Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:50 am
Tried aircraft paint stripper on Q-tips yesterday to clean headgasket residue yesterday. Works slick.
A Forum dedicated to the early Honda GoldWings
https://www.ngwclub.com/forum/
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.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.
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 soonGowing 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 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.5speed wrote:She is a 500...toolbox wrote: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: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..
He rebuilt the carbs and set the valves. it runs..if you can get it to start!!!
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 :/.
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.
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:ericheath wrote:Tried aircraft paint stripper on Q-tips yesterday to clean headgasket residue yesterday. Works slick.
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...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".
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.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.
Thanks! Hope it's of help to somebody .Easter wrote:Great work and nice pictures. Will be a big help to anyone doing the same job.