Winter project or Sanity check - Resurrection of another neglected 83 VF750

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by Pops, Jan 14, 2012.

  1. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Now that the holidays are behind us, both kids have returned to college and life is beginning to resemble some normalcy around here... I guess it's finally time to tear into this Winter's project bike! I signed up with VFRW and introduced myself and the bike right before Christmas - for those of you that gave me some feedback (positive AND otherwise), I appreciate it! Since then, I've been reading up on Interceptor History 101, trying to learn from everyone else's experiences, successes and failures. Oh, and I realize that anytime I post I best be armed with lots of pics, so here goes.
    Here's what I unloaded off the truck. My wife (God bless her) mused "Well, it's not as bad as I thought it would be." She remembers all to well some past projects.:crazy:
    VFR before 003.jpg VFR before 001.jpg

    Over the last couple of weeks I've wandered out to the garage occasionally to clear space, cart stuff to the landfill, and generally take stock of my recent prize. Following y'all's recommendations, first order of business was to get a good look at the camshafts. I tore down enough of the bike to get the cam covers off and inspect all 4 cams. Pleased to see that all cam lobes are intact with only a couple of mild scuff marks. Not bad for a motor with 25K on it I guess (assuming it's original).
    VF teardown 008.jpg VF teardown 005.jpg

    Today, I got to spend a couple more hours in garage therapy and continued the teardown to access more bent, broken, rusted or missing stuff. Fortunately, I'm pretty organized and like to keep items in boxes or tubs along with their associated hardware in labeled ziploc baggies.
    VF teardown 004.jpg VF teardown 001.jpg VF teardown 009.jpg VF teardown 010.jpg

    Later this week when I get my compression gauge adapter (12mm) I'll run a compression check and leak-down test. I'll post results as they happen (yes, along with pics) So, I'll check in from time to time as I make progress - or if I decide to just chuck it all and part it on eBay!!!
    Oh....bonus! I'm going to pick up a spare bottom end tomorrow morning. Spotted it on CL last week and exchanged emails with the guy who's had it taking up space in his shop for a while. He emailed me yesterday and told me if I wanted it I could have it. So for gas money, I'll have a some spares if I need 'em, or just something else to take apart to learn more about the V4s internals.

    Stay tuned!
     
  2. TOE CUTTER

    TOE CUTTER Mullet Man

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    Does or did it run before the parts explosion?
     
  3. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Previous owner told me it ran fine before he parked it last summer, but I'm sure the carbs are so gummed up by now that I don't want to attempt starting it until I get them pulled and cleaned up first. I have at least been able to confirm it's got spark. Compression and leak-down tests should help assess whether or not it "should" run once I get the carbs done.
     
  4. hopit88

    hopit88 New Member

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    Keep the pics coming and stay with it. I'm watching this one.
     
  5. invisible cities

    invisible cities New Member

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    Thanks for the photos and update. It is always great to have a well documented build thread here.

    If I could ask, did the bike come with two different mufflers, stock on the right & aftermarket on the left? This would be an interesting jetting exercise ;-)

    Good deal on the cams showing little wear. Have you checked the followers as well? They’re part of the culprit on the First Gens’ notorious cam wear issues.

    On a valve train note, I recently read an e-book by Mike Nixon on what caused the cams to wear prematurely. It's worth a read if you are interested in a bit more intel on this subject. It is the best I’ve read to date.

    Here is a link to the publisher's website:

    Early Honda V4 Cams -- What Really Happened by Mike Nixon in Crafts & Hobbies

    Good luck and keep us posted on the progress!
     
  6. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    What you see is exactly the way the bike was delivered to me. Fortunately, the PO gave me a stock left muffler in pretty good shape that he'd procured last summer - he just never got around to installing it. I'll put checking the followers on my list of things to do (it just gets longer!) Thanks for the link IC, I'll drag that over to my VF info folder and read it when I have some downtime.
    And again, thanks all for the encouragement. The build will probably go slowly but surely over the winter. I'm not looking to perform a 99 point restoration (that may come later) just looking to get it on the road, safe and reliable, and clean enough that it's not embarrasing to ride!
     
  7. TOE CUTTER

    TOE CUTTER Mullet Man

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    Embarrassing? Quite the opposite when you have a clean older Interceptor, people come oot of the wood work with their stories of high school and fantastic mullets.
     
  8. hoganth

    hoganth New Member

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    Hey good luck on the project. I'm still playing with my 83 project, problem I am having is being hesitant to rip it apart. I bought it for a resurrection project however, now that I have it reasonably running I'm enjoying riding it to much. This is a great website to get help!
     
  9. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    You know the quickest way to put a damper on an otherwise great garage therapy session? Forget to open the throttle when you do a compression test....don't ask me how I know! :doh:

    So, the 12mm adapter for my compression gauge showed up today so I was able to get some accurate numbers for the mystery machine. I haven't had it running yet, so these numbers are for a stone cold engine in a cold garage. Odometer shows 28K, but there's no way of knowing if the motor's original and unmolested.

    No 1 - 130
    No 2 - 122
    No 3 - 130
    No 4 - 132

    Well, everything's pretty consistent at least! And for a cold engine, these numbers seem alright - or am I just being my usually overly-optimistic self?
     
  10. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    So yesterday afternoon after work I pulled up the official carb cleaning thread (thanks TOE!) and gave it another thorough read. Pulled up the corresponding chapter in the FSM and gave it another read too while I was at it. Time to pull the carb bank to see if the bent, broken, rusty or missing theme is going to continue - true to form, the carbs didn't disappoint. Removal of the bank was pretty straightforward, and without a whole lot of drama, I had the assembly on the workbench in about 30 minutes.
    [​IMG]

    Only had to use the impact hammer/vice grip method twice to get some carb bowl screws to yield - they've obviously been on there for some time! So far, I've only pulled one bowl to get a general idea of how nasty everything's going to be. As usual, I'll make sure all components removed are kept seperate in their own labeled baggies. Besides all the grunge, corrosion and sealer (!), I've noted that two springs are missing - the small ones on the bottom side of the individual throttle adjusters.
    [​IMG]

    So right now I'm putting together a shopping list for the next trip to the hardware store. I'll replace all the hardware with socket head caps. As far as cleaning technique, I'll pull the floats and jets out the bottoms, and the diaphrams out of the tops and soak the whole bank (I know, DON'T TAKE THEM OFF THE MANIFOLD!!!) in a bucket of Pine Sol mix for a couple of days. I like to hold off using the carb cleaner chemicals for the general soaking - only using it to clean out the jets and make sure the carb body passageways are clear.

    I haven't pulled the boots off the heads yet, but I'm willing to bet they're probably petrified. I'll probably invest in new boots, not only to ease installation but to ensure I don't have any nasty leaks when I get 'er fired up.
    [​IMG]

    So, if anybody has any more advice or tricks they'd care to share, I'm all ears. I'm really enjoying myself so far, and learning alot about these great bikes along the way!
     
  11. invisible cities

    invisible cities New Member

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    Good deal. Glad you are having some fun with this winter project.

    Mike Nixon has a great tech guide on rebuilding V4 carburetors if you are looking to add to your library shelf.

    Here is the link:

    The Motorcycle Project Book Nook

    Good luck and keep us posted on the progress!
     
  12. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Hey thanks, IC - wow, Mike Nixon appears to be THE MAN when it comes to motorcycle maintenance...surprised I haven't run across his stuff before now!
    Anyhooo - the carb bank has been stripped of all important parts. I gotta confess, those Japanese are a clever bunch - the clearance hole and little nick they put in the
    linkage to give you clearance to remove the float pins - sheer genius!!!
    So, stripped and ready for a loooong bath

    [​IMG]

    Here's all the chemicals I'll be using this go around

    [​IMG]

    We'll see how things look in a couple of days!
     
  13. hoganth

    hoganth New Member

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    The Black & Tan bottle works best
     
  14. GreyVF750F

    GreyVF750F Member

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    Straight Simple Green works very good to.
     
  15. duccmann

    duccmann Member

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    Very Cool Pops, keep em coming !!!!!!!!
     
  16. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Aaaaaand the plot thickens! Someone's obviously been in here before me, and they may not have known quite what they were doing... while inspecting all the individual parts I've noticed that something didn't look quite right. Sure enough, the diaphram springs have obviously been swapped between carbs 2 and 3. :mad: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 2 longer springs go to the forward facing cylinders with the "downdraft" carbs, 2 and 4, right? Hmmm, wonder what else is amiss here?
     
  17. GreyVF750F

    GreyVF750F Member

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    As per the FSM number 1&3 carbs have shorter springs and thinner needles. Jets should all be the same I believe. I could check my old ones I have stashed if you want.
     
  18. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Thanks Grey - I checked the jets, and sure enough the markings all match up. I just double checked the FSM - it confirms the springs are shorter and the needles are skinnier for cylinders 1 and 3. I'll grab a pair of calipers and confirm that tonite.
     
  19. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    So while the carbs are soaking, I got a package in the mail. This has got to be one of my better eBay scores - for less than $9.00 including shipping I won rebuild parts for all 4 carbs, genuine Honda no less: Gasket kits including new float bowl gaskets, new choke enrichers, new needle and seat sets with filters, spare set of filters (which is ironic since mine were MISSING when I opened the carbs!) and to top it all off.... 4 shiny new diaphram caps!
    [​IMG]

    The garage gods were in alignment today - I had a work at home day and my wife had an all day shopping trip planned with a friend of hers. The weather was cooperative (50s here in the Shenandoah Valley today) so I had much of the day to take my time and get everything cleaned, dry and reassembled. Glad I could have the garage doors open, that carb cleaner can be strong stuff! I also made a run to the hardware store for black socket head cap screws to replace all the corroded stripped-out pan heads.
    Okay, here's the finished product ready to go back on the bike.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Over the last few days, I've read everything I could find about everyone's tips and tricks for getting the carb bank back in. One question - had anybody here tried soaking the carb boots in fabric softener overnite to get them soft and pliable again? Oh, and is there an oreintation for the boots? I pulled one off but I'm darned if I can tell if one side is supposed to face the carb vs the intake... it looks symmetrical to me!:confused:
     
  20. invisible cities

    invisible cities New Member

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    Great work!

    Regarding the reinstall, if I could suggest:

    new OEM boots
    lubricate
    tilt as shown below
    carefullly place carbs on tilted boots
    heat boots slightly with heat gun
    press straight down on mounting plate

    [​IMG]

    They'll go right on.

    Good luck!
     
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