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Clean and Simple CBR600 Build

180K views 111 replies 1 participant last post by  Knifemaker87 
#1 ·
Hey yall,
i know it isnt an SV... but i hope you will forgive me.
discussion should go here:
http://forum.svrider.com/showthread.php?p=1991605#post1991605
Please tell me what you think

This thread is copied from another forum till i reach it's current condition, then i will be updating it.

As soon as i "finished" fixing my SV i was really hankering to work on something new, and do a bit more real customizing, so i picked this bike up for $660.

I am starting with a 93 cbr600 f2 in kind of pitiful condition. I had a bunch of stock parts to sell so that put some money into my pocket that came right back out to get new parts

Picked it up from another forum member for $660. here is what it looked like when i got it:






Here I have labeled and removed the wire harness:

Removed all the hardware:

Bought some new parts:

and gotten the bike ready to pull the carbs. and drop the engine:


i have a GSXR 750 seat in the mail now, as well as an integrated tail-light. going for something like this (minus the bellypan):
steel and carbon fiber subframe and bodywork. hopefully i have hide some of the wiring (and a smaller battery) in there


more to come
thanks
~Chris
 
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#2 ·
hey everybody!

got to my parents house at noon, and pulled the engine out:


so now i have a roller:


Then when i put the engine on the bench a bunch of coolant AND OIL came out of the water pump. i am hoping that is a gasket problem, but am afraid there might be some damage inside the engine


so then... i cut all this stuff off the frame.


Started on the subframe:


I have templates for the bottom section of the subframe, and will then start on the tail, but currently it looks like this:



well.. i am going to get to work on it again on monday, and should get the tail mocked up.
thanks!
~Chris
 
#3 ·
another update here...
so on memorial day i got over to my parents house after sending the wife off to work... People still eat on holidays... :nuts:
anyway... i got to work on the lower subframe.

I used some thin steel angle i picked up out of a dumpster somewhere to make the parts, and welded them together like this:


so i wont bore you with the pictures, but i welded those up, there were four of them, and the cutting grinding welding (and subsequent re-welding) took almost all day. However, i didnt know the angle was cadmium coated.. which is great for corrosion resistance, but not so great for welding...

anyway... when i was done, had to sets of these:


they were a pain in the butt to keep symmetrical and the angles right, but i finally got them where i wanted them, and welded them up:


cleaned up the weld and the parts with a scotch-brite belt on my grinder:


then they were ready for mounting, here one is on..


My wife gives me a hard time for "grinding" on my motorcycle.. when she found out that i was mounting its rear-end....:rock:

here they are both mostly welded up, semi symmetrical :oops: and ready for the tail. what do you think?


and a side view with the seat on:


Now, after i put the tail on, i am going to use carbon fiber honeycomb for the undertail, and i want to leave some room to hide the wiring, so i am planning that out now.

thanks!
~Chris
 
#4 ·
hey guys!
small update here; got some parts... expensive parts. i sold all mu stuff for these
Omnia Racing headlight $200
Koso digital gauge $175



Also, i started investigating the innards of the engine. I took off the Oil cooler cover (i think that is what it is) and found this:



After getting the very corroded bolts out, i got the oil cooler off.



is that much corrosion normal? what is supposed to go where? i was expecting to find oil inside of the cooler. help would be appreciated

and also.. as an aside.. here is what i am working on at work. i have to make 64 of these steel parts where the largest dimension is the diameter at 0.092 inches. the drill is for the hole going horizontally through the part... and it is only 0.075 inches long! the drill is just under 0.020 inches in dia. how many of those do you think i will break?




Rock on yall!
~Chris
 
#5 ·
Well.... i did some work!
I decided rather than going with a heavier gauge steel, i would build a tubular frame from teh tail and use 22 gauge steel (plus it is cheaper!) so.. i cut it to rough shape on the shear at work.
Here is a picture of just sheared, and finished product


I shaped one piece (per side) till i was happy with it, then i used it as a template for the other piece to get the right shape and speed up the grinding:


Lots and LOTS of checking with tape before welding:


I started with one side till i was happy with it, then copied the sheet metal for the opposite side. keeping it symmetrical was a constant battle:



once i was happy with it, i welded some support in there, and then tack welded it in:



Sorry there are no daylight pictures.. i will get those today.
My taillight fits in there nicely though:


The Koso too:


By then it was about 9:30pm.. too late to be doing noisy stuff, so i took off the water pump... ew! check out the oil/coolant mixture that leaked out on the table:

Ordered a much better condition pump today off ebay.

then.. at 10pm my parents "kicked me out" alas.
Another update later tonight...
thanks for looking!
~Knife
 
#6 ·
here is a profile shot during the day... okay two shots



now... that is not actually correct, as the top peice for the tail is wrong. So it will be similar.. but not the same.

small update here...

Got a good bit of work done, but it doesn't look like it. spent the evening yesterday welding the tail section up, grinding and sanding, as well as putting in some reinforcements. (then i didn't take a good picture of the cleaned up tail.. :confused:



Anyway.. then i tried to fit in the top section, but to no avail. the kicker is, i want the top to be removable, so i can access the electronics and battery i plan to stash in there, and i want it to be carbon fiber. so i screwed around with that.. and ended up discarding the first attempt. FAIL

Anyway... i cut out a new cardboard part and will cut it out today. then i got on my hands and knees and started working on the side panels, which also have to be removable so i can get my seat off, and run the wire harness. yay. anyway... here is what i came up with:




now.. those parts will be transferred to steel stock:


i will shear those out, grind then bend and fit. once i have them tacked in place, i will figure out how to bolt them on. once that is accomplished i will remove them, clean them up and set them aside as they will be replicated in carbon fiber eventually.

and then i got off my hands and knees... ate a home-made cookie (who said there wern't benefits to working and mom's house?) and went home.

more friday!
thanks
~Chris
 
#7 ·
I do have an update... small in size as i had a small hiccup... when i made the templates for the side-covers and the tail, i didnt have the seat in the proper position, so my templates were off. so the first order of business was the secure the seat.

Then, before i could work on the tail cap, i needed to finalize the "front" part of the tail, so, i did got that welded up: (and you can see part of the seat securing)



Now, i am having trouble fitting the cap as it has to both be removable, symmetrical and leave enough room to fit the tail-light.. this is the idea.. but just not good enough. i will weld in the tail-light first, then fit the tail.


then i started work on the side covers:


the problem is... these have to be removable too, and secure.


I also got the Jardine can in the mail. got this Titanium can for $40 on ebay... gonna try and mount it under the engine by shortening the can and the header.


anyway, i should have another update after working tonight
i want to get the side covers and tail on.

thanks for looking!
~Chris
 
#8 ·
i did get some work done yesterday. i got the tail section close to finished, and the tail-ight mounted. there will be some bondo work to make everything smooth, but i am reticent to start that till ALL the welding is complete.

preliminary fitting:


Cut to size:


back welded on and tail-light in




Side-panel work in progress


Once i get those fit, i still have to fill this hole:


hopefully i will get those at least tack welded together today and mounting tabs put on.
 
#9 ·
well, didnt have much time to work, but i did get the side covers at least put together.

All the fitting was done, so all i had to do was tack weld them, pull them off and finish welding the seam, then cover up my bad welding by grinding everything flat:


here is a rough fit.. after grinding... still needs alot of fine tuning:


profile:


put some primer on there to keep it from rusting till i can fine tune them up:


wanna see some ugly welding? bondo coming soon!


i am still trying to figure out how i am going to secure both the side-panels and the tail... ideas would be helpful.
thanks!
~Chris
 
#10 ·
small progress report here...

i figured out how to mount the side panels and probably the tail as well.

I picked up some of these from the hardware store. stainless steel bolts!


so i drilled a hole though both the panel and the frame, widened the hole for the insert, and ground a recess so after welding it would be flush:


and after it was welded and ground (kept a sacrificial screw in it to keep crap out of the threads)


the other mounting point was easier, as it was just a tab welded to the frame with once of those nuts welded on the back. and here you have the mounted panel.


it still needs to be fine tuned before it gets copied in CF, but we are getting closer

I also made a template for the undertail


it will be mounted by a couple tabs as well, and will be the easiest part to make in CF (and most likely the first too)

more to come on Saturday
thanks!
~Chris
 
#11 ·
the last week has been really busy for me, and the work that i have gotten done ha been relatively unnoticeable. I have tweaked alot of the stuff i had already done, primarily the side panels and the tail, but also the undertail and i filled that "hole" in the side of the tail.

I only have a little bit more welding before i can do the finer grinding and bondo work.


fitting alot closer...


the metal is there.. and the bondo will help with some of the "blending"



I am considering making the tail carbon fiber as well... and just using the steel as a mold then cutting it off except for "tabs"

what do you think?
thanks
~Chris
 
#12 ·
whats up yall?
got a little bit of "tweaking" done last night. that's really all i have been doing for a while... but since i am a pic whore i thought that i would just post some pictures and pretend i have been doing work!
here is the tail cap welded on:


the biggest obstacle right now is getting everything to fit correctly without "forcing" it, because if i am going to make CF parts from them i want them to be correct and go together without warping.

I also got the undertail in and the taillight realigned



then i pushed it up to the road and snapped a picture. i think it will look less like a bicycle with the engine in there... or i am hoping it does :nuts:


anyway... i am leaning towards using the steel body work to make a CF tail to save on weight as well as to eliminate my ugly welding as much as possible. the CF will be mostly painted and i am thinking a White/CF/teal theme sort of like a wasp...


thanks for looking!
~Chris
 
#13 ·
hey yall...
havent said anything in a while. havent had a whole lot of time with the bike, and when i have it has been the boring non picture worth stuff. I think that all of the welding is done on the tail, so i stripped off all the paint and am going to apply bondo today or tommorow. after that it will be mostly composite work. here are pictures of how it sits with the bare metal:






thanks for looking.. more interesting stuff to come!
~Chris
 
#14 ·
I have done some work.. not much, i had to switch out the key-set on my wife's jetta this week and the ignition was a PITA. but now her locks work, and i got to D some H

Got to play around with some bondo...


these will be completely replicated in CF. i haven't decided for sure on the tail.


thanks for looking. engine overhaul coming soon to a garage near you!
~Chris
 
#15 · (Edited)
okay guys... change of plans here. i really didnt like how the cap fit together and if i made the tail CF it was going to have to bolt on.. and screw up "clean" look... so then i thought.. why not make the whole thing removable like a race bike? so... all the time i screwed around with getting it to bolt to those fasteners... wasted. :mad:

alas and alack...

so i will try and make a two peice mold for the tail.
so i bondoed everything smooth:



I have some carbon fiber tubing that i was thinking about using as a trellis support underneath, but we will see how that works out.

now it has paint on it. i love red primer... sanding and getting ready to pull some molds.


more after today
thanks
~Chris
 
#16 ·
quick update here... i know.. boring boring... when am i actually gonna do the fun stuff?

soon...

got the new water pump in; old vs "new"


and also stripped the tank... and found BONDO! yay more damage! :shocker: they are really shallow dents, and hopefully i can just pop them out, but if anybody has a spare 600f2 tank laying around they want to ship my way, i'll take it! it never ends...



tail is ready for molding, as are the side covers. gonna hopefully do the tank next, then rebuild the engine. once it is rebuilt i will put it back in and fit the new radiator and radiator shrouds as well as the belly pan. that way i can do all the carbon wrapping and production at the same time, as well as do all the welding on the frame for the belly pan and shrouds.

Chris out
 
#17 ·
okay.... been off the grid for a while, but i was working some... i promise!

First off, i cleaned up the tank and fixed the dents:


Then, primer, then sanding, then bondo, then more sanding.. and so on Ad Infinium. and there is more to come, though i am less concerned with the tank since it is going to be wrapped.


look mom! no dents!


then, cause i needed them, i fabbed up some rear-set adapter plates. Prototype first to see if it clear everything:


yes it works, but needed to be tweaked a bit, then made in 5160 steel, with some lovely countersinking...


a little grinder work, and viola!


Now with the rearset:


and i pulled this off a 06 cbr600rr:


and some gratuitous glamor shots, cause thats how i roll yo!




I also got my fender in. gonna be working with a chrome 84 magna front fender. gonna mod it to fit and then duplicate it. i like the shape, and it is steel so it will be shortened and beautified


next; engine rebuild!
 
#18 ·
okay!

now that the current body work is done and ready for carbon fiber, i am going to rebuild the engine. that way i can mount it in the frame and do any welding necessary on the frame
(radiator and exhaust mounts at least) so that i can then paint the frame and engine.

Now, i will say this up front, i do not know what wear looks like, so if you see something that should be fixed or replaced PLEASE shout it out. i need you engine gurus to help me out here. thanks!

Here we go:

Valve cover removed, i didnt figure you needed a picture of the valve cover on....


Now, loosen the bold in reverse numerical order to allow the covers to de-compress evenly (dont worry... they are numbered)


i guess i should post pics of the cams to check for abnormal wear or damage...

valve followers numbered for removal:


valve followers and shims removed


head removed: look at the water where the head gasket was...



Blown head gasket...now, the $5 million question is... is the head warped?


Clutch cover removed... and why is there coolant in here?


it would appear that someone has been here before me... (and the put on the washer that says "outside" on one side... the wrong way around...) FAIL! new nut ordered...


is this stock?! i know one of the POs used this as a race bike...


removing the oil pan... EW! at least it isnt milky right? could all this have leaked through the head gasket? this seems like alot of "leakage"


oil cooler...


oil cooler GONE!


removing the gear shift mechanism


used a wire brush on the piston heads... cleaned up real nice!


stator cover removed:


Pile of parts on the bench...


I am kinda stuck cause i need a "honda service too" to remove the magneto as well as a funky torx, so i have to find something that works, or find a tool. any info on that? after that comes off i will be able to split the cases and double check that there isnt a hole the coolant is leaking out of, then everything will get cleaned and re-assembled with new gaskets and seals... i am gonna do a valve job for sure, but not till i get everything else back on.

anything else i should do while i have it open?

thanks for looking!
~Chris
 
#19 ·
i did some work.. and it didnt cost me a cent!

Some sand-blasted goodness!


oil cooler in some pine-sol


i used a file to get all these molding flaws that were hiding under the paint removed... have to re-blast...


Also... took apart my brakes... got a stripped bolt out... only to find out that the bleeder vavles were corroded in place. :(


So! i have a new set of front brakes in the mail to me ($12 shipped!) and a 02 yzf6 radiator in perfect condition (or so they say) for $20 now i just gotta sell the jetta.. make bank and order a bunch of overpriced OEM honda parts. that and i have most of the stuff to start on the tail molds... so i may do that too.

anyway.. cheers!
~Chris
 
#20 ·
you know what? i just realized i never posted the end of the engine tear down! i have the pictures hosted on photobucket but i never put them on here! i cant belive it!

well here they are:

I had to find this bolt to serve as my "special tool to pop the alternator rotor off:


Random picture of the wear (oir lack thereof) on the camshafts & bearings (is it bad?)


removed a gajillion bolts, and organized them very nicely in a piece of carboard to keep track of them, and then split the crankcases:


apart!


who knows how this got here...


crankshaft....


Pistons removed:


wear on one of the crankshaft bearings (is it good or bad?)


here be a mighty pile-o-parts! arrrrrr


anyway... sorry for not posting that... i did it prolly 2-3 weeks ago.

keepin you posted!
~Chris
 
#21 ·
Okay! update time.

So.. my truck threw a rod about two weeks ago... and blew a hole in the side of the engine. this is the result:



so i spent the next two weeks searching for a replacement. the plan was to buy a $500 car (which is what i could afford...) my parents said that they wanted to use some of the money they set aside for my college (which i never used as i got a full ride) to get me a new truck. (so they could use it too!) anyway.. so i found and purchased this:


So now with money in the bank and a car sale pending, i can get back to work.

here is the 01 R6 radiator that i got to replace the stock one:


I won some F2 front brake calipers on ebay for $0.99 + $12 shipping.. and when the box arrived it contained this:


Front brake calipers
rear brake caliper
Master cylinder
Clutch lever and cable
Left clip-on controls and choke cables
Right clip-on controls (no ignition)
Front sprocket cover

all in all worth the $12 :LolLolLolLol:

So, now i need to figure out which bearings to buy so that i can put the bike back together. Any help here would be appreciated.




So that is:

Crankshaft:
L 11111
L BBBB

Crankcase:
BABBB

And for the pistons:
1 B2
2 B2
3 B1
4 B1

Which bearings do i need? i am pretty sure i need:
rod bearings: 2 brown 2 green
cranshaft: 4 yellow 1 pink

can i get confirmation on that?



Then.. i did some cleaning. this was the area around thre sprocket.. very cruddy


More to come!
thanks
~Chris
 
#22 ·
Okay... got the engine parts ordered... so now i have to get the engine ready to re-assemble.

first i had to clean the case... which was a real pain. the skin is still missing on most of my knuckles. (sorry for the crappy cell-phone pic)


masked off:


primer:



Covers and accents get VHT gold... (the front of the oil cooler is the main engine color... i dont know if it will stay that way)


and the basic color scheme:


Also got the calipers cleaned, sand blasted, and painted. i did the Nissin emblems in black.. but didnt get a picture.


Also, i think i may have figured about a major source of oil/coolant contamination. This is one of the collars and 0-rings going between the oil cooler and main engine... replacements have been ordered.


well hopefully i will have more to show you soon. once the bearings come in i can start putting things back together.

thanks!
~Chris
 
#23 · (Edited)
hey yall!
been doing a little work...

first off, i am going to need to make a new header as i would like to have the Jardine can under the engine. for that purpose i got a 954 header for $9 on ebay. yeah $9 that was nice. anyway i am hoping to modify it to fir the F2 or use the beautiful curvy pipes to make a custom header.


i also got the 2" pipe 4-1 collector in the mail.

Then... i got bored. I cant actually do any work on the motor till i get the parts from CheapCycleParts (and it is taking forever) so i decided to use some of the war weather to do some composite work.

:thumbsup:

I got the tank dents all worked out and the sprayed it with primer. Some wet-sanding to get it smooth and then a gentle cleaning with soap and water. as with painting, in order to get a good end product you have to do your prep well.

So... #1 clean the surface you are going to bond to.

then.. #2 you cut your overlay material to size. this keeps you from wasting valuable time and material while your resin is mixed.
in this case i am using carbon


then, #3 you make sure that alllll your stuff is in order. that means brushes, gloves, solvent,
or anything else you spread that resin. (no pic.. sorry)

#4 Coat the entire surface FIRST. this allow you to get better adhesion as well as giving the cloth something to "stick" to. (keeps the pattern pretty too)
my hands were messy, so no pic of this stage. imagine a primer colored tank covered in resin

#5 lay the cloth down and smooth it evenly (symmetrically too if possibly) so that it stick to the surface. the resin i was using had a pot life of 12 minutes so i got my sister to help lay the resin. (this is why preparation is key)




#6 brush the rest of the resin on the smoothes cloth and continue to monitor how well it is adhering to the curves of the part. certain areas will want to pull away or bubble... just just brush it back down. the resin in the fabric will take longer to set up that in the mixing cup (due to the volume)
so here you go...



you are done.... sorta

you wil want to trim the excess off before it cures too long. You can cut it off with scissors with a low layer count and semi-hardened resin (prolly your best bet) then... put another layer of resin on. and it looks like this:



Now... if you want to make something not stick, you would do what i did for the undertail panel

#1 prep/clean... just make sure it is smooth and clean.. ( i have also added material extending past the edges to make sure i get all of the part that i want, no ragged edges.)

#2 Wax. i use car wax first, then after buffing that out, i use some bowling ally wax. works great. technically at this pint you could put resin on it and it would most likely not stick, but use some PVA (poly vinyl Alcohol) and that will make sure it doesnt stick.



#3 Cut you material.. this time you have to cut your layers. depending on how thick/heavy/flexible you want it.. cut out your layers. I used i thin layer of carbon one very heavy layer, three heavy fiberglass (for thickness and expense) and one more thin carbon fiber.

#4 Get ready.. materials layers "mold"



#5 Now, you want to mix the resin and again, apply the resin first to the "mold" then lay your first layer of glass or carbon. this is the most important as it is the one that you will see (usually.. ) then, smooth the cloth down spreading the resin through it evenly. repeat for each layer.

i didnt leave those glops of resin on there.. i promise.


again, i apologize for lack of pictures. messy hands. i have more stuff to do, more pictures to come.

#6 let it cure before attempting to remove it. i really wanted to try and take the part off as soon as it looked cure. DONT DO IT! until the resin has fully cure (overnight is usually good) even if you manage to remove the part successfully without destroying it, your part can warp or deform after removal.

save yourself some heartache go drink a beer find someone better looking than yourself to hit on, and come back later. (i'll have pictures of that part overnight =D)

Then, i came home to my hottie, and found out that my parts cam in! $275 worth of parts? looks kinda pathetic if you ask me.


anyway, till next time yall!
thanks for reading.
~Chris
 
#25 ·
finally got some pictures up!

I rebuilt the brakes...


The old vs. new oil cooler collars/o-rings


installed the undertail (it still need a bit of final trimming)


and sanded the tank.. hello lung failure


all down to 220 and i have almost all the low spots out.


And.... i had to put a bit of clear on there to see how it turned out. looking better! :rock:


well i am hoping to get some more done tommorow. i finally got some plasti-gauge, so i hope to start putting the engien back together, and i also am getting the tail ready for CF

more later!
~Chris
 
#26 ·
Oh.. and i have some engine rebuild pictures.

the first thing to go back in was the transmission. everything was cleaned up and gorgious.


then, because it is a pain to do it with the pistons installed, i checked all the connecting rod bearings with plastigauge to make sure that there was the proper oil clearance on the new bearings.

now.. the way to do that is this:
first... you figure out what size you need. then you buy it (i recommend using money for this, but... gold coins work as well)


Then you cut a section roughly the width of the crankshaft journal corresponding to the connecting rod, and lay it across it.


Then, install your connecting rod, and trying not to rotate it on the journal, torque the bolts down to the specified amount. For these it was 19 ft-lbs.


then carefully remove the connecting rod trying not to turn it. when you pull it off, you should see some smushed plastic; measure this with the gauge provided.


all my connecting rod bearings were right in the middle of spec, so i the proceeded to repeat the process with the crankshaft.


All the bearings were also in spec, so i proceeded to install the pistons.
here they are, all clean.


had to check the new rings for the proper end gap, which they all did


Installed the rings


Installed the pistons


Then, i removed the crankshaft and cleaned all the bearing surfaces very thoroughly and made sure not to touch them with my bare fingers (this is a no-no apparently) and then liberally applied Lucas assembly lube to the bearings and journals (it helps to eliminate dry starts) then bolted the connecting rods to the crankshaft and torqued the bolts down.


Now that the pistons were in it was time to put the crankcases back together. I applied Ultra Black (which is actually gray) gasket maker to the correct areas of the crankcases made sure everything lined up, and put that sucker together. I dont have any pictures of the sealant as i had to work quickly. I then bolted the case halves together in the specified order.

Here you have the cases back together, and with the alternator cover on for show


More to come! the hard part is done.
thanks for reading!
~Chris
 
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