SoCal Fix-Up, Part Deux

[threejagsteve]

Heck yeah, I'd say something.  It's one thing if you guessed wrong, but if you took the time to call and specifically asked a rep "2 or 4" and they told you wrong they should eat the shipping.  If they won't tell 'em thanks for nothing and buy the other two from University motors..

Just to get the ball rolling, I placed the second order right away.

But I've also sent 'em an email, complete with dates, part numbers, and order numbers, and I think I even remembered correctly the name of the girl I chatted with... something I never would have remembered if it had been Charley or Fred or something!   (Apologies if there are any Charlies or Freds here... you know what I mean! )

Anyway, we'll see what happens, and you can be sure I'll let the group know...

In the meantime, I can get everything done BUT that second caliper.

Cheers,
threejagsteve

[SlowOldGuy]

I had the same problem when I rebuilt the calipers on my '93.  Came up 2 "kits" short. 

Here's the worst part.  You probably could have gotten a set of monoblocks of off eBay for less than the cost of all the stupid seal kits you end up buying.

DavidR.

[threejagsteve]

Ya know, David, I thought about that before I placed the first order...

But if you buy it on eBay you don't know where it's been.

So I'd've wanted to put fresh seals in them anyway, and may've needed new pads to boot. (Front pads I have now are still 2/3-3/4 there.)

And from what I understand, I'd've also had to get a 14-mm m/c.

Since I'm already about $200 over my original budget for waking Sleeping Beauty, that upgrade can wait for another day.

But thanks for thinking of me...

Cheers,
threejagsteve

[threejagsteve]

Today I removed the chin scoop, and the front brake master cylinder, calipers, and lines, and set them aside.

Then I took 2 short (about 10 in.) 4 x 4s and laid them lengthwise on either side of the pipes, where the headpipes go into the collector. I then put a longer (about 18 in.) 4 x 4 crosswise just ahead of the clamps on the pipes, and jammed a 1-in.-thick piece oy styrofoam between the upper 4 x 4 and the bottoms of the pipes. Why the styrofoam? To take up a little space, to spread the load a bit, and to keep from scraping the pipes when I took off the front wheel. (The wood might be harder than the paint.)

Then I took off the front wheel, then the back wheel.

Now, I'm not about to join Cleaners Anonymous, or start posting how-to's on the Clean Your Bike thread, but after reading the advice of the clean bike crowd, I bought a 2-L jug of Simple Green. Because I was taking the wheels in to Pasadena Yamaha to have my new tires mounted and balanced ($20 each, BTW, with the wheels already off the bike) I figured I ought to clean the wheels first since I know mechanics hate having to work on grungy stuff and I didn't want him to do a sloppy job just out of spite.

So I went at the front wheel, doing my best to keep the Simple Green and the rinse water out of the bearings. After half an hour of scrubbing with an old toothbrush, it was good enough and I thought, "That wasn't so bad!"

Then I attacked the back wheel - not so easy! An hour and a half later, I had most of the 10-year-old chain lube off. I decided enough was enough when I caught myself starting on the backside of the sprocket. LOL

So now the new rubber is on the rims, and tomorrow I can start on the forks.

Oh, and all I heard from Zanotti is that my email has been forwarded to the sales dept.

[rktmanfj]

Steve,

If you want parts from Zanottis, call them and ask for John Holland.

Randy T
Indy

[threejagsteve]

Steve,

If you want parts from Zanottis, call them and ask for John Holland.

Randy T
Indy

Thanks, Randy, I'll remember that.

[SlowOldGuy]

Ya know, David, I thought about that before I placed the first order...

But if you buy it on eBay you don't know where it's been.

So I'd've wanted to put fresh seals in them anyway, and may've needed new pads to boot. (Front pads I have now are still 2/3-3/4 there.)

And from what I understand, I'd've also had to get a 14-mm m/c.

Yeah, you got a point, but the oldest set of monoblocks are about 15 years newer than what you're working with.  Besides, the squids usually wad 'em up well before anything has time to deteriorate.

All the calipers I've bought, I pulled them apart to inspect the seals and clean them up.  They all looked fine (so far!).  But you're right, everything on eBay is a risk.

The 14mm master cylinder is "desireable" but not "required" IMO.

DavidR.

[Harvy]

Agreed David, I've been using 2003 R1 gold monoblocks and braided s/s lines for 3 years now with OEM master......... It is not necessary to change to a 14mm m/c in my opinion. I used 2 individual lines from the m/c and ditched the splitter......used the splitter banjo bolt in the m/c......new washers all round and a new rubber in the top  of the m/c............all good.


Harvy

[threejagsteve]

Still basically dead in the water waiting on parts, this morning I must have been channelling the Clean Bike Club.

My fork bushings are due to arrive tomorrow, which means I'll be able to start on the fork. So I thought to myself, "I've got all that Simple Green; why don't I go down and clean the sliders so they'll be nicer to work on?" So I gathered up the SG, an old toothbrush, and an old towel, and went downstairs, got out the garden hose, and cleaned them up a bit. Not too bad!

Then I made my big mistake. The back wheel is still off since I wanted to wait to put it back on until the fork was done for extra bike-tilting clearance. I looked at the inside of the swingarm and the 34K mi. of old chain lube and road grime in there, and I thought, "There's more than one way to reduce unsprung weight!"

Since I already had the garden hose out and the SG and my toothbrush, I dove right in. Two hours later, I have the cleanest 18-year-old swingarm in town. But I drew the line at starting on the inside of the chain guard!

Now, don't worry; I'm not applying to join the Clean Bike Club, and I won't be entering their annual "Shine-n-Show" where the motto is, "We wish we could ride 'em, but then they might get dirty!" 

But I have to admit, it does look a lot better.

[threejagsteve]

As I posted in the Parts Wanted section, I'm hoping to find a good used fork brace. However, always mindful of George's oft-repeated and sage advice, I'm getting what I've already got working properly before buying upgrades. So late yesterday the new OEM fork bushings arrived, and this morning I gathered up all my bits and pieces and went down to start on the forks.

I had my 10-mm (not 12!) allen, the brass union I found, about 2 ft. of 1/2" drive extension, and most of the components for David Raforth's fork seal driver tool (I say 'most of' because I didn't think the end cap was really necessary - I just used the 2-in tube like a slide hammer! )

I'll spare you most of the blow-by-blow, but here's something I bet most of you don't know (and I found out the hard way): FJs (at least '91s and probably later, and also likely earlier) have an inside taper on the stanchion tubes. As I'd previously posted on another thread, I found a brass 3/4" female to 3/4" male plumbing union that has a hex size of 1-1/16, which is only negligibly smaller than the needed 27 mm. The female end (the ~27 mm end) had a chamfer that I'd ground flat, and I'd cut off about half the threads on the male end so it'd fit in the socket better.

I'd previously checked that the 1-1/16" socket would fit in the tube (or so I thought). It DOES fit nicely in the top of the tube, but when I was actually going to use it, I found that it stops about 2/3 of the way down! At first I thought it was just dirt or crud, so I cleaned the inside of the tube and tried again. No dice. Finally I figured out that the inside of the tube was tapered, and although that 1-1/16" socket fit fine in the top, it wouldn't go down far enough to do me any good! So I wound up grinding down the inside end of the female side of the brass union so it'd fit in a 1-in. socket (which would go all the way down), and then it all worked fine. The bushings and seals went on with no problem, and the seal driver worked as advertised. I got the first leg finished, and started on the second.

On the second leg, the nylon bushing that the damper rod fits into came out when I took the slider apart for cleaning. On the first leg, it had stayed in position. I spent about a half an hour trying to get it back in its hole, to no avail. Then my wife got home from work, and it was time to quit for the day. I've got some ideas to try for that nylon bushing tomorrow, but if anybody has any handy tips on how to easily get it back in there, I'd be glad to hear (or read) 'em!

Enough for one day!

Cheers,
threejagsteve

[threejagsteve]

If anyone is wondering why I was having a problem, it was because I had put in the stanchion tube, seal, bushing, etc. before I slid in the damper rod.

No problem, you say?

Well, if the nylon bushing has come out and you try to slide it in on the end of the damper rod (like I did) since that's where it winds up anyway and it DOES go through the hole in the bottom of the stanchion tube, you've made a BIG MISTAKE! 

You have to put that bushing down inside the slider before you put the stanchion tube in, and let it feed up through the hole in the bottom of the stanchion tube, then slide the damper rod down inside it.

Once I took the stanchion tube back out and put the nylon bushing in first, it was about 10 min. to get it all back together.

[threejagsteve]

The Long Thrash, Day 14:

Lost 3 days due to the long weekend; the FJ may be my main project right now, but sometimes other stuff (like laundry, grocery shopping, and not completely ignoring the wife ) must take precedence.

Today I realized it has been two weeks since the last time I rode her.

Stuff accomplished so far:
New fork seals & bushings installed, forks reassembled with Progressive (brand) springs, filled with Dextron III ATF (15 wt.) and back on the bike 1/4 in. higher in the triple tree.
New tires (Pirelli Sport Demons) mounted and balanced and back on the bike.
Oil (Motul) & filter changed.
New rear brake pads installed.
Lots of cleaning.

Today the front calipers were (mostly) cleaned and disassembled. Had a swell time getting out the pistons (there's gotta be a better way - I'm thinking before next time I'll find a couple of rubber expansion plugs to put in the first two pots while using the compressed air on the second two...)

Tomorrow I'll finish cleaning the calipers and reassemble with new seals. Should also have time to start on the master cylinder; with luck (and an earlier start) I might even get the m/c back together.

Plan for Thursday: Finish the m/c (if necessary); put all the front brake components back on the bike with new s/s lines, fill and bleed the system.

Plan for Friday: Check the brake bleeding, try to see if I've forgotten anything, and go for a ride!

[FJ Flyer]

Just an FYI, Gary McCoy at Mondak Motorsports has the best service and best prices you'll find on parts:

MonDak Motorsports
Cost +20%; Email Gary: garymccoy@mondakmotorsports.com. Located in Sidney, MT. 866-433-6635
http://www.mondakmotorsports.com

[threejagsteve]

Just an FYI, Gary McCoy at Mondak Motorsports has the best service and best prices you'll find on parts:

MonDak Motorsports
Cost +20%; Email Gary: garymccoy@mondakmotorsports.com. Located in Sidney, MT. 866-433-6635
http://www.mondakmotorsports.com

Thanks, Chris, I'll definitely remember that, as I was wanting to find a new source the next time I need something from Yamaha.

Now would be a good time to report that, although I did receive the second pair of caliper seals from Zanotti late last week, they did NOT honor my request for free shipping to mitigate their mistake. And they sent them USPS First Class, which probably cost them about $2, while they charged me $8 for shipping. Maybe if I'd complained before placing the order they would have been more accommodating, but that's still pretty poor customer relations if you ask me. I'd rather give my business to someone else.

[threejagsteve]

Well, it turned out when I went to clean the insides of the calipers that my ham-fisted friend whose air compressor I was using yesterday (he insisted on "helping") managed to bugger up the seal lands in one of the bores.

It might be OK, but I wouldn't trust it not to leak just when I'm coming up on a 100-ft. cliff at 60 mph.

Rather than buying another stock caliper, it looks like I'll be looking for an upgrade (and another delay).