My '80 xs650 engine rebuild

[sseres]

after having been talked down from disassembling my working engine, a friend talked me into finding a dead engine to go nuts on. This is my first attempt at ever rebuilding anything bigger than my son's Star Wars Legos.

Within 1 hour of posting a wanted here in the forum, I got a note from someone not too far from here with what I was looking for. 100psi compression and dirtier than you can imagine. Very nice guy with amazing land and a hoist in his garage. Now that's an awesome tool!

So, anyway, here's the goal, and then I'll swap it out with the engine in my bike (the one that runs):

Clean, clean, clean, get it blasted then maybe paint?
polish up covers
new gaskets, rings and anything wornout looking.
Rephase (planning on sending crank and cam shafts to Hugh)
so this includes the 277 PAMCO system
clutch screws replaced with Mike's hex bolts
considering PMalternator (probably only if I can get someone to buy the old one)
5th gear upgrade

Am I missing something?

Anyway, presenting... the engine!

 

[sseres]

Here's what I accomplished today:

tappets look to be in excellent condition:

Is it feasible to change the adjustment bolts so they are a little easier to use?

Top of the valves looks very clean:

Here's the master link in the cam chain after I beat it silly with a chisel. I guess I didn't have the right tool...

Valves look good, nice and charred and I don't even want to know what kind of evilness the old gasket there might have been made of:

Sorry, this one's blurry. Pistons have a goodly amount of carbon scoring on them. These droids have seen a lot of action:

I think the cam chain tensioner is in good shape:

Cylinders look ok, at least to my eye.

This stunk... ALL 6 clutch screwheads were stripped out! Oh well. I got to buy a screw remover set from HF.

More to come! Time for wine with my wife on the porch.

 

[nj1639]

An impact screwdriver with the right bit might still get those out.....you need one anyway.

 

[PhatTony]

It looks like one of your valve spring retainers is cracked in your pic.

 

[sseres]

I won! Using a screw removal kit I got from HF and my impact driver, I got out all 6 screws. Guess I'll need some new ones.

This was funny. In my Clymer guide, it says to fold up a rag and jam it between the gears on. However, there is some rag death that ensued as I ranked down on the wrenches to get the bolt loose:

Ordered the alternator puller and a 27mm socket from Mikes so I continue the disassembly.

 

[usfs68]

Cool Steven

Don't throw away your clutch screws. They can be drilled out for allen screws.

 

[sseres]

Cool Steven

Don't throw away your clutch screws. They can be drilled out for allen screws.

That's pretty cool. Did you drill them yourself? If so, what equipment did you use, and what bolts are you using in the center now?

 

[usfs68]

I did not think this up I found the idea on the forum. http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3408

 

[MacMcMacmac]

Phat Tony is right. You have a cracked valve retainer. Also, the best way I've found to break links is to grind out the pin with a Dremel tool with a stone, not a burr. They disappear like magic.

 

[sseres]

So, thinking I have cracked retainers, I went out and looked at it close up. Interestingly, I don't think it's broken, but has a line of some kind of material that was strung across it like glue or something. I was able to scrape it off, confirm that the retainer isn't cracked, but noticed that it is definitely stained. I tried to get a good close up that shows it crossing the circlip and even onto the block itself on lower right of the picture:

 

[sseres]

My tools from Mike's came today! I didn't have a lot of time to work on things but I did get a little time out in the garage:

Pullers designed for this task surely make things easier! I thought for some reason the basket would come out gently, but it came off with a big POP!

My new 27mm socket. It's huge!

Ew... oily death at the bottom:

Oil sump screen was torn, as are most other blog members I've seen. Don't know what that black square part is:

So, the clymer guide says to remove the 14 nuts on the bottom and then split the case. However, I can only find 11! I looked and looked but just didn't see what I was missing. Then, it was kid's bed time and starting to get dark so I had to wrap it up for the night. Nuts! (get it? )

 

[sseres]

fart! another stripped screw! Glad I got that puller set from HF.

I found the missing 3 bolts I couldn't find of the 14 I need to remove to crack the crank case . They're bolts in the most obnoxiously hard to reach places, 2 on the starter side, 1 on the alternator side. I think I need a closed-ended 11mm wrench. So, of course, I have a 10 and an 12. Aaagh!

 

[sseres]

Got it cracked!

Crank and gears all look ok on first glance:

So, here it is, all splayed out on my bench!:

Other than all the frigging stripped phillips head screws, this has been the only thing that I've knowningly destroyed using the wrong kind of puller. If anyone wants it and thinks they can fix it, I'll send it to you if you pay for shipping in a flat-rate USPS box:

Next:

De-grime, then get block blasted clean and the cylinders bored/honed.

 

[alfredo]

Looks like you're making great progress. Be sure to clean, bag and tag. Also. Take photos all the way. Good job!

 

[emzdogz]

cool thread - good luck going forward. I love the 'fish-eye' shot.

 

[sseres]

The impact driver just seems to be driving the bit into the metal And isn't turning the screw. These are the ones that hold together the tappet arms. Any advice?

 

[sseres]

ok points screws (and thus the rest of the tappets) all removed. I picked up a $9.99 impact driver at AutoZone after checking with the local auto car place I usually go. A few smashes, then the impact drill worked great. I'll try filing them smooth and polish them up.

Any idea what I've found here? Looks like liquid weld or something mished into some small spot on the bottom middle of the bottom cover. Nothing seems to need to go there, it just seems really out of place:

This is the cam chain guide, you know, the one you can't buy anywhere except in the UK? Check out just how much rubber is missing off this thing!

Well, I guess all the big disassembly is done. I've degrimed the big pieces as best I could and plan to take all this to Viscous Motors on N Interstate where they have an ultrasonic cleaner and charge $80/hour shop time. At this moment in time and space, I am going to leave the metal UNFINISHED!

Anyone know just how clean I should get the surface of the pistons?

 

[MacMcMacmac]

Just for everybody's information, when pulling anything off of a tapered shaft, preload it with a bolt or puller down the center bore against the end of the shaft, then hit it smartly directly down on the head of the bolt and it will pop off. I have used this procedure to remove things from tapered shafts for many years and it always works.

 

[sseres]

haven't had time to get to a place to have the big pieces cleaned so I spent some time trying to figure out polishing. After reading a bunch, I decided to go with a bench grinder that I could sort of turn into a buffer. This jobby cost me $49 at HD. It was really easy to get the covers off to expose the whole wheel.

I did have to make one modification to get the buffing wheel to tighten down. Just used a little spring hose clamp:

There are lots of discussions on the board about polishing/buffing so I didn't want to discuss that here, but here's the link that's really been helping me: http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17989

And, after several attempts using different technique, here's what I was able to do this weekend:

Update on my build:

Mikes order just placed:
4 01-0114 Valve Stem Seal-each
4 01-0650 OEM Cylinder Head Sealing Washer
1 01-8802 Rivet Link-DID 219FTss (74-84 650's)
1 05-0004 Cam Chain Tensioner Arm
1 05-0015 Piston Pin Clips (Pk/2) 447/533 type
1 18-0871 Bottom End Copper Washer Kit - 13pc.
1 39-6504 Allen Bolt - Clutch Spring - (6pc.Set)
1 39-6505 Needle Bearing with Thrust Washer
1 39-6512 Lock Tab - Clutch Hub Nut
1 52-4008 Cam Chain- DID 219FTssx106
1 18-0208 Athena Premium Overhaul Gasket Set
1 24-6591 4 Pc. Starter Gear Retention Kit
2 05-0016 Piston Rings "Standard" size 447 type
1 05-0042 Shift Shaft Circlip
1 49-0735 6mm Countersunk Star Washer pk/10

They're out of sump filters so I'll need to figure that one out. Also, you'll see no pamco or advance parts. Here's my thinking:

It'll cost $485 to have Hugh do the crank and cam rephase, then $280 for the pamco w/advance kit for the rephase and everyone seems to be out of that one. Since this is my first engine, I think the thing to do is just get it rebuilt and working and save the fancies for another build. It fits my budget better (the Mikes order was like $340) and I think I shouldn't be too crazy my first time out.

 

[BearDad]

I'm enjoying your thread as I have a similar project. Mine, however, is an engine that was completely dismantled with the cyls bored out to 0.50 and new pistons and rings purchased. The guy I bought it from runs a custom build shop and has too many projects to continue this "pet" one of his, so I will be attempting to put all the puzzle pieces together without a clue for where they go! Your thread is invaluable to me!