80A engine painted in black

[LONGCLOSE]

Good day to you all!

A good friend is about to undertake the restoration of an 80A which in the past has been mildly customized, the engine and frame number are both in range indicating a matching pair of an 80A

Frame SCO3 - 2012***
Engine SC03 - 20048**

The question is the crankcases are painted in black, this looks very much like the original Honda paint which appeared on the pro-link. Can anyone confirm if the 80A motor was ever painted black out of the factory as I was sure this is an 80A motor with this number?

Thanks in advance..

Cary

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Mr. Simon should be along shortly with some info.

[FalldownPhil]

IMHO, there were no factory black engine cases on the 1980 A
Thanks,
Phil

[LONGCLOSE]

Thanks for the initial feedback, just to confirm the engine number above is an 80A right..?

[jnnngs]

Thanks for the initial feedback, just to confirm the engine number above is an 80A right..?

Cary,

SC03 is an 80A (CB1 for '79Z, and SC06 for '81/'82 prolinks), so both your engine and frame are off an 80.

I don't think your frame and engine are "matching numbers." They are normally a few hundred apart when fitted at the factory, yours seem to be much further apart than that?

Paul.

[daves79x]

If your bike is a Marysville-built bike, the engine and frame numbers will be approximately 1800-2000 numbers different. Frame numbers started over in Marysville, engine numbers did not. If you don't mind posting the whole frame and engine numbers, I can tell you a bit more.

Dave

[jnnngs]

If your bike is a Marysville-built bike, the engine and frame numbers will be approximately 1800-2000 numbers different. Frame numbers started over in Marysville, engine numbers did not.

Dave

Interesting, never knew that!

Paul.

[EMS]

Thanks for the initial feedback, just to confirm the engine number above is an 80A right..?

Cary,

SC03 is an 80A (CB1 for '79Z, and SC06 for '81/'82 prolinks), so both your engine and frame are off an 80.

I don't think your frame and engine are "matching numbers." They are normally a few hundred apart when fitted at the factory, yours seem to be much further apart than that?

Paul.

Paul: 1981 and 1982 Prolink engines ARE NOT SC06..numbers. 1980 is SC03E-20xxxx, 1981 is SC03E-23xxxx and 1982s are SC03E-24xxxx
If the above can be confirmed as SC03E-20 048xx it is a 1980 and was painted black at some point.
If it is SC03E-23 048xx it is a 1981 and if it is SC03E-24 048xx it is a 1982 motor.

Early 12,000 1980 frame serial numbers show to have engine serial numbers under 4,000. At around 12,000, engine serial numbers moved into the 4,000 range. Although as the exception to the rule, you will find the occasional high 12,000 frame serial number bike with an engine number under 4,000: SC03-20 12522 has Engine SC03E-20 03859

[jnnngs]

Mike,

OK, so why not change the engine numbers to SC06? Frame numbers were changed, and everything else is consistently CB1 / SC03 / SC06, why not the engine?

Paul.

[EMS]

Mike,

OK, so why not change the engine numbers to SC06? Frame numbers were changed, and everything else is consistently CB1 / SC03 / SC06, why not the engine?

Paul.

Paul: Engine numbers were changed. from SC03E-20.. to SC03E-23.. to SC03E-24....
It is consistent with Honda's numbering procedure from a certain point on. The CB1/CBX-Z is somewhat of an oddball. It represents just one of the last bikes not following a more standardized system.
Like all GL1200 engines were SC14 for all different years. GL1500s were SC22. All CB750F from 1979 on were RC04s, the CB900Fs were SC01. Different years that had changes were designated by a two new lead digits for the serial number, usually starting with 20, going to 21, 22, 23, 24 etc