77 CBGL project

[mogold]

Sorry for the delay on the buld updates and the photo uploads.

Background:
I purchased this bike about a month ago from a guy that purchased it from an estate auction a few months before. It has 1k original miles and purchased from an estate auction with a sidecar which had been sold before I purchased the bike.

The bike overall is in very good condition...was VERY filthy when I purchased it....but VERY good bones I'm going to call it the CBGL project because the build will be a CB themed cafe racer. I did a quick degrease and clean to take a closer look at the condition of the parts....all good . The exhaust has some surface rust but in very good condition. I have a chrome set of sportster exhaust I'll put on it..probably sell the original exhaust after I powder coat the black. It was missing a sidecover because of the sidecar. I have a CB750 fender I think I'll try to install because it is so much shorter and looks sporty...will have to think about the tail light work around.

Current status..a majority of the chrome pieces I removed and restored. Headers and header chrome removed and restored. The gauges have been restored...waiting for a new speedo bucket because the original was slightly bent and I wasn't happy with how the cushions revealed the warp. Most of the chrome now looks as good as NOS...very excited about that. I found some wide clubmans that fit the bike pretty well..will have to adjust the lock stops a little..but I don't think it will be a big deal (more concerned about wiring it). I have the engine ready to pull...will do that in the next day or 2 and start replacing gaskets and polishing the aluminum. The tank is in good shape..the interior has a little rust..but not much..the exterior has some scratches so will need some paint. The frame is in great condition...some minor surface rust but the integrity is very good...unfortunately it has some deep scratches from the sidecar installation or removal so will be powdercoating it <sigh>. Radiator,fan, shroud, hoses and clamps removed and restored. Will be working on the front brakes today to prepare for powdercoating. One of the pistons in the brakes was seized but now free...will be looking at the guts today..hopefully everything is usable. I have alot of pictures for my records..but here are a few..I'll try to update the thread every few days.

[mogold]

More

[matalex60]

I would LOVE to have a 77' I think this is the best looking year stock. The black with blue paint scheme is great. I cant wait to see this cleaned up and finished.

[mogold]

front fender

[joedrum]

nice bike...i recently got a 77 too ...

[mogold]

I would LOVE to have a 77' I think this is the best looking year stock. The black with blue paint scheme is great. I cant wait to see this cleaned up and finished.

One of the things I love about these bikes is the faux side covers. I plan on painting the faux's and the side covers with CB colors but paint another set original GL colors. Will be like having 2 bikes in 1

The CB paint scheme will be the one in the picture...not 100% on the color yet...flat champagne metallic or flat olive green metallic. I need to go look at some paint chips

[matalex60]

That is one of my favorite CB paint schemes. Are the faux panels on your 77's in decent shape? It would be a shame to paint them if they are in usable condition as is. Also, what did you do to refinish the chrome on this, did you jsut polish?

[mogold]

That is one of my favorite CB paint schemes. Are the faux panels on your 77's in decent shape? It would be a shame to paint them if they are in usable condition as is. Also, what did you do to refinish the chrome on this, did you jsut polish?

The panels will need to be completely refinished...there are some scratches etc....the striping is all bad too. I didn't have anything re-chromed... Removed alot of rust then polished.

The steps I used..1 degreased every part with diluted degreaser (purple power 10:1 ratio with water) and scrubbed.....reapplied if necessary until it was truly clean. 2 Then washed with water and small amount of dish soap..then rinsed until it was squeaky. 3 Applied naval jelly with a paint brush...kept it wet with the jelly re-applying with the same brush until most of it was gone (some parts took alot longer than others). I used 0000 grade steel wool to agitate the more rusty areas..and when most of the rust was gone went over the whole part again with the steel wool when the jelly was on the part. 4 washed again with dish soap and water then rinsed until squeaky again...dried. 5 Then I used pure carnuba wax on the whole part to keep the pits from rusting again. I tried flitz polish because it has some wax in it but I found it to be "smeary" on the high polish chrome and hard to remove it..it would fingerprint really easy too.

Just a note...I wear nitrile gloves throughout this whole process... The degreaser and naval jelly will eat your hands up..and it also helped keep the parts clean when I was handling them.

[robin1731]

That sounds very time consuming. But the results look very nice.

[mogold]

That sounds very time consuming. But the results look very nice.

It doesn't take as long as it sounds..but it does take a few steps. I restored the whole front fender last night ....every nut, bolt, grommit, rubber, and chrome took a total of maybe 2 hours. And I agree, thanks..the results are good and In my opinion is worth the time. My goal with this bike is to make it "better than new" and it certainly is cheaper than buying new parts. There is alot of "hurry up and wait". I'm watching movies when I'm doing this so its not that big of a deal....I wait until the kids go to bed so its my "quiet" time and enjoy it.

[mogold]

Hi guys...sorry for the delay again. I've been crunched for free time to work on the bike..so slow to update. I removed the engine, tank and ..basically everything else last weekend. WHEW....wow alot of steps taking that motor out. I've polished most of the aluminum engine parts now. Powder coated the front brake housings. Finally decided on the color's and shot the radiater shroud things. The black is flat, gold is satin and the pinstripe is gloss. I'm going to stick with the cb paint sheme as seen above bit will be the colors on the below photo. Its starting to shape up...I've been holding off on powdercoating the frame until I liked the colors for the rest of the bike..wasn't sure how much gloss I wanted until I saw the paint. I couldn't find my camera to take photos the other day..so I had my buddy take them on his phone...when I get them I'll post them.

[Boufie]

I remember these paint schemes, I still think they are cool looking...

[mogold]

yeah..me too. I remember when I was a teenager I repainted one because it looked so "old". Man if I could just have kept some of those bikes!

[mogold]

Cleaned up nicely!
after

gl 018.jpg (50.41 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

gl 020.jpg (64.85 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

before

before

misc 07_2010 021.jpg (95.49 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

misc 07_2010 023.jpg (82.98 KiB) Viewed 1485 times

[polkadot]

amazing what some "elbow grease" and cleaner will do!