early 80's style cb1100f signal conversion...hard?

That does look good. Nice work.
 
misterprofessionality_imp said:
Hot dog, progress!

First, I've got a spare headlight/signal stay and cut off the original signal post. Then, made a new bracket from scratch modeled on the shape and design of the original '82 signal bracket. All it took was me some aluminum, a hacksaw, dremel, and a torch!

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After that I got together a couple of appropriately sized bolts, and slipped on the reproduction '82 signals and voila! I still have to paint over the rough hewn edges with rust guard and matte black paint, but it's looking really promising. Next step will be to see if my local shop can give me a quote for swapping out the stays.


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This way I can get my period-correct signals without damaging any of my original parts.
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You won't have any rust issues on aluminium.

Just painting should be enough.
 
Thread starter
jtopsio:

that's true, but the signal stay is made of steel, and I cut that right off at the base with a hacksaw, leaving a rough exposed steel edge. also the bolt through the back and the washer are stainless, and while they probably won't oxidize, i don't want the silver to show.
 
Thread starter
It's done! I had the modified signal stay mounted this weekend at a shop, meanwhile I cut and brazed the aluminum brackets for the rear signals. when I got the bike back, everything was assembled and connected using the custom wire harness adapters I made a while back. Voila!! So that's a project complete. I'm juggling a couple of different ideas in my head for the next change I can make to bring the bike closer to the look of an '82 CB750F. Some items on the list are Exhaust (which i'm doing next spring/summer), side covers (not sure how to do this yet), and a period-correct paint job (ouch expensive). any other suggestions?



front



rear



side

I also gave the bike a proper spit shine and header polish, so I took a pic for Peterbaron, who was questioning whether or not you could bring the discolored steel headers of a well ridden CB back to a factory polish. Here you'll see one header treated with Optiglanz and Mothers, and the one next to it only cleaned with traditional cleaners. it makes a world of difference, even after thousands of miles.

 
Congratulations, misterprofessionality, for both the result and the perseverance that’s got you there. The bike looks great.

What were the mirrors like on the ‘82 CB750F? Rectangular, perhaps. You might want to try them? The CB500F black ones fit, I think.
 
Thread starter
you know, i thought so too! but it looks like the rectangular mirrors didn't show up until 1983. some images of a completely stock /82 cb750 i found:



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they look almost exactly like our stock mirrors. i chose this year instead of the '83 because i liked the signals a little better than the '83 version. not having to change my mirrors is just a happy accident!
 
misterprofessionality_imp said:
It's done! I had the modified signal stay mounted this weekend at a shop, meanwhile I cut and brazed the aluminum brackets for the rear signals. when I got the bike back, everything was assembled and connected using the custom wire harness adapters I made a while back. Voila!! So that's a project complete. I'm juggling a couple of different ideas in my head for the next change I can make to bring the bike closer to the look of an '82 CB750F. Some items on the list are Exhaust (which i'm doing next spring/summer), side covers (not sure how to do this yet), and a period-correct paint job (ouch expensive). any other suggestions?



front



rear



side

I also gave the bike a proper spit shine and header polish, so I took a pic for Peterbaron, who was questioning whether or not you could bring the discolored steel headers of a well ridden CB back to a factory polish. Here you'll see one header treated with Optiglanz and Mothers, and the one next to it only cleaned with traditional cleaners. it makes a world of difference, even after thousands of miles.
Click to expand...
Looks good. Curious - How much muscle sweat did you have to exert?
 
Thread starter
for the pipes or for the signals? honestly the pipes are easy when you get used to it. scotchbrite pads and mothers. the hardest work was sawing all the aluminum for the brackets. i did a lot of drilling, cutting, and shaping on a little home-made workbench, but i don't have a saw, so all the cuts were done by hacksaw. that'll really burn you out.
 
Pipes: how much did the Optiglanz help?

Mirrors: Good the originals were round. One saving. Tick.
 
Thread starter
Cormanus_imp said:
Pipes: how much did the Optiglanz help?

Mirrors: Good the originals were round. One saving. Tick.
Click to expand...
Basically, the the original uncleaned pipes were brown, with dark black splotches up near the top of the headers. you've all seen this, I don't need to post pictures. All our headers end up like that. When you apply the optiglanz (just spray on to cover completely, and let it run off for a couple of minutes, then flush with clean water until completely rinsed) in basically washes away all the dark brown discoloration, returning the pipes to a "silver" color, but it doesn't do anything to the dark splotches, and it doesn not return the pipes original shine. That's where the Mothers comes in.

If you use mothers or other steel polish without the optiglanz, it just doesn't get that factory silver-steel finish in the end, and if you just use a product like optiglanz, you don't get rid of the splotches. it really does work best if you use both.
 
I think a paint job alone would get you the image you are looking for. Might have to remove the gaiters.
 
I recall from a prior thread that when applying OptiGlanz to your pipes, you need to mask-off the engine and all painted surfaces. Was that your experience? If so, any suggestions?
 
Thread starter
Ferret: i think you're right. the paint job puts it over the edge, but i can't help but feel like without the appropriate side covers, the paint job just looks funny. I was thinking of using a pair of the 2014 DLX covers, since they're more square on the bottom, but i'm not yet sure that will press all the right buttons. besides, the paint job will cost a pretty pretty penny, so i've got a long way before I need to be worried about it. As for the Gaiters, the bike was never going to be a "perfect" representation. even my new signals are slightly wrong, in that the front signals are *supposed* to be mounted on the forks, not on the headlight stay. i'm not going to sweat little things like that. the way I see it, somebody could have put gaiters on a cb750 in 1982. I like that it helps black out more of the excess chrome too. Nemo's bike can be credited for inspiration on that.

edit: speaking of that, a sportier black front fender should probably go on my list.

Suhawk: Optiglanz is REALLY volatile stuff, no doubt about it. anything that you can spray on steel and watch the color run off like water is seriously hazardous. at first i was masking off and covering the engine behind the pipes, but after a couple of applications I realized that I wasn't really getting any Optiglanz on the cardobard as long as I didn't spray full blast all willy-nilly. i usually apply careful little squirts up and down the pipes so as not to waste the optiglanz, and this has the added benefit of not getting excess spray on my engine parts/front fender. you don't have to worry about it when flushing with water. fresh water neutralizes the stuff instantly.
 
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