Beginning the 84, Restomodification

[fj johnnie]

Sitting around the campfire drinking beer with my brothers. No wait we were fishing. Right. Browsing Kijiji I saw an 84 Fj1100 for $400. Must be crap. Oh well. Couple more beers. Text the guy I will take it.

Turns out it was stored in a heated garage for 20 years. 25,000 kilometers. Since I just finished restoring an 86 a few months ago I decided to tear this one down and get started.

Everything was intact, but two exhaust studs. Hmm. Maybe that's why it was parked. The guy even gave me two chin spoilers for it that were not in the picture. A friend who worked close to the PO picked it up for me. I hadn't even seen it.

So now the fun part. My plan is to do a full restomodification to it. Powdercoat all the steel bits that I am re-using. Clean and paint the motor.

Swap out the swing arm for an FZ1 if I can find one. My current daily driver has an FZ1 set up and I love it.


Here she is being dismantled.

I also wish to do a complete front end swap. Also while it is apart I am thinking of having the front subframe under the fairing welded up to allow a mirror installation on the fairing, as opposed to the stock handle bar set up.







Hockey game is on. Beer is cold. Gotta run.

[Flying Scotsman]

Wow what a buy she looks great,

[Tiger]

I was so bloody slooow off the mark with that one Well done Johnnie...

John.

[fj johnnie]

[Joe Sull]

Your kill'n me guy! $400?

[fj johnnie]

 Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while.

[fj johnnie]

The old girl is stripped right down to the motor. I will detail it and probably paint it as well. Two exhaust studs where broken. I broke two easy out bits from Crappy tire trying to remove the studs. I ended up carefully drilling out the old studs and tapping new threads. It is impossible ( almost ) to drill a stud out as the bit will want to find the softer metal . Funny how it will do that. Reminds me of horizontal earth boring. The rockets we used 20 years ago would go off in search of the softest soil. Sometimes with disastrous results. ( pulling services out of water mains springs to mind. Pun intended. )
Where was I? oh yes. Drilling out the old broken studs. I didn't get the holes perfectly straight as the bits would walk a little. With care and patience I managed to tap them out and the new studs went in beautifully. Also the exhaust lines back up nicely as well.
I am looking for a donor bike now. A 91-95 FZR 1000 or a YZF600R. Also am thinking still about welding up some brackets to the fairing stay to add mirrors to the fairing. Anyone done this and have any info to share? Does and don'ts?

[Pat Conlon]

Johnnie, are you going to pull the head for a peek inside? Possible heat damage?
I wonder what caused those exhaust studs to break.

[ribbert]

Johnnie, are you going to pull the head for a peek inside? Possible heat damage?
I wonder what caused those exhaust studs to break.

Pat, everyone likes an excuse to delve a bit deeper but that's drawing a bit of a long bow isn't it?  Heat damage? The exhaust is already a 1000 F + at that point on a normal running engine.

Noel

[Pat Conlon]

Could excess heat cause exhaust studs to break? I don't know Noel, that's why I put it out there.
1400* egt is common with the turbo Miata crowd...lean conditions put out 1600+ before failure.

One stud breaking, ok just bad luck there...but 2 breaking? It appears that johnnie's '84 is using the oem exhaust system so it can't be from any undue weight on the studs...

Any thoughts on what could break 2 studs on a seemingly stock engine? Over torquing the nuts?

I don't recall johnnie posting any compression or leakdown numbers on the engine.

It would be a shame to come as far as paint, reassembly and startup only to find out that you need engine work...

[fj johnnie]

 Great Pat, now I am worried. Honestly based on the condition of the bike I just assumed someone had let it sit for so long that they rusted and broke from trying to remove them. The PO was going to make it into a streetfighter, but couldn't get it running right. He sawed the back fender first , with what looks like the teeth of a beaver. I swapped the original carbs for a clean set of 86 carbs and it ran like a top. The motor is on the bench and we are using it for the valve adjustment tutorial. Perhaps we will uncover valve issues then.

[ribbert]

Any thoughts on what could break 2 studs on a seemingly stock engine? Over torquing the nuts?

I don't recall johnnie posting any compression or leakdown numbers on the engine.

It would be a shame to come as far as paint, reassembly and startup only to find out that you need engine work...

The most common mistake of DIYer's is over tightening. You can always tell when something has been assembled by inexperienced hands wanting to make sure it doesn't come loose, that, butchered screws and hammer bruises. While it could be many things, the most likely is simply being over tightened by the PO, and in the absence of other indications, not suspicious.

Broken exhaust studs are hardly an uncommon event and rarely, if ever, an indication of something more sinister.

Pat, we seem to have an interruption to regular programming here, your usual common sense and good judgement has abandoned you momentarily. Making a connection between a couple of broken exhaust studs and serious internal problems is indeed a tenuous one and now you've gone and got him all worried. There is no such thing as dismantling a motor just for a "peek", you remove the lid from a jar to have a peek. In the absence of indications suggesting work is required why would pull apart an engine that has been well stored and only has 25,000km's on it? The additional work of removing the head insitu, if you need to, pales compared to removing it just for a peek.

If it runs well, leave it. If it doesn't fix it.

Motors are never the same once they've been apart.

Noel

[Pat Conlon]

Ok, I missed the part about the carb swap, and you got the engine "running like a top..". Carry on

As far as Noel's concerns about r/r the head....and that your motor "will never be the same" is silly.

[racerrad8]

Broken studs are very common on the FJ/XJ/XJR's in areas that are not dry like the western US.

I sold well over 100 Yamaha exhaust studs last year.

Randy - RPM

[ribbert]

As far as Noel's concerns about r/r the head....and that your motor "will never be the same" is silly.

Noel, there are so many errors in your post, I won't even begin....

Sometimes I just need reminding.

Noel (silly person)