A Look Inside

It was finally time to take a look inside this engine and see how much damage has been done over the years. Hopefully, I won't find much, I can put it back together, and everything will be fine.

As you can see, the screws holding things together are a bit... corroded. Not a good sign of things to come, that's for sure.

I get all the screws holding the valve cover and air cleaner cover on... except one. It won't budge. And in the process of using what muscles I do have, the screw began to strip out. Not wanting to strip it so much so as to have to drill it out, I grab my trusty Dremel, and cut a notch in the screw head so I can use a large flat head screwdriver on it.

But even that doesn't help things. The screwdriver is still slipping. I soak the screw in WD-40, in the hopes that it will loosen things up. But no such luck. So on the way home from work, I pick up a trusty can of...

This stuff is like Chuck Norris in a can! You spray it on, and it immediately begins to roundhouse-kick rust, corrosion, and stickiness, freeing up what you need to free up. It also works great as a hot sauce.

So with that last screw out, I can remove the air cleaner cover, and get at the last 2 screws holding the valve cover on. They take a little effort, but being protected from the elements, there's little issue. During the rebuild, I hope to replace all these screws with stainless machine screws. They're easier to remove, and last longer. Plus, they look sharp! And let's face it... Cafe Racers are all about image.

So the valve cover is off, and everything looks OK so far. Of course, I still can't see the important stuff, like the valves and pistons, where most of the moisture would be, if it did get up into the engine. Once I figure out how to rotate the cam shaft, and get the rocker arms, cam chain, valves, and head off, we'll be able to see more.

Engine Removal

Well that was fun.

It's been a while since my last update. I'm not sure why I haven't gone ahead and done this, but I really should have. I also should have spent more time prepping the engine and remembering all the things that were in the service manual.


Anyway, here's the frame and engine. I got the rear stand off, and then...


You guessed it, the front stand. I did have to lift the bike up by myself to get the stands out, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined. However, there are two things I should have done before this. The first being removing the oil filter, and the second being removing the oil pan. It would have been easier to remove them while the bike was upright, and I could have fit a oil pan under them.

But there was one thing that I wasn't expecting.

The bike peed on the floor. Sort of. Apparently there was water in the frame, and when I tipped the bike over, it decided to flow out through a hole in the tail. No problem... I'll just wrap some paper towels around it like a make-shift diaper.

So with the "diaper" in place, I get the bike over. the engine bolts came out easily, which I wasn't expecting. I barely had to use tools. However, when I attempted to pull the frame up over the engine, no deal. The oil filter and oil pan had to be removed.

So, with the engine now smaller than the frame, I was able to easily pick it up, turn it slightly, and pop... off it comes.

So now I'm left with just the engine and the frame. I can clean the frame up now, and finally start tearing into the engine to see how much damage all that moisture and time did. Hopefully, not much.

Rats Nest

As you can see above, the wiring on this bike leaves something to be desired. I find it hard to believe it came from the factory like this, as many of the connectors seem amateur, even by my standards, and there seem to be far too many in-line splices. But, I'm not an electrician, so this could be stock.

But after some unbolting, unscrewing, pulling, tugging, and one bout of cutting (wires to the horn, since it'll be getting replaced with a Stebil Nautilus anyway), I got the wiring harness out and put away. Also managed to pull the center stand off, which I'm not sure will go back on or not. We'll see.

So here's the bike as it stands now.

This weekend I should be able to get the engine out, and then maybe begin to clean the frame up. I'm hoping that it's light enough that I can lug it around by myself. Perhaps take it to a car wash and get a lot of the dirt, dust, grease and road grime from the past 30 years off it.

Shameless Plug

Ok, I'm running out of creative titles very quickly, so please bear with me.

So here is one of the holes left when I removed the oil lines. As you can see, there's still a little oil in there, and probably more that I can't see. So, I needed something to plug it when I tip the engine up, minimizing the amount of oil I get all over the place.

So I stopped at HD and picked up these little rubber plugs. However, note that they're just a little bit too big for the hole. I should have measured first, I know. But I didn't want to make a special trip.

I grab our communal razor blade (I'm not sure why we have a razor blade sitting on the coffee table. It's always been there. It doesn't move. But for some reason, we always need it, and it's nice to know where it is). I trim a little bit off, and they fit like a glove.

Another hurdle cleared, albeit a small one. I might start undoing the engine bolts tomorrow and have it ready to tip over by this weekend, so the roommate can help me.

More dirty hands

Well, I worked a little more on the bike tonight. Got dirty again. Every part of this bike is dirty. You'd think that sitting out in the rain would clean it at least a little bit.

Anyway, after a little research, I got a few tips on how to get the engine out. Looks like the easiest way will be to get everything unhooked, tip the bike on it's right side, and simply pull the frame up off the engine. Sounds simple, but I'm assured that it can be problematic.

So, tonight I unhooked the oil tank from the bike. I unhooked the oil hoses last night, with very little spillage. The plywood should catch most of the little drips and accidents... but I don't think it could handle an entire quart of oil. Of course, I'm pretty sure I waved goodbye to my security deposit a long time ago.

So the oil tank is off, I unhooked the starter from the motor, and also took off the rubber extensions from the engine that go to the carburetor when it's installed. Not necessary, but figured I might as well pull one more thing off it, and feel like I accomplished something.

I may stop at the hardware store tomorrow and look for something to plug up the oil feeder hose holes at the bottom of the engine. That way when I tip it, it won't leak all over the place.

A Great Centerpiece.

After volunteering at the VLM, I drove up to Home Depot and purchased a nice Rubbermaid 4-drawer organizer to help me... organize. I can see things becoming hard to locate in the time ahead, and figured I need to get all my ducks in a row now before they become stray and begin working for Aflac.

So with that purchased, I clean off the plywood. My roommate helps me drain the oil out of the bike, and we do a "test lift", convincing ourselves that it's not that heavy.

Yeah... not so much.

But finally we shoved it through the door, and she now sits as a main centerpiece in the living room. I figure worst comes to worst, I'll have another piece of furniture in the living room, and a great place to sit and play video games.

"Rebirth"... sort of.

So with the failure of my SV, and my eminent decent into insanity, I take the only appropriate course of action... begin work once again on my CB project.

After a few months of stewing over it, and trying to decide the best place to undertake such a job, I make the decision to move the bike inside where I can work on it at my leisure in a climate controlled environment free from bugs and bird droppings. However, with my apartment on the 2nd floor, and the CB weighing in at almost 500 lbs, it won't be able to make the trip in once piece.

So I begin wrenching. Piece by piece it came apart, and alot easier than what I was expecting. There was quite a bit of surface rust, but mechanically and structurally, it seemed ok. Surprising to me after sitting outside for almost 2 years with nothing protecting it from the heat, cold, rain, and hot sun of SE Virginia.

I remove the handlebars, controls and front fender.

Next comes the front wheel, gas tank, seat, and rear fender.

Finally, the front suspension comes off, as well as the exhaust system... or what was left of it.

Next, the rear wheel comes off.

After that, the rear suspension.

I'm left with a pile of parts, all thrown together on that piece of plywood in the living room. The bike was down to nothing more than the frame and the engine, and I figured it would take much effort from me, and one more person to wrestle in the estimated 300 lbs of metal up the stairs and through the door.