Jim's 1980 SG Miss September

You can save some money buy buying from cruzinimage. They don't have the biggest variety, and seems they run out of stock lines before reordering so parts arn't available at all times. So far there has been no problems found with their stock...........Why they sell rear sprockets for the XS650 and not the front is strange and the 33 tooth rear is $6 less than the 34thooth rear and $11 less than Mikes 33 tooth rear sprocket...........may have to ask if it is a 530 or 520 but still worth a look........Their pistons have good reports by members on here, http://www.xs650.com/threads/cheap-piston-sets-on-ebay.26971/ and you can buy a full set of 2 pistons/rings/clip/pin for the price Mikes charges for one piston/rings/clip/pin

http://stores.ebay.com/cruzinimage-...42600011&_sid=526414511&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Freight times are very good, (Within 10 days to Aus) and they combine shipping. I found there was no way to separate the shipping costs per item, so i asked and they had already done a combined shipping price and refunded the extra.

They are selling slides with the diaphragm for $19 for BS34's, new item. Mikes wants $99
Thanks for the info!! I'll definitely check em out.
 
You can save some money buy buying from cruzinimage. They don't have the biggest variety, and seems they run out of stock lines before reordering so parts arn't available at all times. So far there has been no problems found with their stock...........Why they sell rear sprockets for the XS650 and not the front is strange and the 33 tooth rear is $6 less than the 34thooth rear and $11 less than Mikes 33 tooth rear sprocket...........may have to ask if it is a 530 or 520 but still worth a look........Their pistons have good reports by members on here, http://www.xs650.com/threads/cheap-piston-sets-on-ebay.26971/ and you can buy a full set of 2 pistons/rings/clip/pin for the price Mikes charges for one piston/rings/clip/pin

http://stores.ebay.com/cruzinimage-...42600011&_sid=526414511&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

Freight times are very good, (Within 10 days to Aus) and they combine shipping. I found there was no way to separate the shipping costs per item, so i asked and they had already done a combined shipping price and refunded the extra.

They are selling slides with the diaphragm for $19 for BS34's, new item. Mikes wants $99
Awesome heads up there Skull. Just ordered piston ring set. 25 bucks for both pistons. If I remember correctly, Mikes XS wanted 35 bucks per piston.
30K parts sold with a 99.5 rating... About as close to a sure bet as you can get. I owe ya one Bro:D
 
Ok. so I noticed on other threads that they were using thumbnails instead of full size pics and the thumbnails bring up the full size image. I'm playing around here and now understand how to do that (new guy, remember...). Whats more commonly accepted here, full size or thumbnails?
 

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Ok. so I noticed on other threads that they were using thumbnails instead of full size pics and the thumbnails bring up the full size image. I'm playing around here and now understand how to do that (new guy, remember...). Whats more commonly accepted here, full size or thumbnails?

I don't think it matters on this awesome modern website. It may matter to the guy in rural Canada using dial up internet and windows 98. Please don't use photo bucket.

Scott
 
I use full size but I crop and re-size the pics first so they don't overwhelm the post. I use a simple little free program. It makes doing those 2 operations easy .....

http://www.5dfly.com/free-photo-editing-software/

My "doctored" pics are stored on my computer of course, but also online to ease posting them. Some are on the site here, the rest (majority) on a 3rd party site (imgur at the moment). I did use photobucket for years until they pulled the rug out from under us, the greedy bastards, lol.
 
This is messed up.... I'm retired and now spend way too much time on "honey do's". :) Heh... like I didn't see that one coming. Anyway, cleaned the jugs up today. Both sides mic'd out well within limits. Barely worn at all. It's been sittin in a stoddard tank for about three days now. Still looked pretty nasty.
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Bead blasted it, blew it out and washed it about a gazillion times. Honed to about a 50-60 degree crosshatch, washed again, bagged it and put it on the shelf, ready for reassembly.

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Thought I'd try the thumbnails and see how that works. After I get my "honey do's" done tomorrow, I'll start on the pistons.
Jim.
 
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Looking good there Jim! You are trucking right along on this build. It's clear you know which end of a wrench to hold! Carry on, I'm enjoying this, and you are taking good photos too.
 
Looking good there Jim! You are trucking right along on this build. It's clear you know which end of a wrench to hold! Carry on, I'm enjoying this, and you are taking good photos too.
Thanks Mailman!
 
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Got the pistons done today.
Almost forgot to take a "before pic". Pistons in my homemade stoddard tank...
IMG_20171001_155138952.jpg
After scraping off the carbon and cleaning out the ring grooves, they cleaned up pretty good with some elbow grease and scotchbrite pads.
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Bead blasted the skirts and put a molykote finish on them. Air dried the moly for 30 min. then baked at 300 for 2 hrs.
IMG_20171001_180040800.jpg IMG_20171001_180046270.jpg
Before and after mic. shows about a 1 thousands coating. As soon as I get my T gauges back, I'll check piston clearances, but I'm pretty sure they'll be just fine.
Next up, the head.
Jim.
 
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I also started playin around with the side covers. They were pretty rough...
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Used a scotchbrite disc on a die grinder to remove old clear coat and corrosion, then wet sanded with 400, 800, 1000, and finally finished off with white jewelers rouge and buffing wheel. Sweet!!
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Jim.
 
Jim, you really do impressive work. You must be putting in some serious time out in the garage.
Your metal polishing is terrific. I like to learn, care to detail your polishing process?
 
Thanks Mailman. It's pretty straight forward really. After a good washing, I start with a scotchbrite disk on a die grinder. I like a 90 deg. grinder, but that's a personal choice. Use as fine a grit as gets the job done. Any coarser just creates more work. Keep it moving, staying in one area just makes the surface irregular and bumpy. Once all the bad areas are gone, start wet sanding with a good quality (3M) sandpaper. Use LOTS of water. Dunk in a bucket or use a garden hose.Try with 400 to start. You might have to go down to 320 or 220 but see if 400 works before doing that. as much as possible, sand in one direction. That way you'll be able to see when the next finer grit makes the previous grits sanding marks disappear. Always change directions when you change grit. Once you get to 800-1000, use a buffing wheel and jewelers rouge. The white seems to work best for aluminum. That's about it... It's slow, tedious work that goes faster when you lubricate yourself with lots of beer;).
Jim.
 
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Went to disassemble the head yesterday and couldn't find a valve spring compressor to fit the XS head. I know I had one at one time... musta' loaned it out and forgot about it. Damnit! Gotta quit doin' that. So... not wanting to hunt all over town or wait for one shipped to me, I decided to make one out of this...
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I'm a pack rat. Too many of these buckets laying around.
I cut and slotted two 3/4" tubes and welded them to a 1/4 by 1" flat bar.
IMG_20171006_163320520_HDR.jpg
Welded the nut for an acme screw (no idea where it came from, an old saw I think) on one end.
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Cut the rubber handle off the screw and welded a T handle on.
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Welded a 1/4" drill bit to the other end and cut it off at 1"
.IMG_20171006_173715953.jpg
Found a tube that was the same size as the valve springs and welded on three 1/16" allen wrenches. Cut them off at about 1/2".
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Cut the sides out of the tube.
IMG_20171006_164710772.jpg
Welded the washer from the acme screw on top.
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Drilled a wooden dowel to fit the other end, cleaned it all up and painted it and this is what I ended up with.
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Worked perfectly!
IMG_20171007_162242021.jpg
Took about 2 hrs to make. It would have been easier to just order one, but I enjoy any chance I get to fire up the ol' TIG welder. Since I'm retired, I don't worry about the time spent, but that means I'm on a fixed budget. So, for a total cost of $0.00, I'm tickled pink.

The bad news is that once I got the valves out, I found some pitting on both exhaust valve faces. Crap:(
Jim.
 
That's pretty common. Usually you can just hand lap them back in. That will get rid of the pits and re-seal them. I've done some pretty badly pitted ones and so far, the seats have never grown too wide.
 
That's pretty common. Usually you can just hand lap them back in. That will get rid of the pits and re-seal them. I've done some pretty badly pitted ones and so far, the seats have never grown too wide.
They might lap back in, but I'm leanin' towards re-cutting the faces. Haven't decided yet.
Jim.
 
My homemade valve grinder.
IMG_20171009_210021852.jpg IMG_20171009_210021852.jpg IMG_20171009_210040534.jpg IMG_20171009_210013347.jpg
It's a 1940 Atlas lathe that I brought back to life a few years back.
I welded an angle and tube to a quick change block. Inserted a straight die grinder and clamped in place. Set the tool rest to 45 deg. and she cuts beautifully!
Only took one light pass to remove pits on exhaust valves.
IMG_20171009_210302006.jpg
Tomorrow I'll lap the valves in and see how good it actually is.
Jim.
 

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Yeah, a good lathe is one of those tools that after using it for a while, you wonder how you ever got along without it. Just read your comment about your homemade tool height gauge. Good idea! Gonna make me one. Thanks 2M:)
Jim.
 
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