The labor of love (& nostalgia) begins!! 1963 CA77 Dream

OldStan · Post by **OldStan** » Wed May 25, 2011 5:25 pm

Thanks lm. I guess serial numbers don't always tell the whole story anyway at this point since a lot of these engines are mix and match from donor bikes. Mine is now if it wasn't before.

LOUD MOUSE · Post by **LOUD MOUSE** » Wed May 25, 2011 7:15 pm

A really good thing about these bikes HONDA issued this period is that when changes were made ya could/sort of can get the parts which came with the change to match the change with either the engine number or the frame number.
However over time the parts book/fiche didn't carry over all the changes.
Ya will at times see 000, 010, 020 but at other times ya will see only 030.
Don't know why the earlier frame/engine were not shown for all changes but that's how we have things today.
Yesterday a feller called and told me he had a 1964 CL72 so I asked for the frame/engine numbers.
Turns out he had a late 1963 and he needed bars for it as his bars were having the chrome PEEL away. ??????????????????????????????
I had him look at the bars where the top plate is fitted to the tipple clamp and see if there were punch marks there.
He told me the bike was as issued as he knew the first buyer and knew nothing had been replaced.
Well the bars are not HONDA.
The marks on his bars are in front and HONDA didn't do that.
So at times ya need to know the frame/engine numbers "and hope the parts ya order are correct". ............lm

OldStan wrote:Thanks lm. I guess serial numbers don't always tell the whole story anyway at this point since a lot of these engines are mix and match from donor bikes. Mine is now if it wasn't before.

OldStan · Post by **OldStan** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:38 pm

Put the head back together, everything went together well, the cam sprocket centered with no side play. When everything was tightened the cam turned freely.

Installing the pistons on the rods wasn't too bad. The pin fit in the piston was real tight, so I heated the pistons up to start the pin and fashioned a puller out of a bolt and gently pulled them the rest of the way in. I installed the barrel on the pistons using my KD ring compressor split into two pieces and compressed with hose clamps. If I was doing this regularly I would probably make them narrower- I had to be careful of the barrel gasket taking them off, not much space to work with- but the barrel slipped on very easily.

The cam chain was another matter, new chain, very tight. It initally looked like it was one link too short, but after some maneuvering I got it on. Only had to turn the engine over once and remove the oil pump to get the chain back out of the case. After torquing everything down it would still probably run fine without a tensioner( not that I would try that!)

Since the tensioner wheel had some light dimpling I decided to clean it up using my belt sander with a fine belt. I got the center ridge smooth and removed just the hard surface material on the rest of the roller. I am very please with the results. Once installed I was surprised how much of the pin stuck out. Before I tore it apart it was down to the taper on the pin.

I've adjusted the valves and the engine turns over easily (with the plugs out of course.)

Now I can concentrate on paint and body work. Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating for paint. Rain in June in California, not normal!

e3steve · Post by **e3steve** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 12:49 pm

OldStan wrote:Put the head back together, everything went together well, the cam sprocket centered with no side play. When everything was tightened the cam turned freely.

Installing the pistons on the rods wasn't too bad. The pin fit in the piston was real tight, so I heated the pistons up to start the pin and fashioned a puller out of a bolt and gently pulled them the rest of the way in. I installed the barrel on the pistons using my KD ring compressor split into two pieces and compressed with hose clamps. If I was doing this regularly I would probably make them narrower- I had to be careful of the barrel gasket taking them off, not much space to work with- but the barrel slipped on very easily.

The cam chain was another matter, new chain, very tight. It initally looked like it was one link too short, but after some maneuvering I got it on. Only had to turn the engine over once and remove the oil pump to get the chain back out of the case. After torquing everything down it would still probably run fine without a tensioner( not that I would try that!)

Since the tensioner wheel had some light dimpling I decided to clean it up using my belt sander with a fine belt. I got the center ridge smooth and removed just the hard surface material on the rest of the roller. I am very please with the results. Once installed I was surprised how much of the pin stuck out. Before I tore it apart it was down to the taper on the pin.

I've adjusted the valves and the engine turns over easily (with the plugs out of course.)

Now I can concentrate on paint and body work. Unfortunately the weather is not cooperating for paint. Rain in June in California, not normal!

Good progress report, Stan! All useful info for those of us moving along behind you.

The times (and climates), they are a-changing.....! Had the same phenomenon here in Mallorca!!

Good luck with the next stages.

OldStan · Post by **OldStan** » Mon Jun 20, 2011 9:53 am

The weather is still not cooperating! I've got some painting done, but I've found that if I paint in the afternoon (when I usually have time of course) it's too hot causing the paint to dry too fast. I'm using enamel paint, in the cooler temperatures, when painting sucessive coats the overspray melts into the previous coat for a nice smooth finish. When it gets warmer the overspray dries before it hits causing a rough surface. Daytime temperatures are running high 80's to near 100 degrees F.

It didn't help any that I had to replace axle seals on my pickup yesterday, the one day this weekend I though I would be able to work on the bike.

I decided to paint the bike black, but I'm working on putting my personal touch on it in the form of flames. I've done a test flame on the headlight housing, I think my system will work out fine, but of course this is just a small piece.

OldStan · Post by **OldStan** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:40 pm

Progress is slow. I've been working on the front end paint, almost done. I had the front fender laid out for flames, didn't like how it would look installed and started over again. Here's the result.

OldStan · Post by **OldStan** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 2:16 pm

Seems like I end up putting out monthy reports. I've painted all the misc little pieces and both side covers. I've baked all the pieces I can fit in the oven (I'm using Duplicolor Engine paint.) I ran into one problem there. the left side cover had some Bondo on it which I left on. Apparently there was something there that expanded and caused a bubble when heated, so I stripped it, straightened it and used spot putty and repainted it.

Now I've started on the main frame. The tube for the steering lock was pretty well destroyed, as far as being able to install a new lock, so I cut if flat and welded a plate over it. One of strips for the bottom of the left side cover was broken on one end, but that was easily welded.

The major project is the rear fender. As you can see there was a major crack on the side. A PO had welded up the side but hadn't bothered to line it up. The repair was done with a bunch of Bondo. There were also several cracks that went across the top that hadn't been repaired. I cut out his patch and drilled the ends of all the cracks and rewelded. The picture isn't the finished product of the welding, I just got it back to it's original shape. I also found 2 holes in the back of the fender. Apparently something was mounted there causing a crease and a crack next one of the holes. They're all welded now, so its on to the final shaping and painting.