Wife likes for me to have projects. This one ought to last a couple years. I've owned a '77 and '86 SEi, and have put 78k miles on my '06. I found a '78 on Craigslist nearby. Rode down to look at it and saw that it would need a lot of work, but made the incorrect assumption that most GoldWing owners in general take pretty good care of their machines. Boy was that wrong! This was actually a '75 engine (shows I should have spent a FEW more minutes checking it out) in a '78 frame. The engine must have been half-submerged for a long time, as it has a line of heavy rust in the belt area. He oil was dark but free of rust, water, coolant, metal flakes, etc. The coolant was brilliant green - hopefully indicating it has not been run through the engine much, and I can flush it out and replace it with HONDA silicate-free. Not having a matching engine and frame, I won't attempt a true restoration. Instead, I'm going to try a cafe-style. Not that easy with all of the extras HONDA gave us, and the geek in me won't part with the metering the '78 has. Still, it will have whatever can be removed pulled or ground off. Tires will be selected for performance, not retro-look. Right now, I'm doing remediation of the water damage (none seen in the intakes). Headed to Harbor Freight for more sandblast media today. Belts are off so the idlers can be renewed (pulleys on order and will pick up a few bolts to cut down on my lathe). Rebuilt the carbs already, and need the timing belt area cleaned and renewed before checking compression. After that, the engine comes out and frame work begins. I've already used this site, NGW, and goldwingfacts (A long-time member there) for knowledge-gathering.) Thanks to all that share!
