Take its head off??

[Seamus]

I have taken the engine out of the frame to get some powder coating done and was trying to decide weather to take the head off as I have to clean things up and respray the engine. The unit was running well prior to removal, but whilst the frame is away, should I whip off the head and barrels as it would be easy to bead blast them and repaint in sections, rather than a whole engine.

Thoughts please or have I already talked myself into this.

Cheers

Seamus

[dave400]

Do it ....

[JonnyB]

It's an easy enough Job, and retiming up is simple too, make sure you get a gasket set and be careful prizing them apart don't be tempted use screw drivers and hammers, oh and locate the 4 hidden screws in the wells between the spark splug holes, if they don't slacken you'll have problems

[Bryanj]

Just make sure all is spotlessly clean on reassembly with new gaskets and "O" rings.
Always worth checking how hard the camchain tensioner rollers are as well

ALWAYS fit a new tacho drive seal as its easier with the cover out

[Seamus]

Thanks for the info and thoughts. I guess cleaning the head would be easier on the bench. I have a new tacho seal., just have to get a head gasket. Will the barrels be OK or should these come off as well?

Cheers

Seamus

[JonnyB]

Be carfull when removing the head, there are a couple of oil seals under the cam carriers

[SteveD CB500K0]

If you take the head off you will have to do the barrels too (they'll never reseal once slackened).

Get a top-end gasket set - they're all in there.

[Bryanj]

+1 on the set as you will need new "pucks" and "O" rings

[Seamus]

Thanks folks, I will order from DS tomorrow.

Regards

Seamus

[the-chauffeur]

You might also want to think about investing in a thread repair kit. 

I dunno how common this experience is, but I've found that some of the threads in the head are incredibly fragile, and it doesn't take a great deal of effort to strip them out.  Simply retapping the holes doesn't work, and it's a pain in the ar$e to get 95% of the rebuild done only to find that some of the bolts don't torque down.

The upside is that drilling and tapping in the new threads is pretty simple and doesn't require any special skills - just a steady hand with a drill.

And if you take the barrels off, pay particular attention to reseating the large O-rings that fit round the bottom of the cylinders.  If they go in wonky, they'll leak oil.

Hope that helps

Neil

[Seamus]

More thanks in order. The head will be off this weekend with the barrels. These will be blasted and repainted. Hopefully will also be reunited with a painted engine by mid week. Yhen the challenge of getting the engine back into the frame.
Cheers all

Seamus

[Seamus]

Head and barrels came off a treat. Many thanks for the advice.

May as well strip it down and check the rest whilst I am at it. The cases need repainting and that lump is very awkward to clean properly. May as well bead blast these cases and paint when I am doing the rest. I believe that I can remove the crank and gearbox internals by splitting the cases and that I dont have to remove the altenator rotor and clutch.

I think I am getting to be a masochist!!

Still, I have the powder coating back, so some progress

Cheers

Seamus

[JonnyB]

just remember to make all the bearing seats so they go back in the same places

[Bryanj]

You need to take the pistons off to get the crank out and if you are going that far you need:-

Oil seal set
Cam chain (ALWAYS fit new when crank out) + VERY carefully check the tensioner rollers
4 x piston ciclips (AT LEAST poss
Bottom end gaskets OR complete set in the first place---check if the "PUCKS" (under the cam bearing assemblies) are in the set as a lot of sets dont supply these now for some reason

[Seamus]

Thanks folks. I knew that I would have to remove the pistons and the plan was to use masking tape to attach the mains to the crank. (marking them top and bottom)
I have a full gasket set from Dave Silver and I believe that all the seals etc are present. I will have to get the piston circlips as well.
Cam chain is a good idea.

Many thanks for the thoughts

Seamus