1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

A forum for stories, pics and updates of your resto's. Be it a barn find, Grampas hand me down or a bike being brought back to it's former glory.If you are restoring it, show us your stuff!

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ericheath
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#31

Post by ericheath »

Tried aircraft paint stripper on Q-tips yesterday to clean headgasket residue yesterday. Works slick.
Whatever I suggest here should be given ample time for a moderator to delicately correct. I apologize in advance.
77 WING, 1200 engine with 77 heads, cams, gl1100 foot pegs, Magna V65 front end, 764A carbs, [-gone Suzuki M109 monoshock--, replaced with gl1100 shocks] gl 1200 swing arm, gl1500 final drive, wheel and rear brakes Valkyrie seat, Meanstreak tank, Sportster pipes, Power Arc ignition off crank.
77 Wing. black
83 Wing, in pieces
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#32

Post by toolbox »

robin1731 wrote:C-clamp type is perfect.

When I said check the valve springs, I mean check the spring pressure. Both at installed height and at compressed height. The specs are in the manual. I know very few people have a spring tester but you might be able to get them checked at a local machine shop. Just measuring the height of the spring doesn't tell you enough.
Sounds good...the closest real machine shop is a 90 mile round trip from here, so I'll have to make some calls and see who could actually test them. If I can't find anyone, I'll just go with the big ones... I think one of the local auto parts stores probably has a compressor I can rent, so I'll probably do that tomorrow.
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#33

Post by toolbox »

Gowing wrote:I got my spring compressor from oreillys, rented it,
I was not very happy with it, getting those springs compressed is tough job,
Was for me. But I think cause I had an inferior clamp. Can't find a pic of it right now.
I've done some many years ago...I don't remember what motor it was for (probably one of the V8s I've rebuilt). Don't remember how hard of a time it gave me either...guess I'll find out soon :)
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#34

Post by toolbox »

5speed wrote:
toolbox wrote:
5speed wrote:Welcome to the site.
83 Shadow eh?? We must talk. lol
This is my wife's bike..the previous owner fancied himself a youtube bike mechanic.. :shock:
He rebuilt the carbs and set the valves. it runs..if you can get it to start!!!
Nice! Looks like the 750, correct? IIRC they got the taller sissy bar. I've got the 500...if you have some spare time, you can grab a cup of coffee and read the entire saga of it here:

http://www.hondashadow.net/forum/72-tec ... vt500.html

I've been very (very) lucky with both of these bikes...I got them in basically bone stock condition, without having them hacked up by people who didn't know what they were doing. The guy I got the Shadow from was going to let his teenage son work on it...all he did to it was disconnect the fuel petcock, and then he gave up (?). So thankful he didn't get any farther lol. Honestly, it would have taken someone very motivated to bring it back...I think more often than not, these sorts of things end up being sold on craigslist a "bike in a basket" after they get it half taken apart and then lose interest :/.
She is a 500...
I ordered a rebuild kit for the starter as it turns over very slow. Until I get it rebuilt and back in I'm not going to trouble shoot the hard starting problem.
thanks for the link.
ETA..I'm on that forum as well..same username.
I think those chrome side covers are a one year/model item...they only came on the '83 500, so I guess that should have been a giveaway :). Pretty sure the 500s all came with a short sissy bar though, so maybe yours was swapped out...mine had actually a longer one installed at some point, but it wasn't factory (and I'm pretty sure it's the one off the 750). I put the short one back on (the seat back pad thing was missing so it didn't do me any good anyway). The starter on the GL was pretty easy to go through...if the VT is similar you shouldn't have any problems with it. The GL starter wouldn't even turn over on the bike when I got it, but all it needed was a good thorough cleaning and re-grease...you might find that the bushings and things in your starter are fine, and it just needs the same. OTOH, if you're already in there, you might as well just rebuild it...I didn't bother because the bike is very low mileage and everything was still pretty tight.
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#35

Post by toolbox »

ericheath wrote:Tried aircraft paint stripper on Q-tips yesterday to clean headgasket residue yesterday. Works slick.
Yesterday on my lunch break I got some Permatex Gasket Remover...I've never tried this stuff, but I figured coming from them it would work. The directions say to leave it on for 15-30 minutes...um, yea. I ended up leaving it on for a couple of hours before it seemed like it would work. My garage is 40 degrees, so maybe that was part of it...chemical reactions love heat, so maybe on a hot August day it would have worked faster. I guess I would give it a thumbs up though...you're not going to be wiping the stuff off with a rag, but it did seem to release the material so it could be scraped off reasonably easily. It's probably worth noting that even though it says that it has "foaming action" this stuff is pretty liquid, and doesn't stick to vertical surfaces very well. Works ok when you can put the head on the floor and let it soak, not so much on a block that's still in the bike :/. Here's how she looked after a couple of treatments:

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I cleaned up the combustion chambers with some carb cleaner and an old toothbrush. So far, so good...

I'll probably try and see if I can clean the last of the gasket residue off tonight. I get paid tomorrow, and I think I'll order the gaskets, o-rings, and whatnot, and maybe the Randaak carb kit. Valve lapping stuff will be here tomorrow, so I'll try and rent a spring compressor and take the heads apart. I should be able to have the head cleaned up and ready to go by the time the gaskets get here I think. Also need to start on the gas tank...the "fuel" that's in there is pretty disgusting :oops:
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#36

Post by toolbox »

Ok, so I promise this is the last pic of my new cylinder head until it's done lol. Got the mating surface almost completely done last night...there's only a couple of tiny spots of crud that just won't let go. My plastic "razor blades" will be here today, so hopefully those will work. After several applications of the gasket remover and scraping the head, I hit it with a foam polishing ball and some rubbing compound... The ball was originally from a headlight polishing kit, though I just use regular polishing pads now (like an orange cutting pad, followed by a blue polishing pad), and rubbing compound is something cheap from a grocery store that I wouldn't ever use on paint...but it does cut enough to polish the surface of the head and remove a lot of the little bits of gunk. Looks pretty good right now...hoping to disassemble the heads this weekend and get it cleaned and the valves lapped. I believe them that this was a low mileage bike...there really wasn't much carbon to clean up, and it came off with carb cleaner and a toothbrush.

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Also going to order the gaskets I need to finish getting the head back on...and I think the carb kit. The timing belts will be here today, as will the oil filter set. Need to get a new valve cover and timing cover too, though the timing cover could wait a little longer.

Still undecided as to what to do with the crash bars...honestly, it didn't really do much good in the wreck--the cylinder head was still trashed. The '83 style added a vertical bar that seems like it would have protected the engine better, so that might be an option. I found several sets on ebay. I kind of like the way they look without the bars...OTOH, they might be helpful in a parking lot drop (which I've done in my own driveway with my other bike...it was pitch black and I thought the side stand was fully extended. It wasn't lol) And if crash bars that really protect the engine are going to bend the frame in a bad wreck, I'd rather replace another cylinder head than a bent frame...

Also thought it might be nice to put highway pegs on the crash bars...anyone have an opinion on this? I've done some searching, and they seem to get pretty mixed reviews...seems like a lot of people couldn't find a way to mount them that they were actually comfortable. If they're not practical, that would be another reason not to use the crash bars...
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robin1731
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#37

Post by robin1731 »

Yeah, they really should be called tip over bars rather than crash bars. Like you say, good for a drop in the driveway.

Highway pegs, hard to say. On a GL engine they get out pretty wide to cleat the heads. So if you have long legs they might work ok.

On the head. Don't get the gasket surface too smooth/shiny. You want some surface there for the gasket to bite in to. Too smooth and the gasket can "float".
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#38

Post by toolbox »

robin1731 wrote:Yeah, they really should be called tip over bars rather than crash bars. Like you say, good for a drop in the driveway.

Highway pegs, hard to say. On a GL engine they get out pretty wide to cleat the heads. So if you have long legs they might work ok.

On the head. Don't get the gasket surface too smooth/shiny. You want some surface there for the gasket to bite in to. Too smooth and the gasket can "float".
Hmmm...I think I'm really leaning toward leaving the bars off for now and seeing how I like it. I can always add them later if I want to...I've got a million other things to throw money at with the bike right now, a set of bars can probably wait. I'm a little over 6', so I'm pretty tall...there's one peg left on it, and when I first got the bike I tried to use it with the bike propped upright. Didn't feel like I could actually use it where it was...the width wasn't an issue, but it felt like I was doing a situp the whole time. Maybe with a backrest, but without one I wouldn't be able to use it for very long. The bike also came with a set of floorboards that were new in the bags, but never installed...they're Markland style, and included what looked like a H/T shifter bracket. After reading about boards on the GL, I think I'll probably just sell them and stick to the stock pegs...
The head still has the factory machine marks on it, so I think the gasket will grab ok. I could always hit it with a scotch brite pad while it's apart too...

Gaskets are ordered from RMATVMC. Carb kit ordered from Randakk. Just need to get valve stem seals and a valve cover...and I think I'll have the parts to make it run. Well, and clean the fuel tank :shock: .
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#39

Post by toolbox »

So, I had a bit of time to fiddle with the bike this weekend, and thought I'd share my progress...
More head games. Rented a valve spring compressor...they didn't have the big C type, just the little one you can get at Harbor Freight for like $20. It's really designed to let you change the valve stem seals without pulling the head...which isn't what I'm dealing with here. Oh well, it's all they had.

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Did it work? Mostly. It's really designed for longer springs in cars, and so I knew as soon as I hooked it up that getting the hooks down low enough was going to be an issue. I was able to use it to compress the spring, but then I had to push the tool down pretty hard to expose the keepers...and I used a magnet tool to snag them before i had to let the tool back up. I was able to get everything apart...it would be a real bear to reassemble with though. I'm gong to try and find the C style when they go back together.

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So, what did the head look like? Pretty gross :IDTS: It looks like the guy stored his bike in the river or something.

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I could see that junk through the ports, so I knew it was pretty gooey, but I didn't realize it was that bad. I hit it with carb cleaner and a toothbrush first, and then gave it a bath in the ultrasonic machine for a couple of hours.

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In the end, it came out about as clean as it can get without media blasting everything...it actually looks pretty good.

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Ports are clean, guides are tight. I'm putting in new stem seals as well. Spent probably close to an hour and a half lapping the valves...really glad I got both coarse and fine compound...they needed it :shock: . Seats cleaned up fine, and the valves are fine (no pitting or anything). So far so good...I'm really surprised the valves sealed at all before, but they didn't leak when I filled the combustion chambers...they should be good to go now. Just waiting on my new stem seals, and gaskets to toss the head back on. I'm going to use the cam and rockers off the original head.

I also discovered one small problem...

Yea, the seller didn't mention this one either :/

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Not sure if this was freight damage or not, but I can't blame the seller for not noticing if it was there before...I've spent how many hours with this thing, and I just noticed...
I'll flatten the mating surface, and then I guess I have a few different options--
--Just try and tap the hole. The odds of hitting the threads right aren't very good, so this might just make a mess of it.
--Drill down 1/4" or so to remove the smoosheed threads...then the screw can grab the remainder of the threads down below that weren't damaged.
--Drill for the next size up and re-thread.
The last option is probably the best...the boss has plenty of meat to support the next size up, and that would give the bolt the full length of the threads to grab. Kind of an irritating situation, but I've got way too much labor in this thing to bag it over something like this lol. After I get this done, I'll give it one more ultrasonic bath to make sure there's no valve compound left, or any bits of aluminum from fixing this.

Also pulled the exhaust...I tried every way I could think of to get it out in one piece, but it wasn't going to happen. The bike is too low to the ground to get the cherry picker under it from the side, and too long to get the hook over the center of the bike :roll: . So, I ended up dropping the pipes, and cutting through the crossover with a sawzall. I cut it at a spot where I could put another coupler in...if I can't find one that fits, I can probably fab one from another piece of muffler pipe. I could also just remove the crossover entirely, and just weld caps over the holes, but I would like to keep it there. It shouldn't be a big deal to make it work. I tipped the right side pipe up, and guess what fell out :mrgreen:

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Yep...well, at least I don't have to buy one :oops: .

Pipes are really solid thanks to the low mileage...here's the left pipe before cleanup.

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And here's the right pipe after cleanup...looks darn near new. The left pipe isn't quite as nice, but it'll look fine. It's going to be a rider, not a show queen :). All the rust and crud came off with some 4 aught steel wool. Also used some Eagle 1 polishing wool in spots.

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They'll look really nice back on the bike. Thinking about hitting the bare metal parts with some black header paint before I put it back together to give it a little more rust protection. It was really nice cleaning the pipes off the bike...sooo much easier to get everything that way.

Was also originally going to replace the right side valve cover since it hit the pavement, but I think I'm going to try and salvage it. It's not cracked, and I think I can make it look pretty nice...I have a lot of experience in metal finishing, and I think it'll turn out ok. It won't be perfect just because it does have some damage, but it'll look nice. There are a ton of these on ebay, but none of them are any better than what I've got, unless you want to pay a hundred bucks for them. And I don't want to pay a hundred bucks lol.
Here's what I'm starting with.

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I'll post an "after" when it's done.

Oh, and I also got the ignition switch back in...the PO removed it to get a key cut because the estate didn't have one. Getting those screws in was...interesting. It was dark, and I could't get the drop light positioned to where I could actually see what I was doing. Eventually got them in anyway. Won't have to do that again soon anyway...

Also finished cleaning up the #1 cylinder...it has some light pitting at the top of it that couldn't be cleaned up without boring it :roll: . Oh well. I'm just going to run it...it would require a complete teardown of the engine to fix it "right", and since the rest of the motor should be very solid for a million more miles, I'm going to worry about it at some future point. It's at the very top, so it may be above where the oil control ring stops anyway, so it may not even be an issue. I guess we'll see.

She's getting there :). Carb kit should be here in the next few days, and that will be the next adventure... Head gasket stuff should be here this week too. Who knows, I might be able to get a test fire out of the engine in the next couple of weeks :).
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robin1731
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#40

Post by robin1731 »

Please, don't drill that hole out for the next bigger bolt. Try the tap first. If that doesn't work put the correct size heli-coil in it.

One thing with the heads too. I hope you kept track of which cam holder goes on which head. Those are machined as a set. Mix them up and it can put the cam in a bind.
1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
1992 ZX7 Dragbike (KZ900 style motor w/NOS)
and a rotation of various purchases
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#41

Post by toolbox »

robin1731 wrote:Please, don't drill that hole out for the next bigger bolt. Try the tap first. If that doesn't work put the correct size heli-coil in it.

One thing with the heads too. I hope you kept track of which cam holder goes on which head. Those are machined as a set. Mix them up and it can put the cam in a bind.
I'm going to see if I can get a tap after work. There's only one hardware store in town, but they usually have what I'm looking for. I looked at it in the daylight on my lunch break, and the damage wasn't as bad as I was thinking it was...it's only the very top that's buggered, so it should be salvageable. And thanks for the tip...I haven't taken the original head apart yet, I'll just do it when the new one is assembled as far as it can be. Then I'll just clean the cam assembly up and swap it over.
Took the box my new parts came in and used it to keep track of the valves...

Image

Also ordered a replacement of that plate that goes behind the pulley, and that's supposed to be here today too. According to the tracking number, the carb kits are supposed to be here today, so maybe I can get a start on that tonight if I have time.
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#42

Post by toolbox »

Got the head fixed last night...threads are repaired so the bolt goes in nice and easy. Had to clean up the top of the threads, but the rest were fine. The mating surface also had a couple of "bumps" where the metal was deformed by the impact. I took a file and a straight edge and very carefully flattened everything out. (it looks like the bolt is leaning over or bent or something, but it's just the camera angle...it's perfectly straight). Finished by wet sanding it with 800. So, I'm as far as I can get with the head casting until the valve stem seals get here.

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Also got a start on the carbs last night. Disassembly was uneventful. Since I've never worked on this particular model, I decided to just do them one at a time. Everything came apart just fine, with no major surprises. Lots of o-rings. Air cutoff diaphragm had a hole in it, so it's great that I have new ones to go in.

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It really wasn't too dirty inside, but the old fuel was like glue. Everything got a nice long ultrasonic bath, and got blown out with the compressor. Came out looking almost new.

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Everything moves nice and smooth now...when I got the thing, the carbs wouldn't open at all. It's easy to see how these things wouldn't run right when the carbs get crud in them.

The information I printed out says three turns out for the initial setup of the pilot screw...does that sound correct?

Anyway, it wasn't that hard, but was kind of time consuming. I might do the one that goes with it tonight. I'm sure it'll go faster just because I've done one now, but the cleaning still takes quite a while. Anyway, making progress.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#43

Post by Easter »

Great work and nice pictures. Will be a big help to anyone doing the same job.
Bikes at present:

83 XL 600r with a 2004 XR650L engine
And a slightly worse for the wear BMW GS adventure bike awaiting repair
83 GL in process :IDTS:
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toolbox
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#44

Post by toolbox »

Easter wrote:Great work and nice pictures. Will be a big help to anyone doing the same job.
Thanks! Hope it's of help to somebody :).

Made a little more progress last night...got the second carb done, and got them stuck back on their plenum half. The second one went faster since I knew what to expect, but the actual cleaning still takes about the same amount of time...the ultrasonic machine isn't huge and can only hold so many parts at time, which is another reason not to open up more than one carb at a time. I also cut a notch in that flange on the float bowls that acts as a stop for the pilot screw, so the little wing on the screw clears it. The pilot screws can now be turned 360* freely. Figured it was easier to mod the float bowl, rather than risk damaging the screw. The little wing might be enough to adjust it by hand too when it's on the engine, but I guess we'll see. Anyway, carbs are half way there...don't know if I'll have time tonight to do another one, but we'll see. Also got some (but not all) of my gaskets in the mail. Not sure when the valve stem seals are going to be here...

Image
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#45

Post by Audiowize »

Wow, this is sort of a dead ringer for a bike my neighbor just got. His father-in-law gave him a GL1100 to fix up and sell (1982 Interstate IIRC), and we've gone through it pretty nicely. I've been trying to talk him into making it a naked bike, and hopefully this thread can provide some motivation.
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