North American Fj1200's new Aussie life

[Troyskie]

Kero guns are big on pressure and low on kero, it would take a long time to "flood" the sump.
My plan was to pour in the kero at first.
Why leave the sump on anyway if you're wanting to flush stuff out the bottom and if the motor's sitting upright, how do you get the sump off without tipping the motor on it's side - with all the crap then floating somewhere else and how the hell do you "swish" it around in something as heavy as an engine?
The engine is still in the frame and on the hoist. With a few litres of Kero in the crankcase my plan was to rock the bike side to side

An at home easy solution maybe to sit the engine (without sump) on a metal bucket and buy one of those fuel transfer pumps from the hardware or auto accessory shops ($20) with a couple of lengths of plastic hose. 10 litres of kero in the bucket (recirculating) and flush to you hearts content. You can put hundreds of litres through it this way.
Nice suggestion, I think I'll try this

The crud that accumulates around the studs contains a lot of fine grade grit (nothing larger can make it's way in there) and is exactly the size you don't want floating around your engine.
Agreed, I am nervous about that.
You can then use the kero (in the kero gun) to prepare the casings and other bits for painting.

I have found after many years and many engines that a kero gun wash followed by a high pressure clean is all you need as prep for painting, and no one can argue with the results.

Prep and a fantastic paint job is so simple many feel it doesn't seem right and choose to make the process more complicated, often counter productive.

Regarding painting the engine studs, unless you chemically neutralise the rust first,
From my experience with galvanic corrosion (proven by the plating going first), I am going to use a rust converter first, then paint to add more separation from the different metals. Leaving the stud bolts uncoated will simply allow any corrosion to continue. Mind you it did take over 30 years to get to this state, so I'm probably over doing it 

All in all, I've not done the above yet, so if you see a flaw in my amateur plan point it out. The above method is mostly to keep the engine in the frame.

I discovered how easy it is to remove the pistons, & didn't even drop any circlips into the crank  , I did however drop a screw driver into #4  , but with some wine, the radio, and my trusty magnet thingy I managed to retrieve it  .
In doing this I found a HUGE bit of crud,....here's a pic...


I then looked a bit more closely (put my glasses on now...getting serious here), and managed to retrieve the following...


With the pistons out I can now see lots of tiny debris I thought I'd prevented from falling in, so the flush is a must.

New question. Noel, you mentioned painting the engine, which I plan to do. A couple of members (and I think a few posts on the forum), have mentioned to me that engine paint needs to be heated by running the engine for a while before it hardens.

Any suggestions on how I might paint the barrels, head, and valve cover while they're off, and then get them back on without buggering the paint? I'm assuming it will be tacky or super soft till heated.

Troy

[racerrad8]

I then looked a bit more closely (put my glasses on now...getting serious here), and managed to retrieve the following...

Troy

Troy,

Just for confirmation, that is actually hardened rubber that used to coat the studs that were exposed to the elements.

That is why your magnet did not work trying to get it out the first time.

Randy - RPM

[FJmonkey]

Buy a used oven and cure the paint, then sell it off for what you paid for it.

[Troyskie]

Thanks Randy! I was going to use my XRF scanner to grade the metal to see what it actually was. I now understand why they've corroded they way they have, so now I can better prepare them for the future.

Mark, not a bad idea, how about a bbq with plates only, no grilles, set to low & baked for an hour? Re the head, I'm assuming I'll need any bits out before paint-n-bake?
Also, what temp is safe for these aluminium components? A quick squiz on the web came up with one product statement saying bake at 93c (200F) for 20 min. I assume these parts can cope with more heat, but I'm also thinking that warping may be an issue if I'm heating them up whilst separated from the engine.

[FJmonkey]

Thanks Randy! I was going to use my XRF scanner to grade the metal to see what it actually was. I now understand why they've corroded they way they have, so now I can better prepare them for the future.

Mark, not a bad idea, how about a bbq with plates only, no grilles, set to low & baked for an hour? Re the head, I'm assuming I'll need any bits out before paint-n-bake?
Also, what temp is safe for these aluminium components? A quick squiz on the web came up with one product statement saying bake at 93c (200F) for 20 min. I assume these parts can cope with more heat, but I'm also thinking that warping may be an issue if I'm heating them up whilst separated from the engine.

The aluminum will melt somewhere around 1200F or 660C So keep it lower and your good.

[Troyskie]

Any issues re warping?

[FJmonkey]

Any issues re warping?

You are already warped, if you mean the aluminum then follow the directions to cure the paint....

[Troyskie]

 
RTFM

[Troyskie]

All the bits that need out of shed work are now out and under way, except for the rear shock. I'll do some checking on what I want to do with it and report back.

[FJools]

Troy
interesting reading about your woes................

Are those studs serviceable ? If I had my motor stripped down this far I would probably replace them. The last thing you want is a stud shearing off as you torque the head down mate.

[Troyskie]

G'day Jools, I'm pretty confident they're ok, but a look at the ones on the 1100 suggest they were replaced by a PO, or were never rubber coated.

As you suggest I think I'll replace them.

How the heck to I get them out?

[Bones]

You can try locking two nuts together on the stud and see if they'll budge that way.

[ribbert]

You can try locking two nuts together on the stud and see if they'll budge that way.

As a general rule this is a great method for removing studs but in this case they are too long and the applied torque is dissipated over the length of the stud. You can wind those things around an 1/8 of a turn or more and they'll just spring back.
If they do come loose , they weren't tight to start with.

If you must remove them, try vice grips, as tight as you can get them and as near to the case as possible, this reduces the torsional twisting of the stud and applies nearly all the force to the thread. Then give them a few good belts with a hammer on top of the stud (at this point they are no longer useable if you change your mind)

Having said that, my personal opinion is unless they are beyond serviceable use, leave them alone.
This particular job has a history of going pear shaped.
If you do decide to replace them, make sure you get the right studs, I would think Randy could advise on this.

If you do decide to go down this path, I would suggest cleaning off the flaky rust and get your mechanic's opinion on whether they need replacing or not.

"While I'm in there I might as well......." syndrome is one of the greatest causes of bike and car engines never running again. You've got enough on your plate without needlessly taking on unnecessary work.

My two bobs worth.
(That would be two cents worth for our US brethren)

Noel

[TexasDave]

Once again I hate to agree 100% with what Noel said--but if it ain't broke don't fix it! Having rebuilt several VW engines the only time I would remove cylinder studs was if they came out of the case while removing the nuts on the head. This happens very infrequently. Chances of weakening the aluminum threads are greater removing them than letting them be and wire brushing the rust off and reassembling as is.  Dave

[ribbert]

Once again I hate to agree 100% with what Noel said--
Dave

Geez Dave, why do you always make it sound like such a struggle? 

Noel