I would guess the air from the vac is warm also 
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CB project
- Thread starter Wingedwheel
- Start date
I should have named this thread “A kick in the balls project” Got my starter in the mail today so I had great aspirations. Get the tank prepped and starter swapped out. Tank went ok. I started by pulling out the sending unit which was fairly easy. The thing was held in by a spanner ring With the wiring running through a tube to the bottom of the tank. Easy enough.
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Inside was fairly clean but I could see sunlight through a pinhole so I put a piece of tape over it so I could degrease. I just used a concentrated solution of dish soap and hot water and swished it around every 20 min for about two hours or so. Found another pinhole on the bottom and of course had a small amount of leakage along the seam. Just what I expected.
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Next I used the POR prep I ordered. It etches and changes any iron oxide into zinc oxide to give you a superior surface to bond to. (Note to self) when the instruction say clean any spills off of paint as quickly as possible to minimize color change they really mean it. Good thing I caught it and was able to do a little buffing and alleviate the run mark on the paint. As far as the paint there’s another story to that which we’ll get to in a minute.
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So I got the prep done and set the tank aside because everything has to be bone dry before you use the POR product. Here’s where the kick came in. The book says to just unbolt the starter and pull it out. Sounds easy enough but I couldn’t get a socket or a wrench on the front bolt without removing the cam chain tensioner. Pulled that off and crap! Now the starter won’t come out enough because the carbs are in the way. OK, pull the carbs which were a bear to get on but I gotta keep moving forward so off they come. Now feed the wire through the engine case using silicone lube to make that easier. So far so good. Get the starter out and other than a little bit of roughness on the teeth starter works fine... hmmmm. Now I have to pull the alternator cover to check the flywheel and of course the engine guard is in the way. Off that comes and I tear the gasket a little bit but nothing too bad that a little sealer won’t take care of. Well here’s my problem! The reduction gear is missing four teeth. What the hell coulda caused that? Kickback from the engine when trying to start it? Maybe somebody has some insight into that?
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Back to the paint. I liked the blue paint when I bought this ball breaker and that year they had two colors. Candy Alpha Red and Candy Polaris blue. One thing I noticed when I was looking at tanks was the blue came
with gold pin striping on the tank. Mine does not have that so obviously it’s not factory paint as I thought. I confirmed that when I pulled the sending unit. This bike has a story somewhere...
with gold pin striping on the tank. Mine does not have that so obviously it’s not factory paint as I thought. I confirmed that when I pulled the sending unit. This bike has a story somewhere...
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My used parts guy probably has another reduction gear but why oh why would those teeth break off? The engine didn’t kick back that hard.....
This has been a fight the whole way. When I did my XS either I got lucky(blind nut squirrel theory) or things just weren’t as bad as I thought. Wife says to just give this thing away lol but I feel I’m close. If I get the gear replaced and it doesn’t tear up the new one, the tank sealer works and I actually get this bike to start and run again I can move onto the seat pan resto and I’m done. If I have anymore issues though I might consider my options. That or just walk away for another few months. Screw this Honda, I’m going riding today.
Took a ride across town to my parts guy and picked up a gear. It came out of an earlier model but the part #’s matched and mic’d out the same. Same # of teeth and spline size. The only difference can be seen in the pics. Putting things back together tomorrow.
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Got everything back together and so far so good. Starter spins the engine quietly with no problems. Carbs went back on without struggling. Tomorrow back on the I.V. For a startup I’ll try using some starting fluid in conjunction with gas. If no issues tomorrow it will be warm enough to coat the tank. I also went with the reduction gear shaft I picked up with the new gear. The old shaft was a little rough to get out while the new one slid right in.
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POR15 is excellent. I’m not usually swayed by celebrity endorsements, but Jay Leno states that he (or rather, his staff) uses POR15 in restoring all of their high-end vintage cars and bikes.
I used it on Lucille’s tank and works precisely as advertised and it reportedly can seal minor leaks.
When I used the pre-treatment wash - the water came out looking like bad coffee with lots of grainy rust. after several rinses, the interior was a relatively smooth steely coloured surface. Then, as WW said, after it dried, I used the POR sealer compound and then after three hours of laborious tank-turning - it was done!
The only casualty was my two arms from the continuous turning - my shoulders felt like they were going to die.
Pete
I used it on Lucille’s tank and works precisely as advertised and it reportedly can seal minor leaks.
When I used the pre-treatment wash - the water came out looking like bad coffee with lots of grainy rust. after several rinses, the interior was a relatively smooth steely coloured surface. Then, as WW said, after it dried, I used the POR sealer compound and then after three hours of laborious tank-turning - it was done!
The only casualty was my two arms from the continuous turning - my shoulders felt like they were going to die.
Pete
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POR15 also has a system for coating polished Aluminum, I think it is called Glisten?
Hijack Free: Check what POR15 says about recoating. May be added insurance for badly pinholed tanks??
Por15 still has the clear, but it isn't called Glisten PC anymore. I posted it on here someplace.
Holy crap! One squirt of starting fluid and she fired. Either having a little trouble with fuel flow or maybe not. I was trying an IV bottle so I might have to play with it but it will run there’s no doubt about that. I guess it’s time to coat that tank.
Got it all coated, then I re-read the label about 96 hours to cure. Crap! Guess it’ll Be next Monday before I know how well it took
Yup - but the stuff is totally impervious to ethanol and darned near anything you could put into a fuel tank.
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