1981 GS450E Rebuild

[JEEPRUSTY]

I should've clarified Don... if I really wanted to, I'm sure I could give it a polish, but there are so many grooves and lumps and bumps on it that it will take hours to do.

I may paint it yet as I still have plenty of the Black Velvet left... plenty of time to decide though as I don't really need it on until I'm about to fire it up and am ready to put the oil in.

aha black velvet is an apt description
lovely finish on that

the frame looks greyish must be the light I am sure it would be black

[pete]

aha black velvet is an apt description
lovely finish on that

the frame looks greyish must be the light I am sure it would be black

It is for sure! I was worried initially about how the matte black would look, but I'm sold on it now. I wanted a semi gloss or satin black for the motor, but this was the only black paint the POR 15 guys recommended for an air cooled motor.

The frame is definitely black and it's another POR 15 paint called Blackcote. Supposed to be a good tough top coat...

[Charlie G]

Haha cheers Leigh, but it does actually photograph better than it really is. That right cover is still quite cloudy, definitely not a mirror shine!

But you're right, kids eat way too much from what I've heard, and we have two kidney's for redundancy and there are plenty of people who've lost/donated one and are still fine

Now while I really can't comment on how your motor looks (still have seen no pic's yet), you should be able to get a pretty good shine going with it still in the frame, especially on the case covers.

My question is still about the oil filter cover as there's no easy way to polish it and I'm starting to think I should have sent it to be blasted with the cylinders and head...

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

cg

[davidduarte]

Pete, what beautiful work! I can't wait to see how your bike will look when it's back together.

[pete]

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

cg

Nup, I'm definitely thinking paint... sending it away to get blasted seems like a bit of a waste of time considering it sits in behind the front wheel and guard.

Pete, what beautiful work! I can't wait to see how your bike will look when it's back together.

Thanks David, I'm really quite happy with it. Would be nice for a mirror finish but I'm just not that patient. I can touch it up later too.

I'm keen to see how it will look too

[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.

[pete]

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...

[pete]

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.

[pete]

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

[pete]

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...

[pete]

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

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.

[pete]

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.

[pete]

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: