cb-77 restoration

[jleewebb]

getting started on long delayed project...'62 cb77 "super sport." engine pulled. on waiting list for engine/trans rebuild in kerrville...more pix maybe to come if i can get them small enuf...more pix on flickr.com if anybody can figure out how to use it...now i get to think about paint and chrome and rebuilding front fork...having a great time so far...lw

[jleewebb]

i ordered the bill silver books today, mr. clymer's book i've had since '64 just isn't cutting it...it gets vague about the time things start to get get complicated...so i'll hopefully have good info for putting it back together at least...got front forks off yesterday in a shower of ball bearings, then turned forks upside down for some reason...green gunk looking stuff in pic is reflection of trees in resulting puddle...lw

[milwaukeephil]

Awesome, keep going!

[jleewebb]

i told myself i wouldn't work on bike last sunday. getting a little complulsive. so i ended up playing with it instead.

thanks for the encouragement milwaukeephil.

[jleewebb]

Had a go at front forks this morning...project for day was getting fork tubes loose from the steering stem fork clamp thingy...my guru advised me to take a cold chisel and stick it into the clamp opening where the bolt holding it tight had been and bang the pee-waddley (I think he used a different word) out of it to open clamp enough for the top of the fork tube to slide out...see pic...

I think it would have been better in retrospect to turn assembly upside down and work from bottom, because pounding from top knocked the clamp thingy down past the larger diameter part of the tube when it finally expanded and i had a heck of a time getting fat part of tubes back through clamp...so I resorted to my all purpose puller/pusher and got them out that way...see pic

I opened up left clamp a loong way, so much that a tiny crack opened up in there...think this will be a problem? Seems like that maleable steel would just squeeze back together, but what do i know...should i get it welded?

I was paranoid from overdoing first one and treated other side much more gently...I'll probably have to pound on that one some more to get it to open up enough to get tube back in when the time comes.

I'm posting this in hope that others will find info useful, if only how not to do it...

Next step is to get me a strap wrench and a circlip tool, both of which I already own but can't find, and dig in to the insides of those puppies...I have some idea what I'll find there from exploded vue in Clymer book, but don't doubt that wonderful suprises may await. What fun!

These are type one tubes, steel top and bottom...anybody have any advice or resources?

Thanks for putting up with me, I'll do another post about taking the bottom parts apart when I get it done...JLW

[jleewebb]

Just noticed pix go in in reverse order as downloaded, ie first pic downloaded will be last pic displayed on post...Have to keep that in mind next time...

Hey I'd really appreciate any feedback, even if not anwering questions...I'm trying to do this string/log whatever a little different from others I've seen here, maybe to inform someone even more ignorant than I, if such there be, maybe to give more experienced guys a laugh at my missteps. Maybe just to entertain a little. Thanks, JLW

[e3steve]

Lee, a really informative set of posts here; and, for those of us who haven't yet experienced the delight of fork disassembly, a lesson on what is to come! Peachy.... Now, where did I last have my tractor jack?