TOPIC:

I wouldn't run it. A used sleeve and piston would be better.
Steve

I agree, I would not use that piston.

So, where do you stand with this part of the project? Where are you located?

At least the guy you are buying oversize rings from in Sweden has an 1mm oversize piston to sell. It's not like those come up for sale all the time. You have already spent the money on boring out the one cylinder so you can continue on that route or better yet, I would do whatever Corey suggests. Corey is the master of all things 550.

Regardless, don't try to JB weld it, but hang it up above your workbench as a reminder.
I have a collection of parts hanging above mine so as to make me "Never Forget".
Smeared oil control ring and matching gouged piston liner, snapped off oil galley plug, intake valve with a nice nick in the stem, broken oil control ring....etc.

We have all been there.

Daftrusty wrote: At least the guy you are buying oversize rings from in Sweden has an 1mm oversize piston to sell. It's not like those come up for sale all the time. You have already spent the money on boring out the one cylinder so you can continue on that route or better yet, I would do whatever Corey suggests. Corey is the master of all things 550.

Ha! I appreciate the compliment, but I am no master. Just 14 years of experience with the '84-85 GPz550, and still going, and learning.

I would just look for a used set of stock cylinders and pistons, clean them up, install new rings, and go from there. If your budget allows, get a Wiseco 615Kit, have the cylinders bored for those pistons, and be done with it. Replacement stock, and 615 pistons/rings are available.

CoreyClough wrote: I agree, I would not use that piston.

So, where do you stand with this part of the project? Where are you located?

Hey Corey, I've already decided not to run it as per the advice of those more experienced.

As for where I'm at, I'm basically back to where I was pre-oversized piston, except now I need to learn how to replace liners! As you suggest in your later post - I've actually already found a decent set of used barrels and they arrived today. This picture makes them look bad/discolored, but they are actually pretty darn good. I had just finished washing them and hadn't yet hit them with oil so there is some flash rust.



I'm located in Dallas.

Daftrusty wrote: At least the guy you are buying oversize rings from in Sweden has an 1mm oversize piston to sell. It's not like those come up for sale all the time. You have already spent the money on boring out the one cylinder so you can continue on that route or better yet, I would do whatever Corey suggests. Corey is the master of all things 550.

Regardless, don't try to JB weld it, but hang it up above your workbench as a reminder.
I have a collection of parts hanging above mine so as to make me "Never Forget".
Smeared oil control ring and matching gouged piston liner, snapped off oil galley plug, intake valve with a nice nick in the stem, broken oil control ring....etc.

We have all been there.

Daftrusty, that's is so funny that you mentioned your "reminder" shelf. No joke, just yesterday I did this:

So, how are you on stock pistons? I have a set of good used stock ZX550 (1984-1985 GPz550) Pistons and also a set of ZX550 Cams with gears if your are looking for a little more "umph". You'll just have to re-bench -shim these cams to that head. . You can message me through here if you like.

CoreyClough wrote: So, how are you on stock pistons? I have a set of good used stock ZX550 (1984-1985 GPz550) Pistons and also a set of ZX550 Cams with gears if your are looking for a little more "umph". You'll just have to re-bench -him these cams to that head. . You can message me through here if you like.

I think I'm mostly set, unless you happen to have a single standard piston that's in good shape? I'd not hate the idea of replacing my scored piston, but don't really need a full set. New cams would be fun, but honestly, I'm just ready to get this gal buttoned back up and any extra work isn't something I'm ready to do at this point haha!

Alright, well last night I made some more progress. I cleaned up and made some "sleeve presses" so-to-speak to keep the sleeves I wasn't heating up in place. Y'all were right, the damn thing came out really easy with my heat gun after a few mins of warming. A swift thump with a hammer on a block of wood and they fell right out.


Here she is!


And then after a good honing:


And after pulling the oversized sleeve from my good cylinder set:


So I did face one problem after putting the new sleeve in; I knew I had it seated 100%, but wasn't able to get it to sit level - I had a .124mm lip. So after further inspection, I realized that my machinist decked the cylinder when he had it. So, out the new sleeve came and now I'm doing a sanding job on JUST sleeve to remove that .124mm of material to try to get it as flat as possible since I don't want to get the cylinder decked again.

More progress tonight!

Alright, good news!

I was successfully able to sand the sleeve down to match the deck and got it re-installed. Let'er cool overnight and rechecked that my little makeshift press worked, which it did!

Spent much of the day yesterday buttoning everything back up and getting it timed properly, but she's set up now!



However, after getting it all back together it's looking like I'm going to need to do some repainting on the engine...not looking so hot these days.


So here's the million dollar question; do I paint *before* I get it all back together, or do I wait until I see that I don't have any leaks or anything after she's run a bit?

Also, I took the time to coat the interior of the freshly painted tank with Red Kote...here's a pic of the excess draining out the petcock hole. This is the best brand of tank sealer I've found, personally. No mixing or anything, just follow the directions to make sure it's clean inside, seal off the holes, and dump it in. Twist the tank about for awhile to ensure it's coated all around and then drain the excess. I'm going to do another coat in about 2 days when it's fully cured. The only time I've ever had this coating fail is when I was in a hurry the first time and didn't let it fully cure. Once you put gasoline in the tank it stops the curing and it slowly sloughs off.

I would mask and paint now.
Steve

Great progress on the re-sleeving!

I have had a radiator shop do my Red Kote on two tanks so far. The first tank, the elderly shop owner who did it must have missed a small portion because I still have ultra fine rust particles coming out of it. That tank had rusted through once already, but after the Red Kote it has never leaked a drop after 5 years. The other I had coated just for insurance against corrosion.

My vote is for start the engine now, paint later. Make sure the engine runs and is leak free, then focus on cosmetics.
Once you paint one part, then you will notice it all needs painting and you will never be done.

Hey fellas!

Long time between updates, my apologies, but I have been making progress. Slow, but steady!

I did some some mild "finishing touches" over the past couple of weeks that I'm pretty proud of.

Air Filter fix/conversion to oil soaked (SAE 30) Unifilter:


Apart and cleaned:


Epoxed together:


Unifilter cut to fit and stapled: