'92 140,000Km rebuild.

[FJscott]

 Very cool toy, I want one.

[tmkaos]

Here's the first vid of the fork brace machining, currently uploading as of right now (6.22am Tue) should be online in the next hour or so. Tis ones a little longer and I had a wee programming fail at the end of it, no harm done though..
http://youtu.be/vx8UsI42c94

James

[tmkaos]

More progress today! Cams dialled in, both cams are spot on at tdc and I went through and correctly shimmer up the valves as they'd all changed from me relapping the valves so now the clearances are all smack on the middle tolerance.

I am getting sooo close to lifting the motor back in.. Trying to remember, am I best to fit the clutch slave now or is it best to put that on once its in the frame? Maybe next weekend I'll get the chance to put it in.. Christ its been long enough I've forgotten how to ride it.. 

[tmkaos]

 

It's in!!!!!! Well, a little bit anyway... 





A little bit of wiggling and jacking and I managed to get that back mount lined up without too much hassle.. Could've done with another arm at one stage but I managed. Amazing how just that little step can make a job look much more manageable. Bit of an effort to ghet the motor off the bench onto the jack by myself but necessity is the mother of invention.. Oh, and I put the swing arm back on too..

Progress again..   

James

[ribbert]

It's in!!!!!! Well, a little bit anyway... 

James

That's excellent James. Glad to see you didn't go overboard on disassembling the bike to remove the motor. You have also done what I have found to be the easiest way, the block under the centre stand and the floor jack.

Had you considered fitting these before you fit the frame down tubes?



Having your hand forced to re build the motor yourself (now it's done) will be much more satisfying in the end.

You are only a few hours away from riding, whoohoo!

Noel

[tmkaos]

Had you considered fitting these before you fit the frame down tubes?




Noel

I definitely did consider it, then forgot about it, then reminded myself again, then forgot again...

I need to bring a tap home from work and do it before I carry on, that would be smart..

James

[tmkaos]

Morning all..

Who's been watching the racing? By racing I mean the America's Cup..  Damn, that's a cool spectacle to see those cats powering up once they round the mark, 40+ knots in 18 knots of breeze.. I love it. I particularly love the fact little ol' us (NZ) are doing quite well, thank you..

Anyway, back in the garage..
I've realized that I spent a lot of time ensuring I got the motor back together correctly, but its been so,long since I pulled it out, nearly  a year now, that a lot of the details on how the restof it all fits back together have escaped me..  So I spent a good few hours staring at bits remembering where and how they went.. Anyway, one part I did remember how to fit ws the oil cooler, however I noticed something funny, that the main top mounts on the oil cooler, that attach to the frame just above where the lower rails attach, don't line up anymore. It appears as if the frame has spread by about 5mm over the time its been sitting there in the garage with everything unbolted and de-stressed.

but apart from that I've had no time to do,much else, I start a new job on Wednesday so its been a busy few weeks sorting out all that. But hopefully back in the garage this weekend.

James

[tmkaos]

A little more progress again.. This is absolutely inching along but I'm giving it all the time I have, which is zero at the moment..

Sprocket cover back on, RPM spin oil filter fitted.


Frame rails squeezed back into position and front engine mounts lubed back up and assembled. I can actually move the motor now by hand pushing on it in the frame, it was frozen solid before I pulled it all apart. Should kill off a little of the dreaded 3000rpm buzz.. I fitted the senders for my new oil temp and pressure gauges too. Going to mount a wee heat shield for them to reflect the header heat away.


I think I'd better buy some paint and touch up the bottom of the crankcase - it really does look shit in the flash, not so bad in real normal light, but seems a shame to leave it now I've gone this far.

I still can't get my oil cooler top mount bolts to line up, I wonder if I've bashed the tab on the frame at some point when the motors been out.. It's still out of alignment by 5mm or more..

James

[tmkaos]

HOLY SHITBALLS!! 

It runs! And I actually got to go for a ride! Pics to come..

And it needs a little tweaking..
Rear brake still spongy, either lever not right or my master cyl is dead too. I bled it up  worries.
Oil temp gauge no go.
Batt not charging? Was flat after half hour ride, I've done Randys alternator upgrade..
Got a temporary stuck float on 1 carb when I pulled over to examine for leaks of any fluid, but it had cleared up by the time I got home.
Goddamn exhaust paint has cracked off already. Seriously...
Need to align the rear wheel better and recheck chain tension.

spent all day working on her and trying unsuccessfully to stream Bathurst on the laptop as its pay per view only over here..

More later, bed time now..

cheers all,

James

[ribbert]

Congratulations, it's about time!

Nothing feels as good as the engine you built yourself purring away under you, and just in time for Spring.

The tweaking? All minor stuff now it's running.

Good one!

Noel

[tmkaos]

Ok, so the FJ and I have been back on the road for a week now, and man, it feels weird to be honest.. Worked out that I've been off the bike for a year now. Uploading some pics I just took and I saw the chicken strips on my front tyre and I was like, wow, learner all over again..

The main issues I'm having are a bad miss until warm, like 1 cyinder completely dead until the bike is proper and warm, and the battery not seeming to charge up properly.
The miss is a legacy from my pre-tear down carb sync attempt, I have a Gunston Carb balancer which only works on 1 carb at a time and is pretty shit to be honest so I think I made the tune far worse by attempting to use it. The fix will be taking the bike to a guy who has a proper 4 way carb balancer and getting him to do it. That will happen this week sometime.
The battery issue, well I did the regulator fix when the motor was out so I hope I haven't crossed any wires, and the battery is brand new I  bought it as a started the tear down, but I actually think it's because I havent had the bike for a decent run yet, and the battery had sat for a year before I threw a quick pre start charge at it. So the fix so far has been to throw a decent charge at it and see how much run time that gets me.

The run in was pretty sweet, I got everything ready, pulled the plugs, removed the oil gallery plug screw in the head and cranked on the starter motor until oil came out the head gallery. It took a while.. a good minute and a half of cranking before the oil got there, but it did have to fill the cooler too. Then I threw the plugs in, set up a tank on the garage floor and went for a start.. 15 seconds of cranking and BOO-YAH!!! She's alive! 90 PSI of oil pressure straight away, no rattles or streams of oil, bit of random smoke from shit cooking off and a burning paint smell.
Threw the tank on, grabbed my gear, straight to the gas station for a big drink of 91 octane, only about 2 kms away, then onto the motorway, about 5 mins of run time to this point, into 5th at 60kph and WOT until I see 100kph, back off, drop to 60 again and repeat 5 or 6 times. This was the run in procedure suggested to me by a trusted source. It made sense when he explained it, that you want big gas pressure to blow the rings hard into the cylinder walls and seat them nicely, and that you only need to do a few times then just treat her nice for a few hundred kms, no massive revs, and no sitting at constant revs either, just glide up and down the rev range but don't baby it. Seems to be the answer so far. No smoke, no stumbles, rode for another 10 mins then pulled off the motorway to check for leaks. Fuel pissing out a float bowl, so give it a smack, straight back on the motorway and home a bit nervously hoping I'm not still pissing fuel all over my exhaust and back tyre.  By the time I got home the leak had stopped.
Pre start pic with Bathurst streaming on the new TV in the background (for you non-ANZACs, Bathurst is like a week long piss up and fist fight in the middle of nowhere in Australia on a large hill, and in the quiet patches they run a 1000km race)


At work for the first time.. New job, new motor..


Fork brace fitted. Gotta attach some clips to route the brake lines.


You can see the travel on the forks - I've given it a massive panic stop to see where they compress too, no fairing interference issues for me..


So just a couple of issues to sort then we're away!! Summer is coming here in NZ, 

Happy riding!!!

James

[tmkaos]

On November 12th 2012 I started this post, and now finally a year and a bit later I'm calling it closed. 

I bit the bullet and took the bike to get the carbs synchronized and the jets taken back to factory. Sorry to all you folks who helped me with rejetting advice, but for whatever reason, factory is best for my bike. It was running way too rich, so even with pod filters, 4-1 exhaust and a mild port job, it didn't need richening up at all. Put the factory mains back in, needles back to middle groove and holy shit what a difference. The kookaloo is back, and it's better than ever.

Post rebuild cylinder pressures are dead on 150psi even across all 4, and now she's synchronized up she's smooth as silk and running like a dream.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that chipped in with advise, helpful hints and support. I really do appreciate it, and we've got a great community here.

So summer is here in NZ, I've got a beautiful freshly tweaked FJ, bring it on...

Cheers, James 

[Pat Conlon]

Well done James. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

[tderida]

Good job James!
Inspirational and encouraging project.
Maybe it was a bit time ago but that kind of enthusiasm and effort should be appreciated..