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CB450N 1993 engine swap

Hondacbbrat

New Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2022
Total Posts
6
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Location
London
Hi everyone,
ive got a 1993 CB450N (with a engine PC14). The engine lost power, then made noise and smoked and stopped. It would restart but with a hideous knocking noise, and i took it to my local mechanic who said "ok, ive had a look and its a piston. your best and easiest option is to switch out the engine for another engine CB40N engine. like for like". However after about 9 months of search its pretty difficult to find a CB450N engine for sale ( that is my experience so far!).

So my real question is - is there another engine that i might be able to swap in instead that might be easier to find and isnt too difficult to fit on this bike? Are there other engines from other models that go in easily on this type of bike? Or should i try to have the engine rebuilt (i am not a mechanic so i dont know if this is possible or not).

Thanks for your help, ride safe.
 
Took awhile to figure this one out since we never saw that model or engine per se in the US. We saw the PC05 and PC17 engines.
A 1993 CB450N would be more correctly referred to as a CB450DX, not to be confused with the S model(which we never saw either).
This is the section on CMSNL you would be searching for part numbers
https://www.cmsnl.com/honda-cb450dx-1988-1993-brasil_model49481/partslist/#.YkS7hSjMJPb
I think your mechanic is wrong about the piston, it's probably the left rod bearing failure these engines are known for. It's not a regular issue but one created by an owner who rode the bike w/o checking the oil level, not you but a PO. So an engine replacement is the best avenue to use since the repair will be a crankshaft, 1 rod and probably a piston plus all of the bearings, gaskets, seals, etc.
Now the good news. Any of the SOHC 450 twins is a bolt in swap, excluding the CB450S, Rebels and later Nighthawks. I'm not sure if you ever saw those models but a CMX style bike engine won't bolt in easily. You could even drop a few cc's and use a CB400N engine. Start calling breakers and see what they have.
 
LongDistanceRider - thank you very much for your reply! This starts to make sense because all i could find in europe was CB450Dx, and i was starting to think "how the hell have i picked the one bike that seems to not have any results on an ebay or breakers search! haha! Thank you for your help and suggestions. I will start looking around and hopefully find something!
 
Hi Jim, I was hoping to pick your brains again - I’ve found a CB400n engine and would be happy to step down to it. It’s from a 1980 cb400n superdream, and I’m hoping it will be a straight swap on to my 1993 cb450n/450dx

It’s comes without carbs or starter motor - am I wrong to presume I can use my original carbs and starter motor?

The link is below

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/17521825...MUEDwKcQ72&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY


Thank you
 
Just checked the carb insulators/starter fit and those are the same. Also checked that it's a 6 speed trans and you're good there.
Once you have it you can make the decision of running your oil cooler or not. This engine isn't fitted for one so you will have to swap the lower case half if you want the oil cooler.
To do the swap the rotor/stator have to be removed as well as the clutch assembly and the shift rod. Then it's just unbolt, clean, add a thin smear of Honda Bond to the mating surface and reinstall everything in reverse order. Easily done in an hour or so.
 
Just checked the carb insulators/starter fit and those are the same. Also checked that it's a 6 speed trans and you're good there.
Once you have it you can make the decision of running your oil cooler or not. This engine isn't fitted for one so you will have to swap the lower case half if you want the oil cooler.
To do the swap the rotor/stator have to be removed as well as the clutch assembly and the shift rod. Then it's just unbolt, clean, add a thin smear of Honda Bond to the mating surface and reinstall everything in reverse order. Easily done in an hour or so.

Absolutely brilliant! Thank you for your help! Really appreciate it!
 
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