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Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:35 pm Post subject: Honda CB360T: Rebuild Restoration Help
Hey, been a long while since I last posted but I'm back with a bike to keep. It's a 1974 Honda CB360T, garage find (although some idiot left it in a leaky shed for the last week of storage ). Planning on turning it into a minimalist tourer (add a rack+ 2 gal jerry can, drop the blinkers etc). Pistons locked, no battery, flat front tire, grips and a few other minor items in crappy condition. Other than that, nothing that can't be fixed with elbow grease and a bucketload of rust remover.
So, some questions: I need to loosen the pistons, what is the recomended way of doing this without damaging the cylinders and heads? After it spins freely I will take the heads and cylinders off for cleaning, painting, and checking the camshaft and camchain. I need instructions on how to do this correctly (never torn apart an OHC before).
What is the cheapest road-legal tire for the front? I'll be getting it registered a before I ride it and it needs a good front to pass inspection (i'll be buying a better tyre after). Same for the battery (lights/electric start need to work for reg.)
Also, if anyone with a service manual for this bike could send it to me it'd be a great help. If not but you've worked on one of these, info on the electrical system and the location of all the components on the motor/trans would be great.
Joined: May 28, 2009 Posts: 421 Location: chicago area
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:17 am Post subject:
i have the manual in digital format, 100mb so its a bit big to send through email, i run on dropbox so i can get ya a link there (send me an email addy)
Cheng Shin tires are probably the cheapest ive found for vintage bikes, and theyre not too bad of a tire. i picked up a set for my bobber from cycle gear (on sale) for 30 each front and rear. whats even better is cycle gear mounts AND balances tires purchased there for free (online does not count)
as far as loosening the pistons, i would check into marvel mystery oil seems to work with everything for me.
Ive got a whole 75 360 (minus slipons original seat and sheet metal) in parts that i was going to convert to a cafe racer, but I'm going a different route now so its just going to sit and possibly get sold off to the scrapper. i didnt like that whole "race a motor with a cam chain tensioner thats KNOWN for failing" idea.
Other than that, good luck and have fun building it!
Joined: Dec 26, 2007 Posts: 1215 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 8:10 am Post subject: Re: Honda CB360T: Rebuild Restoration Help
lupine_shadow wrote:
Other than that, nothing that can't be fixed with elbow grease and a bucketload of rust remover.
And a bucketload of money, especially with the faults you say it has. Before going too far with it, you might want to get the jugs off and see what the carnage is inside. Some of those internal parts are very rare and very expensive, if you can even find them.
^Well, tore the breather and head off today and found that the chain tensioner is okay... a relief considering that's known as the major problem with these bikes anyway. Didn't spend a whole lot of time on it as I took off the head right before stopping for the day, but it looked okay along with the camshaft and valve springs.
Also, as a random gripe about the electrical system, why exactly did these bikes keep 40% of the connections stuffed into the headlight bucket? Bloody annoying to work on.
Joined: Dec 26, 2007 Posts: 1215 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 9:06 am Post subject:
lupine_shadow wrote:
Also, as a random gripe about the electrical system, why exactly did these bikes keep 40% of the connections stuffed into the headlight bucket? Bloody annoying to work on.
^ On most post-80's bikes I've looked at, the "central" (don't know the technical term, if there is one) point on the wiring harness, ie where most of the lights, sensors and ignition connect, is somewhere midframe or near the battery box. Most of the pre 70's bikes I've looked at have it in the headlight bucket, which usually makes the wiring extremely cramped and to remove/replace a connection requires a lot of work. It also bends the wires at odd angles, so wiring harnesses don't stand the test of time very well.
Anyway, I checked the head well today and the tensioner and slipper are in perfect condition. Is there any way to tell if the tensioner on my bike is the post-recall one? Does the new(er) tensioner have a different size or shape than the old, failure-prone one?
Joined: Dec 26, 2007 Posts: 1215 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:13 pm Post subject:
lupine_shadow wrote:
Is there any way to tell if the tensioner on my bike is the post-recall one? Does the new(er) tensioner have a different size or shape than the old, failure-prone one?
Look for two punch marks in the engine ID rectangle. If they're there, the recall was done on that bike.
Well, just to let everyone know - I posted a wanted ad for head bolts and a rocker arm retention bolt, a clutch lever and clutch and tach cables. If anyone has these, whether they're for the 360/350 or will bolt up the same, let me know.
Anyway, progressing in the motor teardown today and the crankcase screws are very difficult to remove. The easier ones come out with WD-40 and a rachet or rachet screwdriver, the harder ones are still stuck even with liberal amounts of WD-40. I have almost taken metal off of the heads on a couple of them, and since they're screws rather than bolts a wrench doesn't do much good either. I need to bench the motor but can't because the bottom screw (on the part of the crankcase in front of the drive sprocket) is almost stripped and the chain is still on (don't yet have a good chain breaker).
Anybody know of any way to loosen these screws without breakage? I could drill into a screw if worst comes to worst but I can't risk accidentally drilling into the engine case.
Joined: Feb 08, 2010 Posts: 145 Location: West Michigan
Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:07 pm Post subject:
Set the correct driver in the screw and whack the driver a couple of times , straight on . That helps to break the bond between screw and case . You would do much better using Cyclo Break Away instead of WD40 . Cyclo Break Away is the absolute best penetrating oil I have ever used in my 50 + years of tearing things apart . _________________ ´82 CB750C+
Joined: Jan 12, 2008 Posts: 72 Location: Altamonte Springs Florida
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:34 pm Post subject:
The tensioner as really only a problem if maintainance wasn't carried out.
Chain got very slack before things broke.
There were two recalls, wiring hanger on front left tank mount and cam chain tensioner.
The cylinder head usually destroys itself before the cam chain gives any problems
That's very good news, because once I restore this thing it'll be serving double duty as DD/long-distance tourer once or twice a year. Checking the owner's manual, it's not hard to maintenance this thing even with the stock toolkit. It just needs more of it, at 3,000 miles it needs cam tensioner adjustment, drive chain lube, will have gone through two oil changes, battery electrolyte, and checking every system over thoroughly.
i have the manual in digital format, 100mb so its a bit big to send through email, i run on dropbox so i can get ya a link there (send me an email addy)
Cheng Shin tires are probably the cheapest ive found for vintage bikes, and theyre not too bad of a tire. i picked up a set for my bobber from cycle gear (on sale) for 30 each front and rear. whats even better is cycle gear mounts AND balances tires purchased there for free (online does not count)
as far as loosening the pistons, i would check into marvel mystery oil seems to work with everything for me.
Ive got a whole 75 360 (minus slipons original seat and sheet metal) in parts that i was going to convert to a cafe racer, but I'm going a different route now so its just going to sit and possibly get sold off to the scrapper. i didnt like that whole "race a motor with a cam chain tensioner thats KNOWN for failing" idea.
Other than that, good luck and have fun building it!
If you're still planning on sending the bike to the junkyard or parting it out, how much would you charge for the head bolts? My 360 is missing all the top head bolts and the ones bolting on the rocker arms and breather cover.
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). Planning on turning it into a minimalist tourer (add a rack+ 2 gal jerry can, drop the blinkers etc). Pistons locked, no battery, flat front tire, grips and a few other minor items in crappy condition. Other than that, nothing that can't be fixed with elbow grease and a bucketload of rust remover.
