Engine identification help

[Beesumph]

Hi Folks
I've just started an engine rebuild for a 1983 GS850GL but I'm a bit confused as to which gasket set to buy... so I thought I'd pick your brains.

First a bit of background

The bike was running but only on three cylinders but I suspect thats electrical. It also had a large oil leak from the head gasket so I started to strip it down and thats where my confusion started.
Getting the engine to TDC on cylinder 1 I found what I expected to find - the 1983 ignition system instead of the old points.
However the cam cover is the older version with only 16 bolts keeping it in place - the haynes manual says the 1983 engine has 19 bolts.

I'm unsure which gasket set to order???

The paperwork I got with the bike says it had a replacement engine installed a few years ago but despite a fair bit of searching on the interweb i've not found a way to identify the age of the engine from the engine number!

Any ideas??
the engine number is GS850-105627

thanks in advance for any and all help throughout my rebuild.

cheers

[hannibal]

Engine number suggests it's a 1979 motor.

http://www.ozebook.com/compendium/suzi/engine-nos/engnos.htm

[Redman]

Any GS, 1980 and after should have electronic pickups, not points.

.

[hannibal]

Guessing the PO used the 1983 ignition from the damaged motor on the 1979 replacement motor.

[Nessism]

The '79 has a kick starter and came with VM carbs, so the intake ports are smaller than the later bikes.

Whatever you do, don't buy some crap aftermarket gasket kit. Purchase OEM Suzuki gaskets if you want the engine to stay oil tight.

[Beesumph]

thanks to one and all for the advice

The '79 has a kick starter and came with VM carbs, so the intake ports are smaller than the later bikes.

Whatever you do, don't buy some crap aftermarket gasket kit. Purchase OEM Suzuki gaskets if you want the engine to stay oil tight.

Thanks for the useful links and the words of wisdom - just want to do this rebuild once and do it right rather than bodging it.

I'll go from here until I hit another headscratcher then I'll be back with more questions. Hopefully I can learn enough through this forum to be a help to others in the future.

cheers

[bwringer]

The '79 has a kick starter and came with VM carbs, so the intake ports are smaller than the later bikes.

Whatever you do, don't buy some crap aftermarket gasket kit. Purchase OEM Suzuki gaskets if you want the engine to stay oil tight.

Agreed -- use OEM Suzuki gaskets. Too many of us have learned some hard lessons...


It seems doubtful that it's a '79; any '80+ engine would drop right in with the same CV carbs, but a '79 engine or head would require the '79 carbs and such, the throttle is different, etc.

But of course, a lot of mix-n-match is possible.

One sign of an '82-'83 engine is the clutch cover; the gasket surface is sort of angled to the right. On earlier engines, the gasket surface of the clutch cover is straight front-to-back.

I'd say post some pics and we'll soon have this sorted out.

[bwringer]

Engine number suggests it's a 1979 motor.

http://www.ozebook.com/compendium/su...nos/engnos.htm

Could be an '80 built in '79.

[Beesumph]

Hi guys been trying to post some pics (Jpegs) but it won't let me - I'll keeptrying different things and see if I can spot the problem.

In the meantime any pointers as to a good source of OEM gasket sets in the UK?

cheers

[Nessism]

I've hear the name Robinson mentioned with regards to OEM parts in England.

[phydeauxmutt]

One sign of an '82-'83 engine is the clutch cover; the gasket surface is sort of angled to the right. On earlier engines, the gasket surface of the clutch cover is straight front-to-back.

Another way to very easily distinguish the approximate age is at the back of the clutch cover.
'79 had the kick start lever.
'80 and '81 did not have the lever, but still had the hump toward the back.
'82 and up lost the hump and had the angled mating surface.
'83 and up had black cylinders.

[hannibal]

Could be an '80 built in '79.

I guess that's possible but I believe the chart refers to model year. Why list frame number by production year when production month and year are listed on the same plate as the frame number? It would, however, be helpful to know which frame number the manufacturer designated as a new model year.