CB350 Top-End Rebuild: Day 2

I have watched so many videos on CB350 rebuilds, joined a Honda forum, read the entire shop manual and took copious notes on everything that I knew I had enough information to rebuild my engine.  But even after doing all the research I was very nervous about putting the engine back together.  I was so afraid that I might forget do something wrong.

My typed notes and the honda shop manual for references.

If you read my Day 1 rebuild, I found out that I was missing a part and needed a new part while preparing my parts.  I was able to order the piston circlip from a local motorcycle shop.  I learned that the cam chain tensioner I needed was discontinued through Honda.  The shop that I went to informed me that there was no inventory in any motorcycle shop across the nation.  Luckily I found one on eBay through a reliable vendor.

It's recommended to change all four piston circlips during a rebuild especially because they are so cheap ($1.50/each)
but I was only able to get two.  My old ones were good enough to reuse.  I paid $100 for the cam chain tensioner on Ebay.  

I convinced my friend Jason to supervise my work.  He has been working on motorcycle engines since he was fourteen years old.  Good thing I did because there were a couple of things I may have missed and he gave me some great tips.

Jason showed me different strategies for removing a seized screw.
Here he is warming up the screw to expand and loosen it.

Again, I found that I was still missing pieces.  Somehow I misplaced the placement dowels that go around a couple of the rods below that keeps the head in place.  Plus, after removing the air filter we found that the circlip to keep that in place was broken.  

At least we were able to get the pistons in the cylinders.  This would have been challenging to do by myself.
It was nice to have extra hands to hold up the cylinder head while I clamped down on the piston rings
to try to get them to fit in the cylinders properly.

My To-Do list.

I'm learning that patience and detailed organization is necessary to do a rebuild on an old motorcycle.  I've learned that certain parts are difficult to find and now understand why my ARHMA friends hoard old motorcycle parts.  Also, I thought that written notes and a few pics would be enough to recall how to put the engine back together.  Next time I'll be taking more pictures throughout each step of the process, maybe even a video.

Ride for a Cause

Seven years ago I lost my dear Grandma Juling.  She had dementia.  Alzheimer's is a common type of dementia.  I know the challenges of living with someone with dementia and the heartache of them not remembering who you are or the memories of the past.

I hope you will consider joining me in the Rides4ALZ on Sunday, July 15, 2018:

Event Details: 
Sunday, July 15th 
Registration: 9:30 AM | Kickstands Up: 10 AM 
100-mile ride through San Diego County 
After Party at AleSmith Brewing Company with an opportunity drawing 
Tickets: $50/rider, $20/passenger or After Party