and the rebuild begins!

Well today is the official start of my first rebuild project! 1982 xj650 seca rj i got off a friend for a steal only 125 dollars! Got cams and some other parts he had taken off soaking in evapo-rust....going to be a long project but im looking forward to it! Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!

 

Photo's before and after ... must have photo's

 

Smeag............good for you!!!! Hey, I have 650 rj, and make sure to follow any posts by 'ecologito' as he has several that he's working on, too.

Depending on where you are in PA, I'm not too far. About an hour and 15 north of Binghamton on 12.......

Dave Fox, Host
Central NY Carb Clinic (TWO DAYS AWAY)
June 10, 2013

 

I will be posting pics soon! Ill be traveling all over the state this weekend but when i return ill be sure to post some pics!
Hogfiddles, binghamton is over 4 hours away from me .... so far i am having some trouble with heavy oxidation on the aluminum parts....any thoughts?

 

sand the aluminum down, to below the oxidation level then go through finer grits and then start in with Mother's aluminum polish.

You can shine it up to near chrome. Search around the site, you'll find guys that go extreme with it

Dave F

 

I will give that a try....cams are looking alot better,been sitting in evapo-rust for about 3 days now....never hadd to soak anything that long before! Got me some de-greaser yesterday...gonna soak timing chain in E-R while im away since its not even hooked up.... anyone know where i could find a repair manual?

 

Even badly corroded, it will likely need to have the remnants of the original clearcoat stripped before this will work.

 

That's why you should:

quote: "sand the aluminum down, to below the oxidation level" THEN

"go through finer grits" and THEN "start in with Mother's aluminum polish."



dave

 

I used a headlight refinishing kit. Worked great on the aluminum. Just followed the instructions.

 

I think any clear coat that might have been on there is pretty much gone....i like the headlight buffer kit idea i think i might even have one around the house....the guy i got bike off of keeps telling me to get some type of acid to clean the parts with?

 

He probably means phosphoric acid (concrete prep) but that would only be for ferrous (iron/steel) parts, not alloy. Works good for the inside of gas tanks; I wouldn't use it for much of anything else.

In regard to the cam chain: if it's already off, and it's rusty, don't use it. Even if evaporust can get it looking ok, once the bearing surfaces of the pins have been compromised by rust it won't last. You can't SEE the damage, it will only be revealed when the chain breaks. You have a 9000rpm motor there; don't re-use a rusted cam chain.

 

is the crank shaft out of this thing?

 

I will keep that in mind about the chain,never knew that.....yeah i noticed the other day i looked in the gas tank and found what looks like a penny in there....as far as crank shaft im not sure havent had alot of time to fully look everything over, that and im pretty new to motorcycles in general ...been around them alot but never worked on them before

 

Cams before being cleaned

 

"that'll rub right out"

 

Those cams are going to make beautiful paperweights. Even without blowing-up the picture up I can see pits in the cam lobes.

 

Actually so far a havent found any pitting....but i have really gone over them with a fine tooth comb yet.....hmmm just had an idea for a side project for parts i cant reuse, a seca wind chime! Lmao!

 

did they never have a valve cover on that thing? those are wicked rusty!

 

He had taken cover off,parts out and set off to the side and from what i was. Told he had them in a circular saw case and a storm went through and blew barn door open and filled case with water(valve cover had been put back on before storm to keep covered)

 

"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two New Cams.....my two new cams....YES, MY TWO NEW CAMS. All I want for...................................

Then I could wish for a new chain, too...............

Dave F

 

Hogfiddles lmao! Been thinking about trying to get another eninge off of ebay to use for parts, saw two on there last time i checked....or would i be further ahead to order everything new?

 

Cams after soaking and cleaning.....there is a little pitting,very shallow,im honestly surprised for how rusted they were! Where can i order new cams?

 

Send a PM to our local parts guru Len at XJ4ever.

http://www.xjbikes.com/Your_Account/profile=743.html

That is his profile. Give him the info on your bike and he will give you the info, But from his catalog this should be what you are looking for.

HCP3837 OEM intake CAMSHAFT, for all XJ650 models (except Turbo).

You can find his catalog here...

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14561.html

Good Luck!

 

Ooops I just noticed that I sent you the info on the intake, either way, send Len a Personal Message and he can let you know everything that he has.

 

Buying new camshafts will be cost-prohibitive. Further, like the cam chain I warned you about, any rust-compromised components will soon fail. If the "bottom end" of the motor is likewise rusted, you're better off looking for a different mill.

 

Dude, Where you at in PA?

 

Thanks for the infor on the parts osprey,bigfitz. I do plan on replacing chain after your warning ,i havent gotten to look over the whole engine yet ive just beenn working on the parts he had taking off the bike, as of right now i dont have much room to work on it until i finish building my shed.....jmilliken im near reynoldsville area off of 322

 

Cool. I live in northern York county..... I get out to Centre, Huntington, ans Somerset with work often. My brother lives in beaver falls too.... always up for a day trip if you need anything

 

Then you probably know where dillsburg is? I was just down that way this weekend! Had to come home earlier then planned due to some unfortunate events..... i get down that way every now and then to see family....

 

Dillsburg would be where I live

 

Lmao! What are the chances?! Thats where im originally from! Pm me! Hell i might even know ya or know of you! You probably know some of my family!

 

:? Was it sitting near the titanic?(rusted cam pics)

 

Damn those cams are rough. If the inside if the engine are at all looking rusted like that, it's not worth trying to save the plant

You have pics of the whole bike?

 

Ill have pics of the bike soon....been scrambling trying to finish shed, my wife aint too happy i got the batthroom smelling like degreaser and carb cleaner lmao! (But im always happy whenn im done lol) rest of engine dont look bad

 

If the rest of the engine looks like the cams.....clean it all up....and donate it to a HS or Community College auto shop. Teachers love to have examples of what not to do to an engine.

 

The bathroom could smell worse 8O but i would rather it smell like degreaser and carb cleaner :lol:

 

Mike82 thats what i tried to tell her! Lol its when my 6 yeard old boy goes in is when you wanna clear out! Of course right now you light a match and house would blow up lol. Worked all night long on cleaning nuts and bolts and other little parts, i need a new wire brush now cause there is only about 10 bristles left from scrubbing......but thats what i get for buying a cheap brush.... this is gonna be fun,i dont even know what half this stuff is or where it even goes!

 

As promised....

 

Nice! thankful the rest of the bike isn't like those cams!

 

I know! I honestly think the cams are gonna be the only thing im gonna have to really worry about everything else was kept out of the weather....wondering if i should look into a stand for the bike to work on it?

 

Totally worth it. I got one from harbor freight for like 69.99..... love it!

 

Ill have to check that out! Been looking at tire but not sure what to get or doesnt it really matter?

 

Would anyone know if there is a way to add a fuel gauge to this bike? Its would be really nice to have one!

 

There are a couple of potential options.

1. swap a tank from another model that has a sending unit (might not look good on the 650 though) and fit the appropriate gauge.

2. modify your tank to allow fitting either, a sending unit from a maxim (or seca 750), or an aftermarket sending unit.

3. cut an appropriate length of hardwood dowel, and cut notches for 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1/1 (my grandfather had one for a gas gauge on his model T)

4. Use your trip odometer and find out how far you can ride until you hit reserve (typically this method is more accurate than a fuel gauge). I put a adhesive label next to the odo to remind me of that figure since I have more than one bike.

Both options 1 and 2 will require that you find a gauge that looks good and either mount it to the bars or make a mounting plate for it. If you're wanting to go all-out and replace the stock gauges, there are several options that have "all in one" displays. Veypor, Acewell, Koso, and several others. In all cases you'll need to have a mounting hole cut in your tank for a sending unit, and find a sending unit that will work, and do some wiring.

 

Haha i like number 3! Probably just going to go by the trip, i dont want something that will look stupid..... even just an indicator light to let you know youre at a low level of fuel would be nice....had to use the trip with my one truck,pain when you dont pay attention and run out..... what does highway mileage usually run with the 650? I know the papers i have for the bike say about 40 something but hey my truck was supposed to get 20 and got 12 lol

 

Or you could do this:

http://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/page-view ... _gas_tank/

 

Very interesting! I will keep this in mind for future rebuilds although with this seca i think i wanna rebuild as close to original as possible

 

Oh....a sight tube. Durrrr.......
We had those on the solvent tanks at the dry cleaner I worked at.
Better be sure there are no leaks though.

(Aww heck, it's just gas. Nowhere near as expensive as Perchloroethylene $32/ 250 ml. So it's OK to leak a little.)

 

But can you run your bike off of perchloroethylene? Lol

 

Im beginning to believe my van is jealous of my bike! Everytime i try to work on my bike something breaks on my van! This time i started on the carbs and ran to store that night and had 3 lug nut studs on my van snap off! The next day when i started to replace them i noticed the rotor has almost a 2 inch crack across it! The last time i was working on the bike(degreasing parts) the exhaust snapped on the engine side of the muffler on my van......