Well after talking to the guy at the M+B machine shop I decided to pull the rear head too. First to ensure that everything is fine back there but also to have the whole system running optimally. The front head will have new seats and will be tight. For balance it makes sense to the same in the rear.
After removing the rear head everything looks fine. The piston has a small amount of carbon but not too bad. The valves and related gear look good. I had a personal/financial delema however in this process. I realized as soon as I pulled the rear head I'd just incurred some extra costs (head gasket) but there is the feeling of doing a job right and, for me in this case, that feeling was worth the extra $17 for a rear head gasket. But the decission was harder around whether to replace all the valve guide seals. They look fine and even the head guy at M+B seemed to think leaving them was okay... BUT! When's the next time I'm going to be inside this motor if ever? After staring at my cart in checkout for WAY TOO LONG I decided to do it right even though it's another $40. I'll feel better when its all done.
All told I have another $100 order for parts. The only saving grace on this one is that I may be able to combine it with my order from the weekend to save on shipping. It hasn't been processed yet... I don't think they open till Tuesday. Yay for saving $10.
This baby should purr like a kitten when she's all back together. I can't wait... I have a lot of ideas about phase 2 (basically cosmetic) but I'm trying to stay focused on where I am now.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Total Tear Down!!!
Well I posted all my findings about loose valves and missing spring retainer parts and the consensus in the Ascot Yahoo group was to pull the head and take a look... pulling the head requires pulling the MOTOR!!! Saturday I set out on this adventure and it was a task. The main issue I figured I'd have is physically getting it out and in a workable position without dropping it or banging it around too much. The Clymer manual recommends 3 people but says 2 is doable. I lifted the engine fine by myself so I guess I'm as strong as 3 men? Sweet!
As expected the one unrestrained intake valve was hanging into the cylinder a bit. I'm going to take the head into a machine shop and have it redone. I'll probably have to replace the hanging valve. Also of note was the next suprise... there were some "nicks" or "dents" in the piston. See...
I don't think they are a major problem but I have no idea what got down in there. I'm going to clean them away from the cylinder walls and hope for the best. (there are many more close up shots in the rest of my picasa album.
One additional note... there is a reason people do motorcycle projects as "winter projects" or "summer projects"... it's because it takes so damn long to get parts. You never really know what you need till you start tearing things apart. When I bought this bike I figured a couple weeks of adjustments and clean up and she'd be good to go. Nope I have the motor out and apart... I'm going to be waiting two weeks for parts. I have no idea why it takes so long. Then I have to start putting it back together. In the mean time I'll get the fork seals done and the master cylinder that I bought of ebay installed.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Valves are not fun...
After going back and fourth from the Ascot Yahoo Group and my bike for several days trying to figure out why it won't run on two cyclinders I have it running.... but it makes a hell of a lot of noise... too much noise if you know what I mean.
What follows is from my post at the Ascot Yahoo Group
Well after much tinkering, pondering and bugging of Neil (thank you) I think the ignition is working fine. I got her to fire up tonight and both pipes got hot so she was firing on all two. Still making a lot of racket though. So, per Neil's advice I decided to make sure the valves were adjusted right. I pulled the little covers off the number one valve cover and noticed that there were little dings in the cover.... weird. Then I noticed there was no lock nut on one of the intake valves... And so here we go... pull stuff off to make room... pull off the valve cover and start to look around and I find the nut... then the metal ring that goes on top of the spring but I couldn't find the stay (little part that holds it all together on the valve stem). I hit the Clymer manual and it looks like I have to pull the head to get that all back together. This raises a couple questions.
1. Is there a way to get this all back together without pulling the head?
2. Does that passage that the cam chain comes up go all the way to the bottom of the crank case? I'm guessing the stay might have made the journey!
3. Is there any other damage I should be looking for resulting from the parts floating around? FWIW: The nut and ring were pretty nicely stashed out of the way. No scratches or dings to speak of.
One other interesting note. Not only did the idiot that last adjusted these not tighten the nut enough, the other cearances are ZERO!!! I couldn't cram my smallest feeler in them let alone 0.1mm. I pulled the covers on the rear and all the hardware is in place there. I'm hoping once I get all the valves corrected this baby should purr...
Pretty stupid of the previous owner. He probably had no manual and no idea what he was doing. I'm feeling pretty good that I'll have her up and running shortly though.
Here is the money shot:
More Pics as usual at my picasa page.
What follows is from my post at the Ascot Yahoo Group
Well after much tinkering, pondering and bugging of Neil (thank you) I think the ignition is working fine. I got her to fire up tonight and both pipes got hot so she was firing on all two. Still making a lot of racket though. So, per Neil's advice I decided to make sure the valves were adjusted right. I pulled the little covers off the number one valve cover and noticed that there were little dings in the cover.... weird. Then I noticed there was no lock nut on one of the intake valves... And so here we go... pull stuff off to make room... pull off the valve cover and start to look around and I find the nut... then the metal ring that goes on top of the spring but I couldn't find the stay (little part that holds it all together on the valve stem). I hit the Clymer manual and it looks like I have to pull the head to get that all back together. This raises a couple questions.
1. Is there a way to get this all back together without pulling the head?
2. Does that passage that the cam chain comes up go all the way to the bottom of the crank case? I'm guessing the stay might have made the journey!
3. Is there any other damage I should be looking for resulting from the parts floating around? FWIW: The nut and ring were pretty nicely stashed out of the way. No scratches or dings to speak of.
One other interesting note. Not only did the idiot that last adjusted these not tighten the nut enough, the other cearances are ZERO!!! I couldn't cram my smallest feeler in them let alone 0.1mm. I pulled the covers on the rear and all the hardware is in place there. I'm hoping once I get all the valves corrected this baby should purr...
Pretty stupid of the previous owner. He probably had no manual and no idea what he was doing. I'm feeling pretty good that I'll have her up and running shortly though.
Here is the money shot:
More Pics as usual at my picasa page.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Keeping Track of Costs
Well I have had the bike for a little over three weeks now. I've spent some money on blinkers and ordered parts for fixing up the carbs and fuel delivery (arived today by the way). So I figured it was time to add up the costs and see where we're at:
Thats not too bad but considering I haven't done much yet and it's not running I'm getting a bit concerned that I'm not going to meet my goal of $1000 up and running. Even worse I keep "finding" things I would like to get for it.
| Bike purchase | $480 |
| Ordered Parts (carbs) | $100 |
| Lights/Signals | $50 |
| Title/Tax | $80 |
| Fork Seals | $50 |
| Total so Far | $760 |
Thats not too bad but considering I haven't done much yet and it's not running I'm getting a bit concerned that I'm not going to meet my goal of $1000 up and running. Even worse I keep "finding" things I would like to get for it.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Nothing New
Most of the parts I need should be in tomorrow so I'll be working on getting everything installed in the next week or so. Got lots of time this week since I only work one day this week! The only change since last post is that I bought at new flasher at NAPA Auto Parts. Generic, three contact unit that will have to be modded to work.
More next time.
More next time.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Blinkers Blink
Well the blinkers are up and running. I had to fabricate a longer stem for the new (smaller) front blinkers but it looks pretty good. It's not a stock look but I'm beginning to give up on the stock stuff. I've never been a restoration purist but I wanted a pretty stock machine. That was until I went out look for / buying replacement parts. The two pack of blinkers I bought were $25. The stock look blinkers (which were chrome instead of black) were $25 EACH SIDE. I'm cool with keeping costs down... and so is my wife!
Getting it all back together was a pretty interesting fight. I had repaired the speedometer but not yet installed it. So I had the blinkers, headlight and speedo to install. I first put the speedo back in place but it covers the mount bolts for the little metal brackets that hold the blinkers and headlight. So I had to pull it back off. This kind of thing went round and round for a while juggling parts. Finally got the headlight in and noticed it was crooked. Turns out a small tang that supports the previously mentioned "little metal brackets" was bent down slightly. Had to mess around with it very slowly and very carefully for a while to get it back in alignment. Once I did I started the parts installation dance again and eventually got everything back in a hooked up. When I tested everything.... no blink. I got it to blink after beating on the flasher relay a few times but it later stopped again. Looks like I'll have to replace that too.
Pics to come later.
Getting it all back together was a pretty interesting fight. I had repaired the speedometer but not yet installed it. So I had the blinkers, headlight and speedo to install. I first put the speedo back in place but it covers the mount bolts for the little metal brackets that hold the blinkers and headlight. So I had to pull it back off. This kind of thing went round and round for a while juggling parts. Finally got the headlight in and noticed it was crooked. Turns out a small tang that supports the previously mentioned "little metal brackets" was bent down slightly. Had to mess around with it very slowly and very carefully for a while to get it back in alignment. Once I did I started the parts installation dance again and eventually got everything back in a hooked up. When I tested everything.... no blink. I got it to blink after beating on the flasher relay a few times but it later stopped again. Looks like I'll have to replace that too.
Pics to come later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)