I Have A Dream... (literally)

[Lucien Harpress]

Not much movement on this project yet (other than arguing with handlebar options- I'm honestly at the point where I'm considering re-chroming my originals), but I am picking up bits and pieces where I can if I find them. The latest purchase? The air filter cover.



Generally you don't see these too often because they are hidden behind a sidecover AND the battery, and they don't do much except blank off the end of the air filter, which fills 99% of the existing space anyway. So when they DO show up (which isn't often, because most threw them away), they command stupid-high prices for the restoration crowd.

I'd always kind of wanted one (for completeness sake), but wasn't willing to pay the $100+ going rate. Thankfully, this one came up for less than a quarter of that, so I snagged it.



Fun fact- there's no fasteners for it. The only thing that holds it on is the battery and the battery holder. But if it works, it works.

[Lucien Harpress]

Since my GL1000 project is tentatively reaching the finish line, I think it's time to start getting serious about this Dream. My winter is booked solid with sorting my CB750 out, but I'd like to at least get the frame and bodywork for the CA77 apart, cleaned, and painted (if only to help preserve it) before fall. Having torn apart my parts bike, I feel like I can get it apart relatively quickly.

A lot of stuff will be after the 750 work- engine, wheels, wiring, etc. But I figure if I can get a clean, painted roller by winter, I can work on the rest whenever I get time and money.

I hope to start next week, so we'll see.

[MaxB_Wings2]

I remember when my brother had a 305 super hawk. It was cool looking bike.

[Lucien Harpress]

I gave my GL1000 about 150 miles to make sure it was truly fixed, and after being a good good boy I figured it was time to slide up the next project.





Things went pretty smoothly so far, with no major surprises. There's a bit more chrome damage on the right muffler than I anticipated, but it shouldn't be too visible on the bike. I'm also going to have to figure out how to separate the mufflers from the headers, as my bike has the one-piece exhaust system. But overall, nothing too crazy yet.

Also, knowing how hard it is to find the lower chain guard, I couldn't resist getting a photo of both my sets.



Next up is all the electrical stuff. I'm replacing the wiring harness, so I don't feel too bad about keeping wires straight right now, but I want to box up all the smaller bits a bit better than just "throw them on a shelf". And all the springs and stuff down by the swingarm and center stand attachments? Yeah, THAT'S going to be an adventure. But I'm still happy with the progress.

[Lucien Harpress]

So, I'm to the point where I need to start taking notes. All the electrical is out, and appears to be in good shape, considering. I'd like to get a new coil, but the original seems serviceable in case I can't. The lower mount for the center stand, swingarm, foot pegs, and rear brake is still a nightmare, though. Even the assembly to make the rear brake light switch work involves at least two more extra levers than I was anticipating. It's going to be a lot of reference pictures for that, I think.







With any luck, I'll have the engine out by the middle of the week. Not sure how deep I plan on going into that- compression seems good, but a top-end rebuild seems prudent. It also gives me the chance to clean up and get the engine to a stock finish (bare aluminum on the case and jugs- silver paint on the sidecovers- polished aluminum stator covers). Still, that's a later project. The current goal is to get a painted roller, even on less-than-perfect tires for now.

[Lucien Harpress]

Teardown continues. No major surprises yet. The swingarm bolt is shockingly clean. Tail light assembly is all there, but the rubber cushion around the light bulb is rock hard, the rubber sleeve for the terminals on the back disintegrated, and the bulb is frozen into the socket, but the tail light plastic is in once piece. Managed to strip my first screw on the right engine case- the brake lever hit the trigger of my impact before it was square. Figure I'd gotten pretty lucky up to this point. Haven't decided if I'm pulling the motor or front end first. I'm leaning front end.

[Shadowjack]

Cross-head engine case screws in these bikes are sacrificial. All the ones I ever worked on had the heads half cut away from removing them with a hammer and chisel. I was too poor to buy an impact driver in those days, and since I've owned one, Honda started using screws with 8mm hex heads. Oh, well.

[Lucien Harpress]

All things considered I've got pretty lucky so far. Unfortunately, a quirk of the design means that the right engine case has to come off to remove the motor from the frame. It's a dry cover, so no gaskets to fiddle with, but still a mess of JIS screws to deal with. I moved on to the front end instead.

Speaking of, I ran into my first set of screws I needed to walk away from. The small arm to stop the center of the front wheel turning when you apply the brakes is pretty on there, both sides. I can get the whole bolt to spin, but not the nut to budge. There is a bolt head on the backside I can grab with a wrench, but to clear the wheel it's only about a couple mm tall. So rather than round something off it was a shot of PB Blaster and a night for it to think about what it's done.

With any luck we'll be completely apart this weekend.

[Lucien Harpress]

Looks like the front end is going to by my problem child. Front wheel is off, but the bolts holding the front fender are all frozen. So, more PB Blaster, more time. Truth be told, I'll be happy to be rid of the front fender- the fact it's cut has always kinda bugged me, and I'm eager to replace it.

[Shadowjack]

Finally! Another guy who uses real penetrating fluid (PB Blaster) instead of WD-40!

[Lucien Harpress]

Finally! Another guy who uses real penetrating fluid (PB Blaster) instead of WD-40!

Things have gotten desperate. I don't know how this thing was parked, or why every single bolt on the front end has been breaker-bar, hammer, PB Blaster AND Iron Guard INDUSTRIAL penetrant stuck, but as easy as the back came apart? That's how difficult it's been getting the front end apart. Ever single fastener has been a nightmare.



But, front end is off. I lost every single ball bearing when I took the head apart because there was zero grease in the head bearings. And when this thing goes back together I'm going to need to fab up some cribbing below the engine because, as you can see, it does NOT fit on my motorcycle jack at all.

But hey- progress is progress.

[pidjones]

Check to see if All Balls has a roller bearing replacement for it. I would build a frame out of wood screwed to a furniture dolly for it.

[Lucien Harpress]

I'll definitely have to take a look at steering head bearing options. I remember taking a quick look a while ago because I was curious, but I honestly forget what I found. Ah well. I'll get there.



This piece? Absolute nightmare. Every bolt frozen, and a PITA to get to. The pinch bolts for other, bigger bolts is a.... choice.



Looks like this bike was a certifiable mouse apartment building. Thankfully, it looks worse than it actually is, and should clean up pretty well.



And just like that, I have another pile of parts. There's only the lower center/side stand assemblies to remove, then the frame is bare. And the engine is done enough to be able to roll it off to the side until I need it again.

[Lucien Harpress]

Amidst all the teardown, I also got a package in the mail that should prove helpful in the future.



The chrome on both my sets of rear shocks is completely shot, and I managed to snag a clean set on ebay for much less than the usual going rate. The initial plan was to swap the upper colored portion for the black ones I have, but seeing the new shocks sent me into a bit of an existential crisis. You see, I've been dead-set on a black Dream with a red seat for several months now. Everything was set, I was excited to see it, I had it all figured out. But now?

Guys? I may end up with a red Honda Dream.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

I've had a lot of experience with those 305's; be real careful getting the petcock bolts out - I think they have a 5.5 thread, very difficult to find, IIRC. Also, those OEM petcocks are (1) expensive, and (2) pretty leaky, even with an aftermarket kit.
On the other hand, they sound like a Harley and pull pretty well! As far as the shocks, you could always just spray the red (plastic) part black...?

Oooh, and I see you have the Very expensive and hard-to-find carb cover! Those chainguards are also very hard to find in two pieces, as you noted...
Also, there's a hack somewhere online to make a replacement air filter out of a Fram air filter, using the original air filter housing; all you need is a heat gun to get the old glue/filter out, trim the Fram filter out of its rubber lining and then epoxy the new filter in; I've done it, it's not too hard and looks brand new when done.
Harbor Freight also sells a copper washer set for about $5 with a variety of different sizes and one fits the top engine bolts perfectly.
Here's the one I did:
DSCN1262 by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr

Here's the 'Before' pic -
As I Got It by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr

Here's a black one I did; it's a '63, and I got it mostly for the very rare no-seam gas tank, but it was in such good shape inside I decided to go for it:
DSCN1056 by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr
DSCN1064 by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr

It didn't turn out too bad - I didn't even really need to mess with the engine too much, it cranked up as soon as I got it sorted. I wound up selling it, and wish I hadn't. I also just discovered it for sale on Craigslist too! Oh well...
1963 Honda CA77E by Dr. Frankenstein1, on Flickr

So, yeah, I kind of know my way around those bikes. Watch out for those aftermarket wiring harnesses though; there's a few wires in them that are not needed, and will make you scratch your head. The shift-shaft is a great place for oil leaks; and if you lose the key, you can use a screwdriver to turn the 5-position ignition.