Whelp today concludes day one of work on my engine rebuild project! I went as far as to set up a work space for myself, drain the oil and coolant, and remove the engine from the bike. While not as hard as I imagine it could be for other motorcycles / cars, I did learn quite a bit about the bike.
Hot Takes:- Wear clothes you don't care about when draining coolant. There's no way to do it nicely and you will get some on you.
- Remove the bottom radiator bracket BEFORE you decide to try and take the exhaust off.
- Find a friend to help when it comes time to actually drop the engine out from the frame.
- Engines have a lot of gravity in them (at least I think that's how it works).
- Keep extra 10mm everything around for when you inevitably loose your wrench / socket.
- Next time don't be so quick to delete your center stand, as it may come in handy.
- Take pictures of all your electrical connections and their routing for when you have to put things back together.
- Hydraulic jacks are great for lowering the engine once the mounting bolts are out.
Things started off with the easy tasks. First up, draining the oil. Upon doing so it was evident that less oil came out than I put in during an oil change. Also, the consistency was way less viscous than what I'm used to from fresh 5W-40 (yes the bike was completely cold). Also, it reeked of gas. There's definitely some mixing going on.
From there I drained coolant, which went as well as I could have hoped...and by that I mean I dumped half of it on me and half into the tub I had set up. In the half that made it into the tub ,there were some black flecks, telling me I'm about due for a coolant flush anyway. Next I traced all electrical connections going to the block and disconnected them, making sure to document along the way. Then it was just exhaust, carburetor, sprocket + chain, and the engine bolts themselves. I did have to massage the back of the block with a crowbar to push it forward a bit but besides that all went smoothly. I quickly found out how much I'm been neglecting my upper body workouts when I had to lift the block to the table about 10 meters away
. I stopped by my local AutoZone, recycled my gas infused oil, and picked up a few cans of gunk with some rags. Later this week, I'll work on shining up this block a bit!
When going to remove the cover for the sprocket I noticed a crack in it.
I'll definitely have to add that to my growing list of parts.
Looking Forward:
This week, I'm hoping to get the exterior of the engine cleaned up as well as crack the valve cover. Just thinking forward about what I'm going to want to remove and do to the engine, I've got a couple of questions.
- How do people recommend I clean carbon off of things like valves and piston heads? I've got a crappy harbor freight ultrasonic parts cleaner, but as for solvents I've got no idea what to use.
- Are the cylinder head bolts torque to yield / should I replace them when I reassemble?
- While I'm in here is there anything I should replace just for preventative maintenance (I'm thinking things like cam chain, valves, etc...)?
- How should I go about taking the valve springs out? I don't expect valves to be the problem but I'd like to clean them and lap them while I'm doing rings.
Thank you all for going on this journey with me and I appreciate any help / info you can lend!