Tag Archives: garage build

Quarantine – How I deal with the Lonesome Blues

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
07 Apr

Well, we are entering a new World right now, times are hard and quite scary to be honest, most of us have been Quarantined and have to stay at home, in Isolation from the world, but keeping safe, Healthy and away from that nasty Virus.

But, I am getting many orders for parts this month as so many people are at home and have decided to pull up their sleeves and got into their Garage, Shed or Cave etc and start or finish off their project they had started a while ago and ran out of time to complete.  And now we only seem to have time on your hands, you may as well tick some of those jobs to do off the list and make this time in isolation a rewarding one.

I just received an order for a drilled rear brake hub assembly, I have made quite a few for Customers over the years and to be honest, I find it quite therapeutic doing the drilling on the hub and thought I would share some of my experiences with you lot and maybe you will want to have a go your self??????????

I’m about to go out to get a few parts as I had orders today, wont see anyone but I have to go to storage and grab some stuff so will be back in a tick.

Right, I am now ready to get myself situated to get some drilling done on a hub that a Customer has ordered from me and you too can do this if you have some time, a drill and some patience, as it really pays off in the and and gives a unique Custom look on your machine. So, have a look here, I have three hubs to create for Customers and I will show you what I do ok?

Strip your old hub down, just have to remove the 2 springs that hold brake shoes and the split pins that hold the swivel, remove brake actuator and arm and you will be left with a bare plate, once you have completed that task, which only really needs a pair of long nosed pliers, you will then need to secure the hub onto something sturdy, so the plate doesn’t move when you start to drill your lightning holes. I always use a piece of old plywood and secure the plate on top it by using a washer and a wood screw, easy as that.

I use an array of drill bits and to be honest, I just go for it, no set pattern, what ever I think looks good I just drill and change bits as and when I see fit, that way, not one hub is ever drilled the same.

I always have a shop vac at hand, as you are going to get a lot of swarf from the Aluminum and it gets everywhere to be honest, so every now and again, I vacuum the mess it leaves, else you will be feet deep in alloy shavings.

So here you go, this is the pattern that I like the look of and I can still add or make a few holes bigger to give a different pattern.

Looks a lot different when its polished eh? Also, I add New brake shoes and actuator arms etc to make this really look like a Custom piece and so easy to fit too.

So as I have plenty of home time, I thought I would show you how I make these great pieces out of old tired brake hubs for the CB500-CB550 and CB750 Honda’s.

I am sure that you may want to have a go and see how you fare? Its such a great feeling when you bolt it all back together and its therapeutic for me thats for certain.

See, the Patterns are always different, that way, each one is unique to any other out there, its a neat old school look and cools the brake too as it aerates as you ride.

A trifecta of hubs I am doing and this does take some time to complete , but I really like doing these and they come out looking very cool indeed, as you can see below.

So, once all together you can fit right away to your wheel, or, if you are building a Custom rim, just plop in into the hub, it sure dresses that part up so well.

I have built so many that I have lost count over these last 20 years but always fun to create and I still get orders for the custom hubs all the time and glad that you lot like what I do.

Thank you for reading my little Blog today, I have fun writing these and its always cool hearing from you all to see and hear what you lot are creating in your sheds or garages etc.

Drop me a line if I can help you at all, even if its just for advice, my Number is 714-598-8392, you can also TEXT me on that as well for a faster response.

Stay safe everyone and we shall all get through this and be back on the tarmac having fun with our creations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Built a set of Custom forks for a Customer, thought I would share.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
23 Mar

Many people have sent me their forks over the years to rebuild, polish or just hop up a bit as they get tired after 40 years of taking punishment from all road surfaces over time.

As the photo shows above, this is the old set that I am going to be working with, I strip these down, clean up and then what I do is machine some cool looking ribs into the stanchions to have that Custom look and then magnaflux it to make sure all is ok.  Once that is done I polish the lowers and then get brand new fork tubes made for the uppers.

I like to use as much Genuine HONDA parts as I possibly can and these will look so clean when everything is put back together and then you fit to your inline four machine.

As you may be able to see, I have New Hard Chromes fork tubes fitted and I have just put the OEM Honda Fork seal in place, here is the trick that I use to fit these seals, also- Remember, make sure the lettering faces upwards not down.

I use a piece of UPVC tubing that I bought from Home depot for about $2.00, this slides down the tubing and sits snug on the seal, but it fits inside the aluminum stanchion perfectly.

I simply tap the Plastic tubing with a Rubber Mallet until the seal bottoms out on the shoulder and there you go, no press needed and no damage at all, I have been doing this method for over 20 years now and never ever have I had a fork that has leaked by using this tubing.

I use some Harbor Freight Circlip pliers to snap the Original 2 hole clip back into the recess inside the fork leg, you will feel it seat when you let the pressure off the pliers.

I use as much genuine Factory parts where ever possible, and in this case I use New old stock Dampner Bolt and Copper crush washer, just to make sure all is new and fits as it is supposed to.

I use genuine Honda Dust caps to make sure all the crap stays away from the forks, then- Just to add some super cool Custom finishing, I like the way these complete that Custom styling on the front end.

See what I mean? Its a nice Custom finished look that really does not cost a lot of money and it is chrome, no plastic crap.

I have always used ATF for forks, the old Pro Racers mechanics used it and I still do today, I also used stainless washers on top of the springs to set the pre-load.

That’s is how much I pour into rebuilt forks and people ask me “How do you know how much to pour in”?

This is one of my Bibles that I use on things like fluids, point gap, timing and the like, always served me well.

I also make sure that ALL the threaded holes are chased through with a tap, this makes sure that the refit goes smoothly and you dont scratch the lovely polishing I have done.

I make sure that I hand polish the lower clamps and use stainless nuts and lock washers, this set up is really a thing of beauty and I am so stoked when I complete a set for a customer, a lot of work and time, but boy is it worth it and changes the look of the front end.

A great looking set of Lowers that will turn heads where ever you go, not a five minute job and not made in China either, all done from right here in California.

These are now ready to ship out to the Customer, so he can easily fit them in to his triple tree’s.

Just take a look at them, what a cool set up these are and all New hardware, Hope that you enjoyed this blog about that what I do with the good old inline fours.

Let me know if I can help you with your Honda, I have been doing it here in California for 20 years and never tire of it, it is a passion of mine that I hope shows in my work?

Thanks for taking your time to read my Blog and hope it may of inspired you to work on your machine?