Head removal question on 82 550L

[DimitriT]

I'm about to remove the cam caps but I noticed there's a rubber or plastic cam chain guide/cushion at the front which extends down. Do I remove this or do I leave it in and lift the head off and above it. The Clymer's manual doesn't indicate that this gets removed but I want to make sure.

Also, is there any prep I should do prior to removing the caps. Any timing related things I should worry about. I guess its all in the reinstall but this is my first time taking the head off and I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. I've got the tensioner off and the chain is nice and loose. I will remove the cams and hang the chain with a wire so it doesn't fall.

Once I remove the head, I will probably want a new gasket. Can I stop there or do I need to remove the cylinders and replace the base gasket too?

BTW, this is to fix a cross threading screw up. The cross thread actually happened as I was removing a compression tester fitting. The threads on that particular hole had already been hosed by the PO and I should have been more gentle with it. Now I'm taking it apart to get a helicoil in there.

[Nessism]

I think the cam chain guide in the front pulls straight out the top (if it clears the frame that is).

Regarding the motor in general, if it were my motor I'd go ahead and pull the cylinders off since the oil gets to the top of the motor up through passages around some of the hold down studs and now that you loosened the clamp load on the gasket it may leak. It's also a good time to replace the valve stem seals and check the valves for wear. A little more work but worth it I think.

[mark]

I'm about ready to do this on my bike as well. Common widsom as I understand it says that if you remove the head to replace the head gasket, the base gasket should be replaced as well. Since the cylinder head bolts also hold the cylinder block in place its virtual certainty that the cylinder block will move a little it as you remove the head and cause that old brittle gasket to start leaking.

I'll be replacing mine for sure.

[DimitriT]

OK, so I'm tearing down all the way. So far everything is going smoothly.
The only gotcha was a bit of sand which spilled out of the center stud holes. Some probably fell into the case. I wish I had a vacume cleaner ready when I was lifting the cylinders off.

Now I have a question: I am checking the compression ring ends gaps and they are coming in on the upper range of "normal". The manual gives the range of 0.10 - 0.30. The are at or just above 0.30. The service limit is 0.70. Should I put in new rings?

[Dink]

Do the rings, replace the valve stem seals and lap the velves in.
Might as well do iy whilst it is torn down.

Dink

[rgierer]

The thing about conventional wisdom is it is not for every one. Last year I put a new head gasket on my 1100G. I took the head to a machine shop to have some thread repair done, and to do all the work required. The machinist told me that unless I was going to be racing the bike he didn't reccomend doing any more work on it.

I replaced the head gasket and left the base gasket alone. I have had no problems leaking at all.

Maybe I was just lucky.

I found the head gasket to be a plenty big under taking, particiularly since I had to pull the cams off more than once to get the timing correct (180 off).

I traded that bike for another one 3 months later and I can assure you I would have had no increased value had I done more.

I think we need to balance conventional wisdom with our own environments, knowledge, resources and individual situations.

[DimitriT]

I'm a strong believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix". So far I see nothing broke so I'm gonna go with just cleaning the carbon off everywhere and polishin up the outsides, new gaskets and rubbers everywhere, and that's it. I don't like to replace a proven part with something new just for the sake of getting a part with 10 or 20 % less wear on it. There's always a chance you get a defective part or the wrong part, or you somehow screw up the install, etc. If the bike was blowing smoke or had some signs of burning oil in the chambers, that's obviously different.

BTW, I am amazed at how clean the motor is on the inside. There's 0 gunk and just a light amount of varnish on a few parts.

[Nessism]

Now I have a question: I am checking the compression ring ends gaps and they are coming in on the upper range of "normal". The manual gives the range of 0.10 - 0.30. The are at or just above 0.30. The service limit is 0.70. Should I put in new rings?

If the end gap is within spec. you don't need to worry. Of course, there is a lot more to ring wear than this so you need to weigh the other factors. How was the compression before the stripped threads? Assuming it was okay, you don't need to do anything further.

[DimitriT]

You guys are the best...

One more question:

how complete are the gasket sets found on CRC2? I'm looking at replacing the head, base, ignition cover and the o-rings for the top end. Is it all there?

Bikebandit sells the head gasket alone for 82.97. And the entire set on CRC2 is less than $80.