My Basket Case 79SF

[TopCatGr58]

Hey gang,

Just wanted to post a few shots showing how much work I have cut out for me, and what I'll be using as material for the instructional DVD I'll be making in the following "MONTHS"!!

Oh, I just realized that I'll have to edit my signature now, so that I can list my stable of 2 bikes, whoohoo! However, I won't be keeping this one, once I get it into operating condition, I'll be selling it back to the "to be Xsive" that's on a 9 month deployment right now. Hope he likes what I do to it!?






Amazing the kind of baffle material you find in bikes nowadays!!

[John]

Looks like all you need is a 12 gauge and a shovel. Are you sure nine months will be long enough? Let me know if you need some parts. From what I can see, I have a few you could use.
Ya know, Twilite Special looked almost that bad when I bought it, I guess most anything is possible.

[TopCatGr58]

No Shotgun, but I do have a police 357 Magnum, think that would do it!?

Well, MartyA has a fair bunch of parts, he just got back from a week long trip, and he's promised to take a bunch of photos and send them to me, so I can see what he's got that I need. I've got my eyes on a pair of Special Forks on Ebay right now, hoping to SNIPE them tomorrow when it ends! That's about the biggest item I need, but a set of gauges will be nice. The tach has a cracked glass, but it might be functional?? I might be able to perform surgery on it and replace the glass? The speedo is shot, glass all busted out, needle broken off, and exposed to the elements for who knows how long?

I've pulled the tank...yuck. The airbox wasn't even being held in place with any bolts, just hanging by the snorkel. The bottom right side had bubbly plastic which is evidence of a fire. The wires on the 3 plug group of the Reg/Rect were worn or partially melted....the plug with the 3 white wires was also slightly melted. The guy I bought it from had gotten some parts, a new ignition key switch, and a spare Reg/Rect.

I appreciate the offer of parts, and will be posting the needed list as it develops!! Gotta go check ebay!!
T.C.
The fuel hoses were all cracked, vacuum lines, etc.!

[Parr8hed]

does the motor turn. I hope not, just seflishly for my sake. I would love to see you install a big bore kit in the instructional DVD! Go ahead and sign me up for one.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Travis,

Sorry, but the motor does turn, about 35K on the clock IF the clock is accurate...last plates were 1996, don't know if it was stored inside, or outside for most of those years? I'll be getting the electronics working, then the bottom mechanics...the 1st/2nd gear fix, probably new clutch plates/springs, reset the valve clearance, and then a compression test!?

The hunt for parts is going well, just won the Ebay auction for some primo special forks, complete upper and lowers! Sorry NiRider!
T.C.

[randy]

T.C.,

Best of luck rebiulding your basket case (from one who knows).

P.S. I like to think that I hold the record for the worse P.O.S. junker to ever be ressurected! Have you SEEN the Swamp Thing 'before' photos?

[GNEPIG]

HEY,...I LIKE IT!...looks like it belongs in my pile.

[sksxs1100]

ivgot a partzer outside i would love to rebuild, but froze engine and stuff just kinda kills it for me cause no garage and no cash....
those little things are always kill joys

[TopCatGr58]

Tearing into the carbs!

Hey Folks,

Well, I decided to tackle the carbs today. Amazing what perhaps 9 years can do to gasoline. What actually makes it turn green, is it some strange variation of extreme alien mold, kinda like stuff they find in the Arctic, or at the bottom of the ocean?

It looked like it was trying to turn back into that premordial sludge that it came from! Was able to get ALL the screws loosened without breaking or stripping any heads. I'm not done with them, but have been putting it all on tape for later conversion to DVD. My camera has a decent close focus range, almost macro, so it should be clear in the closeups and details. I think one float was leaking...it had a slight shaky sound to it when I shook it, have all the other NON-rubber parts soaking in cleaner overnight, will attack them with the toothbrush and wires tomorrow. Will also get to spritzing the bodies as well with wires and such to get ALL of the passages.

The forks arrived yesterday, just 4 days after winning and paying for that Ebay auction, and they are PRISTINE! Have many parts in the works, getting Xsited about this project already!! And I'm busy videotaping every aspect of the work for the HOW TO DVD.

[TopCatGr58]

Well, ran into a few snags today with "Teacher". I found one float that rattled a bit, stuck it in almost boiling water, and it bubbled! I've got some spare parts so no biggie. Was having trouble getting the bowl choke jet opened...had soaked overnight in my cleaner along with trying to ream it with a piece of wire ....then realized that my cleaner was over 4 years old and kinda dirty!?

So...went out and bought a new can, opened it up and could see clear to the bottom. Plunked those 2 bowl covers in there and was finally able to get them cleared!

Then pulled the headers off. I had noticed that 3 of the bolts holding them in had regular hex heads, the other 5 were Allen Heads. Turns out the hex heads were STANDARD, the PO had apparently stripped the threads in the head, OR just didn't bother to find Metric, and threaded these in there instead. They fit NOW, and appear to hold so I guess I'll be going back with same in those 3 holes!?

Then went to drain the oil and pull the filter. The Filter bolt head was all rusted and chewed up. I spritzed it with PB Blaster, then cleaned the head off with carb cleaner, then got out the Gator Grip socket....at first it felt like the socket was just spinning, but after a few tries, it was able to grab and got it loose!!
I've got a spare, but I won't be using it, since after video taping HOW to put a regular filter back on, I'm going to fit it with MY S.O.F.A. device....I've got one that I got the mounting threads slightly off perpendicular.. so a slight few degrees wobble, but I figure I can get it to seal...just didn't want to send that one out to anybody that paid good $$ for one!!

Almost forgot, hope somebody who knows this reads this far??
When I pulled the carb's main needle jet emulsifier tubes, I just pulled them all and stuck them in the soak basket. When I pulled them out to brush and clean, I noticed that 2 of them had 4 sets of holes down the side, whereas 2 of them only had combos of 2 and 3 holes on the sides!? Am I correct in assuming that the more HOLY main tubes were for the INNER carbs, in Yamaha's attempt to make it run a little richer=cooler vs. the outer carbs? Do the 4 holed tubes go in carbs #2-3? Okay, thanks in advance!
T.C.

[John]

TC. The 79 carbs had all the same jets in them, right? 137.5's. The staggerd jets didn't come along until 80, so I'm guessing that the cars should all have the same number of holes in the nozzles in the 79 carbs. Is it possible that somebody installed the wrong parts, or replaced the carbs with a later years carbs? Do they all have the large pilot screw heads? The holes in the nozzles are used just during the midrange of throttle position, and the mains are in full force during the wider throttle openings, and the holes in the nozzles wouldn't be in use any how, so that's what leads me to think that they are not the proper ones.

[Czekus21]

I can see the potential of the basket case. I think it's a great thing your doing for the one deployed.
By the way. Do the wasps in that nest make the bike Buzz better down the road? or Make it fly?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey John,

They all had 137.5 mains in them! And 42.5 pilots. I've ordered a set of 145 mains for the 4-1 pipes and Indy filters, same # of steps I did for Godzilla, and seemed to work well! I've also got some 45 Pilots that I had gotten for Godzilla, but was unable to use due to inability to remove my old ones, but they seem rich enough, almost too rich at mountain altitude if I have them screwed out too far!

The way these carbs looked, I doubt seriously that the PO KNEW much about messing with the carbs, they seemed fully OEM, so I don't think they were changed, they are ALL the same style, with bowl vent bodies, screw in needle seats and such. One needle seat screen looked to be NEW, nice and shiny silver, compared to the other three....so perhaps Someone got into them once before!? I guess I'll check with my collection of spare parts for the other 79SF carbs and see how many holes are in those main tubes?

Czekus, thanks, I'm Ex-Navy, so I'm kinda happy to be able to do it for him as well. And it's great being able to work on it in my own garage, video taping as I go along! Will be a while before I'm able to fire it up, but expecting it to go
"buzZoom, buzZoom, buzZoom", to paraphrase an automaker's sound bite!
T.C.

[Buckb]

parts

Hey TopCat, I have a nice pair of special forks and trees, and lots of other parts at my shop. Forks w/trees are $135 plus shippinig. Buck

[randy]

T.C.,

My 79 carbs all had the same emulsion tubes, same # of holes.