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

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

#76

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robin1731 wrote:Yeah, and I have both. It is just so easy to take out one bolt per side and have them off in about a minute. ;)
Thanks for the input guys! When I was taking the covers off, I seem to remember that I was able to reach the inner bolts with a ratchet wrench, but didn't think they would come out far enough to get them out...but they must come out far enough you can remove the cover. Not knowing anything about Wings at that point, I did some more reading and saw to pull the radiator, so that's what I did before I got the covers off. I think I'm going to go with putting dummies in the center holes, since the convenience of being able to remove them with one bolt would be great. Would make it super easy to keep the covers shiny too...
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#77

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maintainer wrote:
These look awesome, what did you use to polish them out?
Mine need it done badly.
I used a very basic, very cheap setup...I got the gunk off in the ultrasonic machine, though you could just use carb cleaner or whatever. I got the old clearcoat and oxidation off with a synthetic wire wheel (a steel one would bite into the aluminum way too much). You could use a scotch brite pad, or some 220 grit wet paper on it too. The wheel chucked in a drill makes really quick work of it though. I cleaned up the damage on mine starting with 80 grit paper to shape the metal, and working my way up. If you are just polishing, I wouldn't start any lower than 220, and that's just to get the clear and oxidation off. The rest mostly just a lot of wet sanding...400, 600, 800, 1000 grit. Then, I just hit it with a foam ball chucked in the drill and some aluminum wheel polish. If you want that chrome-like mirror finish, you're going to need a bench mounted wheel, but you can a really nice finish with just the foam ball. It's kind of time consuming, but it's not rocket science...anyone who wants to put in the time can get the same (or better) results. More elbow grease = more shine :mrgreen:
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#78

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More progress last night :). Got the head bolted back on...torqued it in 5 pound increments.

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It went on fine. Also took the fuel pump apart and cleaned it...was kind of shocked at how clean it was inside. I got a little varnish out of it, but really very little. One of the little valves inside was stuck, so maybe it needed to come apart anyway... Really surprised at how good it looked anyway.

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Spent the rest of my time putting stuff back together...had the thought that doing timing belts after this won't be any big deal lol. Here she is with the new belts on, and the rocker assembly on.

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And here she is with the valve cover back on...

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I changed the oil filter and put some fresh Rotella in it. The filter housing didn't want to come off, and I used the impact wrench to get it off rather than risk damaging something. It had some goo in it...I'm definitely going to run some seafoam through the crank case and do another oil change when I get it running. I put some jumper cables on it and cranked it over until the oil pressure light went off. Did that a couple of times.

Everything looked great with one exception--the pulley on the right head is bent :IDTS: . It looks fine until you see it going roundy roundy, at which point you can see a noticeable wobble :roll: Good thing I saw it before I buttoned it back up anyway. It must have been bent slightly in the accident... I could probably be run like that at idle, but I wouldn't want to see what it would do at nine grand lol.
So, why didn't I just use the pulley that came with the new head in the first place? Because it's frozen to the camshaft :oops: . I soaked it in PB blaster last night, and maybe tonight I'll hit it with the puller. So, I'll be doing the belt on that side again...which means I'll probably be loosening the valve adjusters on that side again. Oh, and my old feeler gauge only goes from .003 to .005 for some reason...so I just set everything to .005 for now. I'll have to get another gauge to do a final tune on it when I have it running.

Bagged it last night at about 10:30...it was dark, cold, intermittently blowing snow, and I was working huddled under a tarp. Pretty awesome :mrgreen: . I think the weather is supposed to improve this weekend...keeping my fingers crossed, I'm dying for spring!
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#79

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The pulley is cast. It may be bent but it could also be the end of the cam that is bent.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#80

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robin1731 wrote:The pulley is cast. It may be bent but it could also be the end of the cam that is bent.
The center of it looked like it was rotating in a nice round circle (didn't look off center), so I think the cam is ok...I'll find out for sure when I swap the pulley over. The cam spun freely in the journals and didn't have any visible bend to the end of it, but it's definitely possible. If the cam is toast, I'll be swapping the other cam and rocker set into it. I already have to take the valve cover off and loosen the adjusters to swap the belt and pulley again, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#81

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Robin is right. When I came off my 75 (back in 75) and smacked the engine left side hard the dealer who fixed it changed the pulley as it was cracked. You would expect a cast piece to crack rather than bend. They rebuilt the engine and gave it back to me. 50 miles later the belt cases were full of oil, dripping everywhere. They had not noticed the camshaft was bent and had refitted it.
They had to replace the cylinder head, camshaft, seal and new belts.
Of course, in 75 there were no spares readily available and the whole thing took over 6 months.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#82

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Old Fogey wrote:Robin is right. When I came off my 75 (back in 75) and smacked the engine left side hard the dealer who fixed it changed the pulley as it was cracked. You would expect a cast piece to crack rather than bend. They rebuilt the engine and gave it back to me. 50 miles later the belt cases were full of oil, dripping everywhere. They had not noticed the camshaft was bent and had refitted it.
They had to replace the cylinder head, camshaft, seal and new belts.
Of course, in 75 there were no spares readily available and the whole thing took over 6 months.
Yikes! That's sounds pretty similar to what happened to mine... It's nice that there's always a huge pile of parts available on ebay, but I would maybe be willing to wait 6 months for brand new stock :P . Where's a time machine when you need one...
Hmmm...I really do hope it's just the pulley. The cam and rocker set I got off my original head were the nicer of the two sets :-? . I put a new cam seal in as a "might as well" measure, but the old one was probably fine. Going to need to order new valve cover gaskets too I think...the old one I put in last night was a little damp at the bottom when I checked it really quick at lunch (not enough to drip, but it does seem to be leaking a little). I could use a little RTV on it, but I'd rather not if I can avoid it.

Oh, also...do the tach drive gears need any grease? I don't remember seeing anywhere to go either way, but it seems like they should be lubed...I could put some red-n-tacky on the gears easy enough if they need to be greased.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#83

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There is no oil seal on the rear of the right hand head, so the tach and fuel pump drive get engine oil in there from the rocker cover.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#84

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Old Fogey wrote:There is no oil seal on the rear of the right hand head, so the tach and fuel pump drive get engine oil in there from the rocker cover.
I was wondering if that was the case, but it was bone dry in there when I tore it down so I was kind of wondering...thanks!
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#85

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Yeah, not much gets in there. I would grease it up as well. The gears on the tach drive do get worn.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#86

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Old Fogey wrote:Yeah, not much gets in there. I would grease it up as well. The gears on the tach drive do get worn.
In that case, maybe I'll throw some red-n-tacky on them...I've had recommendations for it on similar gears because it doesn't get flung off/run/drip/etc. The stuff really sticks...
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#87

Post by ericheath »

I have pulleys that have been bent. On mine I could put the face on a flat surface and see if it rocks back and forth. I suppose the other end could be askew as well.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

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Had a little time to monkey with the bike last night. I put a puller on the other pulley/cam and got the pulley off...it really didn't want to let go, but I was able to remove it without damaging the pulley. It's a slightly different style than what was on there...I think it's off an '83. The '82 has round holes in it, this one has more like "spokes". It wasn't as pretty as my old one...kind of rusty.

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Rather than throw an ugly pulley in it, I spent 10 minutes with a wire wheel and cleaned it up. Nobody will ever see it unless they were doing the belts, but it would still bug me. Came out better anyway...

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Lined the crank up on T1, and took the valve cover off. The only valve adjuster I actually had to loosen to get the tension off the belt was the #3 intake. Swapped the new pulley in and put the belt back on (and adjusted the valve back)... I was a little nervous pulling the truck into the driveway so I could jump the bike...really didn't want to use the other cam if I didn't have to. Hooked up the power and hit the button...SUCCESS!!! She spins straight and true now...the cam is fine after all.

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The engine spun over ok with the plugs out...I decided to see how it would do with the plugs in and fighting compression. It was clearly drawing a lot more current from the truck, and spun slower...seems as though it has plenty of compression. I don't think I have an adapter small enough to put my compression tester on it though...I've seen people make one by hogging out an old spark plug, but given the time it would take to do that and weld it together I might as well go down to Harbor Freight and buy the one they sell for $25 that has multiple adapters...

Anyway, glad to be (hopefully) wrapping up the right head part of this project. Just need a valve cover gasket I think, but that can wait until it's running. Been kind of debating pulling the left head and doing a valve job on it, but since it could really be pulled any time it doesn't really have to happen right now. I can do it later this summer if it seems like it really needs it. Up next I guess is the fuel tank, which is a mess... I still need to get a new fuel filter and fuel lines--the originals actually look ok except for a little cracking at the ends, but being as old as they are I might as well just replace them. It's probably $6 worth of hose on the whole bike. The instrument cluster on it was smashed in the wreck and I have no fuel gauge, so I don't know if the sender will work...I'm guessing I'll have to clean it at a minimum.

After that...let me think. Carbs need to go back on. The front and rear end need to be gone through...brakes/seals/maybe bearings and all that. And tires. Going to have to figure out what to do with the wheels...Comstars don't really light my fire, but I really like the way the '83 wheels look. If I want to put '83 wheels on it, now would be the time to do it...when the bike is coming apart and I have to replace the tires and everything. OTOH, the Comstars I have would cost nothing, are low mileage, and could be refinished any way I feel like doing it. The problem with switching to '83s is I would have to first find a set in decent shape (preferably with the axles, rotors, spacers and whatnot), and budget that. I don't think there's a single MC recycler in the state, so ebay is probably my best bet... I don't know, I guess I have to decide how bad I want to change wheels lol. If anyone knows someone with a pair of '83 wheels to sell, drop me a line...
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

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Got a pretty good start on the fuel tank this weekend...decided to clean it in place rather than remove it. The only real advantage I could think of to removing it would be that I could dump it out to empty it, and since I can drain it other ways almost as fast, I decided it wasn't worth it. First thing I did was pull the sending unit for the gas gauge...it was...really gross lol.

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It was covered in this chunky fuel varnish goop. To clean it I...yea, I put it in the ultrasonic machine :). Came out looking good. Put my multimeter on it and got these high/low readings...

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Anyone out there able to confirm that these are good or bad? It seems like it's working...the reading is continuously variable through the swing of the arm. Full tank = 4.3 ohms, empty tank = 84.6 ohms.

Also got a start on the intake runners...

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Gave them a nice long bath to get them clean, and now they need to be polished. Got a start on one of them, but didn't get any farther than that yet.

Oh, and I was working on this during daylight hours (at least at first), and this is what that new head/refurb valve cover look like in the daylight...

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Also had to drain several gallons of "fuel" left over from the 1980s...I wonder if they were still putting lead in it at that point? Anyway, I'm not sure I've smelled anything this rank to ever come out of a vehicle...50 year old gear oil is bad, but this stuff is in a category all its own. I siphoned it into some empty gas cans I had in the garage, and now I have to figure out how to dispose of it. I poured some into an old pie tin I had in the garage, and put it out in the middle of my driveway and tossed a match in, just to see if it would burn at all. Turns out it will, but it clearly lacks the energy of fresh gas...it was a pretty lazy fire, and it smoked like I was burning tires coated in tar. Nothing like the bright, hot fire you get with new gas. I think when I incinerate pine needles this spring I'll dump it on them and burn it up. I can't think of anywhere I could dump it and feel good about it...it's really nasty stuff. The incinerator thing I built to burn pine needles reaches close to 2000*, so it should be a safe and effective way to get rid of it.

Ok, so old gas out, now I needed to get the rust out of the tank. Tank looks structurally solid, but did have quite a bit of rust in it. Tried to get a picture of it, but didn't have much luck. Looks like a pick taken with an endoscope or something, but you get the idea...

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To get it out, I wanted to use electrolysis...I've used this on several projects over the years with great results. Got the rust out of a snowmobile fuel tank last year. Chemical reactions love heat, so I always start with really hot water...don't know if helps or not, but I figure it can't hurt. Dissolves the washing soda faster if nothing else. First thing I thought of for an electrode was a piece of rebar...I taped it so it wouldn't short out on the tank.

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It worked. It started bubbling and making "rust soup". But then, I had an even better idea...I have some chunks of pipe left over from when I ran a new gas line on the house, and one of them was just about the perfect length. I taped the bottom and near the top to prevent shorts, and used a 40 grit sanding disk to remove the black finish (I think I remember reading that you don't want to use a galvanized pipe for this...black iron is probably a better choice). Here she is, ready to go to work:

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From my own experience, you want as much surface area in the electrode as possible, and this has about as much as you can fit in the hole.

It didn't take long before it was making the disgusting "rust soup" that these things always do...

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I let it run from Saturday afternoon to Sunday night on my battery charger set at 10 amps (what I always use). Pulled the pipe out...it was pretty gross.

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It was covered in goop, and severely rusty. I siphoned the water out using a garden hose...I used my shop vac to start the siphon--worked great! no more trying to do it the old fashioned way :drunk . Results were very encouraging, but it's still got more to go. This is looking down the filler neck:

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You can clearly see the water line--above is rusty metal, below is nice an clean bare metal. The back of the tank is worse than the front for some reason. I filled it with clean water, drained it, and filled it several times to rinse the gunk out. Then I sanded the rust off the electrode and put it all back together again. I'll probably do it again tonight. If the back half is clean, I'll put the sender back in to plug the hole...that way I can fill it up in the front and de-rust it all the way up. I didn't want to put my nice clean sender back in until the tank was fairly clean. No reason to leave it in the rust soup if I don't have to.

Also, I haven't really cleaned out the bags yet, and I dug around in them a little bit. They're kind of a time capsule from it's former life...there was a chamois, steel wool pads, and what looked like cleaning rags. The "rags" were actually old t-shirts someone tossed in there...

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One was dated 1983, another 1984, and the third had the sleeves cut off in classic 1980s fashion. So awesome... Kind of an interesting reminder that this was once a living machine, and part of somebody's life. After the wreck, it was parked and forgotten. I always kind of wonder what those former owners would think of their old machine being resuscitated...
Anyway, just thinking out loud. Making more progress. Might be able to have the fuel tank wrapped up this week I would think.
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Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#90

Post by Rat »

" the third had the sleeves cut off in classic 1980s fashion" ..... I had no Idea I was so old fashioned .....

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