Doin the 550/673 swap, and I have some ?s

[TeamNeal]

Hello Internet. I have some questions...

I am currently in the stages of reassembly of my engine and boy I am curious, what the best way to clean my crankshaft? with all the bearings and con rods etc. I had a thought to mineral spirits, then gasoline/diesel. Idk, what do you think?

the bottom end is 1980 550E with the six speed, the top is from a 1981 650G. Ive read that with this swap its best to also change cam gears (550 gears onto 650 cams). Doing so requires drilling the 550 cam gears from 6mm to 7mm....
So I thought "cool man, ive got a drill press and a 7mm bit" not happening . Do I need to be cutting at high speed or low speed? That is the current question.

Or, or, am I just being silly and dont need to do all that.....

either way Im open to all advice, concerns, tips and tricks. Pictures tomorrow.

[TeamNeal]

bumpin the thread

[Guest]

Can't help you on the crank cleaning bit. I completely tore mine down and pulled the crank out to measure everything and make sure it was in spec. But I would suspect mineral spirits would be fine.

For cams, it depends on what you are looking for. The 550 cams will give more top end rush at the expense of low end torque. The 650 cams are the opposite. Regardless of the cam used, I recommend using the 550 sprockets. I ran the 550 cams and 550 sprockets and didn't have to modify anything (well, I did elongate the cam bolt holes so I could change the cam timing). I have not heard that using the 550 sprockets on the 650 cams require drilling anything. I would double check that.

There are quite a few detailed build threads on this swap. Bontoonike, Suzuki_Don, my own, etc. The search function is your friend.

[TeamNeal]

ok , thats what i was thinking. in regards to the cams, i wanted to use the cams that came with the 650 because they are in spec and worn to one another. the 650 cam gears have 7mm bolts, but the 550 gears have 6mm bolts. Used all my measuring devices. i did some research about drilling hardened steel and it seems that cobalt drills are the way to go.

I would love to use the search bar but every time i do, it will crash my browser, send me to google, or pretend like i hadnt tried to use it. It is a joke sometimes. tis why i started this thread. been going in through the back door on this site to find the info i need. just got tired of fruitless efforts.

[tkent02]

You have to use the 550 cam sprockets because the 650 ones don't have the same number of teeth. The 650 crank has a different sprocket on it to match the 650 cam sprockets. You can't just mix n match them.

[TeamNeal]

You are correct tkent. That is why I am going down that road. Im just having trouble drilling into the hardend steel sprockets.... arg.

[blowerbike]

i can hand file sprocket slot's....i would think you could drill them with a sharp bit???

[Guest]

I also used a simple rat tail file to slot the 550 sprockets for degreeing the cams. They didn't seem all that hard to me.

I suggest you find a way to get the search function to work. There is actually more to this swap than just swapping the heads and cam sprockets. Material will need to be removed from the lower cases. You'll have to use the 650 advance and depending on the year, may require modification to the bolt holding on the plate. The exhaust is also different between heads and requires a specific GSXR gasket if using your old 550 header. Also, to get the most benefit from the 650 head, you should set the quench up for your combo. If the quench isn't set right, you lose a lot of the benfits of the 650 head design. I, as well as others, have had to use and/or search for specific base gasket thicknesses to get the quench proper. Again, all this is explained in the threads on the swap sprinkled throughout the forums.

[TeamNeal]

Well it wont work. Could you send me a link to your build thread oh wise one...

[Krogare]

Links to threads

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=211982&highlight=550%2F673

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=183707&highlight=550%2F673

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=201268&highlight=550%2F673

A few threads, there might be more.

Enjoy

[Guest]

Thanks Krogare. Here's one more. This one covers the squish band among other things around page 15 IIRC. Happy reading!

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=164443

[TeamNeal]

Sci85, your bike is BEAUTIFUL! I ve been reading the threads you all suggested and am ready to tackle the rest of this project. Im using my phone to post to this forum so thats probably why the search bar freaks out on me. Ill get some pictures up as soon as I can figure out how to get photobucket images in.the post.

[cowboyup3371]

Sci85, your bike is BEAUTIFUL! I ve been reading the threads you all suggested and am ready to tackle the rest of this project. Im using my phone to post to this forum so thats probably why the search bar freaks out on me. Ill get some pictures up as soon as I can figure out how to get photobucket images in.the post.

Check out this link on Basscliff's page:

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/images/how_to_post_pictures.pdf

[Guest]

Sci85, your bike is BEAUTIFUL! I ve been reading the threads you all suggested and am ready to tackle the rest of this project. Im using my phone to post to this forum so thats probably why the search bar freaks out on me. Ill get some pictures up as soon as I can figure out how to get photobucket images in.the post.

Thanks TeamNeal. I appreciate the compliment. It's always gets a comment from somebody when I take her out.

And yeah, search doesn't work to well on phones. Sometimes I can't get the search bar to even show up. When I'm travelling, I don't even try to post.

Those threads will make the conversion pretty painless. That's why this site is the best on the net.

[wegs426]

Here are a few more threads I found useful that I didn't see mentioned:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=180696

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=200841

My thread has some info as well but isn't that thorough:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=193507

Feel free to message me with any questions, I highly recommend this swap.