Restoration of Sandcast #1629

[kp]

Looks to me you've done a nice job with the paint and you should be well pleased. I would stick with original for the instruments as they look to be in great condition. A buggar about the flasher jewel but a reproduction would be acceptable unless someone can give you an original. KP

[markb]

Excellent progress.  Very nice work!  I wish my project was moving along as well. 

[Sam]

A compliment from you guy's is flattering...this is my first sandcast, so I am always looking for advice. Don't hold back! 

[Sam]

I have huge respect for people who undertake as much of the work themselves , candy paint can be very tricky but it seems like you have cracked it ujeni , the wheels look amazing, did you dip the zinc nipples in gold passivate for 20 seconds? to get that colour
I would definitely replace that jewel if i were you, every thing else you have done is perfect the jewel will always bug you if you dont do it now
pete

Thanks Pete!

The Yellow Passivate takes about 1 minute to get the right shade (depending on how much you have diluted it of course). I then clean it with water and let it dry for 24 hours. Im impressed with how well it is holding up!

[Sam]

There's something exciting about achieving "roller" status! Still lots to do, but I am starting to see this thing come together!

[Steve Swan]

Beautiful work.  Purely lovely.  And a great thread.

Having been out of the loop for so long, i'm not very aware of parts sources.  How much or what sort of parts are you able to source from Honda ?

The reason i am asking, i am preparing to start a restoration for a gentleman's Sulphur Yellow 1976 CB750F Super Sport.  I know of Western Hills Honda, CMC, DSS, and of course Yamiya.  But Yamiya is pretty much K bike focused.  My concern, the 75-76 F models, being a somewhat limited production, aren't alot of parts out there unique to the model.  Hopefully not as difficult as i hope it won't be... seat trim, switch/lock assembly, tank badges, other odds and ends.

So, that's why i'd appreciate if you can share with me where i might go looking for F parts.

Please accept my apology for deviating from your thread.

[Sam]

Thanks.

Parts are coming from yamiya, eBay, cmsnl and hondabikes.com. My guess is that you will find a lot of parts for your super sport on hondabikes.com. They have the best prices I've found.

[Sam]

Next up was the seat...I was able to restore the original seat pan. Everything else (foam, cover and hardware) came from Yamiya. Nice stuff 

Getting ready to stretch the cover:



Done! Underside:



Top:



I'm happy with how it turned out. Yamiya's stuff is top-notch! Matches my two original seats!

Lots of other stuff has been taking shape like the wiring harness, rear brake, front brake (had the disk ground down by my machinist...looks amazing!), oil tank, cables and more. A few pics:







I know what you are thinking...I need to clean up my garage! Ha!

I've started in on the carbs. Will be zincing a lot of parts. So many parts in fact, that I have ordered a new plating kit that should do a better job. Once the carbs are done, I will only have a few things here and there to finish. Getting exciting!

[DW69K0]

Looks amazing!
At the rate you are progressing it won't be long before you complete the bike.
You will hear the sweet sound of four cylinders roaring soon, so keep posting the great pics.
DW

[Wayne]

Looks beautiful!!! And BTW, your garage looks a lot like mine!

[Sam]

Its been a little while since I posted, but the good news is that the bike is done. Its been an adventure!

To make a long story short, I had to rebuild the kickstart and repaint the bike.

The first problem was caused by a weak recoil spring, a slightly bent kickstart shaft and (here's the odd one) a non-OEM oil pump gasket. The Yamiya oil pump gasket was thicker than the correct OEM gasket which caused the oil pump to press harder against the kickstart wheel. With a fresh spring and fresh re-zinced kickstart shaft and the correct OEM oil pump gasket, it was all fixed.

Next was the paint. I bought my paint kit from hondamotorcyclepaint.com. They make kits for many honda colors and I figured their Candy Ruby Red would be correct. Looks nice, but was it correct? NOPE!! Two problems: the red was the wrong shade and the metallic basecoat flake was far too corse. I didn't realize this until I bought an original Candy Ruby Red tank with near-perfect paint. Once I knew what I was going for, my local paint dealer and I identified a match for the metallic coat and a match for the candy. I repainted everything and got a really great result. I'm pleased!

Here's the final product:





I'll be showing this bike and sandcast #410 at the Quail Motorcycle Gathering.

[Sam]

Building and showing this bike has been fun. I just found a second three-digit bike, so this bike is now on eBay:

1969 Honda CB750 K0 Sandcast Fully Restored

Man it is a pretty one! I'll miss it!