A Newbies Adventures in Maintenanceland!

on the fins i start with a mill file to get em flat and squared up all the way around,then block sand them. this isnt a really good picture but this is an j-early gpz style head,origionally the fins were cut at a 45 on the corners but i started rounding them off in more of early kz style.lots of little tricks have been done to doll up the outside of that head,lots more work before its done. :laugh:

heres better picture of same head being used for mock up.you can see where fins have been shaped more like kz on corners and area around cam ends has been heavily modified,also the casting from valve cover area down to plugs has been seriously cleaned up.lots more to go

thx for the inspiration...a little push in the right direction always helps!

I won't be rounding the corners though, allthough it may be blasphemy around these parts I have no particular connection to the older kz's, so I'll be keeping it proudly J...except for maybe the points cover...DOHC looks better than a bump.

permatex makes a great product for gasket removal called strangly enough gasket remover you can pick it up at any decent auto parts place spary it on and walk away for about 5 mins then come back and scrape it off you may have to do this a few times but it will save you ton's of grief also crc makes it too.

cool, hopefully they work. I'll get some tonight and spray it on.

Let's say I use this stuff and get the mating surfaces really nice and clean, would you guys actually recommend NOT using any sealant other than the gaskets? One of the reasons I wanted to take the motor out this winter was to clean up the mess my seaping gaskets made. I thought I would use a really thin bead of loctite 515 or 518 to help in sealing (a friend recommended it).

depends on which gaskets youre talking about.on the case halves use the yama glue/seal stuff, dont have a tube in front of me for number.for any other gaskets i use except head gaskets i swear by the spray on coppercoat stuff

9am53 wrote:

...for the fins I was thinking using my dremel with some sanding attachment to smooth the fins down, then dremeling on some polishing compound after.

Am wondering if the natural rough texture of oem fins might dissipate heat faster than would smooth polished fins. Because the rougher finish has more surface area.

Perhaps an insignificant difference.

Good Luck!

This is the first time I've been a member of any forum. It's awesome. It's great how you are all so helpful and forthcoming with your knollege and advice. When I go to my local dealer getting advice is like pulling teeth. This thread has been very helpful. The engine in my 900 is probably in the same condition as yours. I'm planning to do an internal inspection as well. Rings and valve job. I too will be doing most of the myself. I will be obtaining a kz650 in the near future to practice on.

Trick I learned for old grumpy Plummen...

Works well and the gaskets don't over stick to the mating surfaces plus I don't get any leaks...

I use the RTV just over the cam end caps, just a little smear for additional sealant.

I use the 3-bond under the cam caps...

OMR

Galactica wrote:

This is the first time I've been a member of any forum. It's awesome. It's great how you are all so helpful and forthcoming with your knollege and advice. When I go to my local dealer getting advice is like pulling teeth. This thread has been very helpful. The engine in my 900 is probably in the same condition as yours. I'm planning to do an internal inspection as well. Rings and valve job. I too will be doing most of the myself. I will be obtaining a kz650 in the near future to practice on.

Hey Galactica, I am glad you can learn from this! The whole point of this thread was to learn how to do this kind of work, and to help those in my shoes have a reference point in doing their own work.

Galactica eh? what do you think of Stargate Universe sofar?

I tried the Permatex gasket remover last night, it helped, but not as much as I hoped. I am going to stick to the razor and patience, it got me this far! I have been soaking and scrubbing and soaking and scraping the head to remove the burn on crapola to no avail. It looks like crap still and it has been a couple weeks! Would mediablasting the head be a solution to my woes? I figure that will clean up the combustion chambers and the ports as well...

To Galactica and any other newbs preparing to do this type of thing:

No matter what you think, this will take LONGER than you expect. I started this project some time ago, and I feel I am going ot use the entire winter of working on it several nights a week and on my weekends.

Old Man Rock wrote:

Trick I learned for old grumpy Plummen...

Works well and the gaskets don't over stick to the mating surfaces plus I don't get any leaks...

I use the RTV just over the cam end caps, just a little smear for additional sealant.

I use the 3-bond under the cam caps...

OMR

That PLUMMEN fella seems to know what he's talking about eh? I think I will follow your lead on the gasket goops...once I get there anyways!