Restoration tips

Restoration tips...

Some handy tips on classic motorcycle restoration...

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Much of the following is fairly basic information but may help as a guide to the first-time restorer or as a check list when starting a new project…

Do Consider!
• What are you aiming for? A basic rebuild? or a full nut/bolt restoration to original factory specification? The latter is advised as this is where future values lie!
• Lots of patience is required, especially for a complete nut/bolt restoration! What may seem straight forward at the outset can be daunting when you reach that difficult part. Approach the project as a challenge and the end result will be rewarding.
• Don’t assume all parts are immediately available! You are likely to spend considerable time on the internet searching the world for various parts. 
• Many new parts, especially large fabricated items, are no longer available from the factories. You may need to search for a good used item then repair/restore. 
• New aftermarket/pattern parts don’t always fit straight out of the packet! Items such as fenders, exhausts can often need some minor tweaking to fit correctly. 
• Originality! Try to retain original factory specification and finish, attention to detail (correct period nuts/bolts/screws) pays off as long-term value is in the detail. 
• Time! A full restoration can easily take 1 to 2 years if done as a part-time hobby. Allow plenty of time for the specialist services, chrome platers for example can take several months and similar for specialist painting.

Which bike?
• A Honda of course! The best models to choose are those which are appreciating in value. From the 1960s the CB72/77 and CB450 twins; CZ100 Monkey and C100 Cub and from the 1970s, any of the SOHC Fours, CBX1000 or GL1000 Gold Wing (first year) are all good examples. However, it is often a personal choice. A model you had in your early days of biking? You may want to avoid the later water-cooled models as being complex and expensive to restore, but again it’s a personal choice. 
• Spend some time researching. Visiting Auctions helps to understand current values. 
• After choosing, and depending on the bikes condition and if it’s all complete, you may wish to consider finding a matching donor bike? This can help in sourcing any missing rare parts. Post project, the balance of parts can normally be sold on markets such as eBay.
• When buying the project bike, try and obtain as much of its provenance as you can along with original Owner’s Manual, Spare Keys, V5 and any old style log-books. This all helps in retaining the bikes history and ongoing value.     
 
Where to start?
• Once you have your subject in your workshop, take lots of photos including the complete bike on both sides and then detail images, all of which will help when you come to re-assemble. 
• Obtain some original factory literature on the chosen model. 
• A copy of the original Sales Brochure will provide the best images of how the bike started life. 
• The original factory Parts List book provides great information with large schematic drawings of where everything goes, and which way round! Also, the part numbers help in your parts search and often provide the correct sizes of fixings (bolts, screws, nuts etc), a 6x30mm pan-head screw for example.
• Finally, a copy of the original factory Workshop Manual provides much needed information and guidance.

We offer a wide range of above original and reproduction factory literature within the SHOP section of this website.

Specialist Services
• You will need a range of specialist services during your restoration project. Its best to identify the recommended ones locally to you and get some idea of costings before you start. Here are some of the services you will/may need:
• Shot-blasting and soda/aqua-blasting services
• Paint finishing (for the frame and associated parts)
• Specialist colour parts finishing (tanks, panels, fenders etc)
• Chrome plating, BZP (Bright Zinc Plate) finishing and alloy polishers
• Seat upholstery
• Spoke wheel building services
• Welding services (…let’s hope not!)
• Clock restoration
• Carburettor restoration.
Of course, some of the above you may wish to tackle yourself.

• Many of these services can be found advertising at the back of the monthly classic motorcycle magazines.
• Take photos of the parts you are taking to specialist services, provide them with copies and a list of parts. This avoids any misunderstanding and lost parts! 
• Where possible, use local services so that you can hand deliver and collect. This provides the opportunity to talk with the service provider and avoid any potential lost in post scenarios. Expect some of these services to take many weeks!

Tools
• A few specialist tools will be required along the process, such as clutch tools and wheel bearing retainer tools, but normally not that many. Then, a reasonable set of regular mechanics tools should suffice.  
We offer a range of specialist Honda tools within the Store section of this website.

Budget!
• It’s easy to get carried away with costs, so preparing an outline budget helps.
• If your restoring for investment do some pre-project research on values and consider the following:
• Potential value of model after full restoration
• Less initial cost of bike
• Less cost of specialist services (…be generous)
• Less cost of parts (…be generous)
• Example: (…as a guide only!)
• Cost of a complete project bike (e.g. Honda CB400F) = £2,000.00
• Budget for specialist services (Inc. VAT) = £1,500.00
• Budget for new parts (Inc. VAT) = £1,500.00
• Misc./sundries/repairs/the unexpected! (Inc. VAT) = £500.00
• Total budget costs = £5,500.00
• Potential value (restored as original) = £6,500.00
• Potential gain? = £1,000.00  

Get started…
• Dismantle the bike in an orderly fashion. Remove the tank, seat, side panels and other immediate large bodywork parts and place aside for inspection. 
• Take reference photos as you go along. (…it’s so easy on today’s smart-phones!)
• Remove all exterior fittings and place all parts in suitable containers and label. 
• When fully dismantled, group items into the following categories
• Parts for specialist colour painting (tank, panels etc)
• Parts for black painting (frame, swinging arm, brackets etc)
• Parts for chrome plating and parts for zinc plating
• Service parts for replacing with new (cables, brake shoes, seals etc)
• Engine – put the complete assembly aside and handle separately. Whilst your frame and chrome parts are away at the specialists it’s a good time to tackle the engine. 
• Don’t throw anything away at this stage! You never know what lies ahead and how you may need that broken cable, wheel spoke or gasket as a pattern!
• With all steel parts (frame, swingarm, footrest etc) it is best to have them fully shot-blasted, then return them to your workshop for inspection before the painting process. It’s not until all the old paint and surface rust has been removed can you see any potential damage (cracks/past repairs etc). 
• Note: Wash off grime/oil etc and remove all items such as steering and swingarm bearings, VIN plate etc. before taking to the blasters.   
• Alloy parts are best to be soda or aqua blasted. This is kinder and less damaging than shot-blasting to the soft alloy surfaces.
• With items such as fuel tanks, remove all badges, taps and filler caps etc. 
• Mask up areas you don’t want painted (bearing surfaces for example) and it’s a good idea to put old bolts in threaded holes to protect the threads from paint. 
• Finishes:
• Don’t over bling! Ask alloy polishers, zinc and chrome platers to finish to OEM specification. They will want to do a bright shiny highly polished finish but the bike didn’t necessarily leave the factory like that! Some parts however, such as chrome tank panels for example, may have been highly polished!
• For some chrome parts, good chrome-platers will offer what they call line-finish. This is less shiny but more like original OEM finish and costs less than highly-polished chrome finish. Example items are rear fender, chain-guard etc.
• When painting the frame ask painters to paint lightly over the stamped frame number in order to preserve identity and originality.   
• Best finish on steel painted parts (frame etc.) is 2-pack wet paint. Powder-coating is popular but this can de-value from originality and can bring problems such as thick-coating at joints and covering of stamped frame numbers etc! Personally, I avoid powder-coating as a good 2-pack wet paint finish is much closer to the original factory finish and more pleasing to the eye!

The re-build…
• Take your time. Use clean protective work surfaces. For long-life, use correct assembly lubricants and greases such as copper grease on threaded fixings. 
• Attention to detail, correct period fixings (nuts/bolts etc.) is encouraged. 
• Refer to parts lists and manuals and when stuck on a certain item you can often refer to online forums for guidance.

I hope the above helps in some small way? Good luck with your project.
 
Ends.

(Roger Etcell/2020)
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