Je Suis Le Loup
I picked up a cheap endoscope on Amazon and used it to delve into the Honda CB 500’s gas tank. The scope worked great, however, unfortunately it revealed remnant lining hidden on the top of the tank. I guess I did not let it soak upside down in the acetone for long enough. I plan to let it sit for a week this time. Hopefully that will get the job done. Otherwise we will need to look at building a scrubber robot to drop into the tank. Maybe some sort of Dremel drone.
Darrow helped me dump out the evaporust, rinse the tank with water and 91% isopropyl alcohol, then coat it with a layer of Marvel Mystery Oil to keep it from re-rusting. We then removed the old petcock and finished cleaning out the petcock holes with a Q-tip. A little more finishing sanding and we should be ready for the clear coat.
New carbs for the 1972 CB500 arrived today. Given the notorious difficulty of properly jetting and turning factory carbs to aftermarket air pods (as opposed to the factory airbox), I opted to purchase new carbs from Murray’s, a family owned business in North Carolina. Now I need to finish the gas tank so I can put everything together.
After completing my side quest to refurbish the typewriter I am back to working on the motorcycle. In re-examining the gas tank I noticed that there were remnants of the polymer lining around the fill hole. So I made the trip to Blick, had an interesting conversation with the clerk regarding pinstriping paint brushes and returned with a bottle of acetone. I put it in the tank with a length of chain and a hand full of bolts and let it soak for 2 days while shaking and rotating. Today I drained the acetone, rinsed it out with the hose and then filled it back up with evaporust.
The plan is to let it soak for the next couple of weeks while I replace the throttle, right control, throttle cable and carburetors.
While the evaporust started to do its job, I wet sanded the damaged clear coat and started to prep it for either a new clear coat or a ceramic coat. Need to do a little more research to determine the best alternative.
Step one of getting the 1972 CB 500 back on the road was removal of the failed Caldwell tank liner installed by the previous owner. I started by rinsing it out with dawn dish detergent, then moved to Simple Green HD Pro. A lot of really large flakes came out but I could see that I needed something a little more powerful. I filled the tank with acetone then added some bolts and a 3 foot length of chain as an agitator. Every couple of hours I would shake the tank then shift its position so that the acetone soaked the entire tank. After 18 hours I rinsed the tank with the hose and huge chunks of liner came floating out. I then finished the clean out by modifying my shop vac with a smaller hose. I do not have an inspection camera but wanted to make sure all the liner was out before I started with Step 2 rust removal. I called Atlanta Motorcycle Works in Woodstock and they were kind enough to put the tank on a bench and scope it for me. Good to go. Next step is soaking in Evaporust.
Looks like I am going to be able to avoid installing a new ignition on the 72 CB 500. Luke, the guy who sold me the bike found the key while he was moving and sent it to me (thanks Luke!). I have just the key chain to go with it. Resurrection of Brother Moto – at least in spirit.
I picked up a non-running 1972 Honda CB500 (K1) from one of the other members of the now defunct motorcycle tool collective Brother Moto. Overall it looks pretty good but definitely will need some work to get it up and running – which was the intent. I wanted a project that Darrow and I could work on over the summer to introduce him to turning wrenches.
So here is the plan: (1) pull gas tank and give it the vinegar/chain/screws spa treatment to knock out the corrosion (which looks bad), if it is too bad to salvage get a new tank on ebay or retromoto; (2) while the tank is off, replace the ignition switch (previous owner lost the key); (3) replace the dead lithium battery with an AGM battery; (4) replace the carbs wholesale with pre-synced and jetted carbs from Murray’s and adjust the throttle cable; (5) replace the handlebar switches; (6) replace the back brake (the arm is currently bent) – stopping is important; (7) replace seat upholstery; and (8) replace grips. Then we can figure out what else needs to be done.
