New GS1100 G Restoration Project. Rebuilding my Dad's bike

[althomas101]

Sight glass

Looking at your blog you had a question about the sight glass. What I have done in the past is to replace it with a watch crystal. They come in any diameter and you don't have to worry about them deteriorating like that down the road. Use epoxy or silicon to glue it in place.

[londonboards]

Looking at your blog you had a question about the sight glass. What I have done in the past is to replace it with a watch crystal. They come in any diameter and you don't have to worry about them deteriorating like that down the road. Use epoxy or silicon to glue it in place.

Thanks for that althomas101.

Does it come out from the inside or outside of the reservoir?

How do you get it out?

Greetings
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[azr]

Boy, I have to say your Blog is top notch. Wish I had the time to do all that with my restorations. And the links you have are great. Very nice project, especially with the history of the bike. Subscribed!

[allojohn]

When you put the lump back in the frame, pipe insulation protects the paint quite well.



And 3/8" bar through the mounting holes allows easy lifting into place.

[londonboards]

Thank you. You are very kind.

[londonboards]

Looks like a brilliant way to do things. Thanks allojohn.

[allojohn]

Looks like a brilliant way to do things. Thanks allojohn.

You're welcome, I'm following you with interest.

[londonboards]

Day 91 Engine Photos

Just to show you how much work I have to do. Here are some engine photos:

See them all on the blog: My GS1100 Blog




Bad corrosion at the back.

And front!


I reckon the "before" and "after" shots are going to be sensational (if we ever get that far).

Greetings

[londonboards]

Day 91 Starter Gear Assembley

I needed to put the stator cover back on in order to seal the engine for washing. It was quite a bind getting all the wiring inside and it was catching on the starter gear assembley. So I decided to take it out for the time being.

Full story on my blog: My GS1100 Blog entry or Full Blog: Full Blog




I lost the thrust washer at first. I heard it falling but couldn't find it. Ended up behind the starter clutch flywheel cog (?).

Greetings

[londonboards]

Day 91 Engine Clean Preparation

You've all read the threads that look like this:

"took the engine out, cleaned it up, painted it and put it back in".

Don't think my entries will ever be so simple. Well you can see I have the engine out. Now it needs cleaning up before we start work on it. Just this one task is a big job in itself. We don't want any water getting into the engine do we? There's nearly 2 hours work right here.

So I put all the engine covers back on and need to close up the intakes and exhausts.

See the full story here: My GS1100 Blog



She won't miss the rubber gloves.



Greetings

[wedoo2]

Water worries me. Maybe try to use some good degreaser, then clean that off, and then use turpentine after that. I'm sure that many have power sprayed their motors, and yours looks like crap, but what if you miss and punch a hole in that plastic? Not sure of the result. You can get that clean enough to paint, and if you don't want to paint then you can find a way to blast off that thing with soda maybe, then start sanding.

I know that a lot people worry that their paint job won't last. But, I say either have a pro do it or have a can of paint around to touch things up if it flakes or rubs off.

[hampshirehog]

That's pretty much the standard condition of a lot of UK engines - road salt and our weather I suppose.

But you can make the things look like new again.

I usually strip the engine down and bite off a chunk at a time. The cases are easy to sort, it's the cylinders and head that are tricky. After years of pfaffing around I now get the cylinders media blasted - £20 or so. Then make sure that they are 100% clean of grit - including (and especially) the oilways.The head is a different thing as there are oilways that are really difficult to remove all the blast media from. So I still clean them up by hand - rifle barrel cleaning brushes, a dremel, wet and dry on a lolly stick etc.

Or give Redditch Shotblasting a ring. They claim to be able to blast a complete engine without risking getting any grit on the inside. I think it costs about £250 - and after a few weekends with a wire brush you might think it would have been worth it!

[londonboards]

Thanks wedoo2 - I do want to get all the old original engine paint off so I am going to need paint stripper (VHT ?) and probably grit blasting. Not sure that soda blasting will be strong enough. Don't know yet whether to get a compressor and have a go or just give it to a professional. We shall see.

Greetings

[londonboards]

Thanks for the offer old skool but actually the valve cover is in good condition. The worst part is the front of the engine and the flat part at the rear. This is just white powder at the moment.



But I am confident it is still useable. The engine turns over good. There is nothing seized. I suspect that I will get away with it. I will pop the head soon and we shall see.

Greetings

[londonboards]

hampshire I am going to follow your procedure. I will wash the engine (degrease it) as best I can with it all assembled. Then I will strip the top end and start on the cam cover, cylinder head and cylinder. I need to get all the old black paint off. I will try paint stripper and then resort to blasting.

I really didn't want to split the crank cases as it looks like a daunting task. But they do need blasting and I am sure that I can't do that will the crank and gears still in there. So I am slowly coming around to the idea that I have to split them and do a 100% rebuild in order to get the cases up to standard. Looks like I am going to need some more tools like pullers and so on.

Greetings