Engine out...its party time.

And the night begins...



Just as a side note (only picture I currently have of it so here it goes), the greyish white substance on the otherwise shiny aluminum case...that can be removed with paint stripper. Apparently a number of the metric bikes have this and its a film the manufacturer puts on the engine to "protect the finish" of the aluminum. Turns out 24 years later it looks like this. Any way, helpful tip deployed...move on.













Motor came out, and valve cover came off without a hitch...then we found the chain. Keeping in mind that my Haynes Manual was here in the office (not at home where I was), this through me a short loop. There is a tensioner on the front that needs to be loosened AFTER you loosen a top end bracket that holds the little plastic guides in. I'll take better pictures to explain this if anyone needs it but its in the manuals. Figured this out and it was mostly down hill from here.



I was a bit surprised by the top of the pistons. In every picture I've seen they look flat...standard compression engine. After I got the head off I discovered the they are shaped to match the bowl in the head exactly...which means its a high compression engine. That's nice...that's quite nice. A little bit of clean up and some polishing here will have these things singing. That's a bit down the road (least a couple of days) so in the mean time I covered the cylindar wall with bearing grease (to prevent flash rust since the pistons are actually sitting in a steel sleeve). Just a note, I'm tearing into this not only because its 24 years old, but because the previous owner stated there was an oil leak. Seeing now that its a high comp engine...I'm not surprised. This thing will no doubt be needed a head gasket and a few other...improvements...


Just a peak at the head. The bowls will be polished to a mirror, the valves relapped and possibly some minor clean up around some corners. I'm not interested in porting this head...its good where it is and I've heard the power gains on this engine are minimal from such a job...so just going to be cleaning up some rough spots, rounding some edges and maybe tapering the exhaust ports a bit so they match the pipes better. I ended the night by standing the head on its side and filling the exhaust ports with parts cleaner and leaving them to soak. All and all, I'm pleased with the amount I accomplished yesterday and hopefully can accomplish as much or more over the coming weekend.

Paint and disassembly...

As promised...

This is freshly rattle-canned. I haven't had the opportunity to hit it with the 1500 grit or compound yet so...over all I'm quite pleased with the way this paint turned out. With just the color laid down it really looked like this (Duplicolor Perfect Match black w/metal specks...T90 I think...) was going to dry entirely too charcoal colored for my liking...after the five coats of clear I hit it with however, I think it darkened up nicely. Bondo work was a nightmare...but when isn't it? Over all I think I found 6 dings and dents and completely managed to hide all but one and its mostly gone (really have to be at just the right angle to see the light bend ever so slightly for the space of about a dime). Good enough for me. As hinted at next step is a wet sanding with 1500 (or higher) grit then an all out assault with an arsenal of rubbing compounds. The wet sanding will remove and orange peel effect (slightly bumpy look of the finish product you get from a spray paint can) and the different rubbing compounds will remove the sanding marks and any other blemishes left.

A night or two ago I started the real disassembly process. The back wheel is now off and the motor is all but out. For some reason I had it in my head that I would be able to pull this motor without removing the pegs and their brackets...along with a few other little odds and ends. Then reality hit me. If you are working on pulling one and you "think" you can pull it without removing that certain part..."think" again. And to pull those pegs...you are gonna need a hex key set...which I didn't have...which is why I've stopped where I've stopped. That paired with the fact that the heat index the other night when I was working on it was over 100 degrees. Hopefully I'll have another update after this weekend. Figuring out when my wife has the car and when I have the car based on who works when is getting difficult, so I expect to be hitting this project with more intent then the last few months may have indicated.

News.

Got the tank and fairings stripped and painted. Pictures to come.