Introduction and Current Project Stable

"jminer" (jminer) 11/25/2015 at 22:45 • Filed to: None

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Greetings fellow Opponauts!

Here is my first post on Oppositelock, I’ve done a few forum build threads before but rarely found much in the way of community engagement or satisfaction. Most specialist forums just really don’t want to see somebody else rebuilding carbs or installing wheel bearings that they’ve all done or seen a dozen times before.

A bit about me: I’ve worked as a Windows/Linux System Administrator for a bit over 10 years and have been wrenching to maintain my daily drivers since 16 and a dirt bike earlier than that. I’ve rebuilt several bikes (scooters, motorcycles, dirtbikes), nothing too drastic basically stock-ish on nearly everything. That way they have a wide appeal when it comes time to trade or sell them.

Today I’ll just catalog a bit of what’s in my garage and general plans of what to do with them. I’ll also post a fairly detailed rambling on each of these and updates as I work on them. I hope you enjoy reading what turned out to be a longer than planned post about my current projects.

Vehicles :

62 Willys CJ6

It is nearly stock with the F134 4 cylinder, T90 3 speed transmission, Spicer 18 Twin Stick transfer case, Dana 44 rear axle, Dana 25 front axle, and 9” drum brakes all around.

It was a birthday present from my amazing wife a few years back and life/job got in the way and I hadn’t touched it for a couple of years until late this summer. I’ve started to go through the electrical system and am currently battling a timing issue. The distributor is basically seized to the engine block and won’t rotate so I can set the time properly.

I plan on for now getting it running and driving. My dream is to swap in a 302 and C6 for better drive ability (She’ll only do about 50 mph in stock form).

03Ford Explorer

No picture of this one, but it is a truck that used to by my wife’s daily driver. It was totaled about 2 years ago and I bought it back and fixed her up. In the fall she slipped a timing chain on the drivers side cylinders. Not sure if she bent valves yet or not, but I plan on opening her up and either resetting time and new timing chain tensioners or drop in a new (to me) engine. She’s 12 years old and has 205k on the clock but I know exactly what shape she is in and trust her.

71 Honda CB500

This is my 71 CB500 that I pulled out of the back of a barn it had been in since the early 80’s. I bought it from its second owner in the winter of 2009 and spend about a year getting it back on the road. It needed almost an entire electrical system overhaul (coils, regulator, much repaired splicing, etc) and most of the other normal tasks with a bike (carbs, brakes, tires, etc).

It came with that giant sissy bar on the back and a full size Vetter fairing that blocked me completely from the wind and looked awful on the bike. I kept the sissy bar because I just can’t make myself get rid of it :)

She served as my regular rider since I got her running with about a year and a half break when my work schedule basically didn’t allow me to ride. I went through the carbs and forks this spring and put her back on the road. Late October she sprung a serious oil leak and has been grounded until I fix it...

80 Honda CM400A

This is what she looked like the day I brought her home in September. The PO had ridden her for a little while as his first bike and laid her down. Then it sat for a couple years and he started the teardown and then his wife wanted it out of the garage so into mine it came :)

I got it with multiple bags of unlabeled parts in questionable shape. I got the carbs back together and installed last week, a new seat, and many other ancillary bits waiting to go on her. She should be ready to go by spring and with my most recent acquisition I plan on selling her in about May when the bike season here around here is at its peak. I should be able to turn a bit of a profit on her as well.

This is a Hondamatic which is a clutchless two speed. I had one I rebuilt a few years ago rode for a while and kept as a loaner for friends. I ended up trading it for an 82 Suburban Diesel. I came across this one for a song late this summer so I picked it up.

Here she is today

79 Honda GL1000 GoldWing:

I had been looking for something bigger than my CB500 for a while to take on longer runs with the wife. She enjoys riding, but my CB500 isn’t very comfortable with 2 on it (hell it’s barely comfortable with 1 on it). My wife actually found this one and it is an early Christmas present for me. Try and tell me I don’t have the best wife ever!

I’ve had it about two weeks and the bike has 82k miles on the clock and is in pretty decent shape cosmetically with a full Vetter kit. I know these look awesome naked, but I’m going to ride her as is for a while because I’d love to extend my riding reason outside of May-October, which is the usual here in St Louis. We have a fairly cold winter and a very wet spring that makes riding unrealistic for a large portion of the year.

It came with a 1 carb kit that employs a VW carb instead of the 4 individual carbs. The manifold that came with it doesn’t fit the bike well, so I’ll be putting something else together, possibly of PVC.

I’ll be going through the front brakes, the electrical system, cleaning the gas tank, flush the engine, and a couple other general maintenance tasks. She’s actually in pretty good shape and I hope shouldn’t require too much work outside of that.

In Summary:

I enjoy wrenching in my spare time and have some space to work on and store projects, and a very understanding and supportive wife who hasn’t parked in our two car garage once in the 6 years we’ve owned this house...

I’ll try to post every week or so on what I’ve done and any major updates on the vehicles. I also apologize for the pictures in this post- they were just taken with my S5. Once I get going I’ll probably bust out the DSLR and attempt to document these things better.

I also will buy things to part out and fund other projects and have a couple more I haven’t detailed in this post

Thanks for reading, it turned out to more rambling than I anticipated. Let me know if anyone has questions, wants to see something in particular, has any suggestions, or know of any interesting projects that need a new home within a couple hour drive of St Louis (I’m always looking for that next one).

$kaycog > jminer 11/28/2015 at 13:16

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Welcome to Oppo! We are always glad to have new victims friends here!

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > jminer 11/28/2015 at 13:18

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Welcome.

aberson Bresident of the FullyAssed Committe > jminer 11/28/2015 at 13:22

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Welcome to oppo. Remeber you’re here forever

But on a more serious note. How hard is it to find parts for those old hondas? I want to get into vintage bikes and even though I’m no stranger to a lack of parts availability (aka An old alfa and jag) I don’t want to get a complete basket case of a bike and then realize most of the parts i need aren’t available anymore.

Also I’m a bit more partial to yamahas because my dad had a 250 dirtbike and a 650 roadbike back in the 80’s but to me a bike is a bike and I love them all.

My citroen won't start > jminer 11/28/2015 at 14:00

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Welcome, nice to have you here! And remember, there is nothing to be afraid of.

jminer > My citroen won't start 11/28/2015 at 14:38

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Thanks for the greetings. I look forward to engaging in the community.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > jminer 11/28/2015 at 14:42

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Use the Explorer as an engine/trnas donar for the jeep.

jminer > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 11/28/2015 at 15:58

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I’ve thought about it and there is zero aftermarket support for either the 4.0 v6 or the Trans in the explorer. The most common swaps into early jeeps are gm v6 4.3 engines. I’m not much of a gm guy so I’d rather go with a small block ford ultimately. Any major swap is likely a couple years away unless I find the stock drive train is trashed.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > jminer 11/28/2015 at 16:02

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A lot of explorers had really good 302s in them I picked one up at half price day at the pull a part last year waiting for a project to begin. The have the GT 40 heads and a really stout.

Spoon II > jminer 11/28/2015 at 17:00

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Welcome! May I say your wife gives awesome gifts!

Zibodiz > jminer 11/28/2015 at 17:33

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Sounds like we have similar interests. It’ll be fun to keep up with your posts.

jminer > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 11/28/2015 at 18:13

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Yeah 96-01 explorers came with a solid 5.0 in them. Those heads are really regarded as the best oem heads available. Great snag!

I’m probably looking for a carbureted setup from a 85 and earlier 2wd full sized truck with a c6 behind it. That way there is little wiring harness to deal with and it’s still a hydraulically controlled transmission. That’ll make plenty of power for a 2ooo pound jeep with a 100” wheelbase.

jminer > Spoon II 11/28/2015 at 18:16

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That she does! I’m lucky to have been married to a wonderful woman for 11 years in a couple weeks. She puts up with my mess and even encourages me to dig into these projects. It doesn’t hurt that they usually turn a profit and that either buys her something nice or buys my next project.

jminer > Zibodiz 11/28/2015 at 19:36

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Thanks! My tastes are a bit eclectic. Around here everybody rides a Harley or a Sport bike.

pip bip - choose Corrour > jminer 11/28/2015 at 20:06

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welcome.

Zibodiz > jminer 12/02/2015 at 00:46

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Living an hour or two from Sturgis, here it’s nothing but Harleys. The Hondas are pretty few and far between, and will earn you a dirty look from other bikers.

After wrecking my ‘wing (and injuring my wife in the process), I decided to change course, and we bought our current project; a Suzuki Sidekick. It’s currently pretty rough, but I’ve started building it into an off-roader.