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If you have a Honda Mini and
need a title for it, C.A.R. Classic Automotive Registation in Cleveland,
Alabama can fix you up for $75.00 pre 1975. If you would like to get more
info call them at 1-888-878-1172.
Here is a correction for your website. You state that you can get a
title for your minibike through C.A.R. This is not true if you live
in some states. On C.A.R.'s website they state that their service is
not available
if you live in Washington (were I live) Ohio, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, or
Minnesota. (See their "Rates" page at the bottom).
I went through Titles Unlimited 1-800-325-8136. They cost a little
more
(100 dollars versus 75 dollars for C.A.R) but I was able to get a title
for
my restored CT70 with no problem.
See ya
Joe
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Here we measure back 2 3/4
" from the stainless trim opening and make a mark. You can see the
mark at the very top of the decal to the right. I placed this decal up
against another bike to make sure the alignment was correct on the curves
and made more marks on the horizontal section. Start from the top and
gently rub going down to remove all air bubbles under the decal. If you do
find an air bubble, take a needle and let the air out gently rubbing the
air towards the needle hole. |
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Hey
Pic's of me and the bikes. Just finished a complete "going over"
of the KO.
After the K1 restoration is complete, I'm going to go thru the original K1
and get it in tip top shape. I have a '93 model for the kids to ride. My
next
big project will be a green KO like yours.......I have a good frame and
and
extra 3 speed motor that was originally on my new K1.(Gets confusing!)
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Appreciate all the work you
do and the tips.......One that may be helpful if
you don't know already........I apply all decals wet.......a mixture in a
spray bottle of half water and half rubbing alcohol..........gives me a
little more confidence and insures that I'll get it
right.........especially
if replacing on original paint (like my gold KO) where you have to hit it
perfectly.....See ya
Jack
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Jack,
We thank you for the info! That's a wonderful tech tip! Keep us updated on the restoration
of those beautiful bikes.
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This is the decal with the
stainless strip to finish it off. The decal is a little short on the
bottom side, but other than that this is a very good reproduction. Top
stainless trim is a Honda part available from your local Honda dealer.
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I bought several of these
N.O.S. rear brake switches and will use them on this 1971 CT70 green 4
speed and on our up and coming restoration of a rare 1972 tan CT70,
4 speed. The metal decal above this switch is available from several
different suppliers so get the thick one. Someone else is making it on aluminum so thin it's like
aluminum foil. |
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We just got the best deal
ever on our cadmium plating. All this, almost enough nuts and bolts for
four bikes. They charged me only $95.00 for all this. I am now sending the
intake manifold to get cad plated also. I was polishing it with a bristle
brush and tripoli, but these need to be cad plated to protect the aluminum
from corroding.
Update: Easy to believe now why it was so
cheap. They lost $70.00 worth of rear wheel sprockets!
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If you look very closely
at the sales brochure for the 1970 CT70 you will see a very shiny intake
manifold in the picture. These look absolutely beautiful and are 100%
correct! This is not my first CT70 restoration and I am now tumbling my
parts in a big tumbler for a few days before I send to get the new
cadmium. This
helps knock down some of the surface smooth again and get it back to nearly
new condition. |
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The tumbler helps get a
shine back on each piece which is very important if you want the original
shiny surface back on the piece. I even polish with a muslin wheel each
piece before sending to get cad plated. If you don't shine them up first
you will get back a part that looks frosted and dull. I can only say from
my two low mileage bikes that these pieces were originally shiny not
frosted looking. |
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The steering column top most
nut has a gray plastic cap to keep dirt out of the bearings. This one
cleaned right up with lacquer thinner. A black one is available from Honda
and can be vinyl dyed back to gray if
yours is broken. |
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The two on the right were not
finished up with my new method of rubber wheeling before sending to the
cadmium plater. You can see scratches and gouges in the head of the bolt.
The other four were rubber wheeled with an aluminum oxide wheel on a
Dremel and polished with a stitched buff to
remove any and all marks on the bolt. |
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Nothing beats brand new Honda fenders. I have had many re-plated only to
find small imperfections after a re-chrome. Honda parts are much better
than a re-chrome so get new stuff and put your old up on eBay. |
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Front
fender, reflectors, and horn are (like everything else except handle bars
and seat) still available from Honda. Hard to believe Honda is still
making parts for these CT70's after 30 plus years. |
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Since
I had my old ignition with the original key I decided to keep it because
the new Honda ignition switch has a new much larger key than the original.
With this new key the black rubber cover will not fit over it. Use your old ignition if you can and keep the key cover if you
are looking for a 100 point restoration like me. |
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This is the one
everyone wants. An N.O.S. 1969-71 CT70 KO, KO H wiring harness. If you are lucky and
patient you can still find them on eBay. I hope somebody makes this as a
reproduction soon because I know everyone would use a new wiring harness
instead of an old used one. Honda brand new charged $53.00 before it was
discontinued eight years ago. I paid $100.00 for two N.O.S. ones and even
$150.00 for my last so this is a bargain.
UPDATE: NEW
REPRODUCTION CT70 KO WIRING HARNESS NOW AVAILABLE FROM:
www.hondatrailbikes.com
$49.00
Available only for:
KO (1969-71)
K2 (1972)
K3-K6 (1973-75)
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We never use left over rusty
old bolts for a bike that we spend all this time on. I have bought out
parts dealers nuts and bolts lots to get the newest freshest bolt
available for our restorations. Bolts are sometimes freshened up with a
Dremel® hand piece and an aluminum oxide rubber wheel to remove the scratches
or rust before being sent to the cadmium plater. WE EVEN PRIMP THE BOLTS.
This is time consuming and we wanted to let you know that our bikes are
some of the best that anyone has ever restored. We also use only the
correct bolts with the original Honda "8" marking on the head of
the bolt. |
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This is the steering column
upper race. I use a rubber hammer or a piece of wood and a mallet to pound
this down into place on the top and bottom. I send these and everything I
want cleaned up to get cad plated. I even send the inside parts of the air
cleaner so I can start with fresh clean parts everywhere. |
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This is how the front fork
goes back together. Washer, dust seal and then lower race. Let me tell you
right now, scrape off any paint on this fork shaft before putting the
lower race on. DO NOT POUND IT ON!!!! Once
the paint is cleaned off the lower shaft where this lower race will go,
leave it sit where it stops. When you start screwing the steering head top
nut on this race will be pressed down where it needs to be. |
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I did
not paint this bike and if I would have I would not have painted the threads
on this steering stem or the bottom where the lower race goes. If you have
one painted you need the get the paint off the threads with a wire wheel on
a Dremel or take it off by hand. I not only took mine off with a wire wheel,
I also greased it up real good and made a test run with the nut before I get
the ball bearings in place.
If you do not have a steering nut
tool you can get one from Jeff who is a machinist and makes them at work.
Jeff is also a CT70 enthusiast who is restoring a four speed bike like
mine. Email address is
res047vz@gte.net or
http://www.hondaminitrailtools.com
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Here we have the
lower race with a little grease on it to hold the ball bearings in place
while we assemble the front end. It takes 21 ball bearings on the top and
21 more on the bottom. If you do not have enough get some from Honda
because the bike will not steer worth nothing if you leave some out. Note the
lower steering race is not down all the way. It will be pressed down into
position when the upper stem nut is tightened with your steering nut tool. |
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After you tighten
the top stem nut down with your wrench all the way it should look like
this. The I.D. plate on this restoration will be the reproduction because
when heating the original up to remove it I got it too hot and dis-colored
the black paint. The repro is OK but, the rivet holes don't even line up.
I am starting to look at reproduction parts this way, it may not be
perfect like I want, but it's better than nothing. My only thing is, if
you're going to spend the time to make it, why not make it correct? |
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Front fork white bushings,
fork rubbers, and aluminum trim need to be slid over the chrome fork
extension before putting the rivet back into the connecting spring. These
parts are available from your local Honda dealer. |
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This is the CT70 shock
dis-assembly tool made by Jeff Rieder. It works great and is well made.
Remember if you buy one of these tools for a restoration, you can always
put it up on eBay and sell it when your done with it.
To order yours go to:
http://www.hondaminitrailtools.com
I think Jeff is out of business.
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Once
you have the shock tool plate screwed done to expose the top nut, put a
vise grip on the shaft to hold it in place. Now un-screw the top aluminum
shock mount and then the nut
underneath. If you take a shock apart and find the shaft is bent,
clamp it into a vise and gently, carefully bend it back straight. I saved
a couple shocks by doing this that I thought were junk. Once bent back
straight they worked fine. |
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These
aluminum top shock mounts and the lower mounts clean up to brand new
looking with tripoli polishing compound
available from http://www.caswellplating.com/. |
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Tail
light bracket, engine guard, handle bars and shock springs were all re-chromed by Astro Plating in Los Angeles.
If your handle bars need straightening you can use a 2 x 4 while still on
the bike or a conduit bender will also work fine. Make sure the handle bar
lever bolt holes are in working condition before sending them in.
Astro Plating
15236 Erwin St
Van Nuys Ca 91411
818-781-1463 Carlos
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Since these CT70 brake pedals were recently discontinued by Honda I
recommend using a triangle file to touch up the worn part before sending in to get
re-plated. I tried this with one of mine and it came out much more
original looking than that flat spot on the corner. |
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This is the
correct battery holder for a 1971 four speed bike. It has the rubber
cushions where the later CT70's had a white plastic insert. These battery
holders are not available from Honda so yours will have to be re-plated.
N.O.S.CT70 gas tanks are still available from Honda if you need one. I put
all new fuel lines on all my bikes form now on. I'm tired of rebuilding a
carb to new specs only to find the original gas lines leaked all over my
fresh carb rebuild or the dried gas inside the fuel lines clogs up my new
carb rebuild. |
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The battery rectifier
bracket was send it for re-cadmium plating. Here I am sanding with my
Black & Decker sander which has helped me out a thousand times. If you
are doing a million dollar restoration like me then get one. |
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The picture at the
left
shows the bracket that was re-cad plated. I took the entire piece apart,
sanded and painted with "Chevy" orange. With a piece of masking
tape I masked off the part that connects to the battery box then spray
painted the metal portion along with a small portion of the wires. This is how
Honda did it. UPDATE:
NEW REPRODUCTION BATTERY RECTIFIER AVAILABLE FROM:
www.hondatrailbikes.com |
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It looks just as good as
N.O.S. and I did myself. You can do the same as me. |
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We need a rear
sprocket and this bike will go together fast from here.
I have torn apart five speedometers in an effort to turn them
back to zero and put new glass in them. My first attempt was the teal four
speed bike and it came out perfect. I would like to find someone who can silk
screen the face and have brighter numbers put back on. No one in my small town is
that smart. If you know someone who silk screens see if they can do these
speedo face plates. I know they do it for old Corvettes.
I
will show how I achieve this in pictures to come. |
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The casualties are
already coming in and I just put this speedo rebuild up yesterday.
Do not try this unless you're sure of your capabilities.
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This
should not be attempted by the weak and timid. I rate this at a full ten
for hardness. I used a long screw driver to bend up the stainless steel
trim all the way around the rim. A long screw driver will give much
leverage. It will take several times around before you will get the trim
worked up enough to take it apart. I had a new piece of glass cut by a
local glass shop. It is thicker than the actual glass used by Honda so get
the right thickness and it will be easier the bend the stainless trim back
down when putting back together. I had a customer tell me he went to Wal
Mart picture frame department and got the correct thickness glass from a
cheap 5x7 picture frame. I have not tried this yet but will next time. |
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Once you do get it apart, pull the speedo out by removing the two clips on
the end of the shaft. Now it will be easy to turn the numbers back to
000000. I first tried some enamel reducer on one of these odometers and it
took off the black numbers so don't use enamel reducer. On this one I used
some industrial type cleaner with hot water and an old tooth brush. It
came out as good as N.O.S. ones. The red high beam indicator was faded
badly to an almost opaque red. I simply painted it with red paint and it
too came out beautiful brand new looking. |
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Here you can see the stainless steel trim and how it looks. Be patient if
doing this. If you do not take your time in slowly, carefully prying this
edge up you will put a mark on the outside bezel that shows when this is
put back together.
Take
your time if trying this one!!!!!! |
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This
is the new speedo face I had done by Classic Instruments in Michigan. What
they do is make it up on the computer and print it on a sheet with sticky on
it. They then apply it over the old face and cut the holes out. It looks
better than new. The cost was about $125.00 each for the three I had done.
I can't wait to put it together.
Classic
Instruments
1299
M-75 South
PO Box 411
Boyne City MI 49712
800-575-0461
231-582-3114 Fax
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This is a heatless mizzy wheel (kind'a like a mini grinding wheel) I used
to remove some of the corner metal to make it easier to get the stainless
trim back on. |
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This is an aluminum oxide rubber wheel which can be purchased where ever
Dremel products are sold. I used this to take out the small mark the
pliers made in putting it back together then polished the whole bezel up with tripoli. |
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Here we have installed the rubber trim and have completed this very hard
to do speedo restoration. It took courage to take this apart and do what
was done on this. It was worth it for the type of restoration we are doing
on my favorite Honda Trail 70 of them all.
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Here it is finished and ready to be installed. Someone sent me an email
telling me a guy had an N.O.S. one on eBay. So I did a search and found
out it only lasted 3 hours before someone did a "buy it now" and
bought it for $125.00. I would gladly have paid $250.00 for it. |
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Here we put a new
bulb in the high beam light and the speedometer light then cleaned one
last time with glass cleaner to make look new again. Both bulbs are
available from Honda. I have tried several weather strips from varies cars
on this speedo unit and have come up with nothing. Once on the bike it
looked better than this picture shows. I used a small screw driver to poke
it in and push in down into position. |
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It is not necessary to sand blast these aluminum wheel hubs. We scuffed them up with a
Scotch Brite pad and wiped them down with enamel reducer before putting on the
silver wheel paint.
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The wheels were sand blasted
front and back by a local shop. They charge very little and it's not worth
buying all the equipment to do it yourself. First primer and
then paint with Dupli Color wheel paint from your local K-Mart or Super
Wal-Mart. Color is STEEL #WP316. Don't go too nuts here on finding the
exact color. If WP316 is not available in your area simply get a silver
color. This WP316 is not an exact match anyway. I use this paint because
it is easier than buying air compressors and paint guns.
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Make sure to grease
the speedometer gear real good to keep it happy. Brake pads are brand new
from your local Honda dealer. Original Bridgestone tubes and tires are
available from any Honda dealer also. |
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These wheel hubs
for the CT70 were originally polished by Honda and then a coat of clear
paint was applied to keep the aluminum from tarnishing. I recommend you
too put the clear on them. These have been laying around my shop for
six months after the first polish and when I came back to put them on they
were already tarnished. |
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Front and
rear brake levers are
available from Honda if you want new ones. Speedo cable and front brake
cable are sold on eBay as N.O.S. You can always use vinyl dye on the black
cables if you don't feel like paying big bucks for N.O.S. gray cables |
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