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Head Job

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:44 am
by RebelRouser
Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowledge And Skill. Instead, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Went On A Run A Couple Of Weekends Ago And On Sunday Morning I Was Halfway To My Second Run Of The Weekend And I Noticed The Sweet Smell Of Burning Antifreeze. Looked Down And The Left Exhaust Pipe Was Clear, Looked To The Right One And A Cloud. Called Frenchy And Ordered A Top End Kit, And Trailered The Bike Home.

Day One, Received The Kit From Frenchy, Complete Top End Kit.

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Put The Bobber On The Lift Table And Strapped It Down.

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Time To Start Removing All The Parts; Crash Bars, Exhaust, Air Box, Glove Box, Drain Oil.

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Now I Am Not As Bad As Octane, Not That That Is A Bad Thing, But I Still Like Some Organization. I Number The Intake Runners And Spark Plugs. All The Carb Bolts Go Into The Same Baggie. Same With Everything I Remove. Everything Has A Group And A Parts Baggie.

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Remove The Carb Rack. Remember The Air Cut Off Valve Has To Be Removed For It To Fit Out Of The Frame. Drain The Coolant. Remove The Fuel Pump, The Points/Electronic Ignition And Housing.

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Remove The Radiator And Fan As One Unit, Hoses, And All.

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Remove The Timing Covers, And The Valve Covers, Rotate The Engine Till The Timing Marks On The Cam Pulleys Match And The Crank Is At Top Dead Center. Refer To Your Manual On The Exact Procedure.

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Thats It For One Night.

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Next Will Be The Final Disassembly Of The Heads.

First Nights Parts Bin.

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More To Come....

Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowledge And Skill. Instead, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:33 pm
by RebelRouser
Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Day Two.

Mark The Crank Pulley To Show Top Dead Center. Mark The Direction and Location Of The Left And Right Belts And Pulleys. Rotate The Crank Shaft Left Or Right 90 Degrees To Make Sure The Valves And Piston Do Not Hit When Belts Are Removed.

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Removal Of The Belts, Pulleys and Backing Plates (Labeled).

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Removal Of The Water Tubes And Water Jacket Housings. Broke 3 Of The 4 Bolts Off, Soaking One To Remove, New Bolts On The Way From Frenchy.

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Cam Removed.

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Right Cylinders And Head Removed. Left Cylinders And Head Removed. Now The Clean Up Must Begin As Well As All The Measurements And Specks To Be Hashed Out. Cylinders Mic'd Out At 71.88, .04 Over The Piston Size. Awesome There. Can Still See The Original Bore Cross Hatch Marks.

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More To Come.

Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:44 am
by RebelRouser
Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Day Three ... And The Work Continues.

Cleaned Both The Head Surfaces On The Cylinders. Cleaned The Pistons And Replaced The Gear Cover On The Right Side Of The Motor.

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All Of The Exhaust Valves Were Not Seating. So Much Carbon Build Up That Two Of Them Looked Like This, #1&4.

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Disassembled The Heads And The Valve Seats Looked Horrible.

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Bagged All The Valve Parts In Individual Bags With Identification Tags.

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Cleaned The Heads With Wire Brush, Drill, Scratchy Pad, Gunk And Brake Clean. Ported And Polished As well. Love How Awesome They Came Out.

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Had To Use The Drill And A Wire Wheel To Clean All The Carbon Off The Valves. All Of The Valves Were Salvageable, I Was Surprised But Happy. Got To Get Dirty To Get Clean. Used A Rag Wrapped Around The Stem To Hold The Valves In My Vice.

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The Same Pinkish Looking Valve All Cleaned Up. Very Happy.

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More To Come.

(Pics Can Be Viewed Here: https://ngwclub.com/gallery3/index.php/ ... 212?page=1)

Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 2:44 pm
by RebelRouser
Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Day Four.

Lapping Or Grinding The Valves. Get The Right Tools And Supplies.

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Basic Idea On Lapping Or Grinding The Valves Is To Make Sure The Two Surfaces Are Exact, The Valve And The Seat. This Not Only Insures A Good Contact And Fit Between Them But Also Removes Pitting, Carbon Build Up And Scratches On The Surfaces. Each Valve And Seat Needs To Be Done Individually. For Example, The #1 Exhaust Valve Needs To Be Done Only With The #1 Exhaust Port.

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What You Want To See Is An Even Ground Section Of The Valve Surface And The Seat, On The Entire Mating Surface, Which Is Only 1.4mm Wide.

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Then Reassemble The Heads. Do Not Forget The Valve Guide Seals.

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More To Come.

(Pics Can Be Viewed Here: https://ngwclub.com/gallery3/index.php/ ... 7/album212)

Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Parts list for this job can be found here.

thanks for the pics and text

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 4:02 pm
by hoganJr
have you finished your head job yet? Anything unexpected come up? I'm waiting on my gasket set...started doing some teardown. Had to spend all my "me time" working on the wifes car over the weekend.
Thanks again
Don Rodgers

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 4:55 pm
by RebelRouser
Still On The Lift Table. The Complete Top End Kit Is Not So Complete. Still Waiting On Some More Seals And Gaskets.

If You're Going To Do A Complete Top End Job, You Will Also Need To Order:
  • 3 Cam Seals
    4 Intake Runner O-Rings
    4 Water Jacket O-Rings
    2 Water Jacket Gaskets
    1 Right Front Cover Gasket
    1 Left Front Cover Gasket
    1 Fuel Pump Cover Gasket
    1 Breaker Cover Gasket
    1 Breaker Case Gasket
So I Would Suggest That You Do Not Make The Same Mistake I Did. Send The Top End Kit Back And Just Buy The Entire Motor Gasket/Seal Kit. You Will Save Money In The End.

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 5:26 pm
by JBz
i prefer to use blue dichem on the seating surface of the valves and seats. JB

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 6:02 pm
by RebelRouser
Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Day Five.

Killing Time ... Waiting On Shipments.

Not That I Am Just Taking My Sweet Time On This, But I Also Have Other Customers' Cars And Bikes And Work To Deal With. So The Pace On The Head Job Is A Little Slow.

I Decided To See What Parts I Could Rob From My Donor Motor. Pulled The Heads And Got 4 Good Guide Shims And Both The Oilers. So Now The Bare Block Is Serving As A TV Stand.

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Cleaned The Shims And Oilers And Installed Them. Installed The New O-Rings And Gaskets. Installed And Torqued The Heads To Specs. Torquing Head Bolts (Thank You W.F.)

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Now It's Time To Check The Cams, Rockers, Shafts And Holders. MAJOR PROBLEM: The Original Cams Are So Worn I Can Not Reuse Them. Specs On The Minimum Intake And Exhaust Lobes For The 75-77 Are 36.8mm I, And 36.5mm E. On Mine They Were 35.3mm I, And 34.7mm E. TOAST!!!!!! So I Pulled The Cams And Holders Out Of The Donor Motor's Heads And Thanks To Frenchy, HMRATBAM And JBZ I Was Able To Use The Donor Cams And Holders And Keep Going.

Cleaned And Installed The Cams And The Holders To Torque Specs. BTW, The Replacement Cams Are 37.4mm I, And 36.9 E. Great Numbers.

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Was Able To Completely Rebuild And Reinstall The Right Side Head. But With Missing Seals And Gaskets That Is Where I Have To Stop Until They Arrive.

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Replaced All The Exhaust Studs And Hung The Exhaust. Put The Crash Bars Back On The Bike. Replaced The Broken Highway Peg Mount And Reinstalled The Highway Pegs. Installed The Replacement Pod Lock. Rewired The Tail Light. Replaced Some Blown Fuses And Light Bulbs. Fixing All The Small Stuff Until I Can Finish The Head Job.

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More To Come....

Disclaimer: Do Not Attempt This If You Have Limited Mechanical Knowlege And Skill, Hire A Mechanic. My Steps Work Best For Me And They May Not Work Well For Others. This Forum And I Are Not Responsible For And Damages You Might Incur If You Attempt This Job Without The Proper Knowledge And The Proper Literature.

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:10 pm
by Whiskerfish
Looking good and she ought to be even faster with "fresher" cams!!!

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:39 pm
by hmratbam
What's that strange looking mechanism sticking out of the rear of the right head? ;)
Ron

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 11:32 pm
by RebelRouser
hmratbam wrote:What's that strange looking mechanism sticking out of the rear of the right head? ;)
Ron
What The Fuel Pump....

And Yes WF.... It Was Scary Fast Before, Now I'm Scared Just Thinking About It...

hey RebelRouser

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:03 pm
by hoganJr
thanks for your tremendous contribution to this site and especially this head rebuild tutorial. You make quite a leap for my amature mind when you say "cam removed" on day two. Does the cam need to be removed while the head is on the bike? Is there a specific proceedure in removing the cam? Are there seals, bushings, bearings, etc. that you replace on the cam? Sorry about all the questions, you were very detailed in your frames regarding belt and pulley removal and I appreciate that. I need information to overcome intimidation.
Don Rodgers

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 8:34 pm
by hmratbam
I meant the left head!?!?
Boy,do I feel stupid!
Ron

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:57 pm
by RebelRouser
Don And Ron.... funny

Don, No Brearings, Or Bushings, Just Seals, Two On The Left Head, Front And Rear, And One On The Right Front, No Seal On The Rear Because It Oils The Fuel Pump Arm And Tack Drive. Removal Of The Cams Is Best Because It Allows You To Inspect Your Cam Lobes, End Bearing Clearance (even though there is no bearings), Rocker Arms, Rocker Shafts And Springs, And The Hold Downs, If All I Had Done Were Head Gaskets, I Never Would Have Found The Worn Out Cams And Rockers... Your Manual, When You Get It Will Help Explain A Lot.... And We Are Here To Help As Well....

Ron, Do You Mean The Mechanical Advance Mechanisim On The Back Of The Left Cam/Head??? The Breaker Housing And Cover Are Still Off Till I Get Cam Seals... This.... It Is Smaller Than The Points One Because Of The Electronic Ignition....
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:48 am
by Whiskerfish
Me thinks that Ron is an 1100 guy and he has not seen our antiquated ignition system before lolol lolol