Long Sleeping '79 CBX Restoration

[shiskowd]

I continue to wait for some engine seals from Bert at Six Center before I can continue with engine assembly - seems shipping over the holidays and COVID impacts are tying things up. In the meantime, switching to getting various chassis bits ready. Jeff Bennetts dug up some lighly used Koni 7610 rear shocks he had socked away and maybe a sport kit. Forks are in pieces, cleaned and ready to assemble after painting. Considering Race Tech emulators and springs. Ordered bronze swingarm bushings and new steering head bearings to tighten up the chassis.

Wheels hubs, bearings, etc. are all cleaned up. I managed to clean up the threads I fubared when I tried to spin the retainers out without dealing with the staking (https://www.cbxclub.com/forum/viewtopic ... 379#p96379) by patiently scraping the fused aluminum threads by using a tap with the same pitch. The new retainers spin in smoothly .

On to the Comstars wheels...

There are a number of posts warning how much effort these will take to restore by hand (https://www.cbxclub.com/forum/viewtopic ... 616#p63616), but Pete Rose's video didn't look too bad (https://youtu.be/Vbr8jWUqpSE) and I proceeded to clean up a portion of the front wheel off my alternate bike that was in slightly worse condition that those shown below.

Wow - that finish is difficult to remove by wet sanding and trying to get the finish as clean around the spokes is near impossible. Once stripped they will need a similar hard finish clearcoat that won't flake or peal. I'm wondering if it's worth the effort as they don't look too bad now. There is a few gouges from tire irons here and there that the sanding won't take out completely.

Your suggestions/comments are welcome!

[wyly]

The factory clear coat is difficult to remove I attempted it on my cb900 Bol D'or wheels. Many many hrs and its' still not as good as I would like.

I wouldn't clear coat as it doesn't make sense to me to clear over a surface that isn't perfect. Plus after all the work I did I'm not eager to try an unknown product that may not adhere and just make more work for myself.

All the clear products I have experimented with have all reduced the natural polished shine. I ended up removing the clear coat and leaving it natural.

What I have used on bare metal with great success is Gibbs, you can purchase it locally at Classic Performance. The car guys use it to prevent oxidation on metal, I was skeptical at first but it works. Apply with a towel and buff, about once a month during riding season.

I'm also experimenting with wd-40 applied to scotch pads for early polishing stages, followed by a final polish of Mothers mag polish.

Highly recommend the RaceTech set up if you want to retain the oem appearance, it's a massive improvement over the oem, as our mutual mechanic told me they're the next best thing to inverted forks. Just add a fork brace if you feel the forks need to be stiffened up more, for how hard I push my bike I don't feel the need to.

[daves79x]

Those wheels look quite acceptable for all but a 100-point restoration. The wheels are anodized, BTW and there are lots of posts here and elsewhere about removing it.

Dave

[EMS]

Contrary to conventional wisdom, "Anodizing" is not a surface plating or "covering" process but a change of the top layer of the material, aluminum.
It can not be "removed" with a paint stripper or other chemical application. It has to be "ground" off, i.e.: removed mechanically or eroded.

[wyly]

never knew they were anodized A quick web search and I find anodizing can removed chemically with Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide, had I known that earlier a careful application of either and I could saved myself many hours of sanding.

I suppose if one wanted to spend the time and remove all the abrasions and the damaged anodize layer they could be re-anodized.

[shiskowd]

never knew they were anodized A quick web search and I find anodizing can removed chemically with Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide, ...

... or oven cleaner. Searched and discovered a few threads where this was suggested to reduce the sanding effort considerably,

I found an old can of Easy Off oven cleaner in my garage, masked off a test section on a wheel and applied a light coat.



15 minutes later, wiped off with a damp rag, light sanding with 320, then 400 finally 800 wet sandpaper with a finish of SImichrome polish. The oven cleaner dispatches the anodizing quickly and evenly, exposing the raw aluminum that is much easier to deal with.



As Dave suggested I may just leave enough alone on my two good wheels but this is a much reduced effort approach to restoring the silver comstars.

What I have used on bare metal with great success is Gibbs, you can purchase it locally at Classic Performance. The car guys use it to prevent oxidation on metal, I was skeptical at first but it works. Apply with a towel and buff, about once a month during riding season.

The Gibbs probably does a fine job protecting the finish from oxidation, etc. but I don't think it would provide any impact or anti scratch resistance like a clear coat? The Dupli-Color clear engine enamel is pretty tough especially if you can find an oven large enough to cure it.

[wyly]

Good tip on the oven cleaner we always keep a can in the garage, Ill give that a try.

Gibbs doesn't provide any physical protection from scratches but those can be easily buffed out and the Gibbs reapplied. That's my maintenance routine for my polished GS tank.

I'm skeptical even baked duplicolor will provide any protection from a hard scuff on a curb. It has held up great on my engine.

[EMS]

What you are doing, is "dulling" the finish, not removing the anodization. If you educate yourself about what "anodizing" means, you will see what I am talking about. Anodizing changes the top surface layer of the aluminum. In order to remove it, you will have to grind or etch the top layer off.

[hondaman160mph]

The oven cleaner trick works great. I restored a CB-450
and wanted polished aluminum controls instead of the
original black anodized ones. Sprayed on oven cleaner,
wiped them off and buffed them on a buffer .

[wyly]

Looking into the removal process a little deeper there were warnings of caution using corrosive chemical strippers. Primarily don't apply the chemicals and walk away from it, anything capable of eating through the anodizing layer won't stop there it'll keep going. Then there's the obvious safety warning, cover all exposed skin, disposable coveralls, rubber gloves, goggles, face shield.

I'm going to test the oven cleaner on small sections that were difficult to clean.

[shiskowd]

Long awaited shipment from Bert at Six Center arrived with a couple seals/o-rings so I could button up the case.



The unpainted cylinder didn't look right with the painted engine case so I elected to paint the cylinder and head per all the suggestions I've read on various forums. We're in the midst of a warm stretch that I could maintain a pleasant temp in the garage for painting.



Dupli-color # 1615 aluminum rattle can.





I hope it runs as good as it looks...

[daves79x]

Great decision to paint the top end. As you know, I've insisted that's what guys should do, but some leave it bare. I'd like to see it after a few years/miles. Anyway, It's what Honda did.

Dave

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

What plugs did you use in the intake and exhaust ports?

[shiskowd]

What plugs did you use in the intake and exhaust ports?

The plugs were some rubbers stoppers that I found on Amazon. The size 6 stopper is the right size, I wrapped a few turns of rubber tape on the 5 1/2 size stopper to make them fit tight in the intake ports. The smaller sized stoppers in this kit have been useful plugging off lesser holes when painting.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00ES3 ... UTF8&psc=1

[Syscrush]

It looks like you're doing a lovely job with this restoration project - and the documentation and careful photo taking are great. It always puts a smile on my face to see good shop photos in a thread like this.

Thanks again for sharing this, and good luck with it!