Godzilla Resurrection: Re-build thread

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Kurt,

Thanks, I have a REAL local hardware store, they have lots of metric stuff, Stainless, Grade 8.8 and such. I got a bunch of bolts, flat and lock washers, crown nuts, most in Stainless, along with a few other bits, ran to about $75.00!! Took me over an hour to do that shopping....finding the right sizes...had made a long list Friday Night noting the size/pitch/length and type, socket or hex head, etc.! Then did the regular household shopping, so I didn't get to start working on the bike until around 3pm today after late lunch!

I got some stuff done, specifically the crank shaft seals....and have an interesting twist on doing it. I remember reading about RichV and the several attempts he went thru to get his seals in and NOT leak....can't remember if it was more due to a double lip on the crank side, or just getting the RTV to seal and hold them in place?? So..I thought about that for a while and then came up with what I think is a good simple solution!

First, the photos! I may make a tech tip out of this if you guys think it merits it.
BTW, I switch from the left to right side just because of the different steps that I photodocumented...got in a hurry on the first side!

First step, pry out the old seal with a flat blade screwdriver and hammer.


Here is the sideview showing the inner LIP edge of the OEM seal.


This shows the area of the crank case, and what's interesting is the oil galley hole at the bottom...that I remember reading about someone saying that it didn't do anything!?
But then I thought about it more, and it opens just behind the seal, and so I think it actually provides lubrication to help keep the seal and it's contact surfaces with the crank lubed?? And so there's Oil PRESSURE coming out of that port, and that's partly why the seal has to have an internal LIP to help keep it in place against that pressure. And so folks have installed lipless replacement seals so that they wouldn't have to split the cases, and have used just RTV and the tightness of the seal to try to hold it in place.


So....my idea was to try to provide a better securing method of the seal after it's been inserted. This image shows the seal already in place, but also that I've roughed up the edges of the crankcase for better sticking grip!


And here's my solution to prevent the seal popping out. I mixed up a batch of J-B Weld
and slathered a nice layer around the seal just a mm or so away from the crankshaft, but plenty of it all around the seal and crankcase which I hope will provide the support the seal will need to keep it from being pushed outwards by the oil pressure.


I didn't get to replacing the cam chain....was checking my valve clearances, all within spec but 2 intakes...they were both .004", modded the Motion Pro tool to get it to work, found one shim was 280 and had a 275 that I could swap. The other one had a 275 and needs a 270, but all I have is a 265 which will be too loose!

George, do you have any shims, specifically a 270??

Here's a photo of the Rotors after I cleaned one up compared to the other old one. At least they are ready for painting now!


And Kurt, here's a shot of the OEM Special footpeg and the replacement from a Yamaha cruiser IIRC? The shape is quite different, and it's aluminum instead of steel, and from looking at it, looks like it won't STOP in the correct position. I think I will be able to weld a stop brace down inside the OEM part to stop the peg in the right position.


T.C.

[bikerphil]

Just my 2 cents, I would be wary standing up on those softer aluminum pegs when hitting a pot hole or train tracks at 40 MPH, the steel IMO is much stronger, aluminum may snap with that added stress/weight.

[kboehringer]

Thanks, I have a REAL local hardware store, SNIP ...here's a shot of the OEM Special footpeg and the replacement from a Yamaha cruiser IIRC?

TC,
That's great! Home Depot & Lowes Fasteners are not for bikes or cars! We have an ACE here that has a small selection of 10.9 rated metrics.

Those foot pegs are nice! I upgraded to XJ Pegs on all my bikes. If I can find an even wider and better looking option, I will make that move too. Looking forward to seeing those at XSSE.

No damage from the hurricane I hope?

KURT

[GLoweVA]

I'll check for a 270 shim first thing in the morning. Pretty sure i have one, but got to check.

[RichV]

I had a problem with some corrosion on the crankshaft that was tearing up the lips of the seal. I ended up putting a sleeve on the crankshaft and filing it around the edges so that it had a smooth surface for the shield to slide back on. I then RTV'ed the seal in place. Leak stopped for good. I also didn't plug the little oil supply hole. But I did see you all the way around the outside using the RTV.

The corrosion was caused by the period of time that the bike was exposed to the environment. It was very small and hard to see and I wished I took care of it before I put the crankshaft back in. However, the speedi sleeve did a great job. Prior to that I went through about six seals.

[GLoweVA]

I'll check for a 270 shim first thing in the morning. Pretty sure i have one, but got to check.

Ive got a 265 and a 280 and above.

[MPittma100]

Oil Galley

I had a problem with some corrosion on the crankshaft that was tearing up the lips of the seal. I ended up putting a sleeve on the crankshaft and filing it around the edges so that it had a smooth surface for the shield to slide back on. I then RTV'ed the seal in place. Leak stopped for good. I also didn't plug the little oil supply hole. But I did see you all the way around the outside using the RTV.

The corrosion was caused by the period of time that the bike was exposed to the environment. It was very small and hard to see and I wished I took care of it before I put the crankshaft back in. However, the speedi sleeve did a great job. Prior to that I went through about six seals.

Does anyone know whether the referenced "oil hole" is actually oil pressure? Or is it likely an oil return hole?

[DiverRay]

Looking at the oil galley page, I think they are a return hole. Oil pressure is to the bearings all around, and everything else is "splash oiled". I'll look at my lower case in a few weeks when I get back to it.

[MPittma100]

Oil Galley

Looking at the oil galley page, I think they are a return hole. Oil pressure is to the bearings all around, and everything else is "splash oiled". I'll look at my lower case in a few weeks when I get back to it.

That is my thinking also. Drain back hole behind an oil seal is a common feature in automotive engines. Oil would flood and cause the seal to leak without a relief.

[MPittma100]

Speedi-Sleeve

RichV

"The corrosion was caused by the period of time that the bike was exposed to the environment. It was very small and hard to see and I wished I took care of it before I put the crankshaft back in. However, the speedi sleeve did a great job. Prior to that I went through about six seals."


I know that the Speedi-Sleeves have been around for a long time and are available for any size shaft. Where did you get the one you used?

[ViperRon]

TC I was the one that had all the issue with the seal pushing out. I went threw 5 multiple types and a few of the dual lip Marty give the part number for. RTV failed every time Blue, Copper, High temp even when I used JB weld on the outside like you did. What has held (Legs crossed) was Indian Head gasket cement and on the outer lip instead of JB Weld I used the Aluminum repair paste. You can file it drill it tap threads in it and I do not know what dissolves it but gas and oil have had no effect.
I sincerely hope to god you do not have the fun I had with the one under the timing cover. In-fact it left me scared, afraid to even look too hard at the generator side.

You know you clean all aluminum dry with acetone tap seal in slathered in RTV. Clean all excess put JB Weld on outside then leave it set up for a week run it till it warms up throttle to about 4000 Rpms and then see smoke from where the seal pushed out against the timing mechanism.

And say D%n it, I wish I'd never touched that F&!k*%g thing. But Mine was really leaking bad to begin with.


I do suggest a good long test with fan running on engine before hitting the road as an issue on the street is bad news trust me been there and no one answers the phone to help.

Now Yours may be entirely different Mine was not hard to tap in with a mallet. Most have described hammering them in.

The single lip seal I tried actually leaked from the internal lip. The dual lips did not.

[3Phase]

There are drain holes behind the crankshaft seals on both sides of the lower engine case.

[TopCatGr58]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up regarding the seal leak incidents....Rich, I remember now about the speedy sleeve. ViperRon, I didn't remember your series of problems..sorry! My seals required a bit of tapping to get them into place, had a good layer of RTV in the crankcase recess area to assist with the seal, and so now that we know it's not a pressure port, but just a drain, then hopefully mine will stay sealed and not leak. I do plan on getting it running and doing some tests prior to actually making the trip. Once I got my timing parts and rotor off, and saw that most of the oil leaking was actually the galley plug, so hopefully I haven't opened a can of worms!?

Okay, on to today's progress, I worked on putting in the new cam chain. Tested the "CHEAP" chinese chain breaker/peener tool on the new chain first....it BROKE! Of course, it didn't come with any instructions...and I didn't realize that I needed to grind off the peened edges of the pins of the link I wanted to break first, and so the push out pin of the tool broke. SO I said, okay, I'll still try to use the peen part later! Used my Dremel to cut off the peened ends, and then was able to take apart the link. I then did the same thing to the chain on the bike.

I stuffed some rags around the chain/sprockets to keep from loosing stuff down the cam chain tunnel! I also used a stainless steel Tig Rod to secure the ends after cutting it apart.


Then I used a section to secure the new chain onto the old one.


Then I was able to simply fish it around feeding in the new one while gently pulling the old one out. Note the alignment dots of the cams.


Got the new one lined up and secured. I tried using the peening tool, but it didn't work, and I ended up messing up the link. Thankfully I had ordered one separately, I had ordered the chain from GeorgeFix, but his eBay description didn't mention a link, and I had sent him a note about that, and so when it arrived, it had a master link with it, that's how I had 2! So..I used a couple of sledges as an anvil, and then used a large pry bar/drift to hammer/peen the link pins.

Because of other folks posts about not having the cam chain on the crank sprocket, I checked both down the cam chain tunnel....

As well as from the bottom side since I had the pan off anyways!


After I set the CCT tension and rotated the crank around, I checked the cam alignment dots, and the exhaust ones didn't look quite right!


So I figured that it was one tooth off. The way to adjust it is relatively easy. I rotated the cam 180 degrees...loosened and removed the opposing sprocket bolt, then rotated it again back to dots up, removed the upper sprocket bolt. I then loosened the CCT, pulled the sprocket off the cam shoulder, rotated the sprocket 1 tooth, put it back on the cam, then used a wrench to rotate the cam backwards to bring the dot more in line, and to line up the sprocket bolt hole, put the bolt back in, torqued, then retightened the CCT take up the slack, rotated 180 degrees and reinstalled and torqued the second bolt, and then rotated a couple of times and stopped at the "T" mark, and the dots were now perfectly aligned!




Also got the new Barnett Springs installed. The old ones were ~39mm , the Barnett's are 43! And I didn't break my star plate in the process! Did a bunch of cleaning/prepping of other parts, like the handlebar switch sets, and while I was at it, took apart the Emergency Kill Switch....everybody talks about it, but nobody ever posted a photo so here's one! Note the dried/gunked grease and contact plate.



And just a preview of some of the parts I have painted with the ENGINE PAINT I had that is very close to the Synergy Green....but it can stand up to HEAT, can't use the synergy paint for those parts, saving it for the tank/fenders/side covers!


Hopefully I'll get the frame sorted out tomorrow, along with cleaning the engine and painting it and other stuff in preparation for reassembly!

[MPittma100]

Cam Chain

T.C.,

What was the condition of the old cam chain? How many miles were on it?

[TopCatGr58]

T.C.,

What was the condition of the old cam chain? How many miles were on it?

~75K miles, ~55K was the original, and some 20K with the new topend, but same cam chain, and was near the end of the OEM CCT adjustment range. I had converted to the Modded Manual CCT, but I had checked the plunger after had set the final adjustment and took it off, and it was at the end of the play.

I have measured the shaft on my manual CCT and know how far out it sticks out from the housing, and know how far in it can go before it reaches the same distance equaling the end of the adjustment range as set by the OEM CCT plunger.

T.C.