about your #1 cylinder - that's an unexpected bummer.

Did you buddy tackle the frame welds yet What comes after that with the chassis? Grind/smooth/prime/powder?

What's your plan with the front end? I think I know that modern front ends can be problematic on the CBX if only because of the longer length of the stock fork tubes. How are you working out the chassis geometry? Do you have target numbers?

N.

Nils baby (er..NobleHops... ).My weld-connection, Roland, has a few things to get to first. He's a 'keener' though and seems anxious to start. He asked for a few samples of the metal I used in my McGyvering, so he could get baseline values on his machine. Gotta love that he won't be experimenting on the real thing.No worries, I've a few other bits to keep me occupied while I wait on that. BTW you're close, but after that it's:Blast/fill with thin steel plate+lead (solid-core solder at places like the,unsightly unfinished, bottom frame rails)/PAINT
I got a 2005 GSXR1000 front end mounted up on it (look at earlier posts on this thread). I took a bunch of baseline measurements before I started fitting up the Suzi bits. I wish I could say that my engineering background served me well with all of that, but...that would be another 'fabrication'. As it stands I'm using,mostly, 'eyeball engineering',past experience, and any other background info I could scrape together. I was bound by a number of issues that dictated the rear suspension placement. Issues like chain run,suspension linkage orientation (had to try to observe the linkage's original geometry to keep its intended rising rate). I did try to drop the rear arm as much as possible to get as much ground clearance back that the lowered front end had lost. Also, I'm hoping to quicken the steering by playing with the dimensions I'll be using. I'm also holding an 'Ace in the hole', if the lowered front end turns out to be too much of an issue.I'm fairly confidant that it will be ok, but as I related to deadbanana0717 ,I won't be certain until the 'wheels roll' (that's the thing with projects and me).

im so out of my league on my rebuild project. i look at mikeys progress in awe and fear what nightmares lies ahead of me for mine... !!

Come on Cadet! Chin up and all that.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Fasterspider has one of those kits in an engine. I would contact him for some follow-up.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7338&p=56109#p56109

[bikeymikey748]

Didn't get much done until late in the week. I was over at Gordie's last weekend, walking him through his first valve adjust/cam polish/rocker insp./belt replacement/TPS reset on his 996. He's a little bewildered at the moment. Simple shims-over buckets, like on our CBXs, are a walk in the park!
I started prepping the cases and such for the,upcoming,weekend. Seems a buddy of mine (name witheld at his request), works in a shop that repairs helicopter engines. You should see the setup! I'll have axcess to two blasting booths (high-pressure aluminum oxide, and low-pressure glass bead),high pressure cleaning booths (its a soap-like liquid), varsol and chemical baths...... I told him I'll be buying the cofee, we'll be awhile
After reading Kool_Biker's heartbreaking acccount of his damaged motor from left-over blast medium sitting in the cases, I thought I might share a trick I use that has served me well.
I prep my cases for blasting by blocking any threaded holes ( 'blind' or open) with a threaded section of a bolt. I cut 10-15mm ( for 'blind' holes, same size depth for 'open' ones) threaded sections off of bolts and cut a slot at the top for a flat-head screwdriver to turn them in. I dry-clean and then use a liquid to remove the dust after blasting...then I'll remove my inserts. It saves time passing a tap afterward, and (especially on 'blind' sections) you are certain you have no contaminents.Additionally, all oil galleries are blocked (rubber or plastic, and taped over where permissable)) and any bearing/gasket surfaces taped over. Bearing/gasket surfaces that will be subjected to a direct stream of blasting get multiple layers of tape. Those that may get an indirect hit, get lighter applications;





I took small files to the cases to remove any casting 'flashes' and the like. Leaving them on compromises the durability of the, later, painted surfaces.
The pistons got in today too! Nice looking bits. Here's a side-by-side shot of the stock vs 1147cc slug;



New head gasket lying over the old. look at the difference on #4, also, there will be less valve masking as compared to the stock bore (the metal insert on the larger bore head gasket is perfectly round as opposed to the convoluted stocker);



Other issues? Well I'm a bit suprised at the number of unavaible parts for CBXs. I mean, I find it troubling that I will be forced to use my,cracked, rear cam chain adjuster.;



Its a critical component after all. Does anyone know if there are any suppliers of this part? Does anyone have experience running a part in this condition, any issues?I'm dying here.
Lastly , on a similar note, I managed to nick the inboard seal/spacer, on the RH primary shaft bearing, with a claw from my slide-hammer. Apparently, another unavailable part ( center in the photo, #39 in the illustration). ;





Ideally, I'de like to replace it too, but as it is, apparently unavailable (???), I wonder. It sits at the end of that particular oil gallery. Downstream of it (and unaffected) is the spray bar for the primary chain ( #2 in the illustration). It (#39) seems to keep as much oil as possible on the ,open ball-element, RH primary shaft bearing ( oil pressure drops off to zero in this area, I imagine). The other oil seal (#38) will be replaced....How critical is its function as a 'seal'??

[NobleHops]

Mike,

Call Bill at Tim's CBX, he stocks a lot of engine parts. Great post, I'm in the midst of installing a BT headset or I'd wax poetic, but for now,

N.

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Looks like Six Center has a couple of those items, Mikey.
http://www.sixcenter.nl/nieuws/

[bikeymikey748]

Mike,

Call Bill at Tim's CBX, he stocks a lot of engine parts.....

Thanks, Nils. I got off an e-mail to Tim's late last night....

Looks like Six Center has a couple of those items, Mikey.

Steve-O, great lead. That's exactly what I'm looking for ( even a new seal!!). I'll wait on Tim's for a day or two, and then will ring the folks at Six Center (I never knew that they were there).Thinking about it, and having stumbled on stories of cam chain failures on bikes with similar mileage to mine...what do I want ?? A used tensioner(even one in good condition), or a 'new' refurbished item that I won't have to worry about for (hopefully) a few thousand kilometers more??? It's just, wow, they aren't 'giving' those puppies away!
I gotta sell that SR, but haven't really put much effort into it to date, I've had other things on my (cramped and musty) mind

[NobleHops]

I think both Louis and Bill (Tim's) sell refurbished cam chain tensioners with new wear parts...

N.