Unsitely Site Glass

I just did this to the master cylinder site glass on my xj700x. It requires a little patience and I can't say that the site glass is now 'like new', but it turned out pretty darn well!

1. Apply masking tape to the area around the site glass to help protect the paint.
2. Carefully scrape the site glass with a small pocket knife, removing the outer soft plastic.
3. Wet sand the site glass with a small piece of 320 wet/dry sandpaper. I used a small piece of wood from a tongue depressor to apply pressure and to help hold the sandpaper.
4. Wet sand next with 400 wet/dry, then with 500 wet/dry and last with 1000 wet/dry sandpaper
5. Polish with a small amount of rubbing compound.

 

I'll have to admit that i was reluctant to try it. However the site glass was so bad that I couldn't see through it. I found that the outer layer was somewhat gummy and could actually be scrapped off by a finger nail!

I've used the above method to clear up aged head and tail lights on automobiles, so I thought I would try it on the site glass. (I use a buffer to polish the auto lenses.) I am out of town at the moment, but when I return home I will post a pic of 'after'. I don't think I took a 'before' pic but I will check.

 

Click on the photo gallery to see the pic. Sorry it took so long to post it, we are still digging out from the results of Katrina.

 

Thanks! The bike is still a work in progress and it now looks like it will have to wait a while.

As far as Katrina my family was fortunate even though one of my sisters had six inches of water on the second floor of her home. We are all alive and have a place to live. The company I work for employees about 1200 people. Roughly one third had their homes destroyed or damaged so badly that they are unliveable.

Katrina ]Pics[/url]

 

Neat trick, I tried it on mine when I had it off. I also sand blasted and painted the master cylinder.
The site glass came out very nice as well.

 

Here's another method for complete replacement. This assumes you have the master cylinder off and are cleaning and/or rebuilding it.

You’ll need to find your replacement lenses. The best are flat glass watch faces - you can order them through Otto Frei:
http://www.ofrei.com/page_176.html for the 0.8mm thick ones, or here
http://www.ofrei.com/15-mineral-glass.htm for 1.5mm thick or
http://www.ofrei.com/page716.html for 2mm thick.
I don't remember how thick the original plastic ones are.
I went to a jeweler that does watch repair and ordered mine for about 5 bucks each. Don’t spend more, they shouldn’t be $20 dollars each.
The key is to get at 16.7 mm lens of either glass or mineral glass. Mine were .8 mm thick. I think the thicker the better as they are much thinner than the original plastic.

Wash out all the crud from the master cylinder with warm soapy water. Take a small screwdriver and push a hole from the inside out. Take small, preferably curved needle nose pliers and grasp the old lens through the hole. Pop it out. Both of mine came out in one piece. I’ve heard that some have had to pick them out bit by bit.

Clean everything really well. If there are any chunks left, use a match stick or toothpick to remove them. Use caution on the metal surface not to mar it. The final step for cleaning for me was using a bit of lighter fluid on a Q-tip to prepare the surface for the lens. Not the whole master cylinder!

I’ve used both Clear RTV sealant by and Windshield and Glass sealer by Permatex. Both are silicon based and seem to hold up just fine to the brake fluid. The RTV sealant was tested by soaking some in DOT 4 with no breakdown. Scooter likes the black RTV.

Use a straight pin and poke a hole in the nozzle for the sealant. Run the tiniest of beads as possible on the surface around the hole. Rather than my fingers, I used a piece of tape on the end of a pencil to pick up and apply the new lens to the hole. Put the lens in and poke it down. If you have too much sealant, it’s going to squish out and be visible on the inside of the lens. Your standards of perfection may vary.

As a precaution, I ran another bead on the outside of the lens and used my finger to smooth it up. Then with a Q-tip, cleaned the surface of any residue.

Let the whole thing dry for at least 24 hours to ensure proper curing of the sealant and all residual water is dried.

Reinstall the master cylinder and ogle your fine work.

 

Bought 4 crystal lenses off a fellow advertising replacements on ebay last year. $20 delivered to the door. They are perfect. He recommends using epoxy to seal them in place.

 

Hey Robert, do u remember what kind of epoxy you used? Name brand/type etc.? Thanks!

 

I've yet to install the lenses but you could use the Permatex or 3M types of two part epoxy. I'll try to dig out my instructions but don't hold your breath, I'm wading through 20 years of paperwork right now. Gotta get this study shipshape or I'm going to go nuts.

 

The responses to your lens replacement are all great advice. I had to replace mine and did what's been discussed, here, with little variation.

"The Old School Method"
Replacing Site Glasses with Watch Crystals
by: Rick Massey
All rights reserved.

I mixed some regular 5-Minute Epoxy. I used the narrow ends of toothpicks (many) to place the small amount of epoxy behind the crystal. [It was more like a "smear" than it was a bead.]

The outside sealing got done by placing a partial drop of epoxy at the edge. Tossing the toothpick that was used to apply the epoxy and using many other toothpicks (I had a half-dozen between my lips) to "drag along" the freshly mixed sealant taking advantage of its slow capillary action.

I used a bunch of soda cans and shot small amounts of UN-mixed epoxy on the concave bottom of the can. Then, when the epoxy you are working with just begins to "Pull" ... shitcan that mix and blend yourself one of the UN-mixed ones you have lined-up.

Once you have the sealing bead all around the new CRYSTAL ... take full advantage of it being crystal and shape the epoxy around the inside diameter of the window.

Use your little finger moistened with "Good Old-Fashioned Spit" (saliva) to make a nice looking finish ... like a glazer would do on a window.

Clean-up BOTH the Crystal AND the shape of the seal with lacquer thinner.
Use old, cotton, T-shirt cloth and moisten the cloth stretched tightly about your finger. Closer to "Damp" than "Moist"

The lacquer thinner will clean the glass off anywhere you might have goofed while simultaneously helping you apply a really fine-looking bevel on the epoxy around the glass.

If it isn't crystal or glass and you touch it with lacquer thinner; you'll be back to Square One, immediately.
- 30 -

 

Okay, one other thing. There's a round metal (aluminum?) disc with a vertical slot cut into it that restricts the view through the sight window. This disc snugs up from inside and its outer edge contacts a thin rubber gasket in the sight glass opening in the m/cylinder. Is this disc really necessary? It seems to do nothing but restrict the visibility of the fluid level. Also, should the little rubber seal (inside the master cylinder opening) be removed?

Finally, this is an XJ750K master cylinder which I'm going to use to retrofit dual front disc brakes onto a XJ650J. The 750 has a low brake fluid sensor device inside the m/c, which appears to be a styrofoam (?) "float". Can/should I leave this off----as the XJ650 doesn't have a low brake fluid sensor (that I can tell).

Thanks, you guys are invaluable......

 

The issue of the Master Cylinder Level Sencing Float was put before the Members of the United States Supreme Court.

The Courts Decision, on The Matter Before the Court, agreed that taking-out the "Styrofoam Float" would be the most advantageous decision.

Portions of the proceedings transcript are quoted her.

"No. No. What's he want to leave it in there for? Posterity?"

More comments from the Supreme Court's Decision have not been typed.
They are waiting for the other XJBikes.com newly appointed Judges to write and submit.

And as my all-time great TV Show would end each day ....

"Say Goodnight; Gracie"

Goodnight Gracie.

 

Hey Rick, you need some new drugs! Or a good night's sleep.

Or maybe a national TV audience?

Anyway, away it goes. Who needs any stinkin' styrofoam float, anyway?

Oh, how about the little disc? Off with its head, too?

 

I'm voting for its removal. Don't see why it was installed in the first place.

 

I have tryed all that when I replaced my crystal. I tryed every type of glue out ther but everything kept breaking down and would leak. Ruined my paint job. I did find one way to fix my sight glass that would not leak though. I filled the sucker full of jb weld. It has not leaked in over a year now. Ha. Ha.