1981 XS650 SH Restoration

Chase those threads! This is after chasing ONE hole. I'm dedicating tonight to doing all of them.
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So just over an hour to chase all of the threads in cases. Tomorrow I'll fire up my compressor and blow all of out and also blow out the oil passages again, just for good measure. The cases will be ready to close up then. I have a trip planned from Thursday until next week, so it will have to be on hold a few days. I'm past my planned time frame now but I can live with that.
 
I wanted to post pictures of my tank. It had a nasty paint job and the tunnel was rusted. Inside was pretty rusty too. I used air craft stripper to loosen the paint. The paint washed right off with a garden hose to expose rust under the old paint. I neutralized the stripper in three baths of water and baking soda then used a scotch brite pad on the rust. The rust just fell off with hardly any pressure. Looks like it fresh from the factory before paint now. I wiped WD-40 all over it and sprayed the inside too. Now I just have to save $400 to have it painted. Anyway, here are some pics.
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Do you have an air compressor?? If so buy a cheap paint gun. Then go to your local auto paint shop. Have them set you up with base and clear. You will save money and learn. The good and easy thing about painting gas tanks is that when you screw up a repaint is literally an hour and a tiny bit of paint away.
 
Chase those threads!
I have a real aversion to that. If you use a tap at least they will end up looser. Maybe if there's severe rust or something, otherwise a blast of brake cleaner is plenty for me.
 
Not much to report. I replaced my wheel bearings since I had them on hand and it wouldn't take long. I'm building my XS in my unheated basement and it's been too damn cold to stay down there very long. We're supposed to have below 0 Temps this week too. Still, some progress.
 
It's not a washer with a hole through it, it's a solid "plug". It may still be stuck in one of your case halves. It blocks off the round hole on the right side in your picture.
 
Thanks guys. I do have that plug installed in my case. Just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something. So it's a sealing plug....not a washer. I'm writing that in my manual.
 
As long as you carefully cleaned the case halves and got a thin later of the Threebond on the sealing surface you should be good to go. From your photo it looks like you got the cases good and clean.

I've split several two-stroke Yamaha cases and have never had an issue with leakage. And two-stroke motors are more susceptible to leakage then four strokes since the crankcase is part of the inlet tract.

I think you can proceed without worrying about this. :)
 
Thanks for the confidence. I did clean the surfaces pretty well and right before I applied the Threebond, I cleaned them again with alcohol. Time to flip the cases upright and build up. Next up is checking the cylinders and piston specs. My valve springs are shot, so I will have to locate new ones. I also need to check the specs on my valves to see if I will need new stems.
 
You don't hear much mention of valve springs being bad on these. How did you arrive at that conclusion?

There are precise measurements you can check for valve stem and guide wear but generally, if you can insert the valve into the guide and it won't wiggle side to side at all, you're good.
 
I'll post some pictures of my valve springs when I get home this evening. They may be fine, but I don't know for sure. They just look really bad to my eye. They have a pitted resemblance to me.
 
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