Bringing a 78 GS 550 back to life. . .

[Nessism]

Yes, OEM gaskets. What I do is get the part number from Partzilla and then search ebay for a better price. Order where you find the best deal on the quality stuff.

[Wangofree]

Thanks Steve, good to know what to look for.

[Wangofree]

Sounds good Ed, thanks for guiding me in the right direction.

[Steve]

I went cheap on my engine rebuild this past summer and used Vesrah, on the understanding that they are about the best of the non-OEM gaskets. They might be the "best", but that's obviously not good enough. This is what happened after about 2300 miles.

Slathered on a bit of JB Weld Quick to dam the leak and made it the 850 miles home only using about half a quart of oil.



.

[Wangofree]

WOW! I see why you guys are down on aftermarket gaskets. That video should convince anyone to spend a little more for OEM.
Thanks Steve.

[Wangofree]

Received my order of shims from Z1. I should have investigated the swap program, but what's done is done for now.

Steve's spreadsheet is a really nice tool for adjusting and record keeping. Next up is getting the rear tire tube replaced so I can put
the motor back in the frame.

[Steve]

Leave E4 loose. For the three intakes that are tight, you don't really know if just one size difference will be enough.

Since you have different sizes in there already, take out the 2.65 from I2, put a quarter in its place. Yes, a 25-cent piece. It won't hurt anything, as long as you don't start the engine with it in place, and will certainly prevent some costly damage caused by turning the engine with a missing shim. Take that 2.65 and put it into I3. Rotate the crank a few turns to settle it into place. Measure the clearance. It might be correct, it might be to thin, but it's easier to measure the extra clearance of a shim that is too thin than it is to guess how many sizes smaller you need. After checking I3, put the 2.80 back in, move the 2.65 to I4. If you are lucky, and only need to drop one size, it will measure out good. If it's still tight, you will know that you need to drop to a 2.60 (or smaller).

.

[Wangofree]

Thanks for looking this over Steve. The "Tight" warning is leftover from the original shims. Replacing I2 - I4 with thinner shims brought the final clearance back into spec. I2 - 0.05, I3 - 0.06, I4 - 0.05.
Am I missing something? Both EX and IN clearances are between 0.03 - 0.08 mm.

Thanks.

[alke46]

No you are not missing anything. The clearances for both intake and exhaust are between 0.03 and 0.08..... That being said, #4 ex. at 0.09 was good. We even can tolerate 0.10 as that gap will tighten slightly as it wears in.

[Wangofree]

Thanks Larry. From what I've read I thought about leaving the 0.09 gap on #4. Before I button it up I might go back to the 2.75 mm if it will eventually tighten up.

[Wangofree]

Time to work on the headlamp housing. The 2 lower headlight mounting holes were blown out.
A little fiberglass and JB Weld should give me something to work with and bring them back to life.



I know these things are ugly as sin, but after a little sanding, dremel work and paint they should be workable.
Plus, they'll sorta be hidden down low.

[canuckxxx]

I like what you are doing with JB Weld and Fiberglas mat. Gives me some ideas for fixing up a badly rusted out seat pan.

[Wangofree]

I like what you are doing with JB Weld and Fiberglas mat. Gives me some ideas for fixing up a badly rusted out seat pan.

Yeah, you can't beat fiberglass, and I would rate JB Weld right up there with duct tape.

[Wangofree]

At some point I'm going to need some coils. I know 3 ohm will eat up your battery, and 5 ohm are a safe bet. I've opted for going EI in the past on some of my projects. For now, the coils I'm looking at are 4 ohm from "4 into 1 Motorcycle parts".

$60 for coils, wire and boots seems like a fair price. I definitely don't want to start a "which is better" coil war. These seem like they'd bridge the gap if I decided to go with a Dyna S unit.

[canuckxxx]

I'll be watching this because I think my 850 needs coils.