450 engine rebuild

[phillipjohnw]

Thanks for all the help again.

Wally those walls better stay white or else I'm in deep trouble. That's actually our laundry room, I used it because it had much better lighting than the garage.

I actually feel a little stupid for asking about those covers. Before I logged on I looked at them again and sure enough there was nothing actually holding them to the head.

bwanna, thanks for sharing your results with the swap, do you have a build thread for it? It seems I'm doing what you did. I wouldn't mind some more low end, I like doing wheelies. Plus its easier/cheaper to switch a sprocket than to get the cam sprockets machined. I didn't use a wire wheel to clean it up, just some penetrant and a cheap little wire brush compliments of the US Navy.

To any of the actual engine builders would there be any noticeable gain from sanding the piston heads smooth? I know to leave the embossed arrow and the valve depression, but would removing the little bumps from casting with sandpaper be worthwhile? Any real world advantage or cosmetic waste of time?

 

[phillipjohnw]

On a slightly unrelated not, does anyone know of a good cheap petcock that will swap in hassle free? I've also been looking for a better set of forks that will swap straight into the neck bearings. I know there are lists, but besides the gsxr which I hear is shorter what do people usually swap in? I would actually like to go maybe an inch or so longer, I'm a big fan of ground clearance and lots of wheel travel. Its a jeep thing.

 

[Big Rich]

As far as petcocks go: stock or Pingel. The pingel takes a "little" bit of work to fit, and is slightly more expensive than stock (I think $20 more?).

Pretty much any GS front end is a bolt up job. I put a twin caliper GS650 front end on my GS450s. It's about 1.5" longer than the stock front end.

 

[phillipjohnw]

Thanks a lot. I'm waiting for more parts at this point. I have the engine torn to pieces, but I haven't gotten the gaskets yet. I had to wait on my tax refund to order them so now I'm waiting. On the other hand its giving me time to clean everything up.

 

[phillipjohnw]

Update after a couple weeks. The bike is still in pieces and I'm still waiting on parts. I got a couple of gaskets and ring sets that should have been here this week. I called bikebandit and apparently they were on back order or something. I scored a couple of gs500 coils off of ebay for $10 plus shipping. My right coil kicked the bucket right before I moved in Jan. Still debating on the rest of the bike. Does anyone know how much exhaust can be chopped off? I plan on running a shorter exhaust with a reverse megaphone, maybe.

Pete if you're still lurking around I really love your exhaust, any tips on doing it?

 

[MOC]

Pretty much any GS front end is a bolt up job. I put a twin caliper GS650 front end on my GS450s. It's about 1.5" longer than the stock front end.

I'd be interested in this at some point. Any ideas on how much you spent on that conversion all together? Could you PM me with any details you have on that project?

 

[Guest]

Does anyone know how much exhaust can be chopped off? I plan on running a shorter exhaust with a reverse megaphone, maybe.

Pete if you're still lurking around I really love your exhaust, any tips on doing it?

I'm not that flash with exhausts, but I do know the length of the headers is an important measurement for exhaust tuning. I think shorter encourages peak power lower in the rev range and longer is higher in the rev range, but by no means take my word for it as that's just what Google tells me.

I had my exhaust professionally made by a local exhaust shop so I'm not sure how much info I can convey in that regard. All I know is I described how I wanted it to look and he got it spot on

I have taken measurements for someone before though.

Header pipe outer diameter:



Right header length to collector (~900mm):



Left header length to collector (~780mm):



Outer diameter after collector into the muffler:



Collector to muffler tip length (~720mm):



I hope that helps...

Oh, it's ceramic coated too which I love

 

[phillipjohnw]

Here are some more pictures. Pistons and combustion chamber are thick with carbon, other than that everything seems good but dirty.

 

[phillipjohnw]

Pete thanks for the pics, that exhaust is fantastic.

 

[Guest]

No worries mate, and yeah I have to agree

The guy did an absolutely fantastic job on it and got it exactly how I wanted just with a verbal description... I left my cardboard mock up at home

It also sounds quite sweet too

 

[phillipjohnw]

More Pics. Got the combustion chamber mostly cleaned out.

Another one of the dirty pistons.

Is there any way to easily clean out the exhaust ports because they are also caked with carbon.

Other than that, do I need to use any type of gasket sealer for when I put it back together? I've heard of people using coppercoat. Hopefully the gaskets get here this week along with a few other odds and ends.

 

[cowboyup3371]

You don't need any gasket sealer just use the gaskets as they are.

 

[phillipjohnw]

Got a present in the mail.

That big box for those little bitty gaskets.

 

[Guest]

Cool, Get to work

When you have the engine back together and filled with oil, rotate it by hand for about a hundred turns to seat the rings. It helps seat them and circulate the oil before the first start.

Did you get the block honed ?

 

[phillipjohnw]

So this weekend was bust. What little bit I wasn't working was spent fixing the wife's zj. I got it fixed and then promptly lost the keys.

Hopefully this week I'll be able to get the motor rebuilt. I did finally get everything I needed to finish it up in the mail so only thing holding me back is time.

I did have an issue I was hoping you guys could help with. I can't get the cylinder block off the crankcase. I've tried every sort of prying, pulling, banging, you name it and it is still holding on strong. I figured it would come off fairly easy like the top end, but no.

Well that's the update, sorry mekanix I'll try to get it done this week.

 

[Guest]

There are two dowel pins in the back that align the block. They are provably what's holding it.

I've had luck hitting it with a rubber mallet. The other option is to put the head back on with only the front bolt . Push back and forrh and use the head as leverage to make the block separate.

 

[phillipjohnw]

So tonight I finally got the cylinders off the crankcase.

Mekanix thanks for the help, but it didn't work.

I ended up shoving the handle of my breaker bar into the hole where the cam chain tensioner was. Pulled with all my might and finally got it pulled off. Hopefully over the weekend I can get everything switched. I'll try to remember to take pictures as I go.

 

[phillipjohnw]

Here are some pics I snapped while working.

The new cylinder and pistons on the left and the old on the right.
Its hard to tell that they are bigger, but they are.

New pistons installed.

 

[jeffasaurus2]

This is pretty cool. I'm anxious to see how everything works out!

 

[Guest]

Good stuff... so is that the 500's cam chain tensioner on the back of the cylinders there? If so, it's tiny! Don't suppose that would work on the 450's?

I need to rip my starter out for a clean up but I'm not relishing the idea of taking the tensioner off first... looks like you could get the starter out and leave the tensioner there with the 500's one.