1981 GS450E Rebuild

[Leigh]

I don't think I would want to ploish the oil filter cover. Looks like a PIA.

cg

You are quite right, Charlie, ploishing is a hard job
You need a Binn Tools Ploisher 2000 to do it right.

Pete.. Just paint it. It's going to end up Road Grime Brown anyway.

 

[Guest]

Pete.. Just paint it. It's going to end up Road Grime Brown anyway.

Indeed it will... I think blasting would be a waste of time and $$$ and polishing would be a huge waste of time. It'll be time consuming enough to prep for paint, but I think worthwhile in the end...

 

[Guest]

Finished preparing for the engine to go in the frame tonight and will probably be able to get that done Sunday avo when the house mate gets home.

Took all the engine mounts, tank, and seat pan off to make things nice and easy:



Got all the nuts and bolts cleaned up:



Got to the point of torquing up the left front engine mount but managed to strip the lower thread in the mount so it came off again to be repaired:



Last time I packed the torque wrench away, I did, or thought I did, do the same thing I do every time I pack it away which is wind it down to the minimum 10 ft lb's as the instructions say to do.

Unfortunately, I was either tired or not looking properly last time and only wound it back to 20 ft lb's, so this time when I set it to 15 ft lb's, it was actually set to 25 as I didn't double check what it was on before I started, and the result is as expected...

I'll try and track down a 8mm helicoil and then I'll be set again. At least this won't stop me putting the engine in as this mount can go on afterwards.

Lesson learnt on that one!

And finally, I got some rags in place to protect the paint work while we slide it in place:



I didn't get time to pull the wiring harness out this week, but hopefully next week I can start on cleaning that up and getting the carbs apart. I also need to track down carb cleaner to soak them in.

I was a bit shocked to receive a call from the dealer today that all my parts are in, so providing I get paid I should be able to pick them up in the morning. I told the guy who called I didn't expect them to arrive after the flood, but he was equally surprised that they got a bunch of stuff in today which was nice.

This should let me put the starter motor in and the tacho drive when I get the camshafts in and look at timing and valve adjustments.

Right now I just can't wait for Sunday avo to get that engine in...

 

[landshark]

I dont think your engine will be as heavy as mine, but the laying it over on its side method worked well for me, i didnt get a scratch on the frame at all.

 

[SVSooke]

The only way we where getting the engine in the 750 was to put the engine on it's side and put the frame over it.The frame is way lighter than the engine.Yeah you have to take the suspenders off but you might want to think about doing it that way.

 

[Guest]

I dont think your engine will be as heavy as mine, but the laying it over on its side method worked well for me, i didnt get a scratch on the frame at all.

I can lift the assembled crankcases myself with only a little bit of difficulty, but with the cylinders and head on and the case covers on, I won't risk my back getting it from the workbench to where the frame is.

On the side is my backup plan if we can't easily negotiate it in on the centre stand.

The only way we where getting the engine in the 750 was to put the engine on it's side and put the frame over it.The frame is way lighter than the engine.Yeah you have to take the suspenders off but you might want to think about doing it that way.

As above, my backup plan

When the engine initially came out, the house mate and I did it on the centre stand and the only reason I recall for struggling was that it was all in one piece, valve cover and all.

I'm hoping with the valve cover off and nothing else in the way, it should give us enough extra clearance to get it in relatively easily.

Good news at the moment is I got paid so should have some parts today too

 

[Guest]

So no progress as such tonight, had a few beers and now feeling a little on the tired side, so not a good idea to do anything.

However, managed to get to the dealer today to acquire these:



That gets me an oil filter, oil filter cover O ring, tachometer drive oil seal, starter motor O ring, and two carburettor float chamber gaskets.

Now I'm hoping to get that engine in tomorrow...

 

[Guest]

It's in! Yes! I'm a happy man tonight :lol:

Did it without any dramas without having to lay the frame on its side thankfully, but this is probably mainly to do with the fact that it's only a 450, I wouldn't want to have done it with anything much heavier...

No progress pic's as such sitting it in the frame as it's really hard to take photos while your hands are occupied holding an engine...

But anyway, sitting in place:



Bolted in with the two rear mounts and the mount underneath, with the front mount just loosely in place until I fix the busted thread on the left hand mount:



And the other side:



And moved over in front of my wife's car near the work bench so I can start on getting the camshafts in and valve adjustments done:



Starting to look a little more like a bike again now... gotta be happy with that!

So I committed another bit of a tidiness tonight and ended up with a clear work bench for the first time in a really long time now that the engine's back in the frame:



And then I started to use it properly again by grabbing the exhaust camshaft and tacho drive so I could clean them up and get them ready to go back in:



I realise the tappets need to go in before the camshafts, but I haven't recorded the shim sizes for each tappet yet, so I'll hopefully get to do that tomorrow night and then clean them up and pop them in so I can start getting the camshafts in.

 

[Guest]

Dismantled the tacho drive and discarded the old oil seal:



After a clean and ready for the new oil seal:



Popped a little engine oil on the shaft and back together she goes:



Bit more engine oil on the end of the shaft and gently slid it home. I had to give it a few twists and turns to get it seated right which tells me it should be a nice tight oil seal:



And bolted up:



And, finally, the cleaned up exhaust camshaft:



So, we shall see what tomorrow night brings, but hopefully cleaned and installed tappets with shim sizes recorded and hopefully at least the exhaust camshaft installed, if not the inlet as well and timing done which would be awesome.

 

[Guest]

Well, I had an "interesting" time last night.

I cleaned all the shims and tappets up and took note of the shim sizes, then put them all in their correct places. I do need to get them out again tonight as I just realised I neglected to pop some engine oil on both sides. Easy fix for that one.



Anyway, sizes are:

Left Inlet: 2.60
Left Exhaust: 2.60?
Right Inlet: 2.55
Right Exhaust: 2.65

Yes, the question mark against the left exhaust shim is intentional. The PO (or maybe a mechanic) has managed to install that shim with the size facing up and it is completely worn off, there is no size on it. Not helpful.

So, got my micrometer out I got for Christmas, and the instructions in there don't match the graduations on the micrometer, so I'm completely confused as to how it works and have no idea what size anything is on it.

Anyway, the unknown shim measures between the left and right inlet shims, but is closer to a 2.60, so that's what I'm going to say it is as for the purposes of adjusting, it's going to be safer to measure with a smaller gap than a larger gap for the moment.

So, next I got the right cylinder timing mark where it should be:



Moly lube on the exhaust camshaft and I oiled up the bearing journals in the head as well:



Exhaust camshaft in:



In the first photo, it looks like the number 1 arrow is too high, but I'm 99% certain it's the angle. I will be double checking that next time I'm back into it as I want to be 100% sure it's right.

It gets somewhat difficult making sure that's right as the pressure of the left valve spring against the lobe of the camshaft keeps rotating it away from the timing mark on the crankshaft.

To keep my rag from soaking up any oil and prevent it from sitting in the moly lube, I've just popped the valve cover on temporarily:



I'm starting to regret the flat black on it I think... might change once I get the end caps on and tank painted and on but we'll wait and see.

So, first thing I'm doing next time is actually torquing up all the head nuts as I got so excited to be up to doing the camshafts that I completely missed that bit!

Then I'll oil all the shims and double check the exhaust camshaft before moving onto the inlet.

I'll also soon be fixing the left front engine mount:

 

[Charlie G]

Pete,

I had the cam chain tensioner loose tension last year on my 450 and had to reset the timing of the cam chain. The thread for this is : http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=159474&highlight=lost+nut

The thread may offer you some help in setting the timing. I had some problems as the pictures in the manual didn't quite line up with what I was seeing on my motor.

cg

 

[Guest]

Thanks heaps for the link there Charlie, that actually confirms in my mind that what I'm doing with the exhaust camshaft, the number 1 arrow, and the timing mark on the ATU unit are all OK, but I will still double check before doing the inlet shaft.

When I was looking last night, it was hard to tell if number 1 arrow was slightly above or equal to the height of the gasket surface, but it looked to me if I dropped it one tooth down it would point downward an awful lot, and that just didn't sound right to me, and it looks like your thread there is confirming my thoughts.

 

[Charlie G]

Thanks heaps for the link there Charlie, that actually confirms in my mind that what I'm doing with the exhaust camshaft, the number 1 arrow, and the timing mark on the ATU unit are all OK, but I will still double check before doing the inlet shaft.

When I was looking last night, it was hard to tell if number 1 arrow was slightly above or equal to the height of the gasket surface, but it looked to me if I dropped it one tooth down it would point downward an awful lot, and that just didn't sound right to me, and it looks like your thread there is confirming my thoughts.

I can't remember the particulars well enough to discuss it with you acurately. Hope it helps. It was an "Up one Level" experence for me.

cg

 

[Guest]

All good, the whole thread and advice you got from Chef, Nessism, etc. makes perfect sense and I'm really glad to see that what I was thinking matches with what they all said, which is awesome.

So, anyway, I did manage to get the head nuts and the bolt between the exhaust ports all torqued up tonight, but that's all I got done.

I've now had a six pack of beer, which is bad for a work night, but typical given that I've had no power since I got home from work this avo as we had a very quick but very powerful storm blow through. Not alot of water, but a reasonable amount of wind.

Anyway, hopefully tomorrow night I can double check that timing and oil the shims up.

I had just enough light with a torch to be able to torque the head nuts and the bolt between the exhaust ports, but I wasn't game to do any more than that without reasonable lighting.

We shall see what happens tomorrow...

 

[Leigh]

Every day is a step forward, eh Pete?

I bet you're getting itchy now.

 

[Guest]

True indeed Leigh! Baby steps are better than no steps that's for sure.

I'm itching so bad I need to find some calamine lotion...

 

[Guest]

More calamine required tonight... another storm and another night with nothing done, so frustrating. The storm was nothing; bit of lightning, bit of thunder, bit of wind, bit of rain, but my wife's gotten a little paranoid about them lately so when one hits I need to stay near which means no time in the garage.

I really want this weather to fine up so I can get back down there. Maybe tomorrow night... except the bureau say possible storm Thursday... sheeesh.

 

[Guest]

Well, after a miserable week so far for weather and progress, I finally got back into the garage tonight.

So, first up, I oiled up the inlet shims and then managed to loosen off the camshaft bearing caps and oil the exhaust shims without screwing up the timing of the exhaust camshaft and also still allowing the tacho drive to remain sync'd up with the camshaft.

Next up, double check the timing I did earlier this week:



Looks pretty good to me! And Charlie, once again thanks for the link to your thread, that does really confirm that this is ok.

So, one inlet camshaft:



Cleaned up:



And moly lubed ready to go in:



Bit hard to tell but bearing journals and shims oiled up ready to go:



Inlet camshaft in:



And sorted with the arrow on the 18th pin of the cam chain from the number 2 arrow on the exhaust camshaft:



Continued...

 

[Guest]

Close up of the timing arrows, and funnily enough there is no "3" on the inlet camshaft, but there is only the 1 arrow:



And bearing caps on and torqued up:



Next up, my cleaned up and sorted camchain tensioner and new gasket ready to roll:



Note that I have rotated the knurled nut counter clockwise and pushed the tensioner shaft in as far as I can and locked it with the locking screw ready for installation.

And bolted in nice and tight:



Released the locking screw a quarter turn while holding the inlet camshaft so the chain didn't go springing off the sprocket and screwing up the timing:



Lock nut is done up tight now too.

And here she is now:



So, at the completion of that, I did some revolutions clockwise and double checked the timing was still good, and it was, so good stuff there.

Next, I did what the manual recommended and turned the knurled nut on the tensioner counter clockwise while turning the crank a bit counter clockwise. I then released the knurled nut, turned the crankshaft clockwise again, and watched the tensioner unwind itself and put tension back on the cam chain again as it's supposed to. Nice.

So, I'm now up to shim adjustments, and hopefully I won't have to wait another week before getting to that.

Going car hunting tomorrow which should be, well, horrid and painful to say the least (I hate buying and selling cars), but hopefully I can drop into the local Yamaha dealer and pick up some Yamalube carby cleaner. I'm hoping to get some daytime time on the bike next weekend, and if I have carby cleaner then that's the perfect time for it.

 

[Charlie G]

Little concerned that there is no #3 at your arrow on intake cam shaft. I can't remember if mine had one or not. If you checked it over good for one, then your probally fine. Youv'e got an arrow, at least.

Did you rebuild the tensioner? Make sure the nut that holds the knurled knob is secure!

cg