1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Guest]

So, well, this isn't really an update I guess, although I did get a couple of things done, and I mean just a couple.

I've ordered a set of rings from Boulevard Suzuki in the US (great price, reasonable postage, good service so far), so time to get the cylinders and head cleaned up so I can send them off to the blasting guy in Jimboomba.

Before:



After a dip in marine clean and a good strong hosing off:



All I need to do now is give them a once over to see if there's any leftover hardened crud on them, then get the remaining gasket bits off and the cam end rubbers. One of those came off nice and easy, the other three are still stuck on with some gasket stuff.

The other minor thing I did today was get the missing grommet that I found on top of the headlight ear so the front end's pretty much right minus the headlight and torqueing up the bolts:



It's a bit hard to see there, just under the top triple clamp. It means the ears don't flop together now and hold themselves apart, and should hopefully also mean no moisture making its way down the inside of the ear.



So I'm currently still waiting for the cam chain to arrive so I can get the bottom end together, then once I get the cylinders and head back from Jimboomba, I need to get myself a little ball hone and hone the cylinders, then when the rings arrive I should be set to start on the valves.

On a bit of a side note, the one big thing stopping me getting at least the transmission in at the moment is that I only have a little bit of time late at night to work on it. However, given the tight confines in the garage, I can't actually get to the motor because the frame's in the way, and I can't put that anywhere else with the cars in the garage.

So, as previously mentioned, the pavers are down for the garden shed and it arrived on Tuesday, so hopefully tomorrow avo the shed will go up, crap will go out there, and the frame can stay away from the motor.



The bit of timber's just to stop the shed front falling down as it's been a bit windy this week.

Here's hopin'!!

 

[Guest]

Got the cam end rubbers out this morning, but no pic's at the moment, will get more when I finish getting all the gasket remains off before packing it up.

In the meantime, here's what several beers on a Sunday afternoon will get you:



Of course after doing that, it's compulsory to have more beers... especially for someone who's never done anything like that before.

I almost added this to my "never doing again list", but then I sorta started to enjoy it, so I'll leave it as a neutral for now...

 

[KC1908]

Pete,

I have been using that threebond for years. Put race engines and street engines together with it. Used it on engine cases and copper head gaskets. Even used it instead of a base gasket to get a bit more compression into a race engine. Worth the extra cost. Ball hones are a bit expensive if you are only going to use it once. I use a three stone hone with heaps of lube. Just a quick spin up and down to remove the glaze.

Ken

 

[Guest]

Cheers Ken, glad I'm not being ripped off then! Contrary to how I say some things, I'm not adverse to spending a dollar on a quality item, I just don't like being ripped, so glad this is good stuff.

My only concern with the threebond is working out how much to put on and how to get it up nice and close to the bearing halves so it seals without sealing the bearing along with it...

I got the ball hone idea from other threads on the forum here as being the best option, but seeing as I haven't done it before, I have no idea what they cost or what else is suitable, so thanks for the heads up on that too.

I haven't looked at what to lube it with yet, but do you just use engine oil or is there some special honing lubricant to use?

 

[Guest]

Well it looks like it's gonna be a good week and it's only Monday

Had 16 upgrades to do in three days at work, but got them all done within 8 hours today... yay. Much smoother than squeezing 18 last week into one evening and one day because the first two days were a waste of time due to issues...

Next good thing was I got to call the guy from Specialised Blasting Services today and I can ship my cylinders and head off tomorrow for blasting.

So went down tonight and finished the cleanup ready for it:





Got it all bubble wrapped and some packing in the box and will get the house mate to pack it up some more tomorrow as he has heaps of stuff at his work (including courier vouchers for the trip):



So that's all set. Forgot to ask the guy how long he would need it for, but I'm in no hurry so as long as it's back in a couple of weeks I don't see a problem, and that's probably being optimistic...

So the last thing so far today to go well is I got home to find a package on the dining room table for me:



One cam chain finally arrived from the US! I measured it up against the old one and it's definitely the right one, so I'm all set now to get the bottom end together when I can get some time.

 

[SVSooke]

Good,I know you have been waiting on that.Hope the blaster doesn't have your parts that long.

 

[Guest]

Cheers, and yep I have been indeed, but at least I've had other productive stuff to do like the garden shed.

I'll be surprised if I get the bottom end together before Christmas to be honest, but I'm gonna give it a go, so I expect the head and cylinders will be back well before I'm ready for them.

 

[Guest]

One thing I also got yesterday was a reply to my email to the transport department about the legality of running pod air filters and a custom exhaust.

Apparently pod air filters are very much legal as long as they're as good or better than the standard, the vehicle still complies to emission requirements applicable at the time of manufacture, and that they're made of flame resistant material.

So as long as I stick with K&N I should be good

Unfortunately the exhaust isn't so easy.

I know as much as it must be under 100dB(A) during a stationery noise test, but they also state...

Any replacement part of the silencing system must show the trademark or the name of the original manufacturer of the system.

Which will be interesting if I end up making it myself.

I've replied to get clarification on this point...

 

[Macguyver]

I know as much as it must be under 100dB(A) during a stationery noise test, but they also state...

Any replacement part of the silencing system must show the trademark or the name of the original manufacturer of the system.

Which will be interesting if I end up making it myself.

I've replied to get clarification on this point...

That's not a problem Pete, grab a set of letter punches and stamp "Made By Pete" and you are good to go!

 

[Ricko19]

LOL :clap:

Great to see more progress Pete! Good job on the shed too - very handy little things

Hope u get a good bit more done before Chrissy!

 

[Charlie G]

Petes Pipes Unlinited:-\\\

 

[Guest]

Hahaha cheers for the suggestions Mac and Charlie!

I actually think I've slightly misread it and that it's actually only the silencer that needs a brand, meaning I can't just stick a baffle in a pipe and say it's ok, I actually would need to buy a branded silencer to slip on the end of the system.

And cheers Ricko, that shed is gonna make life so much easier, can't wait to get it anchored to the brick wall and start stacking it up.

I got a call back from Tranzac Exhausts this avo as I filled out a quick question on their web form on the weekend to get a rough idea on a custom exhaust.

The guy who called reckons somewhere in the region of $450 - 500 should see it done and they'd just need the bike onsite to fit it all up.

If it really turns out to be that cheap, then wow I'm doing it! I expected twice that price for a custom 2 into 1.

I might call them back tomorrow though as it was a bit rushed on my part as I was right in the middle of something when he called.

 

[Guest]

Firstly, I got an SMS yesterday that the guy doing the wet blasting had received the cylinders and head and he'll get to them in a few days.

Secondly, I got an email today from USPS telling me my rings should be on their way, good stuff.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I got some stuff done tonight

Cleaned the upper crankcase bearing inserts and got them in:



Cleaned up the crankshaft thrust bearings and in they went, although they don't like to just sit there on their own terribly well:



Cleaned up the crank shaft:



Wiped down the new cam chain to get most of the packing grease off and cleaned up the counter balancer shaft and popped the cam chain on the crank shaft:



Then I put what I believe to be a "thin film of molybdenum disulfide lubricant" on the bearing inserts and bearing journals for both the crank shaft and counter balancer shaft. Hopefully this really is what they mean by a thin film:

 

[Guest]

Next, in went the crank shaft, and it was a little fiddly doing it by myself as the thrust bearings have a tendency to catch on the crank shaft and don't let it seat properly in the bearing insert. Fairly easy to fiddle and get it to sit though:



Last for the night was lining up the marks on the crank shaft and counter balance shaft gears and getting the counter balance shaft in:



Couple of close ups of the punch marks to line up, first one's real close but a bit blurry:



So all in all I'm pretty happy with that as some progress, just nice really to actually get something done finally.

Next up is to get the transmission back in which should be a bit of light entertainment trying to figure out what neutral is and how to get the shifting drum and forks in the right position for it.

 

[SVSooke]

Nice! Good to see this.Transmissions scare the willies out of me so good luck with that.They probably aren't that scary,just lack of experience on my part.My stuff coming along but this stuff

Has put a damper on outside activities.It's been cold to.What the heck Flaming Chainsaws was doing riding in this I don't know.Supposed to rain later today so it should be gone,snowing as I write this though.

 

[Guest]

For me, the transmission is just confusing, not too scary, trying to work out what gears where mean neutral, then 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Once I have that sorted it should be fine.

The scary work for me is going to be the head, getting the valves adjusted right and making sure the timing's spot on.

That pic sure looks cold to me!!! It's getting to the point here where I'm sweating late at night working on the bike in the garage there, so might need to sort a fan for there soon as it's not even summer yet!

Oh, and it's just started raining here too...

 

[Guest]

More done tonight, transmission is in! A lot easier than I thought it would be as I figured I was gonna get quite confused trying to find neutral, but turns out they make it real easy for ya'. Thanks Mr Suzuki Engineer dudes

So, counter shaft in first:



Cleaned up drive shaft ready to roll, forgot to get one just of the counter shaft before it went in:



And counter shaft in:



I found as long as you follow the manual closely with where it says to have the shift forks sitting for the installation, the shafts and gears pretty much line themselves up with the shift forks and they slot in very easily.

Fortunately, the engineer dude who designed this put a neutral indicator on the end of the shifting drum, which I found by mistake. Probably the only thing the manual doesn't mention in regards to putting the transmission back together.

So this is neutral:



First:



Second:



I must say, it's pretty cool spinning the counter shaft while flipping through the gears by rotating the shifting drum and watching the speed difference on the drive shaft. It's very easy to tell the difference in gear ratios as you change up and down. And of course this is a compulsory part of assembly... they tell you to make sure gear changes are smooth and correct before putting on the lower crank case. They just don't mention how much fun it can be for a noob!

So, that got it to here:



Next is the rear cam chain guide, and man, what a pain!

 

[Guest]

Gave it a good ol' clean up as well as the little rubber stoppers that help it stay seated:



Then I hit trouble.

They say to install it as this point, but unfortunately it's too wide to slide down the cam chain tunnel between the crank shaft and the crank case at that point.

There was no easy way to lift the crank shaft slightly and get it through either, as the cam chain tunnel only really opened wide enough between the crank shaft and counter balance shaft, so I had to remove them again to get the cam chain guide in.

It's hard to show you what I mean, but this is the closest I could get to displaying it:



Anyway, in it went with the rubber stoppers:



And that leaves us here:



So next I'm going back to the manual to double check I haven't missed anything yet, although I suspect I may have neglected to order a replacement clutch push rod oil seal, although I have noted the part number down in my list of parts, so maybe I did order it... hmmm... I shall have to go through my bits and pieces.

I'll have a further once over the transmission and crank shaft and counter balancer shaft to make sure I've get everything in there that belongs in there, then I can pop the bottom crank case on.

Then it will be a matter of waiting for the cylinders to return from being blasted and for the rings to turn up from Boulevard Suzuki. In the meantime I'll start cleaning the carbon off the pistons and give them a good clean up ready to roll.

 

[Ricko19]

excellent job Pete! Its not something I'd dare tackle - to say it was confusing to me (even with pics!) is an understatement!

Hope the rest of the stuff arrives quick for ya mate

 

[Guest]

Cheers Ricko. The rings will take a couple of weeks minimum, so I'll just have to be patient for them, but I should have the cylinders and head back by the end of next week.

I just worked out the seal I haven't bought a replacement for, and it's actually the gear shift shaft oil seal, I did get a replacement one for the clutch push rod.

Only catch with it is the manual doesn't tell you how to inspect it or replace it, so I'll pop a thread into the engine/gearbox forum now.

I'm imagining it's worthwhile replacing it while I have everything apart as it looks like it would be a PITA if I tried it with the crank cases together.