'78 GS750 Intake Discovery

[748cc]

Folks,

As this is my first attempt at doing carb/intake work on a GS model of any kind, I wanted to pass this pic along & ask if anyone's ever encountered such a mess!! Took me nearly two hours off & on to get these three suckers off (No.4 is gonna need a hack saw to at least one screw head b4 it'll come off I'm afraid). I'm now on the fence whether I should just buy new ones. . .

It kinda looks like the sealant used on the outer edges of the airbox where the rubber endcap boots lay. Or perhaps dried out decades old lithum grease?? At any rate, Is this something factory or a certified repair shop would typically do? All comments welcome. Thanks in advance; Bring On 2019!!

[jsandidge]

There should be no sealant used. There is an o-ring that sits in a groove. That is the black petrified ring you see. The o-ring should be the only thing used.

[748cc]

I was afraid of that At least NOW I feel it can be corrected. Any suggestions on how I should prep the face(s) of the head's intake ports? There's some remains there too (thinking acetone & #0000 steel wool).

TIA

[Steve]

Just scrape off the crud, pull the (petrified) o-ring out and touch them lightly to a belt sander with some fine (220?) paper.

New o-rings for your intake boots and your carbs can be purchased very inexpensively from cycleorings.com.

.

[748cc]

Yup-Bought the o-rings & new intake bolts nearly a month ago when I set up to rebuild my carbs. They were a mess too, but not anymore! So, once I get these cleaned up & ready to mount, should I not use a skim of grease to hold the o-rings in place? Certainly not as much as the crud I found here, just enough to provide 'tack'.

[Big T]

Yeah, a dab of grease or something sticky to keep the O rings in place while you mount them

[Agemax]

I use high temperature vacuum grease. helps keep them in place and makes for a good leak free seal.