1964 Honda Dream CA78 Rebuild-storation

[G-Man]

Bob, absolutely have fun!

Now, I know everyone wants to know where I got the 21 ft/lb figure. NOT from the book, which I've read - and yes, it's what 48 says it is. Ed told me he always torques the heads he works on to 21 ft/lbs. As you can imagine, being inexperienced and a girl to boot, I went with his figure.

Here's hoping your retorque works, Bob! Hey, half the fun of these bikes is trying to decide "what's gonna go wrong next?"

;)

Exactly....... Stretch those bolts, girl.......

G

[Bob750]

Alright.

I'm heading out there, RIGHT NOW, with my calibrated, 24-inch breaker bar and MAKE that leak stop!

;-)

[tamb]

Alright.

I'm heading out there, RIGHT NOW, with my calibrated, 24-inch breaker bar and MAKE that leak stop!

;-)

He did not use a breaker bar...

Hi all - I'm the registered owner of that fine machine (aka, "Wife"), and we just got back from my first ride in a year. It was glorious! Thanks to everyone who gave input and inspiration, and just so you all know, Bob is phenomenal!!!

[G-Man]

Excellent!

That's a pretty lovely looking machine, beautifully restored. Don't slip on any pools of oil........ :-)


G

[Bob750]

The bike runs great and shifts nicely! I'm just waiting on a few parts to fix the bottom end oil seepage.

Strangely, having been on two short rides, the head gasket oil leak has reduced itself to nearly nothing! Does that happen? Yes, there is still oil in the engine! ;-)

Cheers!

[G-Man]

Bob

Thermal cycling will help things settle down, providing you don't blow the head gasket. As the engine heats up the clamping force in the studs goes up (aluminium expands more than steel with heat) and that will compress the gaskets a little more so you need to just tweak each head nut after the engine has cooled following the run to take up any settlement.

One of my CL77 engines had run for some time with no seals at all on the front studs. Any leakage appeared to be going into the combustion chambers because each piston crown had a thick oily carbon deposit. At least that's less messy..... sort of.....

It seems like your better half is well-pleased. That has to be a result! :-)

G

[48lesco]

Hey Congrats on the happy owner! What did you tighten the studs to? If you didn't touch them and the leak just went away on its own, there could be other forces at work... The OEM head gasket material doesn't seem to swell much with hot oil, but the one you used might; maybe it wasn't so bad after all. You could take a couple of valve caps off to make sure it's still wet up there.