With all the suspension and frame painted it was a pleasure to finally be started putting this bike back together. Each and every nut bolt and part was polished if it needed it, and or hand rubbed to get the little bit of oxidation off it with hand cleaning compounds. Oh, I forgot to tell you, even the rear brake shoes had not been fully seated in. There was still sections at each end that were not worn off from the factory shaping.

Even the rear shock showed no signs of leaking. It still had 45 lbs of air in it too.

So on it went. Assembly went smooth. All the electrical connections were greased with dielectric so they stayed good for years to come. And every thread on every bolt was wire wheeled so any signs of age were removed. Again, it really wasn't that hard to clean up each component of the wonderfully preserved specimen.

And yes, if you were wondering, all the factory decals were removed and reinstalled.

 

Each and every nut bolt and part was polished if it needed it, and or hand rubbed to get the little bit of oxidation off it with hand cleaning compounds.

C'mon, Larry, you've NEVER met a nut, bolt, etc. that you didn't think needed polishing!

Great work so far, and thank you so much for sharing it with us via the pics, keep them coming.

 

WOW, I finally got it back together and running. So I set out to find a PERFECT tank to replace the dented one and a nicer front fender that wasn't faded. First tank I bought should have been listed as a spaghetti colander. It had so many rust holes in it that I couldn't believe the guy said it was sound in his listing. Money refunded, I moved on to find another one.



In the mean time, I worked with the paint shop day after day while we tried to come up with a perfect paint match for the 3 stage candy muse red color. Weeks went on with several attempts. I can't count how many test panels I sprayed with all the attempts at coming up with a match. Very time consuming and frustrating. This is one of the test carbs with 5 attempts in one week.

OK on to the tank replacement. I bought another one. I asked the guy every question I could think of to cover my needs for a perfect tank. It all sounded good so I did the buy it now. The next morning just as I woke up I remembered a question I had forgotten to ask. WAS IT FADED OUT! Well it got here and yes it was faded all across the top. You can see how bad it was under where the decal had been removed. At least the tank was fairly spotless inside. That was a big + compared to the first tank.

So with more waiting at hand I went into getting the fairing cleaned up and ready. I took every tiny part out and completely hand rubbed them back to OEM appearance. Again, it didn't take a lot. It was just time consuming. But well deserved for this bike.

I don't have a picture of it yet but there is now a full factory Clarion stereo system in the fairing too thanks to a trade with Showmedude. I had even gotten a set of speakers from Joel that had the factory pattern to drill the fairing for the speaker installation. Thanks guys for the help with this part of it.



With the bike all back together and the fairing on it, the time had come to make a decision for the paint. I could spend $500 for a quart of red and a pint of the base coat from Colorite, or I could throw in the towel and paint the entire bike a different color. After Jeremy's bike build and a few more weeks went by while I decided. Then came 10 carb rebuilds and learning how to Mod the forum. It took my mind off the task of painting. It turns out that wasn't such a bad thing though. As much as I hated doing it, when the time came I decided to go a totally different direction. I took the bike back apart and stripped every single part of the body panels. Just yesterday I finished getting everything primed, block sanded, sealed and sanded with 400 grit. Trust me when I tell you it was hard to take some of those perfectly preserved parts down and start over. They were so nice! Oh well, to a new beginning.

One of the side covers needed a new tab. Thanks to Plastifix that wasn't to difficult.

So here it sits all prepped out and ready to paint. 2 weeks worth of work and no fingerprints left from all the sanding.

Today I have to take the fairing back off and dismantle it again so I can get it ready to paint. When all the dusty work is done I'll take the shop apart and get things cleaned up for painting. Oh, another thing I forgot. I also built a paint booth during this time. It has a filtration system in it too. That took a couple weeks in itself with all the lapped joints I had to cut into the frame.

 

As I said, I'm going to go into a totally different direction than I have ever seen on a GL. It's going to be painted in a color I used on a restoration I did in 05. It's a Porsche green metallic. Along with that I'm going to do the strips with green variegated gold leaf and pin stripping on the edges. Not sure what color pin stripes yet though.

Please don't blame me for the seat color. That was the owners idea. YUK!

So, that's what I have been up to with this QUICK cleanup and sell.

NOT.

When this is done I'm hoping it's accepted well. What do you think?



Larry

 

Shoot, Larry can take a basket case and turn it into something that looks brand new.



I do like the color but I already chose GM Gulf Blue Metallic Effect with a hair more metalflake and a tiny amount of more pearl.

 

I'm considering having the paint mixed with a coarser metallic too. I'll know more when I spray the test colors I'm going to have them mix up next week. But what ever we end up with the formula will be logged so it will be replaceable if the owner ever needs to repair the paint.

Blues are nice but I already did one that way. I like to try new things.

 

Sentimental value here, same color as my pace car that was virtually totaled by an uninsured driver. I kept going between a red & a blue but what with all the polishing that has been done I figured the blue would be better. Still have the car but not the money to restore it.



http://www.grandprix.net/limited/#replica



Of course I somewhat modified mine, conservatively 350 HP & 400 lb*ft of torque. I could run high 12's in the 1/4.

 

Great job, Larry. What did you use on the inner side of the fairing? Did you paint it? I have some areas that don't match on one of mine, and can't quite figure the best way to blend it together.



Have you ever tried taking a non-faded piece like the rear cowl to a auto paint shop and have them do a computer match to the color? I did a couple and they were amazingly close, but maybe not a perfect match. For a full repaint, you probably couldn't tell the difference, but if you were touching up just a small area it could be noticeable.



Third, and most important. How did you convince your wife that this wasn't just going to be a quick splash and sell?

 

Blue,

First of all I cleaned and scuffed the inside of the fairing with a red 3M scuff pad. Then it got all taped off and a coat of Adhesion promoter for plastic sprayed on to the bare plastic. The black paint I used is by SEM It's made to be exposed to the elements and holds up great. A few light coats is all it takes to return the inside of the fairing to a new look. Mine had a couple streaks in it from some chemicals.



We tried the computer matching. It was fairly close, but not perfect. So really it was more me than the paint not being close. It just wasn't perfect. I really don't think the guy mixing it had enough experience. I caught him using another candy color chart to cheat off from. Since I'm doing a full paint job now it would probably work and look great. Don't make me think to hard or I may change my mind again.

Lastly, I'm not sure she was ever convinced of that. I think she just gives in and throws up her hands in defeat. I really believed I could do a quick cleanup and let it go. You would think I should know myself better than that by now.

How do you get decals off to re-use or do you buy new ones from Honda?

Tony, the decals are pretty tough and hold up well when they come off as long as there are no cuts or scrapes in them. I just peel the edge of them up with a new box knife blade, then I heat them up with a heat gun and peal them up. Press them down onto a sheet of wax paper and put them inside a book to keep them flat until you put them back on. Spray the back side of them with 3M spray adhesive or use double sided tape and reinstall them.

 

Larry, you are amazing. And you make it all sound so easy! Most of us would spend 5 years on such an undertaking, and it still wouldn't look as good.

 

How do you get decals off to re-use or do you buy new ones from Honda?

 

Beautiful work Larry. You really found a gem indeed. For the record, I'm NOT the Joel that provided the speaker set up.

Joel in the Couve

 

Beautiful work Larry. You really found a gem indeed. For the record, I'm NOT the Joel that provided the speaker set up.

Joel in the Couve

Couve like vancouver? Im across the river.

 

That just goes to show that you read the whole post Joel.

But no it wasn't you. I actually haven't heard much out of the Joel I was referring to. He's probably still busy setting up his garage after his big move.



So, not too many opinions on the color choice. I was hoping for a little input on that. But I guess I'll just have to go at it and see what it looks like when it's done.



I did what felt like another sin today. I pulled the fairing apart and took off the decals in preparation for sanding. It took me an hour of staring at it before I actually just hit it with the scraper. Funny part was that I think I even closed my eyes as I did it. It felt like I was killing something. Oh well.... now I'm committed to the core I guess.

If anybody is interested in more pictures, Heres the link to my bucket account for it.

 

The other Joel has just been working on setting up his house and waiting for summer. He comes on every once in a while.

 

Gorgeous work Larry, she will be stunning when done and the green will probably sell better than the ruby red would have...



David

 

Larry I love you man

The attention to detail....why not make those nuts and bolts shine, you're absolutely right...it's too easy not to do !



So wow...this all came into your lap simply because someone tried to tune it up and then when cleaning the carbs he got the jets mixed up years ago, couldn't figure that out and gave up !



Wow



I also agree with cleaning and repainting that swing arm/centerstand area....when it warms up I'm gonna pull the rear wheel and do that. The top/backside of that centerstand (looking from the rear) looks like a water trap to me, it has a couple drain holes but I can see why they get a little rusty.

 

OH and Larry the kickstand and center stand springs....if ya hit them with a SS wire brush to get all the loose dirt and oxidation off of them then put some POLISH on and rub it off then those springs shine like chrome.....TRUST ME

LMAO

 

Larry you do beautiful work...I figured out that you could take a rock and make a diamond out of it...it is a very rare talent you have there..

 

Sorry, just had to BUMP this....*grin*

 

The real question is - when can I drop off my bike??

 

Thanks for the complements guys, It makes me feel better about the work I put into these bikes. I just hope all this sanding is over soon. 16 parts to get ready is a PITA since 15 of them are plastic. I keep thinking of Dakota and how impatient she was getting last year when her bike was being done.

I felt for the guy knowing how much prep time it takes.

Rick, don't start with me buddy.

I'm already thinking of pulling the calipers back off and polishing those too. Hmmm, the kickstand too .... thinking ...

I love you too man. Did you see that the rim edges were polished on this one too. Oh crap, the rear brake plate may need to be done now too since the bike isn't going to be OEM stock anymore. PULLING hair out! Where does it end!

I usually DO polish all the springs. But at first I was trying to keep this one as stock as possible. I guess that's out the door now though.

drneo, I love you're avatar pic. It goes with the question you asked.

You do know they have delivery trucks that you could send the bike on!

OR, you could use your bike as a trade in on this one!



Well, off to make dust again. I would like to get the fairing in primer today.

 

Larry,

As I've said before, craftsmen like you who have this kind of attention to detail and just "do it right" are becoming fewer and farther between. You obviously take pride in what you do, and it shows. Kudos.

 

Thanks Breeze. Like I told you in the emails about the CX, I probably wouldn't be done with this one before you were moved.

I'm not sure anymore if it's Craftsmanship or Addiction! I think one goes with the other.

 

The world would be a much better place if there were more men like you. Excellent work, top notch, and a great inspiration.

 

Just this morning I was sitting out there thinking about polish the edges of the wheels like that and wondered what it would look like......that's A LOT of work....trying to be very careful so as not to slide off the edge with the sandpaper and scuff the inside part of the rim that you want to keep black would make it a very tedious job.



It would really just be a matter of sanding that clear coat off.....then polishing right ?

 

That's an easy one Rick, I just covered the black section with a couple layers of masking tape. The edge of you're rims aren't anodized, so they polish up pretty nice. I'm sure you have a good drill with a polishing wheel. Sand the edge down with 320 or 400 and start out with the brown polishing compound. Then clean the polishing wheel off and finish up with the green. JUST DO IT RICK!

You won't be sorry!

 

Well Larry, My hat is off to you. First off, I can't tell you how much I love soda blasting over glass beads. I only pull the beads out if I have a heavy corrosion problem. 2nd, thanks for explaining how you refinished the inside of the fairing, I was just going to leave Heinz 57 alone, but since you have posted this I am now ashamed to even take her out in public. I do have a question, how did you strip the plastic, Just sand paper or did you use some sort of chemical stripper? What paint did you use for the engine? It looks like duplicolor hi-temp engine paint in cast aluminum. They also have just plain "aluminum" color, One is yellower than the other. Thanks for the nice hi resolution pics, If you don't mind I'd like to save them for my archives. There is nothing better than having a nice hi res pic while your rebuilding. I finished my KZ440 with help from Dave and pictures of his wife's 440. I would never have been able to finish it with out them.

How long does the polish last? If your polishing the rims, are you clear coating them after or leaving them raw. On a last note, that is a very nice CB450.



Can I be your apprentice? I promise I won't flood the workshop. I'll even give you free flying lessons.

A

 

OK, the plastic stripping is two fold. The only parts that can withstand chemical strippers are the front and rear fenders. They won't melt with the harsh solvents.

The rest of the body panels have to be sanded down OR glass beaded. Blasting them takes a while though and it has to be done at about a 45 degree angle. Otherwise the beads just bounce off the plastics. It took an hour to bead blast 1 side cover. Sanding them is a lot faster. But you end up with no finger prints while you sand all the crevices to make sure the new paint sticks well. Just to give you an idea, I have been sanding on the fairing for more than 4 hours today. And that's with air sanders as well as a lot of hand finger sanding.



The engine was done with the Duplicolor engine enamel like you suspected. To add a bit more protection you can put a coat of the clear Duplicolor engine enamel over the top of the aluminum. Just be sure you do it within a half hour of the last coat of aluminum. Otherwise it will wrinkle itself up and you will have to start over.



After I polish aluminum I leave it raw and use MAAS polish on the parts. It's the best I have found to protect the finish and keep the elements from corroding the shine. I stored 2 bikes for over 2 years outside under covers while I rebuilt my house from a fire. When I got back to work on them the one that had the MAAS on the parts was still in nice condition. The other bike needed to be re polished. Spraying clear on them has always made the parts look dull. I have a new clear coat I'm going to try some day, but for now, raw and protected is the best solution.



I wish you were closer. I used to fly a weedhopper ultralight before it got stolen years ago. I have always wanted to learn to fly. But it's always been a choice of what I would like vs what the family needed. The family always won out! I still have the motor from the plane. So I at least know the guy had to spend money to be able to fly it.