what did you wrench on today??

[chuck hahn]

Went over to Frank Zs place and we looked over the head and cover surfaces with a flat edge of a steel ruler just to see if there were any low spots or anything that looked out of place and didnt find anything. So we threw the new Suzuki factroy gasket in and used the torque wrench and followed the service manuls torque recommendations and he took it out for a good ride. came back bone dry. Did some oher fiddling with his spare Cooley tank and I formulated a plan to rehab that. Unfortunately theres some pretty bad rusted thru spots right at the top front of the tank that I will have to weld and get squared away. I am on my way out to snap a picture of the offending area and will post back in a few minutes...stand by.

[Nessism]

Went over to Frank Zs place and we looked over the head and cover surfaces with a flat edge of a steel ruler just to see if there were any low spots or anything that looked out of place and didnt find anything. So we threw the new Suzuki factroy gasket in and used the torque wrench and followed the service manuls torque recommendations and he took it out for a good ride. came back bone dry. Did some oher fiddling with his spare Cooley tank and I formulated a plan to rehab that. Unfortunately theres some pretty bad rusted thru spots right at the top front of the tank that I will have to weld and get squared away. I am on my way out to snap a picture of the offending area and will post back in a few minutes...stand by.

What's going on with Frank's S? Pulled the head?

[chuck hahn]

Ed ..we went ovet it with a fine toothed comb and came up a blank as far as any damage, warpage or anything out of place..Guess that Veshra gasket was just a pile of crap. We did notice that the OEM Suzuki one was a bit more thicker and a different density of material than the Veshra. He took it for about a 10 mile ride and came back bone dry. After we fiddled with the tank and the engine had cooled he took it back out and not so much as a speck anywhere. Best I can come up with was the Veshra gaskets are basically crap as compared to OEM stock parts. While she was open we cleaned the half moon areas and applied a thin bead of Ultra Black on those for added assurance the cam ends wouldnt leak.

[Nessism]

Ed ..we went ovet it with a fine toothed comb and came up a blank as far as any damage, warpage or anything out of place..Guess that Veshra gasket was just a pile of crap. We did notice that the OEM Suzuki one was a bit more thicker and a different density of material than the Veshra. He took it for about a 10 mile ride and came back bone dry. After we fiddled with the tank and the engine had cooled he took it back out and not so much as a speck anywhere. Best I can come up with was the Veshra gaskets are basically crap as compared to OEM stock parts. While she was open we cleaned the half moon areas and applied a thin bead of Ultra Black on those for added assurance the can ends wouldnt leak.

I've used Athena gaskets before and they are crap. The valve cover gasket feels like cardboard, compared to OEM which is sort of rubbery. Never tried Veshra and don't plan too (once bit, twice shy).

[chuck hahn]

The Veshra one seemed to be a lot harder and denser of material than the Stock Zookie one..I always go with stock gaskets on all my covers and dont have problems.

[SVSooke]

The Veshra one seemed to be a lot harder and denser of material than the Stock Zookie one..I always go with stock gaskets on all my covers and dont have problems.

I was going to"cheap out" on gaskets fot the 78 1000.Think I was wise to go OEM.

[chuck hahn]

There ( to me ) are some things that can be done cheaper and easier. But the job that gasketry is just isnt a place for me to skimp.

[Monty]

I can't wait until I have a garage so I can actually sit down and do some of this ****. Its tough doing things in a parking lot. Rarely I go to my parents to borrow their garage.

[Toasty]

Replaced the stator and did an oil change, switching to synthetic Rotella from the regular Rotella dino juice. Also I replaced all the bullet connectors on the back half of the bike with nice new ones. Thats it for today, whew.

[Shin-Ken 1074]

The Veshra one seemed to be a lot harder and denser of material than the Stock Zookie one..I always go with stock gaskets on all my covers and dont have problems.

Yeah, I'll back you on that one! Experience has proved that O.E.M. gaskets are cheaper because you only have to buy one of them for each job. When the aftermarket one leaks and then needs replacing with a non leaking genuine item you haven't saved a cent or the time involved! And don't even think about using an aftermarket headgasket .......

[Guest]

Can only agree on aftermarket gaskets... ended up getting an Athena kit for my 450 as I didn't know about Boulevard Suzuki back then and no OEM kits available for the 450's any more meaning genuine gaskets were just way too expensive locally, although I did fork out for a base gasket and O rings and seals etc. for the bottom end.

Head gasket is Athena, and my fingers are crossed daily it holds up, but I replaced the valve cover gasket because it sounds like what Chuck found with the Vesra gasket.

I never could get the Athena gasket to stop weeping, just constantly damp around the seals even though it was torqued up properly, and the valve breather cover I just discovered is doing the same.

Since I put the genuine valve cover gasket on during the first service, it's been bone dry except for the breather cover. I'll get a genuine one to replace that in the second service...

Oh, and I cut down the after market carry rack this avo to work out how to bend and cut it to weld onto the stock grab rail that's still not here from the US yet...

[Frank Z.]

The Veshra one seemed to be a lot harder and denser of material than the Stock Zookie one..I always go with stock gaskets on all my covers and dont have problems.

I was going to"cheap out" on gaskets fot the 78 1000.Think I was wise to go OEM.

Oh come on guys, Vesrah makes a fine gasket... and i just happen to have 2 for sale. Cheap. Really cheap.

Thanks for the hand, Chuck. Roll on down for bike night, and i'll have a bologna samich ready for ya.

[Guest]

Oh come on guys, Vesrah makes a fine gasket... and i just happen to have 2 for sale. Cheap. Really cheap.

Thanks for the hand, Chuck. Roll on down for bike night, and i'll have a bologna samich ready for ya.

Yeah I still have a brand new unused Athena base gasket too... I'll even give it away

[Dave8338]

Pulled the complete front suspension out of the T-Bird yesterday.

Ball joints frozen.
Lower control arm bushings (2-4) frozen.
Drivers side coil spring broken.
Right front strut leaking.


New KYB struts on the shelf.
Complete Energy Suspension bushings for EVERYTHING, on the shelf.
Moog Ball joints on the shelf.
Energy Suspension sway bar links, on the shelf.
New springs on the way.
4 new tires paid for and waiting here at work.

Tie rods are tight so they are going to stay...

And I wonder why my wife calls the T-Bird, "the Money Pit".

[Greenbraes]

soda blasted the 2 front calipers, the carriers were to good to repaint...preped the bodies and painted with PJ-1 black gloss......I have never used the gloss before and it is a nightmare to spray....they are done and curing over night but to be honest the finish is not as good as I would want....I could see them getting re blasted and some other paint used...but we'll wait and see, suppose you can get away with a few indiscretions on a brake caliper...not worth a photo..yet!

RB