DuckOfDeath

Haven't had much time lately to finish this project. After finishing the brakes and wheel bearings I took it for another test drive. The first test drive a month or so ago, I had a hanging throttle that prompted me to stop and get some working brakes. Anyhow, lost a day to rebuilding carbs (3) only to get same results. Found I had an exhaust valve that was slightly bent. Didn't even notice it when I lapped the valves. Got some new ones and she's running great. Got the ignition with matching steering shaft lock cylinder installed. Working on wire routing and headlamp, while painting the bumpers and racks to finish this up.

There's a guy in one of my Facebook groups that sells the petcock lever disks he makes on a 3d printer. Two for $50, shipped. I got two, one for this build and one for my 350D. Really happy with them.

Received the bearing seals and brake pads. Putting the front end back together this morning.

Worked some tonight on the knuckles and brake cylinders. The cylinders were the easiest I've ever worked with. Seals are good and everything cleaned up nicely. Which is good, because it appears Honda has discontinued the piston cups since I last did a set. Got the bearings pressed back in the knuckles...just waiting on new dust seals before putting it back together.

Working on knuckles tonight. Damaged the dust seals while removing them. Ebay came through with some NOS seals for cheaper than Honda likely sold them back in the day. Wanted to share a trick I learned from guys on this forum....these old Honda oem bearings can't be beat, but 35 year old grease needs to be replaced. It turns into a kind of paste. You can carefully pry off the bearing seals to clean, re grease, and pop the seal back into place.

Hey Goober. Luckily, the parts bike I picked up last week has a key switch that matches the steering lock. I'm going to swap them into my build. I put in a new upper steering shaft bushing. That should be all I need. The lower bearing and pitman arm seem tight.

I wish I would have taken some.pictures of the engine work I did. Put in my best used camshaft and chain. I have about a dozen used cam chains. Picked the shortest out of the bunch. I think the manual states you should have a 7/16th" gap between the tensioner and jug. I didn't have that when I put a new DID chain in my 87's. More like 3/8", if that. I had 1/4 gap with the chain I put in. I'm good with that. I can always put a new one in down the road. I'm getting pretty good at it. I don't use a clutch cover gaskets anymore. Hondabond is cheap and effective. I'm at work tonight but here's where I'm at now with the front end. See how clean everything is, before I've even taken a wire wheel to anything....

Definitely more pics to follow. Hey Shade 10-4 on the CDI'S. I think the 87 350D is the last model Partzilla has CDI'S for. I think I have 4 working used ones for the 86 model, and two parts bikes I haven't even got to yet. I have enough parts to put together 1, maybe 2 more running rigs. I sell a lot of parts, but I've been stock piling CDI'S.

I picked up this 86 model a couple years ago and put it on the back burner. Finally got around to it a month or so ago. A previous owner had it bored over. They also neglected to torque the cam sprocket bolts or use lock tight, and it came apart and damaged the cam, sending metal fragments into the clutch cover side. The fenders were smashed up, but the wiring, frame, and hardware all looked great. It's been a breeze to work on, in that regard. Haven't had to battle seized bolts. I spent some extra time doing some things I don't normally do, like paint the top end and fuel tank. Anyhow, this week I picked up another 86 that has some usable fenders. Right now I'm doing knuckles and brakes. I'll post more progress in the coming days.

Thanks, man. I've been meaning to come post the progress of my '86 350 project.

Sorry guys, just seeing this. I can donate any clutch parts you may need. I'm in Pocahontas AR.

Hey guys! I'm still around. Haven't logged on for awhile but I'll be around more in the coming months. I do send people a link to the manual section... hopefully that has brought in a few new members. I've been working some crazy hours and fishing nearly all my free time. Now that the weather is cooling off I'll want to start spending more time in the garage. Got the 86 350 project that's been on the back burner since last spring.

Heck with that. I was prepared to do top end, but once I saw it needed a new head and would require pulling the motor and splitting the cases.... I'm out. The piston rod is all beat up and the camshaft and exhaust valve rocker are worn too. I wasn't going to charge him anything, because he does a lot for me, but even at my rates it's not economically feasable to repair. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 😃

Neighbor asked me to look at his grown sons 02 Arctic cat 300. Was told it just died one day and wouldn't restart. Had spark and turned over freely but zero compression. Found it had dropped the exhaust valve. I was prepared to do a top end job but absolutely do not want any part of what needs to be done on this rig now. I should have declined the moment I learned it was an Arctic cat. I knew it was going to be bad when I started to pull off the exhaust and found piston shards in the header pipe.

Sad to see the news about Evinrude. I'll always have fond memories of my '87 15hp. The Evinrude/Johnson 9.9 and 15 HP motors were basically unchanged for 20 years. They're like the Honda 300's of the outboard world, simple and reliable. Currently, I've got a 60hp E-tec with jet drive on my Blazer SS. Been great so far.