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Home stretch 68 CB350 K0 plus....

bilbikek411 said:
Steps of progress.
Will you respond proactively to your "chronic plugged crank pin anxiety/paranoia" by possibly blowing air through the splined end of the crankshaft,to see if it 'blows-through' it,w/o building-up pressure internally ?
I hope it will.
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Sadly, only crank removal is the only way to check oil flow through the crank pins.
Triumphs are somewhat notorious for crank sludge traps getting plugged, at least I know a friend who had his motor die because of that. This motor was built, not by Outobie but an experienced Triumph guy, so one can only hope...
 
ballbearian said:
Sadly, only crank removal is the only way to check oil flow through the crank pins.
Triumphs are somewhat notorious for crank sludge traps getting plugged, at least I know a friend who had his motor die because of that. This motor was built, not by Outobie but an experienced Triumph guy, so one can only hope...
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Does that Triumph mechanic have any contact information;could you call him to inquire ?
 
bilbikek411 said:
Does that Triumph mechanic have any contact information;could you call him to inquire ?
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No. Too far in the past and John telling me to check for the rubber sealing ball kind of told me, it's all up to me now.

If it runs like crap, my plan B will pull the other K4 or K3 motor around here and start rebuilding.
 
John sold it to you with doubt as to the oil pressure..
I think what he told you planted seeds of doubt on such a very nice bike;that sucks,imo.
I would do my best to dispel any of that doubtful energy. :oops::mad:

Tom,will you consider opening it up to check the crank?
Better safe than sorry.

I say this as 'a word to the wise'.
 
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bilbikek411 said:
By the looks of them(especially the lower spring adjuster)they are reminiscent of dressed-up Hagon.

Tom,will you be taking your chances on the crankshaft flowing oil ?
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Ah, Hagon, that sounds like something John would have used. I knew it wasn't stock from the chrome upper eyelet.

Yes, I have the NOS oil pump and right side cover in and on. I know the cam box is getting oil but there is no way, I can think of to check the splash feed from the big end rods to the cylinders, skirts or wrist pins.
I'll start it and ride some, then if anything seems weird I'll wait till I feel like pulling the motor for a tear down.
I suppose I could borrow the motor (which I haven't started) from the 72 CB I call 'Mom's Bike', another long term project anyway.
 
ballbearian said:
Ah, Hagon, that sounds like something John would have used. I knew it wasn't stock from the chrome upper eyelet.

Yes, I have the NOS oil pump and right side cover in and on. I know the cam box is getting oil but there is no way, I can think of to check the splash feed from the big end rods to the cylinders, skirts or wrist pins.
I'll start it and ride some, then if anything seems weird I'll wait till I feel like pulling the motor for a tear down.
I suppose I could borrow the motor (which I haven't started) from the 72 CB I call 'Mom's Bike', another long term project anyway.
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I think you should wait to see,plus find a nice person to help you with Any lifting,imo.
 
"It ran when it was parked", more than 9years ago, said John. :D

It started right up today. Maybe some very light scraping noise from the cylinders, I think. I didn't put any oil in the spark plug holes. I may try that, just to see if any difference. I ran the starter a good bit to wait for oil from the cam inspection bolt hole and hoped that some splash would happen on the cylinder walls.

It's been raining so a soon test ride will happen when that's over with.
 
First ride went well, pulls good, no stumbles, shifts fine. Sounds great. No noticeable noises now.

DRIEiJ4.jpg




Head gasket leak at forward left stud. I'll retorque it, but probably needs pulled and a new gasket. Guess I'll see whatever cam etc. this baby has. Maybe try to nurse a few miles out of this oil first.

Di9Ypu6.jpg
 
Great job there Tom. (y) A bit of nostalgia for me, as that was my original bike in the green color, less the shark fin reflector. It's nice when a project is running and somewhat completed. Since they are never completed entirely, with ongoing work necessary to keep them running and riding well.
Job well done and I hope you can seal the gasket leak with a simple retorque of the head studs.

David
 
bilbikek411 said:
RUNNING AND ON A RIDE ! :) (y)
How long before you do an oil change w/ inspection ?
This is one sweet,prize machine.
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Thanks Bill.
Maybe 100-300 miles depending on the retorque success for an oil change.
It is pretty, but plan on building alloy wheels with polished K0 hubs, maybe even finish John's 450 front mega drum wheel project.
The total shop job schedule here is pretty crowded and not getting shorter so it may be awhile. Weather safe storage issues now need addressing as my cheap amazon 8x8' storage tent shredded it's roof so I have to get into construction guy mode for a bit too.
 
Flyin900 said:
Great job there Tom. (y) A bit of nostalgia for me, as that was my original bike in the green color, less the shark fin reflector. It's nice when a project is running and somewhat completed. Since they are never completed entirely, with ongoing work necessary to keep them running and riding well.
Job well done and I hope you can seal the gasket leak with a simple retorque of the head studs.

David
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Thanks David. I can't take all the credit here as John Knox, aka Outobie, did so much great work on this bike. It has been a real pleasure building on all that effort.
I think the shark fin was John's tell that it is not really a pure 68 K0, the shark fin was a 69 K1 item only.
I'd love to see an original green paint one, not as many of those, I'd think.
 
Thanks Tom, unfortunately back in the day I was not a camera guy and pretty broke most of the time, so I have no pictures that I am aware of of anything from the 60's or early 70's. How times have changed with a camera in our phones and some pocket change plus available now.
 
Flyin900 said:
Thanks Tom, unfortunately back in the day I was not a camera guy and pretty broke most of the time, so I have no pictures that I am aware of of anything from the 60's or early 70's. How times have changed with a camera in our phones and some pocket change plus available now.
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Me too. The few I have were shot on the tiny 110 instamatic film.
The green may have been the same as used on my CT70 Minitrail seen in my avatar. Nostalgia for me also.
My brother has one the same year and color as our original one. Here's me on it this summer.

N6WAMuI.jpg
 
ballbearian said:
Me too. The few I have were shot on the tiny 110 instamatic film.
The green may have been the same as used on my CT70 Minitrail seen in my avatar. Nostalgia for me also.
My brother has one the same year and color as our original one. Here's me on it this summer.

N6WAMuI.jpg
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Very nice CT70H
 
Not much to tell on the retorque, except the 2 side screws (6x 1.0mm) under the plugs were not even tight. I did gently snug the 3 in the leak area just a tiny bit more.
Rain till Thursday before more test rides.
 
ballbearian said:
Me too. The few I have were shot on the tiny 110 instamatic film.
The green may have been the same as used on my CT70 Minitrail seen in my avatar. Nostalgia for me also.
My brother has one the same year and color as our original one. Here's me on it this summer.

N6WAMuI.jpg
Click to expand...


I just looked up the colours schemes from back then and 1968 was more than a few weeks ago. I think mine was the blue green colour shown in the one pic. The other green one is closer to your Trail 70 green and likely the same.



CB350K0-BLUE_GR.jpgCB350K0-GREEN.jpg
 
Flyin900 said:
I just looked up the colours schemes from back then and 1968 was more than a few weeks ago. I think mine was the blue green colour shown in the one pic. The other green one is closer to your Trail 70 green and likely the same.



View attachment 37663View attachment 37664
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The blue green is a 68 (without shark fin reflector) is very nice too. The other pic may be a repaint on a 69, almost like British racing green, which is also kind of cool. I can't tell if it's metal flake/candy or opaque. Different, later kickstart lever too.
 
bilbikek411 said:
Tom, you have the upgrade K4 engine (y) (y) How's your bike running ?
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Last run was really great. Been hibernating for a couple months now.
boddy said:
Those CT70's are getting good money in my area - they are all in the $2500 to $5000 cdn range and they aren't even as nice as yours.

View attachment 42362View attachment 42363 View attachment 42364
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The 4 spd manual clutch CT70K0H bring the most but they must all ring the nostalgia bell for many. Not many like my 12volt later reissue 93-94.
 
ballbearian said:
Last run was really great. Been hibernating for a couple months now.

The 4 spd manual clutch CT70K0H bring the most but they must all ring the nostalgia bell for many. Not many like my 12volt later reissue 93-94.
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Did you ever experience what PO and member John was saying about being worried about the oil flow ?
 
bilbikek411 said:
Did you ever experience what PO and member John was saying about being worried about the oil flow ?
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No, it seems fine. He was worried about a missing rubber sealing ball. It is there and I've verified good oil flow to the head and cam. I just hope the crank passages were cleaned, seems many like to pretend that is no big deal.
 
ballbearian said:
No, it seems fine. He was worried about a missing rubber sealing ball. It is there and I've verified good oil flow to the head and cam. I just hope the crank passages were cleaned, seems many like to pretend that is no big deal.
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I learned what you mean about the crank passages in that thread;makes quite a difference in proper lubrication to those vital areas under stress.

The issue w/ John and that rubber ball: could be,he's like me.
A person in my past who was significant to me(at the time)told me many times they promised to do something,but then: 'Dropped the Ball' Too much of that stuff going on all over.
Could be John felt the engine builder for that K4 did the same? :unsure:
 
bilbikek411 said:
I learned what you mean about the crank passages in that thread;makes quite a difference in proper lubrication to those vital areas under stress.

The issue w/ John and that rubber ball: could be,he's like me.
A person in my past who was significant to me(at the time)told me many times they promised to do something,but then: 'Dropped the Ball' Too much of that stuff going on all over.
Could be John felt the engine builder for that K4 did the same? :unsure:
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I think (and I hope) that was it. Since he didn't personally build, at least the bottom end, he wasn't 100% sure.
I'm not going to remove the crank to verify patency of the crank pins, so don't ask.
 
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