F2 Strip Down
 

Having embarrassed myself by posting a pic of the underside of my F2 and showing the world what a rusty mess it really is, I have come to a decision - the frame has to come out to be blasted and powder coated.

So here's the state of play at the end of day 1, 5 hours in :-


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/cbrforu...d387dac21c.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/cbrforu...53f7473419.jpg

Woohooo!!! Good job! It'll look so much better! I did similar thing with my VF500F in '92 and it looks more like serious bike than Tonka or Fisher Price toy!

BEFORE
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/...7bFsWi5byVlUzE

AFTER
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/...n9PLSjUeEBrDKz

That makes the bike looks so much better - taking the frame to black is a huge improvement and even the engine looks sharper, cleaner lines.

Great job for day 1, powder coating will make a massive difference.
You might need a castle nut tool to take the swing-arm off, not sure on the F2.
Something like this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125558788...rchantid=87779

Many thanks for the heads up, I certainly was not aware of it. I’ll check in the Honda Service Manual.

You're very welcome

I didn't need a special tool for the swing arm but I might need one to torque up the stearing head adjuster nut :-


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/cbrforu...f0445da5ec.jpg
The swing arm is in a worrying state but the frame is not too bad.

how are you cleaning & prepping them? I used portable handheld sandblaster with walnut shells. Removed rust & paint and left good metal alone.

I don’t have the kit to blast it myself but the powder coaters I’ve used in the past do it as part of the service.

Next thing is getting all of the bearings out and masking off all of the orifices. What’s your preference for protecting the screw threads? Do you put old bolts in them or use high temperature silicon / rubber cord or …

The parts are now back from the powder coaters and they're looking good :-


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/cbrforu...45f9c4e067.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/cbrforu...9e69c7decb.jpg

I have now, however, run into a problem and I'm hoping that you can tell me what I'm doing wrong.

I've put new swinging arm bearing and suspension linkage bearings in with no problems but I'm seriously stuck with the steering head bearings. I'm swapping from ball to taper but whenever I try to pull the outer shell into the frame it starts off straight but then skews badly and jams. This is with two flat plates and a bolt running the length of the steering head - I have no press or other equipment.

Any suggestions would be more than welcome - I'm stuck!