#7 joins the fleet

[Walt_M.]

Everything causes cancer in California but thanks for the tip, I'll be needing some for my RZ build. Good job on the cleanup but I would have to look at the rod bearings. You can put them back if they are clean. 

[fret not]

I like your idea with the rubber bands holding the rod ends from banging on the cases.

[Prophet Of Doom]

I like your idea with the rubber bands holding the rod ends from banging on the cases.

Not my idea I'm sorry to say.  It's straight out of Haynes

[fret not]

Sorry about having to split the cases, but some things are necessary.

I much prefer case design that splits the cases horizontally, like many modern bikes.  It allows actually knowing whether something fits or not before you close the cases.  I suppose that many design 'features' are made for the benefit of production, and not for ease of repair.

A neighbor kid has a Kawasaki ZX10, had dropped a valve and 'lunched' a piston/cylinder head.  I was surprised to see that the cylinder bank is contiguous with the upper half of the crankcase, and the cylinder liners are not replaceable liners but 'electroplated' bores in the upper case half.  Damage a cylinder and you would need a new set of crankcases, as the cases are a 'matched set' that was processed at the factory as one piece before final assembly.

[Prophet Of Doom]

The bottom end is all together now.  Every single measurement is well withing spec, which is very pleasing.
Today a mystery parcel arrived...

[fret not]

Fuel tanks?  It's difficult to tell how big the cartons are, but just guessing from the width of the packing tape.

[Prophet Of Doom]

Good guess, but that's not all.

[Walt_M.]

Where on the planet did you find those? Amazing.

[fret not]

From Harald Pfeifer in Germany?  I got a silver/gray "set" from him a few years ago.  This definitely breathes new life into a project.

[Prophet Of Doom]

From Harald Pfeifer in Germany?  I got a silver/gray "set" from him a few years ago.  This definitely breathes new life into a project.

Yes, it was Harald.  Known on here as "German" he was a real please to deal with.
Did you use it as a full grey set or repaint?
Did you notice a difference in shade between the tank and plastics? My plastics are slightly darker than the tank - probably a different paint batch and poor QC at Yamaha.  Not much, but enough to annoy. 

[fret not]

The parts I received from Harald are like you mention, slight differences in color, but close enough to use.  I have not installed mine yet, waiting for the end of the project so they don't become damaged.  I also have an original rusty tank that doesn't leak, so for this I had planned to coat the inside and repaint the outside with the "fish-net stocking" method, to make it look like the scales of a very large snake skin.  I need to find that discussion again as I found it to be inspiring.

Harald Pfeifer was a very good person to deal with when I did the procurement process.  He wanted some things that were available on the US eBay, so he showed me about the Goofbid/Goofbay site to snipe auctions.  A real education for me.  It is surprising to me that the Goofbid system worked so well so often.   

[Prophet Of Doom]

The side covers are heavily corroded.
Today I stripped off the remaining clear coat, and started sanding and polishing. 8 hours and all I got finished was the oil filter cover.  It's not perfect - there are fine scratches I didn't get out, but good enough I think.  A coat of clear will make them less visible.

[fret not]

Yup, too shiny.  Requires wearing sunglasses.

I have found that preventing deep scratches goes a long way in cutting down the time it requires to polish a surface.  For metal, and most other media, going from the coarse grit to finer and finer grits is what it takes to get rid of the scratches and this can be very time consuming.  I have found no short cuts other than preventing major damage in the first place, and going in steps from coarser to finer grits until you achieve the surface you want.

[Prophet Of Doom]

I did the whole stepped grit thing, but the trick is to get rid of all the scratches from the prior grit before going to the next grade.  If you don't, (like I didn't) then they are stuck there for the rest of the process.


The stock motors were not all that shiny - certainly not mirror finish.  Mine will dull off a bit when I put on the clear coat.  I was going to use Por15 Glisten PC 2k, but that's no longer available so I've ordered some Eastwood 1k clear.

[pinholenz]

POD mate, you are a glutton for punishment. Stunning new tanks though. Also very depressing. I spent ages finding a match to the original (Mazda metallic red is pretty damn close) Then POR'ed a good tank I found with just a few dings. Tank and plastics all painted, but of course no badges and stripey bits. Damn, probably cheaper to go the NOS route!!

BTW is your super modified up and running?

[Prophet Of Doom]

POD mate, you are a glutton for punishment. Stunning new tanks though. Also very depressing. I spent ages finding a match to the original (Mazda metallic red is pretty damn close) Then POR'ed a good tank I found with just a few dings. Tank and plastics all painted, but of course no badges and stripey bits. Damn, probably cheaper to go the NOS route!!

BTW is your super modified up and running?

Hey John,

Colour is a real trick.  I've got a shed load of 16R sidecovers - there's quite a lot of colour variability between individual bikes.  The 16R brilliant red is a three stage clear over transparent (candy) over silver.  You can't exactly replicate the candy look with a single stage paint, though modern metallics are pretty good. 

The NOS route is not exactly cheap.  There's a full NOS set on Ebay Germany right now for EUR645.  Shipping will be about EUR50-100 on top of that. Then add GST, Biosecurity and customs fees.  About $NZ1600 all up.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-XZ550s-Lacksatz-Teile-Oldtimer-Tank-Schutzblech-Heck-Seitenleiste-Neu-NOS/113953529157?hash=item1a8828dd45:g:MRYAAOSwAj9dw4dN

I've hunted the world for stripey bits.  All I came up with was a single tank stripe.  I can lend you that and some old side covers if you want to get some vinyl replicas made.  Now I have the NOS tank I have a spare set of repro tank and XZ550 badges if you are interested, or check out http://www.badgereplicas.com.au/

The super-mod is on pause briefly while I quickly knock this bike off, but feeling the urge to make some carbon fibre parts.  If you thought NOS parts were expensive, it's nothing compared to CF.  But that's a subject for a different thread...

[Prophet Of Doom]

I figured out why this engine had a melt-down.  Prior owner (or his mechanic) had put the heads on the wrong way round.
That put the cam chain tensioner on the wrong side.  You can guess how long it ran for before it got a valve strike.

My entire life is spent re-doing the work of dickheads.

[Walt_M.]

The difference between genius and stupidity, genius has limits.

[Prophet Of Doom]

Reassembling the engine, I've got really sick of cleaning bolts.  Degrease, wire brush, degrease again and then you find half of them are rusted, slogged out, bent, have damaged threads etc.  Not a good activity if you have RSI.  I went to get a few replacements and found them surprisingly cheap from the wholesaler (about 1/5 of retail price)

I wonder how much would new bolts cost?

$54.54 after tax as it turns out.  That's $US34.26.

That's less than an oil change.  Why doesn't everyone do this?  Buggered if I know.

[Prophet Of Doom]

Here's the engine as it was removed from the bike, and the re-built engine ready to go in the frame.
Second hand cylinder (both honed).  Brand new piston, rings, valves, gaskets, shift bearing, waterpipes and seals.  Mounts powdercoated, all bolts replaced.  Everything measured within spec or replaced.