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CB350 K4 Tank is back!

GaryJames

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2022
Total Posts
307
Total likes
109
Location
Auckland, New Zealand
After 2 months at the painters ( car painter actually but recommended to me ) I got the tank back yesterday.
Pretty good and I am well pleased with the result. Some pics of tank, naked and dressed and on the frame, and also the neutral switch I soldered a blob of silver solder on to as the brass contact was very thin.
The closeup of the tank cap is showing my modification replacing the riveted pin, not enough length left on it to do another peen over, replaced with a 4m machine screw. I tapped the centre hole of the toggle thingy to match.
Had to then trim off some of the thread on the end of the screws so it would got through the spring. It is a devil that spring. It is small and fiery and won't do as it is told when trying to compress it and screw the centre screw through.
The spring has a short and a long arm. I found the only way it would go on nicely is with the long arm down, pressing on the tank.

About the tank paint job.
After basic metal prep, filling and priming the white strips were painted on first. Using really thin ( as in width ) vinyl tape. This was to reduce puckering over the compound curves.
Then re-masked to paint the wide black stripes.
Masked again for the Green main coat.
Various coats were applied of each colour to match the paint thickness of the previous colour. Very time consuming but the result is after the Clear was applied you cannot feel any ridging over the stripes.
I know this is not how Honda painted the tank in the factory as I am pretty sure stripes were the last to go on by hand.
All two pack and oven baked.
Main metallic Mist Green base coat is water based. Painter advised that better than using a solvent based paint as dries with a more uniform surface and much less microscopic pin holes in the paint where the solvents vented out from.
By the way, all this was done from three hi res pictures I supplied stolen off the internet.


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Cheers

Gary
Auckland
 

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Very nice indeed! What was used for the bottom trim piece? it looks new.
 
Yes, semi polished aluminium and a clear plastic cover.
they fit the bottom tank ridge okay and the tank metal clips bend in to keep them captive…so far.
my original Honda ones are 1/2” wide measured half way along.
These new ones are 5/8. “ wide at same point.
To me that 1/8” difference is noticeable but I guess they look okay.
Anyway these are the only after market ones I have found.
cmsnl have Honda ones but they are 24.50 Euros each.
or non oem pair at 30 Euros.probably the same as my ones!
Gary
 
Looks beautiful.

Just a suggestion, it might be an idea to rub back to bare steel in the area under the fuel cap, as petrol (gas) can creep under the edge of the paint and lift it. I've experienced this myself, and also Allen Millyard confirmed this, in a video that I was watching the other night.
 
Beautiful results, your painter did a nice job. Bike is coming along really well. Don't forget to properly aim the turn signals once the bike is sitting at typical ride height.
 
Thanks AD,
the turn signal mountings are only finger tight while I fuss about with the wiring.
The mess in the headlight bucket needs to be tidied up.
There is one thing I am puzzling over.
the side headlight bucket mountings have a large nut on each side, inside. They have a fixed washer that slots into the shell moulding.
there are also two earth wire connections coming from both fixed washers.
since the headlight shell is plastic what are the two earth wires for?
can’t be for each indicator stem mounting as they have a earth wire coming from the tensioning mount.
puzzled I am…

cheers

Gary
 
Those are ground wires, your turn signals should have 2 wires coming out the stalk for original equipment. Some aftermarket versions have 3, 3rd being a ground wire.
 
The headlight cases have the inner nuts to tighten the mounting bolts:sometimes they have a green ground wire soldered on each one.
I've seen this used to 'ground' the steel headlight mounts so certain OEM turn signal bodies can be grounded to the system:the ones with only one wire.I plug both of the mounting nut green wires into one of the 4-gang green female ground wires on the harness in there.
The steel headlight mounts/ears lack a ground connection because of the round rubber cushions which slide over the tops and bottoms of the headlight ears when they slide over the fork tubes.
 
Thanks team.
my indicator lights have only one black wire coming out of the mounting stalk.
testing shows the bulb illuminates when 12 v is applied to the black wire and Negative to the light mounting, stalk or body.
looks like I don’t need the two green wires from the inner headlight shell mounting nuts.
two wires less in there is a good thing!
cheers

Gary
Auckland
 
G'day Gary,your front turn signals have only one wire? I was wondering where the mounting stalks get their earth/ground connections,if not from those 2) green wires described? I imagine the headlight ears/mounts may have lost their rubber cushions which isolate them from vibration(this can burn-out the headlight bulb)and may be making contact/ground/earth with the fork tubes.
This fork tube earth connection can work on & off.. but is not a reliable solid earth connection.
I recommend the green wires we've described in the earlier post.
 
Those two wires establish a good ground connection with the main loom, which is itself grounded to an engine mounting bolt.

Otherwise, the only ground connection to the front end of the bike is through the steering head bearings and control cables such as the clutch cable, not exactly reliable connections.
 
My observation on my 1973 K4 model is that the green wires from the head shell mounting nuts are next to useless as an earth or chassis connection.
the head shell is plastic so I assume the chassis ground was meant be via the top shroud ears then to the top tree or bottom tree, through the bearings to Frame ground.
Problem as I see it is the shroud ears are mounted on rubber top and bottom and the head shell bolt is tightened on to a painted hole in the ear.
I have run my chassis ground for the indicators from the inside nuts on the mounting stems then into the shell and one of the green chassis connections.

Yellow terminal ends denote….only colour I had to hand. Black would be better.!

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cheers
Gary
Auckland
 
I see how you did it (y) That'll work also.

I used the wire harness green earth connector to hook-up the headlight case mount nuts with the wires.
I cleaned off the paint from the inner mount nuts w/ green wires so those 2) headlight ears would be grounded through the harness then I cleaned-off the paint around the back side of the mounting nuts for the turn signals to achieve an earth connection to them.
I like how your earth/ground wires(yellow connector ring terminals)connect for ground.
The handlebars are also rubber mounted and have their own factory ground strap from the bottom of the handlebar mount stem to a bolt on the forks.This will travel through the steering races to the ground/earth for the battery. The handlebars factory earth/ground strap has been used for other earth connections(turn signals or other accessories)on bikes I've seen before also. I like having plenty of Earth/ground connections on vintage vehicles;it will make my electrical systems and switches operate cool and save my switch contacts. :)
 
Apologies for labouring the point, but Honda certainly didn't design the ground path to be through the (hopefully) heavily greased head bearings.

The grounded nuts securing the plastic head shell should make good continuity with the metal head lamp ears, then the turn signal stalks should make good contact with the metal ears, providing a route to ground for the negative side of the flashers. That is how Honda intended it to be.

Subsequent layers of paint or simple corrosion often means that this ground route is compromised, but as it came from the factory it certainly worked as designed.
 
Apologies for labouring the point, but Honda certainly didn't design the ground path to be through the (hopefully) heavily greased head bearings.

The grounded nuts securing the plastic head shell should make good continuity with the metal head lamp ears, then the turn signal stalks should make good contact with the metal ears, providing a route to ground for the negative side of the flashers. That is how Honda intended it to be.

Subsequent layers of paint or simple corrosion often means that this ground route is compromised, but as it came from the factory it certainly worked as designed.

Most certainly,thanks Richard (y)(y) ;)
 
One area Honda did get it wrong was on the 175s which didn't come with an earth strap from the (rubber mounted) handlebars to the top yoke. Only an issue so far as the horn and starter buttons were concerned, but an oversight never the less.
 
Thanks for your thoughts Richard.
However I still can’t see how Honda thought a reliable chassis ground was through the top shroud ears. They are rubber mounted top and bottom. The bottom sits on a chrome cap but underneath is still a rubber grommet. I have tested with a sensitive ohm meter and I get an open circuit.
Incidentally I have done the steering captive bearing mod and there is a good chassis connection through the stem to frame.
One item I had missed was the handle bar mount being also rubber mounted will need a strap to frame as mentioned here. Thanks for that !


cheers
Gary
Auckland
 
However I still can’t see how Honda thought a reliable chassis ground was through the top shroud ears. They are rubber mounted top and bottom. The bottom sits on a chrome cap but underneath is still a rubber grommet.

Agreed, but the ground lead from the headlight mounting nuts connects to frame ground. Those nuts, via the bolts which secure the headlamp shell, should make good electrical contact with the metal headlamp ears, assuming that there is bare metal at the contact point. Often when these parts have been painted folks neglect to sand back the paint at these contact points. Same applies to where the turn signal stalks bolt through the headlamp ears.
 
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I think a clean 'ground/earth path' from the body,frame or components connecting to the green/ground wires are what's really lacking in most repair of vintage motor vehicles.
These areas are my first work to get done when purchasing a good,used vehicle;although automobiles are sometimes more difficult because some of their connectors are hidden and more difficult to access.
 
Lots of little jobs completed over last two weeks.
Engine successfully static timed. Will strobe it when I get it started... after fitting mufflers !! ( yet to purchase )
Which brings me to first question: after fitting the headers I note the tail pipe ends are different lengths. The left side one is the longer by about 5 cm.
I know the Honda mufflers were different, left and right, but the ones I had thought about obtaining from Common Motors, CB350 Clubman seem to be identical.
I am assuming I will need a short filler pipe for the right hand one.?
Also fitted the new seat. I bought a pan from Texavina, a squab from Sirrus and a cover from eBay. all went together reasonably, had to use a hair dryer on the cover to allow some stretching.
Surprisingly the seat installed on the Frame mountings easily.
When i received the pan I though it was a pretty rough welding job on the side panels but all the anchored bolts and studs are straight and true and bits went on no problem.
Happy that it is Powder Coated so rust shouldn't be a problem in the future.
Installed the refurbished tank after fiddling with the route of main cable loom , clutch and throttle cables a few times.
Took a day to test each and every electrical circuit... all good.. including the starter motor.
Couldn't help fitting a couple of spark plugs and laying them on the cam cover while kicking the engine over and each produced a beautiful blue spark!
Now waiting for a set of instrument LED's and headlamp Led.
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Then I have to tidy up this mess in the headlight bucket !!! grr.
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Cheers

Gary
Auckland
 
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Looks really good. I'm sure you're anxious to ride in the good weather. I forgot you had two threads going and was hoping for some whole bike pics when reading the other one. The Jeep forest green looks good.
 
Thanks, yes I am happy with the way it looks now it is almost complete.
any advice from others on what is usually done fitting identical length mufflers to unequal length Headers?
Particularly the clubman type from Common Motors.
Advice on other sources for mufflers also would be appreciated.
David Silver Honda pattern ones are just too expensive for me at 139 pounds each plus shipping to Auckland.
cheers

Giary
 
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