'92 140,000Km rebuild.

[RichBaker]

Slightly annoying that it needs heat to cure - adds another level of fucking-aroundness to the whole job.

Use a real heat gun for 4 or 5 cycles. It gets the paint hard enough to resist finger print marks etc when installing the engine.

If the cyl block is off, just stick it in the oven for 3-4 hours.....

[fj1289]

If the cyl block is off, just stick it in the oven for 3-4 hours.....

Says the guy getting ready to sleep on the couch!  Lol!

[FJSpringy]

If the cyl block is off, just stick it in the oven for 3-4 hours.....

Says the guy getting ready to sleep on the couch!  Lol!

Yes the use of the oven is up there with use of the dishwasher to clean parts, for the life of me I don't understand why, after 30 years of marriage I still don't understand and it has been explained several times maybe its because I have had to cover my ears to drown out the volume and nature of the explanation 

[andyb]

Yes the use of the oven is up there with use of the dishwasher to clean parts, for the life of me I don't understand why, after 30 years of marriage I still don't understand and it has been explained several times maybe its because I have had to cover my ears to drown out the volume and nature of the explanation 

I fear that if I was in a similar situation, my ears wouldn't be the portion of my anatomy that would be most in need of protection...

[tmkaos]

You know I've been thinking about this and we do have an oven in our smoko room at work (read that as lunch room for all you non-Kiwis, Aussies or Poms). Doesn't get used much, it's actually brand new. I reckon I could sneak the cylinder block in there one Saturday whilst our fearsome tea-lady is away.. It should be safe to bake the heads too once I've pulled out all the valves, springs etc don't you reckon? Then I'll be able to paint them both before reassembly and won't fuck them up on reinstalling the motor.

I've got the head and cylinder block at work now so progress is slower as there's not much I'm able to do at home what with all the Xmas build up and looking after my little girl -who is smiling at me now when we have play time, she's 8 weeks old..

Got to finish cleaning up the head and check it for flatness, remove valves and springs, and then check the valves for straightness etc and the valve guides for for fit. I can't unfortunately machine the head in one go at work - I don't have a fly-cutter big enough to do it in 1 pass, the biggest diameter cutter I have access to for my machine is 80mm, so I'd have to do multiple passes, and that always leaves a ridge where the cut pass meets itself.. So I think unless it needs it I'll leave well enough alone.

Cylinder block needs to go to a mate with an engine shop to get his input on whether it's just a re-hone or bore once I've cleaned it up and seen how badly worn it is as regards wear limits - the base gasket is cooked on there good too.. I wonder if the P/O got this motor really hot, as I know I've never got it hot enough to worry about it but it had an oil temp guage on it when I got it and the paint is just falling off the motor..

Who knows, it 's a bit of a mystery this bike regards history. I bought it as a fresh used import from a dealer, imported from Japan. 15,000km on the clock but it had to be 115,000km.. Not with the amount of wear and tear on the bodywork and state of the motor.. No previous owners in NZ. the dealer hadn't been able to shift it, it had been on the lot for a year, and the shop boys had been doing skids on it. I saw the rubber build up under the rear guard when I inspected it and managed to get $500 off the price, (paid $3000NZ) 2 new tyres and brake pads all round out of the dealer. And it was advertised as a 91 but when the paperwork came thru about the registration it was listed as a 92. I'll take that win, thanks.. It had heaps of mods done, exhaust, rear-set pegs, Renthal bars, Brembo front brakes. Even though it came in from Japan, it's a Euro-spec model 3XW, has warning labels in French on the gas tank. Weird.

Anyway, enough rambling.. Back to the garage for me..

Enjoy your weekend guys,

James

[tmkaos]

So I finished up cleaning the carbon out of the combustion chambers this morning.  Machined out the rusted location dowel and stoned the burrs off both sides of the head. Sat it on our marking out table and ran my clock across it.


I'm getting .04mm max warpage across the head. That looks just under the .05mm max specified so I'll call that good.

Went to the cylinder barrells next. Factory bore is 76.96 - 77.02mm allowed.


I got
Cylinder 1 - 76.985mm no variation found
Cylinder 2 - 77.000mm - 77.010mm
Cylinder 3 - 76.975mm - 76.990mm this is the scored cylinder
Cylinder 4 - 76.985mm - 77.000mm



Maximum out-of-roundness was .02mm across all 4 bores.

So we're not looking in too bad shape I don't think. 

Nex up, valve and valve guide removal/checking... I should be able to put in my order to Randy pretty soon, I've got a much beter idea of what I actually need now..

James

[Dan Filetti]

I am watching this thread with interest.  Seems you're doing top-notch work.   Good on you.

A point, you said that this was a Japanese import -right?  I though that the Japanese models had smaller intake bores/ throats, or some such thing, which were intended to reduce power.  Am I remembering this right?  If so, has it been, can it be, (should it be) corrected, especially now when it's in pieces?

Sorry I'm not all that specific, it's ringing a distant bell, can't pull it all out of the dusty recesses...

Others may remember better than I, if you are unfamiliar.

Dan

[racerman_27410]

I am watching this thread with interest.  Seems you're doing top-notch work.   Good on you.

A point, you said that this was a Japanese import -right?  I though that the Japanese models had smaller intake bores/ throats, or some such thing, which were intended to reduce power.  Am I remembering this right?  If so, has it been, can it be, (should it be) corrected, especially now when it's in pieces?

Sorry I'm not all that specific, it's ringing a distant bell, can't pull it all out of the dusty recesses...

Others may remember better than I, if you are unfamiliar.

Dan

the restrictions are in the rubber carb joints... the cylinder heads are not restricted.


KOoALoo!

[Harvy]

I am watching this thread with interest.  Seems you're doing top-notch work.   Good on you.

A point, you said that this was a Japanese import -right?  I though that the Japanese models had smaller intake bores/ throats, or some such thing, which were intended to reduce power.  Am I remembering this right?  If so, has it been, can it be, (should it be) corrected, especially now when it's in pieces?

Sorry I'm not all that specific, it's ringing a distant bell, can't pull it all out of the dusty recesses...

Others may remember better than I, if you are unfamiliar.

Dan

Correct Dan......intake manifolds are 28mm diameter as opposed to rest of world 33mm (?).
Ned in Auckland was looking into boring his out, not sure what the result was with that.
I purchased new ROW manifolds on ebay several years ago to replace my Japanese OEMs.

Harvy

[tmkaos]

I am watching this thread with interest.  Seems you're doing top-notch work.   Good on you.

A point, you said that this was a Japanese import -right?  I though that the Japanese models had smaller intake bores/ throats, or some such thing, which were intended to reduce power.  Am I remembering this right?  If so, has it been, can it be, (should it be) corrected, especially now when it's in pieces?

Sorry I'm not all that specific, it's ringing a distant bell, can't pull it all out of the dusty recesses...

Others may remember better than I, if you are unfamiliar.

Dan

Correct Dan......intake manifolds are 28mm diameter as opposed to rest of world 33mm (?).
Ned in Auckland was looking into boring his out, not sure what the result was with that.
I purchased new ROW manifolds on ebay several years ago to replace my Japanese OEMs.

Harvy

Yeah someoine mentioned this to me a while ago, and like I said there's something weird going on with this bike, I've just checked my intake boots and they measure 40mm at the carb end, and 31-32mm at the head end. It most defintaley came in from Japan but it's not a Jap domestic spec bike. Speedo goes to 270kph too..

Appreciate the extra heads up though  

James

[tmkaos]

I am watching this thread with interest.  Seems you're doing top-notch work.   Good on you.

Dan

Thank you Dan, much appreciated.  

It is everyones input that is making this easy by pointing me in the right direction, and having the benefit of experience to say what's good to do and what's not, so again, thanks everyone that's chipped in with advice! 

James

[Harvy]

Sounds like your FJ has been played with James.
My '91 was Jap domestic with 28mm intake manifolds and 180km/h speedo.
The only other things I have noticed different to the US models is a lack of reflectors on the forks and the inclusion of a reflector on the rear guard that is mounted with a pop-rivet.

I no longer have any of that stuff on mine..... trimmed rear guard, Acewell Instruments and 32mm (you measured it) manifolds.

I too am following your re-build...... I have 120000Km on mine now. Still running like a Swiss watch, but one of these days she is going to need a re-build, so your is work appreciated across the ditch.

Cheers
Harvy

[RichBaker]

If the cyl block is off, just stick it in the oven for 3-4 hours.....

Says the guy getting ready to sleep on the couch!  Lol!

I'm single, I sleep wherever I want to.....   

[tmkaos]

So a fellow bike enthusiast lent me his spring compressor and I dropped out the #4 exhaust valve closest to outside of the motor just to see how it worked. I noticed when I was cleaning the combustion chambers that there is some sort of coating on the exhaust valves - it is wearing off in places which is a bit of a worry. All my valves are marked 36Y on the heads. The coating wraps around the valve and continues right up to the point where the vave stem is engaged into the head.
Are my valves had it if this coating is stripping off?

I also didn't realise the valve springs were a double spring..

Gotta get the manual back out to check how to go about removing valve guide seals. I'll check all the valves for fit and wiggle as I pull them out, this ought to tell me if I've got a loose fit on the #3 valve guides, which is what I'm hoping to find.

James

[tmkaos]

I finally got the work camera out and took some better pics.. Here's the coating that's coming off my exhaust valves, these are from #4 cylinder and are by far the worst.






I've still got to check all the vlaves for fit in the guides, gave them a wiggle as they all came out and my engineer's hands tell me they weren't too bad, felt like an .05mm ish fit to me, but I'll set them back up with a clock and do it properly but I think the guides will turn out ok. The seals look a different matter, the first one I touched was so brittle it fell apart so I think that was contributing to my issues.

Going to put the head through the bead-blaster at work to clean it up, I hate working on dirty parts. This will give me a better surface to paint too, the old paint is flaking off so i can't paint over it.


Haven't finished sealing it yet though however..

Speaking of paint, I bit the bullet and bought some POR-15 engine enamel for the motor, so that was  $70 for a pint (475ml). By the time I'd bought another can of Hi-temp for the exhaust, some prep solution for the engine enamel that all came to NZ$130. That was an expensive day as I had to buy some new front brake rotors for my Commodore NZ$156 and get a WOF (Warrent of Fitness 6 monthly safety check) NZ$45.

So anyway if anyone cam tell me if those exhaust valves are history because that coating is coming off, that'd be great. If I have to buy valves that certainly adds to the expense - unless I just relace the ones that are actually damaged but I've never had much luck with mixing new components with worn ones - better to do it all.

Cheers guys, enjoy your weekends, the weather here is looking absolutely cracker, 26-27C light winds and clear blue skies, god I love summertime in NZ. What a damn shame my FJ is scattered in pieces around my garage..

James