TractormanMike.mb Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 I know this is a tractor forum, specifically a red tractor forum so I don't know how much interest this little project of mine will generate. One of my interests are Honda four wheelers. I started with an atc 110 years ago and just kept adding and subtracting as time went on. I'm guessing over the years I probably owned over a dozen Hondas but hey, who's keeping track right. Now onto this one, it's a 2004 foreman 450 es. I aquried it a few years back with a cracked crank case due to it filling with water and freezing. I tore the Engine and transmission apart and a friend of mine tig welded the crack. The project sat stagnant for a couple years while life and finances took priority. About a year ago I started slowly reassembling the engine finishing it a couple months ago, now it's time to get the chassis ready for its heart. Photo 1 is of the chassis when I power washed it a couple years ago. This machine came off of a farm and is in pretty decent shape considering, usually they are just beat to death but this one has potential. I do have all the plastic pieces, they were just taken off for the removal of the engine. The next picture is of the chassis on the stand with the front end tore down. While I'm at it im going to clean and paint some of the rust on the lower frame caused by the farm environment. I am also going to update the front brakes to the newer disk style found on the newer bikes, all I need to do is change the steering knuckle and I already have all the parts. I know this post got long due to the back story. I will try to keep the progress somewhat steady but don't expect this to be a quick project 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exSW Posted May 29, 2020 Share Posted May 29, 2020 I think this is a great thread. Hondas are definitely worth rebuilding. Especially given the cost of a new one. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted May 30, 2020 Author Share Posted May 30, 2020 I figured tonight I would talk about the engine, photo 1. As previously stated the engine crank case was cracked due to it filling with water and freezing. The previous owner asked if I could fix it and I told him anything can be fixed but the labor involved in tearing down and reassembling the engine was probably more than they wanted to spend on it. I did offer a fair price for it in its condition and a deal was made. For those that don't know, on a Honda atv and motorcycle engine the bottom end of the engine and transmission are all packed into the crank case. Everything needed to be removed to get a proper tig welding job to fix the crack that went down the side and across the bottom of the case. The case was welded and when the time came for reassembling a gasket and seal kit was purchased along with a good repair manual. A couple years had passed and there was no way I could remember how everything went. The next two pictures are of the engine in the stages of reassembly. I debated back and forth the whole time I was building this engine about keeping it stock or modifying it. The tractor club I belong to built a pulling sled for lawnmowers and we were talking about possibly doing some atv classes, that's what got me thinking about modifying the engine. Nothing crazy, maybe a hotter cam and a high compression piston and porting the head. Ultimately I decided to keep it stock. Anyone who owns one of these four wheelers knows that they are extremely cold blooded. I used to have one and I parked it all winter because it was very hard to start when it got cold. Also past experience has taught me that when you modify a Honda engine you lose all of the legendary reliability that comes with it. That wasn't what I wanted this one to be like. The only thing I changed was I had to bore the cylinder 0.020 over to clean up some bad spots in the cylinder wall, last picture. That gets us to where I am now. I know it's another long post but that brings everyone who's interested up to speed on what I did to the engine. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 Not much progress has been made since my last post, I've been busy at work and with other home projects. I did finally get a chance to do some more work to this project. I removed the front a arms and drive assembly to clean the frame for painting. While the a arms are off I decided to clean those up and paint them. I am trying a crude attempt at soda blasting. I purchased a siphon feed sand blaster a couple years ago. Blasting sand is hard to find locally but there is a farm co-op that sells sodium bicarbonate almost right next to where I work so I figured I would give it a try. The photos are of the beginning and after blasting, then primed and painted. I'm just using rustoleum self etching primer and their gloss black paint, nothing fancy, I'm going to use this one. A couple things on the soda blasting. First, I don't have anywhere close to enough air to soda blast. I will probably end up taking the frame to work where I have a good air supply. It also won't take the parts to white bare metal but it is taking the rust and loose paint off which is good enough for me on this project. If my local hardware store sold consistent blasting sand I would probably go with that but the nearest place that sells it is 40 miles away so soda it is. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 My apologies for not getting a post on this thread sooner for those who are following it. My summer got a lot busier that planned but isn't that the way it always goes. I've been just cleaning and painting small parts as time allows. I'm hoping to get the frame blasted, primed and painted before it gets too cold so I can assemble and stuff the engine in during the winter. The only real notable thing I did was break down the shock to paint them. I painted the coil springs pink, the actual shade is watermelon, to kind of add some detail. I'm building this bike for my daughter so I'm going to add little details like this where I can. At least if nothing else I got this thread moved back up on the board. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exSW Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Keep it up. I'm seriously thinking about something like this. But the last auction I attended had two Honda Big Red three wheelers. Non running. Still brought 600ish each. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted October 6, 2020 Author Share Posted October 6, 2020 6 minutes ago, exSW said: Keep it up. I'm seriously thinking about something like this. But the last auction I attended had two Honda Big Red three wheelers. Non running. Still brought 600ish each. Three wheelers are holding their value well now if not going up in value, it makes me wish I held onto mine but I already have too much stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oleman Posted October 7, 2020 Share Posted October 7, 2020 The owner of the place where I store our transit bus / RV got a sweet deal on a 200X Honda quad. The guy who owned it decided he was too old for it any longer and his grand kids were too young for the 350 CC engine so he sold it to the guy he knew for $800. Owner now runs around the RV storage lot, about 5 acres with it. Believe it is a ranch foreman model. Great condition few hours and the paint is still shiny, even had fuel in the tank and a fully charged battery. Pays to be nice to the people you meet!! Good luck with your projects! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank H Posted October 11, 2020 Share Posted October 11, 2020 I picked up a honda fourtrax from our neighbor for the cost of a cord of firewood. It starts one pull, looks like it was involved in an explosion at one point in it's life and doesn't ask for anything but gas. I would treat it to new plastics if I could find any. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted October 11, 2020 Author Share Posted October 11, 2020 27 minutes ago, Frank H said: I picked up a honda fourtrax from our neighbor for the cost of a cord of firewood. It starts one pull, looks like it was involved in an explosion at one point in it's life and doesn't ask for anything but gas. I would treat it to new plastics if I could find any. Maier used to make plastic parts for all of the old three and four wheelers. I used to get them out of Dennis Kirk catalogues. The only issue I ever had with them is they do not come pre drilled for mounting holes so you have to do that youself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iowaboy1965 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Have a 78 ish 110 in rough cond i would let go. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 6 hours ago, iowaboy1965 said: Have a 78 ish 110 in rough cond i would let go. I started with an 81 atc110. I had a blast with that thing, it was so light I could go almost anywhere. The high/low subtransmission was nice to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iowaboy1965 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I had a Honda 70 in school. Still have it in fact tho it is really rough and hasn't ran in years. The 110 I bought very well used and put tires on it. Used it some to get across the creek crossing to check cows when it was muddy. Needed some love when I got it and still does. Haven't had it started in a few years. I'm sure with a bit of tinkering it would still run. Just taking up space now. Your right tho. Those old Honda engines are tough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug in NY Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 did this get finished? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 6 hours ago, Doug in NY said: did this get finished? No, unfortunately far from it. I just finished up a few other pressing projects so I'm hoping to get back to it soon. I'll put updates as I make more progress. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 FINALLY! I got a chance to make a little progress on this project. It's snowing outside so I decided to start a fire in the woodstove and work on this today. I pretty much got the frame ready for sandblasting with the exception of two broken bolts that I need to remove. That required finishing the removal of the wire harness, head light/instrument panel, handlebars and cables, nerf bars, rear axle assembly, and other various small mounting brackets. I wasn't planning on removing the stearing tube but I ended up taking it off anyway, it will make it easier to clean and paint the frame. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I will be able to put more time on this project. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted January 10, 2021 Author Share Posted January 10, 2021 I had some time this afternoon so I tried my luck at broken bolt removal. The first was for the bracket that holds the front diff to the frame. I welded a bolt to the remaining stud, let it cool sufficiently, and carefully tried it and it broke loose and I was able to remove it. Success! The second one was on the frame rail where the seat bracket bolts to the frame. There wasn't enough stud sticking up to weld to so I opted to grind it smooth and drill it out. After i drilled through it I was able to knock the rest out with a hammer and punch. This hole along with the other one on this bracket will be retapped to 1/4 inch when the time comes for assembly. Next step, sandblasting and painting. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 Finally got to make some forward progress on this project today. I took the frame to the shop at work and used their sandblaster to clean the frame. It cleaned up really nice and only took four bags of sand. After blasting I brought it back home and hit it with multiple coats of self etching primer. I'll leave it sit for a couple days and give it it's black coat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Hillbilly Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 Looks great! Impressive scope of your rebuild. My FIL has one of those he bought new. Several ATVs have came and went since, and its still here, doin its thing. It has been used and abused. They are tough! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 Finished painting the frame. Now to start assembly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stronger800 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Beauty. put the gm v6 in it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted December 11, 2021 Author Share Posted December 11, 2021 I finally had a chance to make a little progress on this project. Today I reintroduced Mr engine to Mr frame, all in all it didn't go too bad. I didnt mar up the new paint too bad, well it had almost nine months to cure so that helps. I also installed a few small parts. Hopefully I can keep the progress a little more frequent now that this hurdle is overcome. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawleigh99 Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Cool! Keep us up to date! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TractormanMike.mb Posted December 14, 2021 Author Share Posted December 14, 2021 6 hours ago, Rawleigh99 said: Cool! Keep us up to date! I plan on it. I had to put this project on the shelf for a while but an getting back into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.B. Posted December 28, 2021 Share Posted December 28, 2021 Really cool project! and Yes there's interest! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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