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. hopit88

    hopit88 New Member

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    That is a great score! Nice. Carbs look great, I have no doubt you prepped them perfectly.
     
  2. veefer800canuck

    veefer800canuck New Member

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    Very nice. Hopefully once you get it running and hot, with the rings freed up a bit, the compression numbers will come up somewhat.
     
  3. rainman6

    rainman6 New Member

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    They look like new Pops - a thing of bueaty!! Regarding reinstalling them - What is wrong with removing the inlet base that holds them all together. I have read somewhere thats not advisable, but that was after I had removed mine which in turn allowed me to angle the carbs to line up with the boots better.
     
  4. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Couple of reasons it's not advisable - tremendous opportunity to lose hardware for one. Mine were missing two small springs that are on the bottom side of the throttle adjusters. That was one reason for the trip to the hardware store. Also, the plastic fuel pipes running between the carbs get very fragile as they age, it's best not to disurb them.
     
  5. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    I was able to get the carb bank back on without TOO much drama - only took 4 tries! Thanks everyone for the tips, I just finally had to slow down and methodically lube, heat, reposition, pry, press, pray....well, you get the idea. I rigged a funnel up to gravity feed the carbs with fresh gas, reattached my freshly charged battery, and cranked her over. I got the occasional pop over the ten seconds I let it crank. Then I decided to cheat and give it a quick shot of starter fluid. That did the trick! Sounded pretty good with no mufflers, although I'm sure my neighbor didn't appreciate it if he was trying to take a nap.

    So, now that I know it actually runs (whew!) I can resume with stripping it down. Drained the carbs and pulled them back off, took plenty of pics to show the routing, then pulled the wiring harness off. In the meantime, the exhaust hardware had been marinating in PB Blaster, so when the time came to pull the exhaust, everything loosened right up without a lot of cursing or stripped/snapped hardware. Took my time loosening all the engine mounting hardware and got the floor jack underneath the engine. Pulled the last bolt out and actually managed to get the engine out solo without hurting myself or the engine!
    [​IMG]

    I was able to spend most of today cleaning, scraping, and just generally getting rid of years of built up grunge! The PO(s) obviously weren't terribly obsessed with cleanliness. Once I had scrubbed off a reasonable amount of greasey build up, I attacked the frame with a wire wheel attached to my cordless drill
    [​IMG]

    Things are reasonably clean now, and I'll hit the frame one more time with mid grade sandpaper and wipe it down with mineral spirits. Once everything is clean and dry, it'll be time for paint. Sorry, no fancy powder coating this time...finances dictate Krylon. But hey, my philosophy here has been to do as much as I can myself within my budget.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2012
  6. invisible cities

    invisible cities New Member

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    Well done! If I could suggest, you gone this far, removing the front forks (and swingarm) will give you more options for repainting the frame (will be much easier to do) and as a bonus you can install a set of tapered steering stem bearings. On this note Sudco offers high quality bearing kits that are made in Japan.

    Nice to see this level of effort going into a First Gen restoration. Keep up the great work!
     
  7. hopit88

    hopit88 New Member

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    +1!

    Get the front end and swingarm off. The added benefit to this is in engine installation. Put the motor on a milk crate or other sturdy surface. Then you can maneuver the bare frame down and around easily with one person. I've done this on my R many times. Using a floor jack to lift up into the frame is a pain.

    Some have put the motor on it's side but I never figured out why.
     
  8. GreyVF750F

    GreyVF750F Member

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    Here is away I support my bike when I've stripped it down the several times doing maintenance. It's very stable. Just two 1/4" hooks in plastic anchors in the floor.

    DSC01891.jpg
     
  9. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    As always, thanks so much for the input and encouragement. My plan is to leave the front end on just long enough to get all the hardware broken loose, particularly the cap screws at the bottom of the forks...y'know, the ones that hold everything together? Once I have them loose, I'll pull the forks, since replacing the leaking seals is on the To Do List (damn, that list is getting long!)
     
  10. hopit88

    hopit88 New Member

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    Grey, what more do you need from a shop? You've got the cabinets with a work top, grinder, posters, fuzzy dice, tool chest, pad on the floor and a V4 ready to be worked on...perfect!
     
  11. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    I'm not seein' the fridge!
     
  12. GreyVF750F

    GreyVF750F Member

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    LOL a whole hell alot more. Nice tig or mig welder,even thoughI know were I can borrow one. Just need to put the 220 in. Then a nice floor mount drill press or small milling machine, pipe bender, sand blast cabinet. Shall I go on? My birthday is coming up you know...........buddy! :whistle:

    Good hiding place! eh?
     
  13. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Even though I'm not posting every other day, progress IS being made....well, okay, it has been kinda slow. I think I've torn everything apart as far as I'm willing to take it. Besides, the weather has been starting to turn here in Virginia and I'd better get to the "reassembly" phase here pretty soon!!! Last week I put a final coat of paint on the frame and I'm happy with the way it turned out. The "aluminum" rustoleum color is a shade lighter than stock, but I like it. I've decided I'm not going to go with a stock paint job on all the bodywork anyway, so the purists can go ahead and start throwing rocks now!
    [​IMG]

    Got the forks all torn apart. The snap rings were reluctant to give it up, in fact one had a fair amount of rust, and came out in three seperate pieces. I have the seal kits and new snap rings on order. It's obvious that the forks have been apart before because a couple of stock pieces that have been deleted in later model revisions are not in the fork. My FSM advises "do not reuse". Regardless, if they have been worked on before it was a looooong time ago because the fluid that came out reminded me of - let's see if I can describe this - does everyone know what drilling mud looks like? You get the picture. No, I didn't get a picture, but here's everything laid out after cleaning, patiently waiting for the UPS man to show up. In the meantime I'll give the fork legs a fresh coat of satin black.
    [​IMG]

    Spent most of this afternoon cleaning and degreasing the engine. One pass of Gunk gel, then another with S100, and I'm pleased with the outcome. I'm going to pass on repainting the basic lump, although all the side covers and coolant tubes will get a fresh coat of high heat satin black. Oh, one of the POs was battling a clutch cover oil leak. Instead of using the factory gasket, they decided to pile on successive layers of gasket in a tube. I probably scraped, peeled and wire wheeled a full tube of both grey and red permatex from the clutch cover and engine case on that side.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I'm happy with the way things are turning out so far...and I'm still having an absolute blast! Now that the days are getting a little warmer I may be able to get some garage time in more frequently and really start making progress.
     
  14. rainman6

    rainman6 New Member

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    Looking really good Pops. You are about the same stage as me!! I have been painting my frame over this week with White Knite RustGaurd - Aluminium colour Epoxy Enamal. I did it in the garage and it wasnt until I completed the second coat I noticed the spray dust which had settled on everything in the garage (including my newly painted motor) isnt just dust....The Epoxy enamal is different to the paints Ive used in the past and the spray mist sttled wet and then set. Nevermind:rolleyes: I should have been more carefull.
    Adjusted the valves last night and will strip down forks this week.

    What colours are you going to paint, I am staying with RWB, but was seriously thinking of painting the grey, balck, gold like Sparrows on VFR discussion see ’84 Honda Vf750f Interceptor : A Rebuild - VFR Discussion Sacrilege I'm sure but I really like it.
     
  15. hopit88

    hopit88 New Member

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    Looks great Pops!! Keep it up.
     
  16. invisible cities

    invisible cities New Member

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    Looking good! Thanks for the update.
     
  17. GreyVF750F

    GreyVF750F Member

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    Reminds me of when I first did mine. It's looking good. Krylon Satin matches for the front fork legs. Krylon paint in general is great. If you want to touch up the engine Krylon Semi-Gloss is what you want. As far as body paint, do what you want. There's several non stock paint jobs that look better. As long as you don't put skull and cross bones on the tank:Cry:
     
  18. hopit88

    hopit88 New Member

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    Aw man, you mean this is a no-no?

    Sculltank.jpg










    I kid of course:wink:
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2012
  19. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    Haha - No worries guys, no freakish paint schemes for me. Although I am considering something different right now. I've been following another thread about how to wrap bodywork in vinyl. I like the technique - no mess, no waiting for the right weather, no expensive equipment. I've gotten this far without having to invest in compressors, paint guns, and the like... I have a buddy that works for FastSigns that will lend the expertise if asked. He's wrapped quite a few cars.
    On another note, I've been busy today fixing someone else's screwups. I mentioned before that I had to remove quite a bit of gasket sealer from the bottom edge of the clutch cover. Well, that whole area tells a story. Six of the screws that hold that cover on were not stock - just hardware grade hex bolts, a larger thread than the 6mm stock size. Evidently, a PO stripped the mounting holes trying to overtighten the cover to seal the (gasketless) leak. Their solution was to pile on the Permatex in hopes of making it stop, and replacing those six bolts with larger bolts. Ugly! I know they were just applying the sealer from the outside since there wasn't a trace of it inside when I pulled the cover.:crazy: I drilled out, tapped and heli-coiled the affected holes so everythings ready to go back together PROPERLY when engine painting is finished.
    Painting 026.jpg Painting 028.jpg Painting 030.jpg
    As always, thanks for the advise and encouragement guys!
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2012
  20. Pops

    Pops New Member

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    I feel like I've turned the corner now. Instead of tearing apart, I'm actually starting to put things back together again. I've been spending what little time I've had lately doing some cleanup and detail work, and I'm liking the results. For example, I refinished the side cover last week. I don't have a bench grinder yet (that's the next investment) so I had to sand this one down by hand. Started with 240 grit to remove the gouges, then moved to successively finer grits, ending with McGuire's polish. Masked the polished bit and shot a couple coats of Hi Heat Satin Black. I didn't go for the "full polished almost like chrome" look - this is what I wanted.
    [​IMG]
    But the REAL progress came last night! While the engine was still balanced on a milkcrate I lowered the frame over it and managed to get everything bolted back together without toppling the whole thing over. I didn't have any hardware left over, and I actually managed to get the whole thing levered off the crate and sitting up on the center stand myself!
    [​IMG]
     
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