1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Guest]

Cheers Don! I'm quite stoked to have it done finally, and especially thanks to my house mate and his efforts with the bigger hammer as it really paid off (without further injury).

I also got a couple of minor things done today while waiting for my wife to get her hair done.

Got the oil pressure switch out of the right case cover:



And drifted out the oil seal from there as well:



The second pic shows why it's a good idea to replace 30 year old oil seals... hard as buggery, brittle, and like to leave little bits of themselves behind. I don't think that would do much more sealing if I left it there.

So I laid out all my case covers that now need a good cleaning and then some polishing action. That's gonna be hours of... well... I think some people would call it fun...



I already made a start on the starter cover and the alternator cover, but neither came up well on my first attempts, so I'll basically start from scratch with those now that I think I have a bit of a better technique sorted.

Anyway, they're predicting sunshine for the first time in weeks tomorrow, so I believe the lure of the pool + beer may be a little too strong, but hopefully I can at least blow out all the passages in the head to make sure it's clear of blast media and get the case covers soaked in marine clean and hosed off, and maybe even make a start on polishing... maybe. See how the time pans out.

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Pete, I'm curious. What's Marine Clean, what does it do and where do you get it?

 

[Guest]

That's the good cleaning and degreasing stuff from the POR 15 guys Don.

http://ppcco.com.au/preparation_marineclean.htm

It's unreal and hasn't let me down once. I've been able to soften up the toughest bits of built up grease and grime I've found and gotten parts so clean after a bath in this stuff. I also have a 10:1 mix in a spray bottle ready to go.

This is my big tub of about 5:1 or 6:1 that I've been using since earlier this year, and it's still effective even though I have soaked heaps and heaps of stuff in there and it now has floaties:



Just be careful and make sure you dilute it carefully. No more concentrated than 20:1 for alloys apparently and never get it on your skin undiluted, it burns! I put my cases and head etc. in the tub for a short time only as it's far more concentrated than 20:1, but the only side effect is supposed to be discolouring, and as I was either painting or getting the parts blasted, I didn't worry about the colour.

It's definitely good stuff!

 

[Guest]

Well, one of those frustrating days today with very limited success.

Got all the case covers soaked in marine clean and while that was happening, got the compressor going and blew through all the cavities and passages in the head to be sure there's no lingering blast media, so all good on that front.

However, I couldn't get the old valve oil seals out easily. Any tips on that? Just couldn't seem to get any purchase with some long nose pliers. On the positive side, they do seem like they're still in good nick, but I'm guessing it's best to replace them.

Anyway, got the case covers out and all hosed down ready to polish:







However, after spending an hour or so on the bench grinder getting lots of cutting and buffing done on the right case cover and the sprocket cover, I realised I wasn't getting such a flash result, was still looking quite horrible.

Then I remembered... there's clear coat on them! D'oh! Out with the paint stripper:



I do realise there's probably no clear on the oil filter cover and that I'm also stripping the Suzuki emblems, but I do actually want to see how they look with no paint and just the polished silver Suzuki.

However, it appears my paint stripper just doesn't wanna do much stripping any more.



As you can see, after 25 minutes it didn't get all the black off the emblems and apart from a few little bubbly bits I saw, it doesn't appear to have touched the clear coat at all (can't see that in the pic's).

So, guess I'm back to wet and dry on the case covers to get the clear coat off, then I can try the cutting/buffing/polishing on the bench grinder again.

It's probably going to be best to use some 400 grit or something coarse like that to get the clear coat off, then I can clean the scratching up with the cutting compound. On second thoughts I might go to a 600 or 800 first and see what that does as there should be a lot less scratching and it looks like the clear coat is nice and thin at least.

I just love doing stuff a second time...

 

[Suzuki_Don]

Pete, I used Selleys paint stripper on my covers to remove the clear coat, after that i rubbed the cases back with 400 grit wet & dry used wet. When all was removed plus other corrosion I then switched to 600 grit and after that used the course polishing compound and then the fine compound after that. And they came up quite good without being mirror like.

I hope you are not reusing old paint stripper on those covers. Old stuff will not cut it to coin a pun. Use new stripper to do this work.

 

[Guest]

I get ya Don, and I still have some coarse and fine paper around from the frame etc. so I should have some 400, 600, and/or 800 I think.

The paint stripper is straight out of the can and it's the same can I used for stripping the clear off the cases months ago. I have no idea why it's doing such a lame job now but it's definitely fresh straight out of the can.

I got this with all my POR 15 paints (the reseller stocks different brand stripper), so maybe it just sat around too long? That wouldn't surprise me, although I have no idea what the shelf life of paint stripper is...

I'll see if I can't get some different stripper too.

 

[Guest]

So I just did a quick "to do" list... wow I still have so far to go... and I was thinking maybe March for completion? I think I'm dreaming given I'm currently getting about 2 or 3 hours a fortnight to work on it at the most.

I'm towards the end of a week and a bit off over Christmas/New Year and so far I've had a total of 3 or 4 hours on it, so I think I might be lucky to get it done by next Christmas...

Anyways, here's the (probably incomplete) list:

• Lap valves, replace stem seals, and reassemble.
• Put top end on engine.
• Put engine in frame.
• Adjust valves.
• Put on valve cover and valve breather cover.
• Clean up wiring harness ready to test start (may or may not make custom one).
• Clean carburettors.
• Polish carburettor covers and maybe paint bodies then reassemble.
• Polish case covers.
• Test stator.
• Source fork springs.
• Source shock absorbers or get OEM?s rebuilt.
• Source K&N pod filters.
• Source appropriate carburettor jets.
• Get exhaust made.
• Source replacement H4 type headlight.
• Double check wheel bearings.
• Clean and paint front brake calliper.
• Clean or replace brake master cylinder and lever.
• Adjust clutch.
• Repair gear position indicator display and reassemble instruments.
• Replace throttle, clutch, speedo, and tacho cables.
• Source seat and rear mudguard with brake light.
• Source case savers.
• Paint tank and front and rear mudguards.
• Replace tyres.

 

[landshark]

I did basically what Don did on my covers, but i polished them once before i sanded them and the result wasnt that good. So i went back and sanded them, then polished on the bench grinder.

 

[Guest]

Cool, cheers for that and good to see there is some consensus on the method

I picked up some Selleys Kwik Strip and four new cheap paint brushes from Big W yesterday, so I'll see how that goes when I get to try again. Not sure how soon that will be yet...

 

[Guest]

Oh, and Happy New Year everyone reading this thread

 

[Charlie G]

I hope you aren't haveing to swim around your place right now. Happy new Pete!


cg

 

[Guest]

Nah, still head above water here

The problems here in Brissie are the low lying areas near the river mainly, and we're not that low.

The biggest issues are north and north west a few hundred km's or more, so I was thinking of Simon but given his posts are still coming I'd say he's ok.

 

[Guest]

Well, back at it today, yay!

First of all, got the case covers sitting with the Selleys paint stripper on this time:



You'll notice I've forgone doing the oil filter cover. After looking at that one the other day, there's no easy way to polish it up, so I'm undecided whether to leave it as is (a little ugly), or to get it painted with the Black Velvet like the cases, but there's plenty of time to make that decision yet.

So, after the stripper came off and a bit of a sand with some 800 grit wet and dry paper:



Much, much better. I wasn't concerned with getting all the black off the Suzuki emblems yet, just wanted to make sure all that pesky clear coat was gone.

Also, while waiting for the stripper to work and then waiting for the covers to dry so I could start polishing, I got the old valve stem seals out finally:



That means the head is now ready for me to lap the valves and start putting it back together again.

So, case covers dry, time for cutting compound:



Looking far more promising this time around!

After the buffing compound:



And after the polishing compound:



So that's how they ended up after the bench grinder wheels and then washing the excess compound off with a metho soaked rag.

They all still ended up a bit cloudy and not quite as good as I hoped, but certainly much better than I expected.

So...

 

[Guest]

I got out the trusty Mothers alloy and mag polish and my almost unused polishing cloth and gave them all a once over.

Still a little cloudy, but definitely good enough for what I want and they should be relatively easy to keep shiny now also:



I've abandoned the idea of clear coating them now for two reasons.

Firstly, if I was to clear coat them, that would likely add another week or two to the time needed to get the motor together.

Secondly, it's sort of nice to be able to sit there mindlessly polishing for a bit and to see some reward for your efforts.

And that's it for today, but I need to get myself a multi meter so I can check the stator out before putting it back in the alternator cover.

Once I've done that, the alternator cover can go back on, and in the meantime I can get the oil pressure switch and the signal generator back in the right cover and get it on also.

Will definitely be nice to see some shiny contrast to the matte black of the cases at last

 

[Eric2010]

Man do they look nice!! Excellent work I believe that polishing is next on my to-do list after seeing that

 

[Guest]

Cheers Eric!

There are lots of others on the forums here that have turned out nicer, but that was only about 3 to 4 hours work including stripping and sanding, whereas others on here have spent that amount of time on one piece to get them like mirrors.

I think I at least figured out where I went wrong which was with the buffing. A couple of times I noticed the buffing compound turning to liquid on the end of the block of compound which in hindsight I think means I got it too hot. The buffing wheel was also the hardest to use as it's made out of stitched rag and is pretty solid.

Anyways, I'm happy with how they turned out

I also picked up a cheap multimeter from Dick Smith yesterday so I can check out the stator and the charging system later on, so I'm all set to roll again now.

 

[Eric2010]

I picked up several different buffing wheels varying in hardness as well as a variety of buffing/polishing compounds to accompany my wet dry. I'm thinking of just mounting them to my angle grinder so I don't have to take any parts off of the bike . Ill be sure to post pics! I sure hope it turns out but there's no way that it can turn out any worse than its original condition

 

[Guest]

I picked up several different buffing wheels varying in hardness as well as a variety of buffing/polishing compounds to accompany my wet dry. I'm thinking of just mounting them to my angle grinder so I don't have to take any parts off of the bike . Ill be sure to post pics! I sure hope it turns out but there's no way that it can turn out any worse than its original condition

Good idea! You will definitely need different types of wheels for the different compounds.

For cutting I use a sisal wheel, buffing a stitched rag wheel, and for polishing I think it's a loose calico wheel.

One of the 450 owners here has a flexible shaft for his bench grinder that he uses with his wheel, but unfortunately my crappy memory is letting me down and I can't remember which member or which thread he last had pic in...

And yeah, I had a look through some of my old pic's before I started pulling the motor apart and... well... you're right, you certainly can't end up with worse

 

[Guest]

Popped down last night to get some more done.

My latest acquisition:



Not the most expensive tool around, but certainly should be enough to test the charging system and my wiring once I get to that point.

One stator:



It looks good, no burn marks I can see, and cleaned up nice and easily with some kero.

I did the first passive stator test and got a pretty consistent 1.3 ohms across all three windings which is a nice start.

Into the cover with thread locker on the screws:



At this point, I repeated the first passive test and got the same results and also checked for continuity between the cases and screws and windings and no shorts to ground, so the second test is a success also.

And this is sort of how it will look once mounted:



I still have some more gasket remnants to clean off as what you see in the second last pic there is after about an hour of rubbing with metho and scraping the chunky bits off as best I could. I had to resort to a stanley knife in some places unfortunately as it was just too thick a build up. I was very careful but you can still see some scratches there, but thankfully no oil seal compromising gouges. 30 year old gaskets just don't want to budge...

I also need to go back and give it a bit more of a polish now that I've had my grubby fingers all over it again. I must remember to put gloves on when I work on the right case cover next.

 

[Leigh]

Bloody hell, Pete. You're on the move now.

Nice progress too.
I feel like going back out and having another go at making the bike shinier.