Hey everyone,

The original double-cut fender on #410 has a hole from rust in it (small, maybe 3mm wide). It is possible that I will uncover more holes as I remove the corrosion and chrome. My chromer says "just buy a new one, these things are cheap!" Ha! Obviously not familiar with these bikes!

Anyway, what do you guys suggest for repairing a fender? 95% of the fender is fine. I really want to keep the original fender!

Thanks!

I'm still deep into the restoration of #1629, but I thought I would show you guys my 2nd sandcast...#410 (with engine #436). It was parked in 1972 and just found by a fellow member before I bought it. It isn't running and there is a lot of corrosion...but I am pretty excited about it!

I am pretty sure that it is 100% original.





The paint is surprisingly good. Only a tiny nick here and there in the tank...no dents!



When I took the tank off, I got a wonderful surprise...it is a 19L tank! Here's a pic comparing it to the 17L wrinkle tank for #1629 (not yet painted):



Some more goodies...

Thin lip alternator cover (showing a nice example of the corrosion I will need to deal with....fortunately, this is not aluminum corrosion, but the clear coat going bad):



Lotus roots pipes (polished quickly for the first photo):





All "8" bolts where they should be (haven't found any incorrect bolts yet):



Early brake caliper hex bolts (note the texture on the side of the bolt):



Smooth oil lines:



Round oil filter cover:



Recessed ignition:



The gauges look very clean! No cracks, thats a reflection in the photo:



Not pictured includes a rounded rear rim, red seat foam, double cut front fender, two-hole rear fender, no-pointer kill switch and many other goodies.

A few items are missing: the left-handed horn (I have a spare), the left mirror and the "28" carb caps. Other than that, it appears to all be there.

I haven't decided exactly what I will do with this bike. I think there may simply be too much corrosion to keep this bike as a survivor; I am leaning towards a full restoration. Though I would hate to repaint it...I'm really happy with the paint!

I'm about to build my wheels and I have a spokes / nipples question.

From what I have read, the spokes were normal zinc and the nipples were yellow zinc. Mine are corroded pretty bad. I could have them replated (maybe...not sure if they can be saved). Or I could buy new spokes and nipples. Anyone know of a place that sells the proper yellow zinc nipples?

Thanks!

Hi everyone. Here’s the story of restoring sandcast #1629. I’m going for a high-quality job here; I plan to have an excellent running bike that looks brand new.

I’ve restored several CB750s over the last eight years or so. Here’s a picture of my last CB750 restoration; a K4 (painted like a k1):



I had just bought a diecast K0 to restore when I came across this bike on craigslist:





It was non-running with loads of incorrect parts. In sad shape for sure, but it was a sandcast engine with an incorrect frame (a late K0 with a lot of chopper mods). I was the first caller and the first to show up. I walked away with quite the basket case: sandcast fever had me!

Next...getting it home and tearing it apart!

I'm trying to get the correct bearings for the crankshaft and i've read that there are supposed to be markers stamped on the bottom case. I can't seem to find it (cases are clean and i have been looking for two evenings!). Anyone have any experience with this? For the record, my engine is number 1629.

Thanks!

Called my local machinist to see if they would media blast the paint off and they said they wouldn't; that it would contaminate their media.  

So how do you guys get old paint off these parts? Jasco?

Thanks for your thoughts!

There I was minding my own business last night, searching for parts for my K0 diecast project when I looked on Craigslist to see a Sandcast listing. I called and confirmed that the woman had a later K0 frame with a sandcast engine in it! Lots of other missing things...in fact, the engine, gauges, controls, hubs, triple trees, brakes, lower forks and a few other things are the only items that appear to be correct. I showed up first today and bought it!

I finally own a sandcast! 

Next step is to start searching for parts (I'll need a lot). The hardest thing will likely be a frame that is close to my engine number (1001621).

Anyway, thought I would share my great news 

Hey everyone,

I'm restoring a K0 diecast and need your advice regarding the exhaust. The engine vin is 1028xxx.

After a lot of research, it appears that either HM300 or no-number exhaust pipes could have been used. Reading the other threads on this forum have lead me to believe that some diecasts all the way to 1035xxx could have used no-number exhausts (there is a 1020xxx bike being parted out on ebay that has no-number exhausts for example). It does appear that HM300 pipes are more common for K0 diecasts.

So my question is this, should I try to find an HM300 used set, buy the Honda HM300 set from Yamiya (appears to have a small dent unfortunately) or buy a no-number set from Yamiya (made by Yamiya from what I understand)? Which set would give me the highest value for the money?

The pricing works out to:

Used HM300 set: ~$1100
New Honda HM300 set from Yamiya (with dent): $2600 + shipping
New no-number set from Yamiya: $1650 + shipping

There is a fourth option; a set from the Vietnam supplier for about $2200 with shipping. He says he can leave them as no-number or stamp HM300 on them. Any experience with these?

http://www.motorcycleseatsdirect.com/Honda-cb750k0-cb750-k0-sandcast-exhaust-muffler-shield/

Thanks for your help!