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S 6 : Ep 143

Enjoy Restoration stories, opinion, and features from across the car world - Hagerty Media

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, there’s one that Davin will never agree to: Go on a diet. After all, the man loves carbs. He couldn’t cut those out of his day-to-day life even if he wanted to. This episode of Redline Update is all about carbs and getting the Mini’s twin SU fuel mixers ready to rock.

The process is simple and starts with placing an order for two new carb kits. The boxes come filled with everything Davin needs to refresh the carbs functionally, but of course Davin is after more than just a functional redo. To help the aesthetics, the stripped-down pieces get a bath in the ultrasonic cleaner before some careful vapor honing to restore the aluminum finish. Only then is it time to re-assemble. Davin’s big tip this episode is to do the carbs one at a time. This way you have a reference point if you forget exactly how the one you took apart goes back together.

While the second carb is in the ultrasonic cleaner, there’s a quick pivot to getting the shaft rocker assembly ready for reinstallation. The assembly comes apart easily and is cleaned even easier by utilizing a tumbler that will do the work overnight while Davin is asleep and dreaming of big blocks and bang shifting quarter-mile passes. The shaft is too big for the tumbler, but he has a tip for making life easier: chuck the shaft in the lathe and spin it at low speed while holding a scouring pad against it. This makes quick work in removing the caked-on oil and grime from years of use. A drill press or even hand drill with a large enough chuck can do the same thing for your projects.

This little engine is making big progress lately, and it won’t be long before the whole thing is back together and on the run stand for break in. Never miss a tech tip or project update by subscribing to the Hagerty YouTube channel.

Thanks to our sponsor RockAuto.com, an auto parts retailer founded in 1999 by automotive engineers with two goals: Liberate information hidden behind the auto parts store counter (by listing all available parts, not just what one store stocks or one counter-person knows), and make auto parts affordable so vehicles of all ages can be kept reliable and fun to drive. Visit RockAuto.com to order auto parts online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and have them conveniently delivered to your door. Need help finding parts or placing an order? Visit RockAuto’s Help pages for further assistance.

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Enjoy Restoration stories, opinion, and features from across the car world - Hagerty Media

The Honda CT70 is looking beautiful after its Redline Rebuild treatment and, of course, it’s running like a top. Davin is not one to keep secrets about the work that’s been done and what challenges arose along the way. There were plenty of updates along the way, but sometimes the best time to talk particulars is when looking at it reflectively. So Davin and lead videographer Ben sat down to talk through the nuts and bolts of this big little project.

First, Davin explains why he chose a Trail 70. “We’d been getting messages about doing something other than an engine for awhile, and motorcycles always rose to the top of the conversation. Between my personal experience with the Trail 70 and its nearly legendary status with enthusiasts, it was the perfect choice.” Of course, when it came time to pick up a restoration candidate, Davin fell back on an old maxim: Purchase the best example you can find to restore. In this case it meant a running and riding bike.

“That machine was pretty tired though. Complete, but tired.” That often makes things a lot easier for a restoration. Documenting how parts fit together during disassembly is a lot easier when they’re all there. Also it can make better financial sense to buy something with parts that can be restored rather than swiping the credit card for each missing piece. Davin guesstimates there are about as many parts into the entire Trail 70 than a single V-8 engine, which means this project might look fairly simple, but it can also be deceptively complex—mainly to keep organized once it’s all apart.

In that blown apart phase it was all about cleaning and acquiring parts. Luckily, Davin had the experts at Trail Buddy on call to help find and advise on just what he needed. They also helped rebuild the front forks and sprayed the tri-stage candy paint, a paint that surprised Davin both then and now. “It really blows me away that Honda would have done such a complicated paint process on what amounts to a kids bike. These were often used and abused, and that paint makes touch ups really difficult.” No matter when he was re-spraying the entire frame.

Then it came down to assembly, which is where this man thrives. Between Davin’s trusty shop manual and the guys at Trail Buddy, the bike slipped together quite quickly. Now it’s ready for some off road adventures—right after someone puts the first scratch in that beautiful paint. Davin is still a bit squeamish, but he knows that after that first ding, all bets are off. This bike was made to have fun, and that’s what it’s going to do.

To keep track of this and other projects in the Redline Garage, be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel. — Kyle Smith

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Enjoy Restoration stories, opinion, and features from across the car world - Hagerty Media

The orange Trail 70 has been a real fancy workbench decoration for the last six months. All the new and refinished parts have been sparkling from their perfectly organized places in a corner of the Redline Rebuild garage. Now final assembly is underway, and the bike’s current is a unicycle. Davin thinks he could still ride it. We think he shouldn’t try.

Assembling the Trail 70 gives a real lesson in the thrift and cleverness that the Honda designers had back in the late 1960s. There are plenty of 10mm bolts clamping things together, but the gas tank is an example of effective cost cutting. Rather than clamping it in place, there are a few small rubber isolators that effectively wedge the tank inside the stamped-steel frame. A small top plate keeps it all snugly in place. Simple, relatively fail-proof, and easy to assemble.

The rest of the rear end is similar but has a few more fasteners. The swingarm bolts into place followed by the rear wheel, shocks, and brake pedal assembly. For once, things are sliding together easily. Could that continue through the rest of the Trial 70 assembly and first start? Maybe, but you’ll have to tune in to future episodes to find out. Be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel to never miss an update.

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Enjoy Restoration stories, opinion, and features from across the car world - Hagerty Media

We all have when been waiting in suspense for the return of the Redline Rebuild CT70, and Davin is breaking the suspense with a suspens—ion project. The front end of the little Honda is pretty simple, but there is one special tool that—in true Redline Rebuild fashion—Davin elected to build himself rather than wait for the mail.

The first steps are a mock-up of the front-end assembly. A small amount of paint needs to be removed to allow the fork tubes to slide into place in the triple trees, but a small flap wheel makes quick work of that. From there everything slides together and confirms not only that it all goes together as designed, but also that Davin has all the parts ready for final assembly onto the frame. He might have all the parts, but he doesn’t have all the tools.

That’s right, his massive shop full of ratchets and drivers lacks the tool he will need to torque down the triple trees on the Honda. Rather than wait for a tool to arrive in the mail, Davin fires up the Bridgeport to make his own. Some tubular steel chucked in the vice followed by a few careful measurements allows Davin to mill away just enough to create the perfect four-prong tool to engage the top nut of the steering stem. A lug nut welded in place gives him something to put his torque wrench on when it comes time to assemble.

The project is rolling now—well not quite—but at least progress has returned. To never miss an update on this or the other projects in the Redline Garage, be sure to subscribe to the Hagerty YouTube channel.

Thanks to RockAuto.com for sponsoring this week’s video. RockAuto.com is an auto parts retailer founded in 1999 by automotive engineers with two goals: liberate information hidden behind the auto parts store counter (by listing all available parts, not just what one store stocks or one counter-person knows), and make auto parts affordable so vehicles of all ages can be kept reliable and fun to drive. Visit Rock Auto to order auto parts online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and have them conveniently delivered to your door. Need help finding parts or placing an order? Visit our Help pages for further assistance!

Tag: Restoration

Enjoy Restoration stories, opinion, and features from across the car world - Hagerty Media

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