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Honda 400/4 Rebuild

Discussion in 'Builds & Projects' started by comfysofa, Feb 8, 2020.

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  1. So - advice from an engineer who has the hubs from my dads bike....

    "whatever you do - dont get the heads water blasted. The residue is impossible to remove unless theyre sonic cleaned after"

    So, to this end ive taken the heads and rocker cover to be stripped....they will be masked, sand blasted and then cerakoted. The crankcases are at the engineering place being air blasted - also told that all the thread holes must be airblasted as well to get the media from them otherwise if bolts are put in with residue in there itll knacker up the threads....

    This is going to be a long build!
     
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  2. regular going over with ACF50 on those cases and job's a good'un. :upyeah:
     
  3. Yep....things moving along but very slowly.....

    Hubs....waiting on a local engineer to make a tool up to udo the collar to then get the bearings out, then they can go to the water blasting bloke. Got the brake shoe cover for the rear wheel in my bag with the exhaust collars (also for water blasting)

    The engine: thats pretty well all at a local bike shop for a rebuild now all the cases are done. Ive got the rocker cover and head at my house ready to take down to the cerakoters. Both the engineer and the engine builder have both said dont get them water blasted as theres too many nooks and crannys to get the residue stuck in....so im taking their advice on that one....thats this weeks job but i need the exhaust collars back first and, the engine builder has said just to be safe, skim the head also.

    So, im still dragging the frame swing arm and forks round the garage (its all carpeted!!) but desparage to actually start building something but this is the way is goes with renovations...

    Chrome plating is finished and done but it was so expensive ive paying them off in 100 quid per month payments (and i dont need it yet anyway)
     
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  4. At last i should be able to actually build something in the next day or so (hopefully ill get time). Got the hubs back today, aquablasted and peened so should be able to build the wheels back up....i know its been quiet but nothing has stopped.... Engine is down at the builders for, well, building (i need to get an aftermarket cam chain tensioner) as the oem one doesnt work very well and stiffens up...the aftermarket one is made of brass and doesnt suffer from this...125 quid though so itll have to wait til next month. Gonna put in the last but one payment for the chrome plating on wednesday so that should almost be ready....top end has been completely stripped for cerakoting (money stopping me from dropping it down though). Once the wheels are back together it should hopefully be a rolling chassis soon...
    20200926_123825.jpg 20200926_123821.jpg
     
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  5. Well, that was an afternoon well spent with my son (to be honest he took the lead as i said id get him a MacDonalds which galvanized his enthusiasticness) as it were.....rebuilt the wheels..took 3 hours to do the first one and 20 mins to do the second....definately a learning experience. They not tightened or trued up but theyre back together...next week will be spent putting the bearings back in and getting them back on the bike....

    20200927_134552.jpg 20200927_134542.jpg 20200927_160632.jpg 20200927_160629.jpg 20200927_160803.jpg 20200927_160636.jpg 20200927_161835.jpg 20200927_161428.jpg
     
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  6. How on earth do you know which spoke goes where? Is it a case that it will only reach to one hole on the rim? It’s something I’ve never done so am curious.
     
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  7. There's a sequence made up around inner and outer spokes on l/Hand and r/Hand side of the hub which repeats itself, in this case every 4 holes in the rim. If you look at the last photo you can see a pattern of 4 repeated 9 times. Videos of the build up process on YTube, some better to watch than others ad always. Trueing up is another bunch of fun altogether. o_O
     
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  8. Yeah - im not looking forward to that bit...
     
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  9. Half hour beginners luck on the first and four days on the second.
     
  10. IMG_20200928_195327.jpg
    Bought this off ebay when I rebuilt my wheels recently, £65 delivered and worth every penny. No idea how to do link but try searching " Motorcycle Wheel truing & balancing stand" seller based in Dudley.
     
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  11. Yep - got one of those for balancing my wheels after a tyre change...
     
  12. So, made a start on tru-ing them up....had to get the bearings back in...easy enough....ive not done a motorbike wheel before - plenty of BMX wheels 40 odd years ago....

    Things to note (and im looking for advice here)

    Got some initial tightness on the spokes - not much left and right'y'ness but both wheels seem to have a bit of up and down-y'ness but no matter what i do i cant seem to get rid of that...didnt help but one of the spokes (an inside one so i cant easily remove it) it seems was manufactured a tad bit longer, so ground the end down with the dremmel

    Im not sure how that would translate on the ride, not sure if it would register...not trying to get out of it and just fitting the tyres but if it doesnt register on the ride then does it matter? - id say its about a few mm (on both wheels)....

    What say you lot?
     
  13. By up and down I take it you mean ovality ( out of round). I had much the same and found that I had to find the high spot then loosen off the spokes opposite and then tighten up the spokes at the high point. Only loosen /tighten by 1/4 turn each spoke and then check for change, the best way is little and often. When you finally get it round then check for left/right and offset, it will almost certainly have changed and when you get these right again it will probably be out of round again but each time it should be closer to being true. Mine took
    me several goes to get within an acceptable tolerance. All in all a massively frustrating job when you start off but as you develop a feel for how much to adjust which spoke it becomes a lot less so and once done is very satisfying. I still spin my rims up and sit watching them wizz round smooth and true. One other guide to how circular you have got them is how much the static balancing will improve as the hub becomes central to the rim.
     
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  14. Well, i did try that - tried a few times in fact...but chickened out in the end....i was dropping off some engine parts and asked the lad whose building the engine about the wheels which got a reply..."i know a guy thatll sort that out for 50 quid...so i handed them over)...which leads into my status update..just cos i havent posted doesnt mean that nothing is happening....

    1. The head is down at the TechCoat being...welll...coated...in cerakote.
    2. Engine builder has enough to be on with at the moment...
    3. Decided against using the old tyres....new tyres at the end of the month...
    4. Paid a bit more off the astronomical chromeplating bill.

    End of the month will be buying the electronic ignition and tyres - with a view to getting it back on its wheels....at last...
     
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  15. Bit more movement this week....head back from the Cerakoters....150 quid for the pleasure....
    20201115_155834.jpg 20201115_155826.jpg 20201115_155820.jpg
    End of the month is looming so the carbs will be finished by then and new tyres.....hopefully before xmas i should have a rebuilt engine back..then were into the electrics...
     
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  16. Not much to report at the moment - the whole biking thing for me has been quiet for the last few months with decorating and getting knocked off....however i got some new tyres delivered for it the other day, went out to the garage yesterday to fit them and realized that id pretty well forgotten everything else that goes with the fitting so ordered....

    A set of Ti Bolts and nuts to hold the disc on (its not for any weight saving just that ti stays nice and bright)
    A couple of rubber straps to go over the spokes.
    A set of valves.

    Ive got some uber sticky tape to go round the rims to convert them to tubless so hopefully in a few days assuming it all turns up should, be rolling around the garage....taking advantage of the space while the zed is/has been written off and not back yet...
     
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  17. The insurance Co wrote off your Z? I hope you have got a decent settlement?
     
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