Restoring 79 Supersport first steps...

[GODSDOG]

Hello I would like to myself as a new member, I recently decided it was time to start a restoration to my dad's 1979 CBX supersport that he gave me a few years ago. Its been sitting in his yard (periods both covered and uncovered) for about 20 years. During the move to his house at that time 20 years ago he lost the key and it hasn't been started since. The engine was working at the time before he lost the key and it has about 15k miles on it. He was the third owner and says he put about 1k miles on it himself.

Personally I am more of a car mechanic and have done engine conversions and rebuilds so mechanically wise I feel I am up to the task for this rebuild/restoration. I am however a complete noob to motorcycles. I feel like this would be a good thing for me and my dad to do together and I'm expecting this to be a long build.

What I can tell you is that the clutch lever, throttle, brakes, starter switch button are all frozen and do not work I assume. The gas tank is empty and rusted out the engine itself looks like its still in decent shape and doesn't look like the weather got to the internals. The chain obviously is rusted as well. Me and my Dad talked over the weekend about the first steps to take in order to restore this and decided we wanted to make sure the engine still turns over and isn't locked up before we start purchasing replacement parts/gaskets. However like I mentioned the key is missing and the starter switch button is stuck inside the switch. Also I don't know what prior steps I should take before turning the engine over. We aren't trying to start it to run, just want to make sure the rotating assembly is still, well... rotating. Is there a way to turn by hand or do i need to purchase a battery and figure out a way to "hot wire"? Obviously I will check the condition of the oil, which I should have already done, before doing anything.

Also any other steps are appreciated, like I said this will end up being a full rebuild and will end up getting torn all the way down with most things replaced/upgraded/modded. Thanks for reading!

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[EMS]

Don't just try to turn it over. If you do not want to take the head off and look inside the cylinders to check for corrosion, do some prep work first. Take the plugs out and squirt Kroil, WD40 or Marvin Mystery Oil into the cylinders and let sit for a day or two. Then try to turn it on the crank with a wrench. Take the right side crank cover off and you will see a nut that you can attach a wrench to.

[GODSDOG]

Ok thats sounds definitely doable. I'll give it a try this weekend and post my findings. Will be continuing to do research on this site and also the shop manual I found online. Looking forward to this build! Thanks again for the tips

[Jeff Bennetts]

Here's hoping that a gallon of water doesn't come out of the oil pan along with your oil!

Good luck with your project and get back to us.

[GODSDOG]

Thanks Jeff!, actually my Dad went out about an hour ago and checked the oil, opened the cap which was a little stuck and said that the oil looks decent for it being that old. No signs of water or damaged oil, but wont know for sure until we drain it this weekend. Will be re posting an update for sure!

[Keith64]

Do a forum search on "checklist" and you'll find a post with a good list of items to start with.

Keith

[daves79x]

I think this thread is what Keith is referencing above: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11043

Your project will involve a lot more than that, unfortunately. Yours calls for a full tear-down, inspection and restore. Every nut and bolt will need to come off. Good news is that you bought the project right!

All kidding aside, you have a daunting task ahead of you there. You can be very well looking at $10K to restore this one, even doing much of the work yourself. You must decide first of all, what you want to end up with when you're done.

Dave

[Jeff Bennetts]

You're going to need a name for your project and don't use The Project Bike, it's been overdone, pick something original because you'll be referring to it for quite sometime to come.

I hope you do decide to restore it, it would make a great father and son endeavor!

Good luck

[Mouse]

To the site Godsdog.
Good luck on the resto

[GODSDOG]

Thank you both Keith and Daves for the mentioned to the checklist, that will surely come in handy. I plan on riding out to my Dad's tomorrow to spray some PB blaster into the cylinders and let set for a couple days before attempting to rotate the crank. Also planning on doing a little surface clean up and to cover it up for good while the restoration is in progress. I'll be thinking on a name for the project in the mean time. And thanks mouse for the warm welcomes, always glad to join new communities like this one, I'm sure I'll be learning a lot in the next coming months.

[daves79x]

So from your comments - this restoration is going to take place outside?

Dave

[Jeff Bennetts]

Tips are good, this is a good place to find them.

Here's one, since you may need to be soaking and or applying penetrate to a lot of parts many times, a mixture of acetone and automatic trans fluid is a great and inexpensive choice, IIRC 50/50 is the mix, Google it to make sure. If you contain it you can reuse it over and over.

I don't think you have to worried about it hurting any paint you have on that bike but don't let it soak into anything painted for too long.

[GODSDOG]

Today we got the bike taken apart a little bit, we didn't get a lot done since it was raining on and off all day. We removed the kerker's and got a few pics of the exhaust ports and valves, its looking pretty rough in there, looks like some condensation definitely got in and I see spots of rust on the valves themselves. You might can see that in the pictures. We also tried taking the spark plugs off and got two out, two of them broke at the threads, and the other two we left alone. Looks like the head is coming off which is for the best anyways. I'm going to send it to the machine shop to get cleaned up, not sure what all it will need, maybe some of ya'll might like to throw me some suggestions and also some ballpark prices I might be looking at. I'm thinking a basic valve job and head cleaning. We drained the oil and it looks fine, nothing noticeably wrong there.

Tomorrow we're going to be tilting the engine and removing the carbs and valve cover. I'm interested to see what the intake valves will look like. And will be checking valve clearances. Head will probably stay on until I'm ready to get it worked on since the bike is outside. Dave, I plan on getting a temporary garage from harbor freight to get it at least a little protection until I can move it when I get my new place into a proper garage. Jeff, that acetone/ATF mixture will come in handy and I'll be sure to remember that. More possible updates tomorrow!

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[Gearheadgregg]

Well this project should keep you busy for a while, Going on 5 years with mine now, It really is a great project and i have enjoyed working on mine through the North Pole winters up here lol, Your at the right place here for assistance on your build. Greg

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

If you do end up sending the top end/motor out for work just 6 hours south of you is one of the premier CBX engine builders in the world.
Preston has a great reputation.
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