Honda CB750 Sandcast

New Member In Tucson AZ

ChrisPinAz

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Hello all,
New member from Tucson AZ here. Acquired a 69 CB750 a few weeks ago. Its has been sitting since 1985 so its going to need some work.
I originally thought it was a sandcast motor but it looks like it is not. Frame is correct but it looks like the motor was replaced at one point.

Tank (wrinkle) and side panels are correct although they need some work. Fork ears are damaged and so is the HL bucket but I have already secured correct OEM  replacements.
Fenders appear to be correct as does the front brake. Front rim is 19, rear is incorrect and has the 16 although it has the correct markings.
Bike is mostly taken apart at this point and I have started acquiring correct OEM parts.
Not sure what I am going to do with the bike in the end. I may just get it all cleaned up and painted and then ride it until I find a correct motor but I have considered selling the full correctly assembled frame only when I am done.

Pics attached
Let me know what you guys think.

Chris


ChrisPinAz

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More pics


ChrisPinAz

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acruz

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Hi Chris.  Welcome.  I'm new here as well.  Congrats on the new bike.  It looks like a  good bike.  Pipes look good.    Check the clutch cover.  If there are 9 bolts it may be a unmarked sandcast engine.  The later models that are not sandcast usually have 10 bolts. 

ARnold


ChrisPinAz

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Hi Arnold,
Thanks for the welcome.

I should have mentioned that the cover has 10 bolts. The pipes are the HM300. Between that, the unmarked cases, incorrect air box and rear wheel i believe the engine is from a later model.

Chris


acruz

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It looks like you have most of the sandcast parts and you are pretty familiar with them as well.  The main question would be - are you gonna look for the correct engine for the frame that you have.  You have a pretty good platform already. 


Wayne

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As already mentioned you have a lot of period correct parts there. The most expensive and challenging route for you would be to find an engine or sandcast cases close to your frame VIN and go from there. Perhaps another route might be to sell the sandcast VIN range frame to help fund your project, buy another (cheaper) frame and build yourself a nice clone K0.
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Steve Swan

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Welcome aboard !  as already discussed, you have an excellent platform to begin with!  if you're patient, you will find an engine!  and, as mentioned, count the clutch cover screws and tell us if you count 9 or 10 !  i am guessing by the picture of the vin pad, the cases are diecast.


ChrisPinAz

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Hi Steve,
YOu are correct.
10 bolt cases.

Bike has now been completely disassembled. Slowly getting all the correct parts.

Frame and misc black painted parts will be stripped and powder coated in the next week or so.

I will start adding more pics as parts are cleaned up/rebuilt.

Chris


Sam

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Welcome!

Just a quick suggestion to not powdercoat any parts; it will hurt the value in a collector's mind if you ever decide to sell the bike.
Ujeni Motors
Sandcast #410
Sandcast #538 Watch the restoration!
Sandcast #6592 All original daily driver.
Diecast #16608


Steve Swan

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Hi Steve,
YOu are correct.
10 bolt cases.

Bike has now been completely disassembled. Slowly getting all the correct parts.

Frame and misc black painted parts will be stripped and powder coated in the next week or so.

I will start adding more pics as parts are cleaned up/rebuilt.

Chris

as has previously been advised.  do not powder coat.  powder coating is for lawn furniture not highly collectable motorcycles.


ChrisPinAz

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So no powder coat?

What would be the reasoning here? Powder coat was available in 1969 although the formulations were different.

Powder coat is much more durable and if done correctly (as with regular paint) you would be hard pressed to tell the difference visually. Powder coat actually bends and flexes under stress and vibrations without cracking making it ideal in situations where vibration occurs. Many vehicles manufacturers have switched to powder coating because of the multiple benefits including cost savings so saying its for yard furniture is a bit of a stretch ;  ). There are specific coatings used in specific industries. I believe a PVC type is used with metal yard furniture.
I have a small sand buggy that was powder coated. Sand hasn't affected the coating at all. On the other hand regular paint on my other vehicles is torn up. I powder coated all the hard parts on my shovel head 20 years ago. Saw it recently and the paughco frame still looked new.

I realize no one will be doing much off-roading with this bike :  ). Also, not planning on doing the tank or fork ears, those will be done in the correct ruby red paint. Just the hard metal parts that take most of the abuse, frame, foot pegs, engine mounts, kick stand etc.

To be clear, not arguing the point. I am certainly open to doing this thing correctly.
Just want to hear the reasoning.

Chris


Sam

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Powder coating is superior in many ways, agreed (even environmentally).

The issue is that this is not how Honda made these motorbikes in 1969. To be accurate, it should be paint.
Ujeni Motors
Sandcast #410
Sandcast #538 Watch the restoration!
Sandcast #6592 All original daily driver.
Diecast #16608


markb

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Not arguing either but I agree with Sam and Steve. The main reason is it will hurt the value. The sandcast purists will want the bike to be as close to correct as possible. And they will be able to tell the difference between the paint and powder coat. Another minor reason is the powder coat is usually thicker than the paint. Even using paint on my frame and other parts I had trouble with clearance between the engine and frame and had to scrape paint off to get the engine to drop in. Not a big deal but a bit harder with powder coat. Powder coat in holes can be a problem too. Anyway, that my two cents worth. Welcome aboard.
Mark
Mark B
1969 CB750 sandcast #97 restored - Sold Restoration thread link
1969 CB750 sandcaxt #576 - Sold
1969 CB750 sandcast #1553 - Sold
1969 CB750 sandcast #1990 - Sold
1969 CB750 sandcast #5383 restored - Sold Restoration thread link
1970 CB750 K0 restored - Sold
2010 H-D Tri Glide Ultra Classic (Huh?)


rickhahn

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I can add a short bit about Powder Coat , the process of applying powder coat is electro static for the powder application after the cleaning process of course ,there is no undercoat .Then baking in a oven .The finished coating is quite hard and brittle so is prone to cracking when twisted or flexed .So in saying that a bike frame does twist /flex etc resulting in very small cracks which allows water to get under it ,hence rust where you can't see it.Also it has a life, the sun tends to break it down in time ,resulting in dulling of colour /shine .
Powder coat was designed for static products IE roof sheeting etc.

Rick