Dremel for Christmas (Day 134)

Look what I got for Christmas.  So I started a few experimental polishings:



 Let's get down to it.

 Not quite there . . .

 But I am getting the picture.

More Parts Coming Off (Day 124)

I took off the RHS caliper and all the bake hoses during a little sunny spell when I had a moment.

Rubber collar above fits into bent metal piece below.

Also got a photo of the last screw holding the wiring harness to the frame.  That will be coming off very soon.

 

Carb Paint Scheme?

How about these for funky carbs?  I would go for a satin black or crinkly black.  Love the hex bolts and the chromed tops and bottoms.

Got the pic from renobruce over at the GS Resources Forum.

 

New Parts Arrive (Day 124)

Unless you are actually involved in a rebuild / restoration project like this, you will simply have no idea how exciting it can be to get a parcel of parts.

 

I ordered these (see: blog entry here) on 21st November from Everett Powersports in Washington, USA and they arrived today.

 

First of all there is that wonder of how amazing it is that you can find stuff on a computer that can be anywhere in the world, you can pay for it and then get it sent to you.  Never ceases to amaze me.  Then there is the fact that I am ordering a part for a motorbike that is now 30 years old and that part is still available!  Then when you are 124 days into your project, the garage is freezing cold (so I don't want to go out there and do any more work on the bike), it is dark outside at 3:45 pm, this little package arrives.  You open the box and it even smells good. 

 

The possibility of the whole project comes sharply back into focus.  You start dreaming of which colour you might paint the engine.  My latest fantasy is to paint the carb bodies with a crinkly black paint and have the tops and bowls chromed.  Then with stainless hex bolts top and bottom you would have an amazing looking carb.  How sad are we when we go to sleep at night dreaming of painted carburettors? This thing has got it's hooks in me.

 

Just think dear reader, one day soon you too may have a box like this arrive at your house:

It has 4 carb boots, 4 O rings and 4 screw up clips.  My Christmas is complete.

 

My Old Suzuki GS750EF

Just found this photo of me on my trusty Suzuki GS750EF.  It was taken outside our house in Oakville in Canada in 1984.  I drove it across Canada to the Rocky Mountains and up to Saskatoon to visit my brother Anthony who was living there.  Trip was about 7,500 klms.  It was a long way.  I had the handle bars altered to be more upright so I didn't get back ache on the journey.

 

Engine End Shaft Drive Gear

Not really sure of the technical name for this part; it is where the drive exits from the rear of the engine casings.  The shaft of the shaft drive bolts on to this part to transmit the drive to the rear wheel.   There is a rubber O ring (which I must replace when I reassemble) and also a metal gasket.  Does this need replacing too? (click on photo to enlarge)

Rear End Parts (Day 113)

Just putting some parts away and cataloguing them. These are all from the rear light / rear mudguard (fender) area.

 Rear light plate

 Number plate (licence plate) holder.

 Rear mudguard bracket

 Rear mudguard sticker

 

Engine Wash (105)

The sun came out today so it was a chance to go wash the engine and get it inside for the winter strip down.  I had a sack barrow (or trolley depending on which side of the pond you come from) and some car ramps I was given by my father-in-law.  Everyone had a set of these in the 50s, 60s and 70s when you used to fix up holes in your car exhaust pipes and change your own oil.  They are antique relics now but serve a good purpose as an engine stand for big Suzukis.  I set it up like this to start with:

 Stops all the water going into the exhaust outlets anyway!



 Using the old gunk.  The Ultra was useless (maybe mine was watered down) but the Green was actually quite effective.  Some of this baked on oil has been on here for 20 or more years.

It all came off in the end even it what I was left with was alot of corrossion.
Then I put the same ramp set up in the garage so I can work on her over the winter.

 

Base Gasket (Day 104)

I ordered a "Genuine Suzuki" base gasket from the USA a couple of weeks ago, from an Ebay advert (click on images to enlarge):

Ebay Base Gasket Purchased

 

It arrived today and I am now wondering if it is genuine.  It was too cheap at $14 surely (and quit calling me Shirley).  There is no such thing as a free lunch - right?

This is what I got:

Is this a genuine product or is it a product for genuine Suzukis?

 

Rear Brake Cylinder (Day 100)

I am trying to get the rear brake cylinder apart now but I am not having much luck. 

Click on picture to enlarge:



New Intake Boots Ordered

I found a great Ebay Shop that sells some Suzuki spares at really good prices even when you add the shipping to the UK. So I have treated myself to a new set of boots.

 

You can find them here:  Everett Powersports, Washington, USA.  I got this little lot for £100.

Starter Idle Gears (Day 91)

I originally started this blog in order to make a photographic catalogue of the parts of the bike as it was being dismantled.  This was in order that I would know how to put them back together again.  Sometimes the blog gets hijacked by my desire to verbalise the whole process and turn it into a drama.  In order to set it back on it's originally intended course, I now include some parts photos.

 The starter idle gear.  Transfers the power from the starter motor (top right cog) through the idle gear (middle) to the starter fly gear (teeth to the left).

 Nearly lost this washer on the back (is it a thrust washer).  I heard a tinkling sound as I pulled the gear off then I found the beast stuck behind the big starter clutch cog.

Engine Clean Preparation (Day 91)

After 91 days on the job, I am now going to start moving from dismantling to whatever comes next (which I don't really know what it is).  I really want to get the engine cleaned up and inside so I can work on it over some of the colder darker winter nights.  First job then is to clean it off.

 

I haven't got a pressure washer, I might rent one for a day but in any case the engine will need to be made water proof if I am to wash it (they don't tell you any of this anywhere!).  This means putting the stator cover back on, closing off the carb intakes, closing off the exhausts, putting back the rocker cover breather plate and checking for other ways of water ingress.

 

As part of this exercise I thought I ought to get the starter motor out as I didn't want to drown that. Ha!. When you take the starter motor out there are 2 more holes into the engine.

 This one where the starter drive goes into the stator housing to turn the starter flywheel and

this one that appears directly underneath the starter motor.  I pulled this little pipe out (it was just sitting in the hole) and looked inside.  Not being an expert with this engine yet but I would say I was looking directly into the gear box.  I could see cogs and oil and things.  Can there really be an unprotected hole on the top of the engine that would allow water and other contaminents inside?  I am very puzzled.  To be safe I put the starter motor back in.  I also found that it was a sealed unit so it should survive being washed and doused in water.

So next up was to seal the carb intakes.  I decided to cut up some rubber gloves and bolt them across the intakes using the engine / carb boots to hold them.  I left the wadding in the intakes as well to soak up any water that might get past.

No yet worked out a method on sealing the exhaust ports. I will do some more research.

 

Engine Photos (Day 91)

A quick round up of engine photos now that it is out and can be examined in detail.  Some parts of it a pretty corroded. (click on photos to enlarge).

Very bad corrosion on the rear top part of the engine casing.

 Quite a bit of corrosion on the front as well.  I hope this comes off.

 Here's the pesky shaft drive coupling.

Oh and this was what I hacksawed off to get the engine out of the frame.  Now I can see there is a cross headed screw holding the assembly onto the head.  It was too dark to see this the other night.