86 Honda VT750C Restoration log

[luisr320]

Hello.
I'm starting a restoration log for my 1986 Honda VT750C Custom (Shadow).
I got this bike from a brother who gave it to me with the condition that I would have to restore it to its premium state.
Poisoned gift, as you will see later on.

The history of the bike is this:
My brother was a Portuguese Navy Officer and he bought this bike back in 1986. It was imported from Belgium to a dealership in Lisbon. As he was out at sea, he asked me to pick it up from the dealership.
So I remember it being all sparkling and brand new. I recall that on my way home people looked at the bike with admiration for it's beauty. Not a common sight in Portugal back then.

25 years latter, I asked him for the bike and he told me that it was all disassembled at his house and if I wanted it I could take it. So after almost a month collecting all the peaces from his garage I managed to re-assemble it and brought it to my garage.
I still rode it for a 100 miles or so when I decided to start the restoration project, part of the deal.
This is the bike after it's first re-assembly:








Not bad, you say? Well a rust bucket is more appropriate to describe it.

Anyway, I managed to acquire the shop manual and am already a full day into the disassembly process.

Hope I can get some advise from the Gurus around here, because I'm gonna need it bad...

Happy biking.
Luis Rodrigues

[tflaim]

Nice bike, and good luck with the project.

[luisr320]

As the engine temperature was always almost on the redline, I started by disassembling the thermostat to check if it was working properly.

Opening the thermostat case revealed that it was always opened, even at room temperature. So a new one was ordered, as well as a new o-ring for the case. But The overheating problem couldn't be from here. An open thermostat will not be a big problem. At the very least it would take more time to get the engine to the normal running temp.

So I decided to drain all the water from the refrigeration system. The manual says that after I get the draining screw loose from the water pump, the water starts pouring out. But nothing happened. The pump was filled with some goo and only after pressurizing the tubes with air the water started to flow out. I'm not sure yet this was the problem, but as soon as I get the water pump out I'll open it and check the inside.
The radiator was also disassembled and flushed with caustic soda.
It was all rusty on the outside. A trip to the local powder coating shop was enough to understand that it would not be possible to powder coat it, for several reasons: the honeycomb would be filled with powder and the heat in the oven would melt the welding.
Out came the old wire brush and after an hour or so it was ready for painting. I used a Motip High Temp paint. Though its overkill for the temperature range in the radiator, its a nice paint to apply on any heating surface. Heat cures the paint and makes it stronger to chafing.

Here are a couple of photos from the radiator:





These are the before photos.
Later I'll post the after photos.

Happy biking.
Luis Rodrigues

[luisr320]

Originally Posted by tflaim

Nice bike, and good luck with the project.

Thank you.

[luisr320]

Almost at the engine removal phase.
Got stuck at the swing arm removal. The manual refers to a special tool to remove the nut locker. Found it at Hondaparts.com, so that will have to wait until the end of the month to come off.

Now I have my first real problem and need some advise from the Gurus.
After removing the air box from the top of the carburators, I noticed that the rubber peaces that connect the box to the carburetors are getting loose.
There is a black goo that looks like some sort of glue that is sticky and the rubber peaces are coming loose. As the engine was producing a lot of heat, I suspect that the bonding material has fried and it's not working anymore.
Here are a couple of pics from the box.







Any ideas on how to glue these parts again?

Thank you.

Happy biking.
Luis Rodrigues

[luisr320]

Here's a photo of the faulty thermostat.
One can clearly see an open gap on the valve.

[luisr320]

As I mentioned previously, I ordered Honda special wrench part number 07-08-ME90000 trough hondapartsnow.com, as they were selling it for $36.83 USD plus shipping. After a couple of days I received an email stating that my order was voided because I used an international credit card(!!!).

A little bit of search on the forum and I found a post from someone who used a standard socket wrench and made some cuts in it to make his own.
So I took some measures and went out to buy a cheap 27mm socket to make my own. Here is a photo of the socket before changing it:



And this is what I ended with:



Here is the socket inserted in the lock nut:



This is the lock nut that the tool removes:



That allowed me to remove the swing arm, which will go to the powder coating soon:



And this is the original tool:



The hole in the arm is to connect a torque wrench when the time to tighten it arrives. By using my home-made tool, I have to give it a different torque then the one specified on the manual. Not sure how much, tough...

Happy biking...

[luisr320]

With the swing arm out I got access to the water tank.



It was a bit dirty:



But after some cleaning, it's good as new (not really, but close enough):



Happy biking.

[luisr320]

Remember the airbox? The rubber pieces were getting loose after pulling the box from the carburetors.
Asked the Gurus for help but I guess I was just asking for a fishing rod and they, with their silence, taught me how to fish.
Thank you.

After some digging on the net I found a Loctite product specially designed to glue plastic and rubber.
And it worked like a charm. Not shure how the glue will handle the heat tough. Time will tell.



Then I used a black colored synthetic heat resistant joint to finish the job:



And here is the final product after some cleaning:

[tubes_rock]

Lookin' good! Are you sure that's an '86? it looks more like a 1984-1985 to me. The 1986-1987 (VT700 in the US, but VT750 everywhere else) didn't have a blacked-out engine and didn't have that carb snorkel that you repaired. A lot of other parts are in different locations than they are in the photos you've posted...

--Justin