First start after rebuild

nickleo373 wrote: I've ordered many valve cover gaskets from Jaquish Motorsports on Ebay (I believe he is also the Stan you're referring to?). I can't find any Kz550 gaskets on his ebay account for a 1981. My last gasket kit for the bike was the Vesrah set from Z1 enterprises. The base gasket held up well but the head gasket blew after 500 miles. Have you had any luck with any other companies?

nickleo373 wrote: Bountyhunter was right. I went to give it another try today and it started up immediately. I took it for a ride to seat the rings and everything was seemingly going well. I rode it back into my driveway and noticed the base gasket dripped a puddle of oil on my stator cover. I suppose the engine will have to come back apart to get this done. I can only find NOS, which the seller always believes to be in better condition than they are, or those cheap green gaskets (what's in the bike now). Does anyone have a seller of good quality base gaskets that aren't cheaply made or 35 years old?

Nessism wrote:

nickleo373 wrote: I've ordered many valve cover gaskets from Jaquish Motorsports on Ebay (I believe he is also the Stan you're referring to?). I can't find any Kz550 gaskets on his ebay account for a 1981. My last gasket kit for the bike was the Vesrah set from Z1 enterprises. The base gasket held up well but the head gasket blew after 500 miles. Have you had any luck with any other companies?

OEM gaskets or bust.

bountyhunter wrote:

Nessism wrote:
OEM gaskets or bust.

Not always available and some are 30+ years old...... :ohmy:

nickleo373 wrote: Alright I ended up finding a complete gasket set through a company called niche cycle supply. I took the engine back apart today and found the base gasket was in multiple pieces. Everything else appeared to be good with the rings installation last week. The cylinders still have their crosshatch. Do I need to rehone before installing the cylinders back on the bike with the same rings?

nickleo373 wrote: Alright I ended up finding a complete gasket set through a company called niche cycle supply. I took the engine back apart today and found the base gasket was in multiple pieces. Everything else appeared to be good with the rings installation last week. The cylinders still have their crosshatch. Do I need to rehone before installing the cylinders back on the bike with the same rings?

bountyhunter wrote:

nickleo373 wrote: Alright I ended up finding a complete gasket set through a company called niche cycle supply. I took the engine back apart today and found the base gasket was in multiple pieces. Everything else appeared to be good with the rings installation last week. The cylinders still have their crosshatch. Do I need to rehone before installing the cylinders back on the bike with the same rings?

If you trust the base gasket, use it. If not, use it as a pattern and cut one out of the best gasket material Auto Zone sells. That's what I did and it has been perfect. The base gasket has the full force of the head torque on it and it will fail if it's flaky. It will also require multiple head retorques if the material is too thick or too compressible. IMHO, get the best material available and make sure it hasn't been sitting for years.

BTW: when I tore mine down, I saw the factory had used some kind of sealer on the base gasket during assembly. I did too and used the black ultra high temp stuff.

Agree no need to rehone cylinder.