Honda CX500 springtime repairs

Posted on April 4, 2017 by isights

It’s time to get the Honda on the road to test it’s systems and enjoy the Spring weather. I’ve gotten new Michelins installed at a local shop. The shop couldn’t balance the front wheel because the wheel bearings were stiff. Fortunately, they are both easily available and cheap. Seals were included for a cost of $11 per axle.

There’s an O Ring at the rear drive flange to keep dirt from getting into the flange grease. It was broken. I’ve ordered new O Rings and they are on the way. The flange itself was somewhat worn and that’s a concern as all power is transferred through it and they are no longer available from Honda. I did manage to find an excellent used one in Germany for $108, shipped to Texas. I will have to make a list of spares to collect before they become unavailable.

I’ve gotten several inquiries about my New Old Stock CX500 engine. Nope, it’s not for sale, yet. Plans change and there are several projects ahead of the three wheeler build so it’s hard to say I’ll never sell it, but not yet.

Back in gear

Posted on July 7, 2014 by isights

I’ve been a bit busy with work and some house related chores so the build progress has been minimal. I’ve decided to have the steering rack shortened by a shop that does such work and is familiar with the process. That will mean shipping the rack to and from the mainland once I pick the appropriate machine shop.
As of yet, I haven’t found that vendor.
A lot of the build decisions hinges on the placement of the motor, and that will be determined by the placement of the steering rack, so this is a critical step. Once I have it shortened, I’ll be able to create the mount points to attach it to the frame.
Other parts have been trickling in, such as LED tailights from Speedway Motors.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/1937-Ford-LED-Tail-Light-Assembly,25334.html

I’m a long way from needing those, but it’s good to get parts once I’ve decided on what I need. Speedway has a huge amount of parts, mostly for racing and American street rods, but there are some useful things for me there as well.

The build progress should pick up a bit as the summer progresses, I have a nicely running Miata to get me to work and I think the Volvo’s issues are resolved. Once the clutch is replaced in the other convertible, all will be good, leaving more build time.

New (Old Stock) Metal

Posted on September 10, 2013 by isights

I’ve gotten the New Old Stock engine shipped from St. Louis and it’s in the garage now. It’s a beauty, showing just now nice these were when new. I hand thought it was shipped empty and dry, but it has both oil and antifreeze. Fortunately there was no active leaks, but there are signs that there was some small leakage from the top radiator hose over time.

The truck frame was greasy from years of use and after several passes with the pressure washer and wire brushes, I’ve gotten it clean enough to paint. I power washed the inside of the frame tubes as well and have sprayed some “rust death” primer down them. It’s not going to be enough to give it a good coat, so I’ll have to pour some down each tube as well.

I’ve noticed some surface rust showing on the steel tubes I purchased, so I’ll have to get them painted pretty soon. I’ll dip them in a weldable primer to protect them and still allow ease of welding.

I’m not sure what the check list that came with the says, but the check marks make it look like all is good.

While I was painting the frame, I misjudged the length and dropped it on the my second toe. Fortunately it didn’t break anything but it did bruise it and I’ll probably loose the toe nail. I’ll have to be more careful in the future.

Some progress

Posted on August 4, 2013 by isights

I’ve had some progress since the last post. I purchased steel for the frame and had it sent over from Honolulu. It was twice the cost of purchasing the steel on the mainland but half the cost of the local provider.

Harbor Freight had a small Argon bottle for my MIG welder so I’ve purchased that. Unfortunately, when it arrived, I was told by the local welding gas supplier that they wouldn’t exchange it for a full bottle since it didn’t have a Argon sticker on it. Fabulous. I’ll have to purchase a new one, at local prices at that.

I’ll use the MIG welder to make an English Wheel for practice and to give me another way to make the fenders and radiator cover. Harbor Freight supplied the lower anvils and a Ford bearing will become the upper bearing. A wrecked Honda CBR600 will donate it’s rear fork for the English Wheel frame. It won’t be a very big English Wheel, but it will work for my needs.

I’ve found a New Old Stock Honda engine on Ebay. Its a CX500, smaller than the CX650 engine I have, but I wanted to have a spare engine on hand since they are not easy to come by here. It’s due in by ship, at a significant cost later this week. I’ll keep it as a spare, since the CX650 engine is 30% larger. Maybe it will be the seed for a second build if my first, $25 engine runs like a champ.

Now I’m prepping the donor Datsun 620 frame for primer and a rebuild of the front end. I have a lot of brake issue to deal with. Drums or discs?

An order of steel has arrived from Honolulu.

New Old Stock Honda CX500 Engine

Electric Avenue

Posted on May 8, 2013 by isights

I’ve picked up a pair of electric scooters for free. I’m not quite sure how I’ll use them, but they have motors, drive belts and wheels. I should be able to get some sort of reverse gear out of the parts. One scooter has a fried controller and a motor that got wet, but the other scooter is in much better shape.

I’ve been thinking of gearing arrangement with the drive shaft to get a reverse gear, but am thinking that it might work to have a supplemental wheel that is lowered to the ground just for reversing. A separate system would be easier to execute, but will take up space and add weight, and the scooter wheel might not have the grip to move the car except on the flattest of terrain.

I’ve been wanting to experiment with electric vehicles for a while, and getting these for free will let me have some hands on experience for little money. They need batteries, and perhaps a new controller board, but those are easy. The other drawback is that electric power here is 38 cents a Kw hour, one of the highest in the nation. That works out to the equivalent of paying $3.80 for gas so electric vehicles don’t save you much money here.