so, what do you think...

[Goetz]

current owners maintenance?
idunno
ive had the bike for 3 weeks. Replaced: Rear shock, fork seals/20 wt oil, turn signals, chain and both sprockets (18t in front now). 2 oil changes, spin on filter... thats all i can think of now
I try to take care of it, its all i got to get around with.
The beast is back on the road. anyone have any good tips for fiberglass repair, this thing had full fairings and they are somewhat trashed.

next step is to take the valve cover off and have a look. Do i need to replace the gasket when i do that?

[FJmonkey]

What? Even Columbo has more to go on than that!!!

[Pat Conlon]

The beast is back on the road. anyone have any good tips for fiberglass repair, this thing had full fairings and they are somewhat trashed.
.....next step is to take the valve cover off and have a look. Do i need to replace the gasket when i do that?

Yep, here's tip #1: The FJ body work is made out of ABS plastic...
Here's some nifty ABS crack repair Mike (skymasteres) is doing on his rebuild: http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=7691.0

Sure go ahead and order a new valve cover gasket, along with rubber grommets that seal around the valve cover bolts....

Cheers laddie!

[fj11.5]

standard fairings are abs for sure , but maybe yours are fiberglass , as my 84 is fitted with an excellent copy of an 89 fairing in fiberglass ,,

[Goetz]

my cowling and belly pan are abs. the mid fairings, which cover everything in between those two pieces, are fiberglass, i suppose bondo will do. gasket and seals, roger. can the valve cover be taken off w/o pulling the engine? Im not sure idwant this thing to be any more powerful, it can already give me tunnel vision. Tho there seems to be a rather large flat spot in the 4-7k rpm range under heavy load, then once it gets to 7k ish its a rocket. That, i suppose, is a carb issue, I havent had them out yet for inspection...
Thank you all for the advice so far, invaluable resource.

[andyb]

Yes, the valve cover can be removed without dropping the motor.  With some effort, the whole head can be removed without pulling the engine out (imo it's easier if you do, though).  Valve cover gasket may or may not be necessary to replace, but it's quite a safe bet that the valve cover bolt seals will need new rubber grommets.

Your mid-fairings are aftermarket, and the rest is probably OEM.

What you describe in the powerband is very likely a carb issue, likely in the needle circuits.  Fairly painless to adjust that.

[Arnie]

Goetz,

Valve cover comes off easily.  Remove the side panels, tank, side scoops, loosen and disconnect the throttle cables from the carbs NOTE which one is which, pull the spark plug wires and move them out of the way.  Then, blow all the crap and leaves from the head fins.  You can now remove the 8 acorn nuts and then remove the valve cover.
The gasket is rubber and will probably be fine unless you tear it or it has been torn.  More likely the formed gaskets on under the acorn nuts will be the ones needing to be replaced. Randy RPM has them pretty cheaply if needed.
Whole process above takes only slightly longer to do than it took me to type.  :-)
There are write-ups with pics in the "Files" section.

Arnie

[1tinindian]

my cowling and belly pan are abs. the mid fairings, which cover everything in between those two pieces, are fiberglass, i suppose bondo will do. gasket and seals, roger. can the valve cover be taken off w/o pulling the engine? I'm not sure i want this thing to be any more powerful, it can already give me tunnel vision. Tho there seems to be a rather large flat spot in the 4-7k rpm range under heavy load, then once it gets to 7k is its a rocket. That, i suppose, is a carb issue, I haven't had them out yet for inspection...
Thank you all for the advice so far, invaluable resource.

By just using a filler (Bondo) over a crack in Fiberglas will NOT result in a lasting repair.
The crack will need to be ground down and repaired with Fiberglas mat and resin to bridge the separated pieces.
Then after smoothing this down, a thin layer of filler can be used over the repaired area, then sanded smooth, followed by a couple of coats of a high build, 2-part filler primer.
Let dry over night, block sand with 180 grit, wash and dry, apply a catalyzed sealer, then your base coat of color, followed by a clear coat.
These steps show give you a factory fresh appearance.