TOPIC:

Got new dampers for the clutch basket. Went through the standard clutch basket rigmarole as per turbosteve. The dampers weren't as tight as I would have liked, but definitely a big improvement.











My staking needs some work, but as previously mentioned this is my first rodeo.

Time to get the bottom end back in the frame. Don't have a main stand so I chucked an engine mounting bolt out of my old Hornet through the main stand mounts and got the axle stands out.



Getting the clutch, alternator and pickup coils back in. Also put my nice shiny breather cover back on.

Next up was measuring the cylinders, pistons and ring gap. All OK, although some of the ring gaps were a bit on the large side (they were all in the 0.45-0.60mm range). Still in spec, so tried to ignore it and moved on.
I also sanded and painted the airbox on a warm day. The lines on the side of it were pretty beaten up so I just sanded it flat so it looks like the version with the airbox covers. You can see it in the last picture.

It was finally time to lap the valves and put the head back on.... or not. I think the valve guides have been replaced sometime and the valve seats weren't recut. The seats weren't anywhere near concentric. I invested in some Neway cutters and got to work. This also made it easy to check the valve guide size (the larger pilot I got only went up to 7.05mm and I only needed it for one valve, service limit is 7.08mm).
In the first picture you can see how bad they were. I put some machinists blue on the seat and cut the 30° and 60° faces, the remaining blue is the seating face.







Before and after of the pitting on the exhaust valves:

Valves cut and reassembled, head back on, camshaft and valve clearance checked, cam height measured - all good except of course the valve clearance after doing the seats. Also checked the head surface with a straight edge - was just within spec - 0.03mm feeler got under the straight edge in some places and the tolerance on the edge is 0.018mm over the entire 500mm length, manual says it should be under 0.050mm.

OK, so now we're all caught up Installed the Delkevic exhaust this weekend while I'm waiting for the shims. I think I would prefer the megaphone silencer - the straight one in the picture is more cafe racer style. Not much choice though, the old man picked it out

I like what you are doing, and I have a passion for the ltd750h, as I am older and find it easier to ride then my other ltds.

calum,
Your project looks awesome! Well done!
Hate to pop your bubble but green gaskets like Athena are EVIL! Please tell me you didn't buy Athena! OEM for the critical gaskets like the base gasket are the best.

Thanks guys.
@mopguy: I like the 750H as well. Spent a bit of extra cash getting the handlebars rechromed as I didn't want to make any compromises on the riding position. My daily rider is a 2012 Hornet with a wide street bar - bit of a different story!

@nessism: Oh well, I guess we'll call this the Athena experiment I've had good experiences with Athena in the past... If anything fails it's not too bad, Nothing that will require splitting cases. TBH I got the gasket set from Athena as it made a few hundred dollars difference compared to OEM. The oil pan gasket has been fine for about 6 weeks with oil in it

EDIT: Saw your post on Athena gaskets. One good thing may be the fact that the base gasket isn't the same green gasket as the clutch gasket etc. It has a different texture that feels more like what I use on the Mini. Also, not green Looks like I was getting confused with the valve cover gasket. Can definitely see some green between the cylinders and crankcase... Let the experiment begin

Here are some photos of the repair I had to do on two of the exhaust stud holes. They split when I was extracting the bolts (got 6 out with heat and patience, two of them just wouldn't come out). The first photo isn't very good but you can just see the hairline crack. Ground out the side walls with a dremel and got a local guy to weld them up for me. Then spent lunch time at school in the woodwork room throwing together a rig for the drill press. Used some long 6mm threaded rod to make sure the holes were in line. Studs ended up perfect when I put the exhaust on.

Cleaned up the coils and replaced the leads and caps (NGK). Took a page out of Nessisms book and reused the sheaths from the original leads.

I rode one of those for awhile while I restored my XJ. Was a fun bike and it's cool to see one getting restored! There was a member on here that had a NOS complete exhaust system on here for sale, it was awhile ago but might still be available if you were looking to go that route.