The Red SL 350

I bought this 1971 Honda SL 350 from a guy in Lacey, WA who inherited from his Dad who bought it new. It lived in Spokane all its life, so was rust free and in need of engine work. it was also painted rattle-can black. So, I restored it.

Before:

1sl
Has a gearbox problem, bought it from the orignal owner in Lacey, WA.
Needs some work.
Everything is there except one side cover and the mirrors.
Has a CB750 horn installed
No dents in the tank, but it is rusty inside.
Very original
The CB 750 horn
I even got the key and clear title!
Missing side cover
Tool tube and cover is there, but no tools.
Correct handlebars
Rust in the fuel tank

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In work:

I disassemble the frame
The black paint is stripped off - along with the original factory silver
Both fenders are stripped of their black and Topaz Orange paint. The fenders are in excellent condition
After stripping
NOS tailight lens and toolkit from eBay
The frame is soda blasted to remove all remnants of old paint - it is rust-free
Soda blasting complete - ready for primer time
Primered
Silvered
Clear enamel over the Cloud Silver base paint
Looking better than it did before!
drain-plug-removed
pipe-wrench

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I begin a trial assembly of the engine - I want to see how it all goes together before I do it for real.
Hopefully doing this trial run will present any missteps before I install new gaskets and seals and apply any sealant.
Took a few minutes to figure out the shifter assembly
Getting there
Good thing I did this trial run, I found a starter gear with a broken tooth and I assembled the kick start pinion gear backwards.
New Barnett clutch going together.
Lotsa new parts, soon I\'ll be gluing the engine together for good.

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Installing the valve adjusters in preparation for installing the cam and timing the valve train
Stator line is lined up to the LT mark.
Installing the left cam bearing box.
The camshaft goes into the cam box - through the cam sprocket. I line up the L mark and adjust the sprocket so the horizontal line on the plastic face is paralell with the upper surface of the cam box.
The little advance mechanism locating pin on the cam is pointing straight up.
The first special cam sprocket bolt goes in.
I insert the cam chain tensioner assembly.
I rotate the engine around and put the second special bolt into the sprocket.
Ready for the gaskets and cover.
Done - just need to torque the head bolts.

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Engine going in with the original orange bodywork that will get painted red in Montana:

Sanding the head gasket faying surface with 1200 grit mounted on a hard plastic sanding tool.
New seals
Zeke bored to tears in the shop. He thinks being a shop dog is not fun anymore, wants to play - or chew a bone maybe.
Lots of new gaskets and seals. I have two gasket sets, one from Bore-Tech and one NOS Honda. Between the two sets and some additional seals I had to order, I have everything I need - except for the seal on the clutch actuator cavity.
New points going in.
Ready for the alternator cover.
I remove the connector on the alternator leads to put new heat shrink tubing on the wires.
New clear heat shrink on the stator leads.
This is the CB350 gasket that came with the Bore-Tech gasket set - not correct for the SL350 case.
This is the correct SL350 gasket for the right side cover, ordered seperately from the other two gasket sets.
Engine fully assembled, timed, adjusted and sealed up, ready to go in.
Hanging from the hoist
With lots of help from Renee and Zeke - we got it in with only minor damage to the frame paint.
Looks better than it used to!
Ready for electrical harness installation.

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Painting at Two Rivers Autobody in St. Ignatius, Montana:

Pat Cklarkin is married to my sister Kathy (aka Katwoman) and they own an auto body repair shop, Two Rivers Auto Body, in St. Ignatius, Montana. I go visit over the 4th of July holiday and they take the parts from my two SL 350\'s and paint them - first Pat fixes a dent in the fuel tank caused by handlebar impact.
Pat uses his stud gun to affix pulling studs to the dent in the tank
After pulling the dent out with the studs, Pat does some hammering to get it close to the correct shape
Some other small dents get the pulling stud treatment
Next, Pat roughs up the damaged area to prepare for filling the remaining low areas with lead
I hold the torch (and iPhone camera) while Pat does his magic with the lead
After filling in the repaired dents with lead, Pat sands it to the correct shape
Pat uses Evercoat fiberglass filler to get the final shape on the tank
Sanding with the DA
Looks pretty good
A coat of Evercoat Metal Glaze goes on for the final shaping and sanding
Pat and his son (my nephew) Josh Clarkin discuss which wash primer to use on the bare metal tank
Pat and Kat have a paint mixing room and spray booth for their auto body work - this is the computerized paint room featuring Sherwin-Williams automotive paint
The SLK 350 parts are hanging - awaiting their turn in the paint booth - first the Honda must be finished and pulled out.
Josh mixes up the primer using the computer controlled scale
Josh shoots the tank and side covers
Looks pretty damn nice!
Two sets of SL 350 parts primed and coated with a sanding reveal coat to show the high spots and dimples
I am put to work with 800 grit and a spray bottle and instructed to sand until the parts are perfectly flat and smooth - I thought I knew how to prep and paint - but little did I know. My sister and her family are professionals and my level of quality is not nearly high enough for their standards!
After much coaching and training, I was able to produce acceptable results with sandpaper, water and grey Scothbrite pads. This took many hours of work by Pat, Josh and me to get all of these parts prepped and sanded.

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After geting the surfaces flat with 1000, I went over it with 800 to give the clearcoat something to grip
Better than it ever was
Tank gets final coat of clear
Second coat of clear
Second coat of clear - not the Blue Bike in the background with orange fenders
Tank
Side covers
Tank with first coat of clear
First coat of clear
Checking decal position and alignment with the Honda logo
Decals going on - these are a pain
Looks better than it was
Before puting the decals on, I sanded the tank and side cover flat with 1000
Need some Shpongle - maybe Levitation Nation
Side covers came out great
The candy really looks nice in the sun, photos don\'t show it very well
Lots of minor details to sort
Eye candy
Red Bike!
Still need to wet sand and polish the clear

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and after:

I\'ve been riding the blue bike while reassembling the red bike
Red bike looks great, blue bike will be the weekend workhorse
I use the HondaTwins.Net method for adjusting the clutch
Zeke the 8 month old puppy closely inspects the torquing of the front fork bolts
Front tire for the red bike
New rear tire goes on the red bike
Truing the wheels is easy using the benchmate and a steel rule
A fine puzzle!
She\'s done!!
After doing this on all four wheels for both bikes, I\'m getting quite good at lacing spokes
Time to assemble the wheels after polishing the hubs and rims - using new spokes
Chrome parts for the red bike back from Show Quality Chrome in seattle
New parts everywhere
Going back together with all new rubber parts and lots of other new parts
I use the HondaTwins.Net trick of laying the engine down and installing the frame over the engine - much easier than trying to get the engine in the frame while it is upright on its wheels
After reinstalling the rubber ball, putting in the new cam tensioner wheels and replacing the kick start idler gear, I start to reassemble with all new gaskets
Twin Honda Twins!
New cam chain tensioner wheels from Japan
I found a replacement kick start idler gear for the red bike to replace the one with the chipped tooth
Polishing up nicely

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