TOPIC:

it wouldnt hurt to ask. may not cost too much.

I assembled it to check clearances with the clay on pistons. I also made the stuff to get ready to degree the cams. I've never timed cams before, so this will be interesting.









my homemade stop device

I measured the clay squish clearance several times in several places. It varied from .052" to .063. Average probably about .058. Clay is not super accurate I think because it's easy to bump it out of whack while measuring.

I realized (after disassembly) that I may have made a mistake. I did not tighten the head bolts to full torque. I hand tightened to I'd guess about 25 ft lbs. Now I'm thinking perhaps my numbers would be a little smaller if I'd fully tightened. Any opinions?

Valves have tons of clearance. The ex never even touched the clay and the smallest intake clearance was .091"

Next up is proper assembly with rings and new gaskets.

I also have to read the "cam degreeing for zombies" file that I found on this site ages ago and figure out how to do it.

I have the adjustable cam sprockets in place and I've got them set pretty close to stock now.

Hey I just realized that my new base gasket is about .005 thinner than the old one and the new head gasket is also about .005 thinner than the old one (cometic gives a compressed number). So that should bring my final squish measurement really close to Mark's ideal range
That assumes that full torque on the studs is not going to make it too small, but I doubt that will happen, so I think it's looking pretty good.

Nelson wrote: I measured the clay squish clearance several times in several places. It varied from .052" to .063. Average probably about .058. Clay is not super accurate I think because it's easy to bump it out of whack while measuring.

I realized (after disassembly) that I may have made a mistake. I did not tighten the head bolts to full torque. I hand tightened to I'd guess about 25 ft lbs. Now I'm thinking perhaps my numbers would be a little smaller if I'd fully tightened. Any opinions?


the thinner gaskets and a proper torque will bring the piston to head clearance (squish) down to a smaller #. did u put the clay over the wrist pins? this is where u need it. if u put it near a valve pocket , the pistons will rock forward or back and give u an inaccurate reading. u can re-measure it after assembly and torquing. just get some solder about .060" diam and slide a peice through the spark plug hole ( make a loop for a handle). have the piston just before tdc. then slide the solder into place and hold it while u turn the crank over to squish the solder between the piston and head.

Valves have tons of clearance. The ex never even touched the clay and the smallest intake clearance was .091"

this is normal for stock cams.

Hope this helps.
pm me if u need anything.

PS. u can reuse a head or base gasket after torquing if u have to. its the heat cycles and retorques that will complete the gaskets compresion and sealing.

thanks Mark. yes the clay was over the wrist pins. At this point I'm going to put it together with all the new parts and then do the solder check you mentioned. I expect to NOT take it apart again unless it's really messed up, which I doubt.

The engine is ready to go together, however I needed to order a few parts first. So while I wait for that stuff I started cleaning up some other things.

I decided not to run dust seals on the forks. I'm going with this brushed aluminum "tech" look instead. No I don't care if the seals don't last as long! These forks are so easy to work on I could replace the seals blindfolded in 10 minutes I'm used to working on modern dirt bike forks which are a whole different deal.

More bits painted.




I'm not too crazy about the look of the stock ears, but they're in good shape so I guess I'll use them. I was thinking of making a carbon fiber bracket, but this project is taking soooo long that I've decided to pass up on some of those kind of things. I can always do it later.... right?

thats right.
at some point you just have to make the damn thing run and ride,you can always change stuff later,when it is raining,or dark,or too cold to ride .

leon

Nice looking motor!

thanks! they are great looking engines for sure. The cylinder block is gloss black now, same as the head. I also did the valve cover gloss black with polished ends.