Ceramic coatings, Tank Insulation, Protective Sleeves

[RD56]

Stumbled across an interesting company while looking at the Triumph Triple pics yesterday. Zircotec is a UK based co that provides ceramic coatings for all kinds of apps but of particular interest is their testing of their plasma sprayed ceramic exhaust coatings on Moto 2 bikes. They have experienced up to 55% temp reductions with these exhaust systems using their coatings. One of the cool things is they come in 14 colors. One of the not so cool things is that due to the process used it has to be applied in the UK. No other company will handle this product until they get it patented. Soooo, a little pricey!!!

With my interest piqued and needing new tank insulation I saw that they had a co. in North Carolina that handles some of their products. Thermal Control Products: http://www.thermalcontrolproducts.com/ , sells all kinds of products for use in high temp environments. They have several different sleeve products for protecting wiring and cables as well as different thicknesses for their adhesive backed insulation pads. Cool stuff, you can download their catalog on line.

Rick

 

[Pat Conlon]

Swain Tech coating has been my favorite for years...I did my collector box on my '84 with their White Lightning coating and it does work and is very durable. When Randy built my 1350 we sent the 82mm pistons to Swain for their piston crown and skirt coatings.
http://swaintech.com/

[RD56]

Pat, I'm restoring an '85 but sometime please regale us with the complete set of mods to your '84. If you've already done this steer me to the thread.

Thanks, Rick

[JMR]

Swain Tech coating has been my favorite for years...I did my collector box on my '84 with their White Lightning coating and it does work and is very durable. When Randy built my 1350 we sent the 82mm pistons to Swain for their piston crown and skirt coatings.
http://swaintech.com/

I have also used Swain tech for years.....a good company.

[Dads_FJ]

I seem to recall Kal-Gard - they used to do cylinder and port coatings, but they seem to be more into guns now.

http://www.kgcoatings.com/

[Pat Conlon]

Pat, I'm restoring an '85 but sometime please regale us with the complete set of mods to your '84. If you've already done this steer me to the thread.

Thanks, Rick

Here ya go Rick, follow the link: http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;id=367

The engine mod consists of a XJR1300 cylinder block with 82mm sleeves and Hank Scott Pro 82mm pistons (Swain coated) with XJR rods.
The crank was left alone, unlighted.



^^^See the before and after comparisons on pistons. The Hank Scott pistons using modern designed short skirts, and shorter piston pins combined with the lighter, stronger XJR rods results in a piston assembly which weighs less than the oem piston assembly.
At high rpm, lighter weight is good...


Head work consists of +1mm exhaust and +1.5mm intake (stainless) valves with the valves unshrouded. The piston crowns were shaved and additional volume was added to the head's combustion area to get the compression ratio from 13.5-1 down to 10.5-1 so I can safely run the Calif pisswater gas in hot desert weather. Intake/exhaust ports were polished and bowls blended but otherwise left alone size wise. I wanted to keep the intake velocity high for the best low end torque. Stock cams.

I'm using the stock Mikuni BS36 CV carbs re-jetted with 122.5 mains, 42.5 pilots, 155 air jets and jet needles up one notch
The transmission dogs are undercut by Paul Gast (Fast by Gast) Coil relay mod with stock coils and the stock ignition and a 5* ignition advance. RPM spin on filter adds convenience and the RPM oil cooler helps shed the extra heat.

The engine was designed for optimal low to upper mid range torque, not peak horsepower. That's where I do most of my street riding.
With the the stock cams and stock 36mm carbs, they do hold back the peak 9,000+rpm horsepower, but not that I would notice.

I estimate about 95 to 100 ft.lbs of torque and ~140ish on the horsepower. I'll get to a dyno later this year to confirm.
I do know the torque on this engine is outstanding, and for me, torque is where it's at....

Thank you Randy @ RPM...this engine is a hoot..cruising along at 70mph, wack it open in 4th gear, and the power wheelies are most entertaining.  

Cheers  Pat

[FJscott]

"cruising along at 70mph, wack it open in 4th gear, and the power wheelies are most entertaining." 

c'mon man....pics or it never happened
Scott

[Pat Conlon]

Fair enough...then it never happened...I must a have dreamt it...
...or a flash back from that brown acid I took in the 60's

[RD56]

Pat, thanks for the info on your '85. Great mods, definitely like enough torque to do 4th gear wheelies. What was your thinking regarding the coated pistons, thermal, friction, both? How many miles on your bike when you did the engine work? Would love to hear some feedback vs non modified 1100 and 1200.

Thanks, Rick

[ELIMINATOR]

You guys crack me up! The amount of effort & skill you put into these old bikes. Don't get me wrong, I am not taking the piss. Quite in awe of your skills. Must be a labour of love for you?

[Pat Conlon]

Hey Trev, yea, looking at everything done as a whole, it does seem excessive....but remember these mods were done over a span of decades...not years.

Rick, the engine mod was done at the ~165,000 mile mark on my bike and she needed engine work (rings and valves) anyway, so what the hell..
I blame it on Frank Moore and Steve Conklin who both did the 1350 mod before me.

The Swain coatings were done with 2 thoughts in mind
1) the Hank Scott pistons are forged and as such, need extra cylinder wall clearance (vs.oem) so as to account for greater expansion rate. The concern is piston slap which can occur when the engine is warming up before the forged pistons fully expand. The piston skirt anti scuff coating helps mitigate this.
2) detonation: I am the only 1350 engine that is running the (rejetted) oem BS36's Mikuni's....all the other 1350's are running aftermarket carbs (FCR's) the insulating piston crown coating is a added layer of protection in the event we run too lean in the tuning of the BS36's.

Cheers

[JMR]

Hey Trev, yea, looking at everything done as a whole, it does seem excessive....but remember these mods were done over a span of decades...not years.

Rick, the engine mod was done at the ~165,000 mile mark on my bike and she needed engine work (rings and valves) anyway, so what the hell..
I blame it on Frank Moore and Steve Conklin who both did the 1350 mod before me.

The Swain coatings were done with 2 thoughts in mind
1) the Hank Scott pistons are forged and as such, need extra cylinder wall clearance (vs.oem) so as to account for greater expansion rate. The concern is piston slap which can occur when the engine is warming up before the forged pistons fully expand. The piston skirt anti scuff coating helps mitigate this.
2) detonation: I am the only 1350 engine that is running the (rejetted) oem BS36's Mikuni's....all the other 1350's are running aftermarket carbs (FCR's) the insulating piston crown coating is a added layer of protection in the event we run too lean in the tuning of the BS36's.

Cheers

Not in my mind. You get a street FJ around 160 HP and now you are talking fun.

[Flynt]

You get a street FJ around 160 HP and now you are talking fun.

certainly works for me...   

Frank

[JoBrCo]

Fair enough...then it never happened...I must a have dreamt it...
...or a flash back from that brown acid I took in the 60's

You should have listened to Wavy Gravy!