CB550 restore (sort of)

[cvillechopper]

I just wanted to share my progress so far on the 500 / 550 project. Been at this for quite a while with several disruptions like getting engaged, moving, and rebuilding a friends motor for him as well as buying the M50 so seeing it so near complete is REALLY nice. Still haven't decided on keeping the green or going with the gunmetal grey for the tins. Any thoughts?













I can only put 6 images in one post so more to follow...

[cvillechopper]

Here's the rest of the update.







The last one was taken after I turned her over for the first time to make sure everything moved freely. This evening I give her gas and see if she starts. Tank and side covers are all that's left and I'm hoping to get some inspiration today as to the color scheme.

[Clint]

Looking great! I'd love to see a list of what you've done to it. I'd go green.

[cvillechopper]

Thanks man. I forgot to list the details (Doh!) so here goes.

Frame / Body
Complete tear-down to frame (obviously)
Everything cleaned / sanded and painted with either gunmetal grey (rear fender and forks), dark shadow grey (worn chrome bits), or black.
Duplicolor Acrylic Lacquer from the auto parts store. Trying to keep this as cheap as possible and this stuff sets up very well after a few weeks of curing.

Engine
Bike is a CB500 with a CB550 engine. I've put all new seals and gaskets in her, checked all parts for servicable limits, and put in an overbore kit for a CB500 to 555. Had the cylinders machined at a local shop. Results in such a slight overbore that you don't lose cylinder wall thickness but you do get a nice, like new or better compression.
I gave the head a mild port and polish job. Just enough to take off the burrs left by the cost-effective factory molding and give them just a touch less bend around the valve stems. Shold give a few extra HP.

Electrics
Almost all original electronics and wiring as the stuff there works just find and gave me no trouble prior to starting the project. The exception is the HondaMan Transistorized Ignition and a new set on points. A guy on the SOHC4 forum designed these and now sells them for a very reasonable price. Basically it removed the current from the points and they only act as a switch now. Keeps them from burning out, jumping spark at high rpms, etc. Very nice set-up.

Carbs
Completely disassembled, cleaned, and painted to go with the whole scheme. I haven't changed jets yet to accomidate the increased (hopefully) airflow because I noticed that the PO had the 500 carbs on the 550 engine. This set-up has slightly larger jets than the 550 and my plugs were a touch sooted when I pulled them so I'm hoping we're right on now. Of course, as with all things carb related, we will see...

Tons of wire wheel time, way too many paint fumes inhaled, and a fiance that comes to the garage to ask when I'm coming in for the evening on occasion but it's worth it everytime I walk out into the garage and see the progress.
Since I'm doing this on the cheap I'm sure I'll end up having to touch up the paint sooner than I'd like but in total I've got less than $400 on this project in parts and labor (for the cylinder bore only). My time is free

[cvillechopper]

Forgot to mention that the engine is painted with Duplicolor HighHeat (1300 degree) ceramic flat black. It has a sheen until you get it baked for a few. Then it goes fairly flat.

[Clint]

Cool. Thanks for the details. I wish I could dedicate myself to one project like that.

[650Doug]

Looks really good so far! Very nice work. And I agree go with the green, maybe even a metal flake or custom shade to change it just a bit, but stay with the original look, not to mention, it'll break up some of that dark color of the rest of the bike, and give the "eyes" somewhere to settle and take in all the detail.

IMHO of course.

[Statik]

The bike looks awesome kind of the same thing that I'm intending to do to my 75 but I think I will go with a blue paint scheme once I get underway on restoring.

Very interested in this thread Its nice to finally find a thread of something you're doing now instead of someone did it a couple of years ago

[cvillechopper]

OK, so here's the pic I've got with the tank and covers on. Gonna wait a while till I throw the $$ down for real paint.

[650Doug]

Very cool!

[C50T guy]

Dude..you are an artist!!!...I LOVE old bikes, and THAT ONE is SUPER SHARP!!!.GREAT WORK!

[cvillechopper]

Thanks. This is my second attempt at a mostly stock restore. The first was during school, late night after my full time job that paid the bills, in a VERY small utility room and took a few months. I road it until I graduated and bought a brand new ACE 750 deluxe. Sold the 350 to my brother (for $200 ) who dumped it in a ditch first ride out. It's been sitting around in my parents garage where he abandoned it since 2001 waiting for me to go through the process again, this time with the proper working space.

A few years back I built a chopper (much different than a stock restore in approach, time, etc.) but had to sell it a couple months ago for a few reasons (the least of which was the $$). It's a completely different thing trying to keep stuff basically as is, but with a few improvements. Here's a pic of my baby at my old house. Also served as a security system