1979 GS550L Project, new guy

[tbrand69]

Hey guys, thought I would move my stuff to this section, as it seemed more apporpriate. Original thread is here:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=196553

So the plan is not to do a full restoration, or turn it a bobber or anything. It's just to fix it up a little bit, maybe modify a few things (the bars, oh god the bars), lighten it up a tad. Here's some pics to get the ball rolling:




I've worked on bikes before, but they were all Harleys, which I still love. I wanted to do something different, and I always liked the old Jap inline fours, so I figured I'd snatch one up. So far it's like stepping onto an old pair of familiar shoes.

I will keep this thread going until I finish the project, sell the bike, or die. I'm hoping for the two former.

Tommy

[tbrand69]

So got a few things taken off the bike so far.

Fuel tank:


And carbs:



Holy sh!t, what a pain in the ass to remove. Those damn things sucked. But they're off, so now I'm ready to dig into them. I still have to order the new o-rings and gaskets for the carbs, as well as the o-rings for the boots. I should probably also order new boots while I'm at it.

In the meantime, I will begin trying to de rust the tank.


Tommy

[tbrand69]

Began de-rusting the tank today. After reading through a few threads here, I settled on the cheapest, most convenient method:


Started last night, so I'll let it run through the weekend, changing the angle of the tank every now and then.

In the meantime, I began taking the carbs apart.


Good god, the choke rod was stiff. All caked up with crap, so that's gonna get a good cleaning. The throttle shaft was a little tricky, as i thought it was just held on by those five bolts. After going insane with rage, i finally found the little clip that seats around the shaft and screws to Carb 2. Things went smoothly after he came off.


And here's #4 getting taken apart. The only other carb I'd dissassembled before was a Keihn CV from a Sportster. Fortunately, most carbs seem to follow a similar layout, so this Mikuni was no problem.


However, I could not remove the throttle stop plate, as its two screws are set pretty damn tight. I'm really afraid of stripping them, as I've tried to get them off using a Phillips head attached to a ratchet. Even with the added leverage and the use of penetrating oil, the screws just barely began to strip, so I stopped. Any ideas on how to get them off?

Tommy

[sammy123]

However, I could not remove the throttle stop plate, as its two screws are set pretty damn tight. I'm really afraid of stripping them, as I've tried to get them off using a Phillips head attached to a ratchet. Even with the added leverage and the use of penetrating oil, the screws just barely began to strip, so I stopped. Any ideas on how to get them off?

Tommy

I bought a second carb set for extra parts and to learn on before I took apart my '77 GS550 and I stripped two screws on that part. I have no idea how you get those out. I am glad I messed those two up instead of my good set. Maybe heat would help? Someone around here has to have an answer.

Maybe post your questions in the carb section. Best of luck.

[tbrand69]

So carbs are getting cleaned out. while the new gaskets and o-rings are on the way. They look lovely inside:


This might help explain some poor power isues above 35 mph:


Poor fuel delivery could also be the cause:



And holy crap these screws suck to get out:


I think I'll go to the hardware store to replace them with new brass screws, 'cause these things threaten to strip everytime I try to take apart the slide assembly. Blehg.

The fuel tank cleaning has come along very well. After sitting for a few days with 2 gallons of white wine vinegar:


Looks way better than before. With a quick blast from the garden hose:


Fantastic. I threw in some rubbing alcohol and sloshed it around to help evaporate the remaining water, then sprayed a crap ton of WD-40 to prevent rust while it waits to be thrown back on the bike. I'll flush it with gasoline when it is ready to be remounted.

The fuel sending unit (correct term?) has probably seen better days:


But it cleaned up pretty well. However, look what I found rolling around in the tank after I flushed it out:


Yumm-o. I noticed the noise of something like rocks rolling around inside when I originally took the tank off, and now I know what that was. Are those things clumps of rust, or carbon deposits or something?

I had a bit of an issue before when replacing the spark plugs when the new plugs wouldn't fit inside the plug wires. Well as it turns out the little caps on the plugs screw off:


I had no idea they did that, and now they fit the old plug wires. So yay.


Question: does anybody know if the sync screws on top of the slides have to be set the same for every carb?

Also, would Z1 be the best place to buy a new petcock? They seem to hae very good prices. Also, these carbs use the old style fuel tees and straights with ridges instead of o-rings; where can I get new tees and straights?

Tommy

[tbrand69]

I bought a second carb set for extra parts and to learn on before I took apart my '77 GS550 and I stripped two screws on that part. I have no idea how you get those out. I am glad I messed those two up instead of my good set. Maybe heat would help? Someone around here has to have an answer.

Maybe post your questions in the carb section. Best of luck.

Thanks for the encouragement. It looks like I won't have to remove to work on the carbs, so I'm happy about that.

[tbrand69]

Okay so I have been slowly stripping the bike down while waiting for new parts to show up. O-rings and whatnot should arrive soon, while the bulk of the other parts (carb boots, speedo cable, gaskets, etc.) arrive next week.

Before I dipped the carb rack i wanted to make sure I didn't miss any o-rings or non-metal parts. Good thing I double checked:



These little guys were in each of the brass bushings where the throttle rod slides in. They are very soft and appear to be made from cotton or something. I have no idea where I can get new ones, but the old ones seem to be reusable.

Also tried my hand at removing the exhaust. I figured only the muffler sections could be removed, but I was wrong; the mufflers and headers are pretty much all connected, so I had to remove the whole package. Things were going smoothly until Head #3:



D'oh! Fortunately, there's plenty of nub left to work with, so I will be drilling and extracting that little guy this weekend. I was gonna buy new hardware anyways...


Also got the rear wheel off without too much difficulty:


I'm not used to bikes with center stands, so I was completely paranoid that the whole thing would topple over once the weight of the rear wheel came off. Glad I was proved wrong.

That gave me a chance to check out the rear sprocket, too. This guy is still useable, right? Right?



So that's it for now. I'm continuing to learn about these old Fours and am enjoying it so far. I'll be ordering some new stuff from Z1 pretty soon here, like a new petcock, bars, a Hayes manual, grips, etc. More to come.

Tommy

[bbytes]

I would just stick a vice grips on that bolt and turn it out. Plenty of space on it for that.

[cowboyup3371]

Don't drill it. Do some research on here as this issue has been beat to death. Spray it down with PB Blaster, heat it up, spray, heat etc. Also, weld a nut onto the end of it to use.

[tbrand69]

Alright so I totally f4cked up the extraction. Tried welding a nut onto the end, and that worked for half a turn until the rest of the protruding bolt snapped off. So then all I had left was a bolt that was flushed to the engine.

So I figured I'd try the left handed thread method. I drilled a pilot hole, then sent in a larger lefty to finish up. Unfortunately, the lefty snapped off about a quarter inch into the hole. And then I got angry and started drilling and beating a punch into the hole. It's messy now:


God that looks awful. So I'd rather avoid taking the head off and paying a machine shop to drill out the hole and retap it, so do you guys have any suggestions? I feel real bad and embarrassed about this, as it reflects on my ability to get things done. But all I care about is getting this thing fixed.

Tommy

[tbrand69]

Okay so I admitted defeat. I'm just going to drill out the entire area--bolt, threads and all. I read a tech article about drilling the hole larger than stock, then tapping it for a larger bolt. I would seal the larger bolt shaft in there, then drill and tap that to the stock 8mm size. I can't weld aluminum so this would be simpler choice. Bad thing is that I have to remove the heads from the engine; I have almost no leverage to drill anything with everything still in the frame.

I'll worry about this later. Once I get the carbs rebuilt, the sprockets and chain replaced, and the forks reconditioned, I'll pull the heads and do what needs to be done, then reinstall and check the valves. Then I can finally tune the damn thing.

Tommy

[tbrand69]

Okay so I got things back on track a little bit. Got the exhaust bolt drilled out and tapped with a Permacoil, so that is good to go. Thanks for all the advice and support. Pics up soon.

Got the carbs rebuilt and reinstalled, and holy sh!t, what a pain in the ass to get back on. Don't know if I did it right, but I double checked the manifold boots and airbox boots and they all appear to be seated correctly. Airbox is mounted up and good to go.

I'm in the process of trying to make a new tail light mount because the stock one is ugly as sin. It's like the opposite of the limp d!ck tail light; this one is fully erect and ready to go. I figure I'll lay the license plate down and mount a smaller light above it, maybe a round one, or a used Harley unit.

More to come soon.

Tommy

[tbrand69]

Here's the hole that I finally drilled out:


Here's the coil installed:


I was a dumbass and ordered the wrong sprocket for the rear:


Sent it back to CRC and am waiting for it's replacement. Stupid me.

Carbs assembled and ready to go:


Got some new fuel straights to use:



Not quite exactly the same, but they seat well and everything lines up, so I'm happy. The fuel tee is still the old stock one, since I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement:


I might do what another GS'er suggested and dip both ends of the tee in that plasti-dip stuff to renew the tee's sealing power.

Got the brakes off and dug through them:



Yumm-o. I have a new thread in Tires/Suspension/Brakes detailing my trials and tribulations trying to find replacement rubber parts, so that is still ongoing.

Got a list of things that need to be done and I'm trying to check them off one a time. It's getting there.

Tommy