Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Well done Gos, you da man!!!

Ugly but interesting.

s man wrote:....Well done Gos, you da man!!! .....

fezzick wrote:.....Ugly but interesting. .....

well I am interesting ! but no oil painting I have to agree with you there Phil....

Steve - one step at a time with this rig - its being done on a budget, and I don't want to rush anything either.......

but looking forward to the next step, and getting the cases apart. This is basically the last step in checking out *the motor* - and then away we go with some nice new bits

At this stage, I don't really expect to have the motor finished much before Xmas. There are quite a few parts that need to be purchased, and this will be done in stages.

I should have the cylinder head back from old mate shortly - he is sorting out a spark plug thread and also removing the busted exhaust valve guide.

Those springs are totaly rooted as you say Gos but i have never seen them or any other spring crumble like that either but as the old saying goes "It could be worst"keep up the good work

Gos, what size thread is the spark plug? and how much work is required for a new thread? If it is a 14mmx1.25 (which i have found a few older bikes have, and it is the same as a lot of cars, and my RF's sump plug) I have a helicoil kit you guys can have at a reasonable price if that works for you (It's intact, minus the one coil i tried to use but mangled).

mike-s wrote:Gos, what size thread is the spark plug? and how much work is required for a new thread? If it is a 14mmx1.25 (which i have found a few older bikes have, and it is the same as a lot of cars, and my RF's sump plug) I have a helicoil kit you guys can have at a reasonable price if that works for you (It's intact, minus the one coil i tried to use but mangled).

14x1.25 would be fine mate - I can use it for some other heads I have here. Shoot us a pm ......thanks for the offer

pm sent.

Gosling1 wrote:.... I don't really expect to have the motor finished much before Xmas...

hehehehe

DON'T YOU START !!



If we end up scoring a lot more of the stuff we need from happy donating punters (and a few more are popping up out of the woodwork) - it will happen a lot sooner.

MickLC wrote:

Gosling1 wrote:.... I don't really expect to have the motor finished much before Xmas...

hehehehe

Glad that was you noting that Mick

What has caused such a build up of moisture to destroy the clutch like that?

the bike was outside under a tarp in Dapto for about 10 years I think.

Lots of condensation ?? The entire clutch pack is fucked, the hub is dirty but can be reclaimed - the basket looks OK at this early stage, but until I have a really good poke around the bottom end - one of my favourite jobs in the 4th it has to be said - I won't know how good/bad the gearbox bearings etc are......

More pics when you split it if you can Dave.
Would have been the last thing I would have expected to have rusted like that. Oil floats on water and all. Was it drained of oil during that time?
Gearbox should be OK but may need new snap rings / washers if the moisture inside was that bad. Gears and shafts will survive.
All the more satisfaction in reviving something so far gone.
Good luck.

I'll have some photos tomorrow mate - split the cases this afternoon, clutch basket is snafu (rusted) - crank wheels are much better than I thought (only surface rust), both gear shafts look fine, not much wear on the selector forks or grooves. Not sure about the shift drum yet, it looks a bit dodgy with rust, but may clean up OK.

Happy now, I can start giving the last few things a mighty clean, and may even get some bits painted tomorrow.

OK, due to the fucking idiots who caused the biggest toxic chemical inferno ever seen here in the nations capital, I was on-call for the whole weekend. Missed all the racing today at Wakefield Park, fuckin' spewing about THAT let me tell ya.

So it seemed like a good idea to keep doing some work on the motor for Shadowfax.

Yesterday, split the cases. Today - cleaned like a bitch ! Stuffed 2 t-shirts with massive amounts of degreasing-spray blow-back out of the cleaning boxes........ ya get that on the big jobs.

Here are some photos of the state of the job thus far.


Dirty dirty crankcase halves......lots of really old baked-on oil residue on the outside, and dirty crusty bearing surfaces and gasket/case mating surfaces on the inside.......












That last photo shows how much rusty crap was inside the clutch area...

Here is the clutch basket. Stuffed, we need a new one. Hopefully one coming from a certain PCRA president in the not-too-distant future




Here is the crank before it got a good tub. Although not really visible in this shot, some of the crank webs had some serious surface corrosion, and #3 rod was a bit sticky. Lots of dirty old oily crap and shite everywhere......



Here is the crank as it looks now, after a massive clean-up. It looks and feels 100% better in every respect.






You can literally eat your dinner out of the sump now. I had a magnificent Spag Bol out of it tonight actually !




I didn't manage to get any of the engine parts painted today, that will have to wait until the weekend after next. But both upper and lower cases are looking 100% better, all gasket surfaces have come up well, and all the baked-on oil residue is gone. I did paint the rear drum-brake carrier though.......the weather was too good not to paint *something* !







So that is where we are at the moment. I will be ordering some bits ( engine gasket kit, new cam chain, APE tensioner and some other bits) within the next week. Still need to do some tidying up of the other engine covers yet, but happy with the progress to date. Phil dropped past last night, and picked up the re-built Marzocchi shocks, and was excited with how far we have come, and all the help that has been offered. He also got to eyeball 29mm of smoothbore goodness !! That little addition will make all the difference.

This week - the rear hub is done (blasted), so all I need to do is collect it, then I can fit up some new wheel bearings and take it over to the local dude who is lacing the wheels up for this bike. Once the wheels are done - all we are waiting on for a rolling chassis, is the re-built original swingarm from Chris Dowde in Sydney. That will be a major milestone in this project !