Thursday, August 28, 2008

Getting ready for restoration of the CB550

I've been picking up parts on E-bay and a few other places. So far I've purchased a front fender, points cover and new cam chain.

The plan is to remove the motor from the frame, replace the cam chain and possibly replace piston rings (I'll check the compression before tearing into the engine). The motor will then be repainted silver.

While the motor is out of the frame, I'll repaint the frame in gloss black. I'm thinking about getting the frame powdercoated, however I believe the prior owner had installed tapered rollers. I've read that the tapered roller bearings don't always pop out of the cups easily. I don't want to destroy the tapered bearings and might pass on the powdercoating and just go for a high quality spray paint job in my backyard.

I looked thoroughly for engine paints on forums such as sohc4.net. Then I took a look at KGCoatings.com (formerly Kal-Gard) and saw they have a silver colored paint.

For us old timers, Kal-Gard was big in the 1970's and 1980's with a variety of products. My favorite was the Kal-Gard coating for exhausts. It came in a spray can and was very durable. The only problem was that the parts had to be heated in an oven when the coating was applied.

KG Coatings still offers the original formula and they have a new formula that does not require heating of the metal during application. The "bake on" formula can be applied at room temperature and then baked afterwards. I plan to bake it by just running the motor up to operating temperature.

The new master brake cylinder and pad have worked great! The only problem is brake squeal. I put "disc brake quiet" on the back of the pads and it did not completely quiet them. I'm looking into other solutions.

Meanwhile, I've been doing some long rides, getting about 38-40 mpg on the Honda. It saves gas and has enough power for me to have fun without getting speeding tickets.

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