Hoist? Who needs a stinking hoist?

The nice thing about working on motorcycles is that all the parts are relatively light and managable without heavy equipment.  The engine came out rather easily after draining the fluids and unfastening the motor mounts.

Note to self... the rear axle is left-handed.\; as is the gearchange pedal pinchbolt.

Also note... the top snubber assembly goes on this way

I actually think this engine and gearbox is lighter than my Yamaha XS650 engine.  It doesn't look like it is.

My first order of parts came in from Stewarts yesterday.  I have almost all the shaft seals I need, and I also got the front engine snubbers and the flex joint for the exhaust.  (Won't be needing that for a while).

The first thing to do is get the gearbox off the engine, so its easier to work on, and check the condition of the seals.  There seems to be a lot of grease and oil coming from the clutch area, so I'm guessing they're shot.   I guess the second thing to do is pull the bottom,  muck out the oil sump (hopefully not much muck in there).  Then check the bearing clearances.  If I'm clever enough, maybe I can figure out a way to clean out the bypass valve on the oil pump to make sure there's no debris in there.

Seat Restored

The seat cover was way beyond repair as you could see from previous pictures.  The vinyl was worn clear through and it was threadbare on the edges.  The rivets were all rusted and most of the clips were rusted away as well.  I COULD have sent away to Stewarts to get a reproduction, but what's the fun in that?

Hancock Fabrics had a nice selection of vinyl scraps for really cheap.  I got way more than I'd ever use (just in case I screwed up).  The original made a good pattern, and the original horsehair jute was still serviceable.  I started with the main seat section cutting out a large piece with plenty of overlap.  It went nicely on the jute and I stuck it in place with a little contact adhesive left over from when I redid the carpet in the red Imp.  My old hand-me-down Sears sewing machine was NOT up to the task of punching through two layers of vinyl and the jute, so I had to break out the old sewing awl and do all the stitching by hand.  The two little triangles at the front of the seat were the only parts the machine could handle.

The bottom and back of the seat was a little more difficult.  It had to be made in two sections and then fastened together.  The bit in the back that hangs down was easy, the rest which holds three riveted clips was a little less straightforward.  It went together rather well, I'd say for never having done something so intricate.  Most of the stitches are straight and relatively uniform.  Truthfully my hand stitching was more uniform that the old sewing machine could manage.  It went together and slid over the whole frame.  I crimped the jean rivets into some stainless clips I fashioned out of old shimpack material.  It clipped in nicely and seems to have a nice even taut pull to it.  No bumps or lumps.

Whew something accomplished anyway.  Back to wrenching.

Small amount of paint

The battery box was so corroded, I couldn't see putting it all back together in that condition.  So, I cleaned it out and shot it with some paint.  I also took all the little rubber bumpers in the battery holder bracket, and cleaned them up.  A little silicone grease should also help preserve them and keep them from getting hard.

I'll wax the crap out of the electrical boxes before assembly to protect the rusted areas and maintain that patina of a well used antique motorcycle.  The trick will be to get a good frame ground when I re-assemble.  I'm thinking of running a dedicated lead to the engine block.  That only leaves the tail light with dependency on the frame for ground, which is easy enough to correct.  The odometer sheath apparently provides the ground to the headlamp bucket.  It may not be a bad idea to run a ground lead along side the odometer cable and ground the headlamp bucket properly.

The spiral wrap loom for the wiring harness worked out rather well.  The bracket that held the harness to the frame spine tube was pretty rotted, and without the rubber grommet that had petrified it was rather useless.  I found a hydrasorb clamp rubber that was just the right diameter to match the spine tube.  It will be used to hold the harness and odometer cable in place.

I also just won a set of box spanners on eBay.  That will allow me to pull the oil pan off and see what's going on in there.  It will also be a good opportunity to stop the oil leaks.  With questionable oil pressure, I may be pulling the mains to check the wear at the same time.

Welding Exhaust Headers

Well the exhaust headers are shot.  They were rusted through in several locations, and had already been patched once.  The spare headers I got were worse than what was on it.

I dusted off the old mig welder and started patching.  The filth on the pipes must have been from the engine breather, which probably spews hot mist all over the engine.  I can see why Stewarts came up with the replacement plate for the front of the engine with the tube down below the frame.  Even the muffler is coated with a layer of crud.  I'll probably have to soak that in some diesel fuel to get that to come off without scraping and grinding at it.  The inside of the muffler is deteriorated, but the outside isn't too bad (aside from the big scar down the side where someone laid the bike over).

I had some nice stainless material handy that I used as a patch.  The original pipe had to be very clean for it to stick, but it turned out just fine.  I painted it black with high temperature paint to protect the welds.  I may end up putting exhaust wrap on the header to hide my poor welding skills.

I suppose I'll have to pull the engine next.  The gearbox leaks like a sieve, and I can't easily get to the crud on the centerstand with the engine still in the frame.

I wonder if the lean-running engine has anything to do with the baffles being rusted out of the muffler?  I'm not sure if its that sensitive, but I'm running out of explanations of why it ran so lean.

The batterybox is rusted in the inside a little.  I've had to continually restrain myself from the urge to repaint everything.  The inside of the battery box is too corroded to ignore.  If I leave it go, it will rust through.  I think I'll clean it up and just spray the inside.

There was a curious 20k inline resistor between the spark coil and the distributor.  I'm not sure if its supposed to be there or not?  The wire was petrified, so that will be replaced.  The rest of the harness coming out of the electrical box and under the frame rail isn't too bad.  Its scuffed in a few areas, but probably worth preserving.  I'd like to get something similar to the "chinese fingertrap" material to protect the wiring harness.  However it seems the spiral loom material is readily available at RadioShack.