Jim's 1980 SG Miss September

Jim said:
Now he tells me.... :banghead:

:laugh2:
Click to expand...
Well I took Gary’s advice. Pulled the petcocks. One had the strainer intact but it wasn’t so tight. Cleaned everything up, found a pop can and added the aluminum strip to make a nice tight fit between the strainer and petcock body. Used Diet Coke because the aluminum was a bit thinner. 😀
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jetmechmarty said:
I don't know how well my fix will hold. I used super glue last spring.
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I’m thinking it doesn’t take too much to hold them in. The left side was still intact and had minimal interference to hold it in. The pop can shim was perfect. Thx Gary!
 
Solved the mystery of reserve... or not. Hunted through my stash and found an intact vacuum petcock. The screen was oriented the same as the one installed in the SG. Pulled the screen off... yes, it wasn't very tight, and discovered it will only fit (correctly) one way. If you look down the cutout for the screen, the holes are off set. Not much... maybe half a mm or less. Kinda hard to see but they're offset to the right in this pic...


1647727009307.png



Btw... the hole on the right is for reserve. If you try to install the screen backwards, it won't fit. Well... you could prolly force it, but I pushed pretty hard and it didn't want to go in the slot. Here's the gap (on the left) if you try to install it backwards...


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... and here it is correctly installed. The standpipe for the main tank is on the left, just like the one I currently have in the bike.


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And here's the installed one a few yrs ago when I overhauled it. The main tank standpipe is also on the left.


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So, problem solved. Now I don't have to worry over creating some sort of vacuum source to hold the petcock open while it drained.

Ever since I got the SG back on the road I've been hesitant to go much past 75-80 miles before refueling because I never was 100% certain I actually had a reserve to fall back on. I'm happy now.
 
bosco659 said:
Jan what is this liquid gasket? Curious.
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If I recall right... it was long ago I bought it --it lasts long time.
It is not so easy to find anymore has art no as below.

It is red and I have had good results with it .. Perhaps other brands also work but since that works for me I have never tried another.

I don't use it on gaskets ..where i have been using Permatex.. ( I know some don't like that )

But that red stuff has saved the day many times not having the replacement O ring at home.
I keep the old O -ring and put that red stuff on the old O - ring



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Jan_P said:
If I recall right... it was long ago I bought it --it lasts long time.
It is not so easy to find anymore has art no as below.

It is red and I have had good results with it .. Perhaps other brands also work but since that works for me I have never tried another.

I don't use it on gaskets ..where i have been using Permatex.. ( I know some don't like that )

But that red stuff has saved the day many times not having the replacement O ring at home.
I keep the old O -ring and put that red stuff on the old O - ring



View attachment 209960


View attachment 209957
Click to expand...
Does it harden? Needless to say it must be fas and oil resistant? Had a quick look on line. Doesn’t look like it’s available on this side of the pond.
 
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More from the "annual."


The left cam cover started weeping oil last year. Not bad... a days riding would leave a light mist on the front of the frame side cover... just enough to be irritating.

Back when RobinC was having trouble with his cam seals leaking, I picked up a set of seals that are 1mm smaller I. D.... 24mm instead of the factory 25mm.


1647746180434.png



I figured I'd install them and see how well they worked out. Shortly after that, Robin passed away and I forgot all about 'em. Dug around for a bit and found 'em. Pulled the chrome cover off and the bottom of the cam cover was wet...


1647746634807.png



... but the end of the cam and the seal were dry.


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So... it's not the seal that's leaking. I pulled the seal housing off and the damn paper thin green gaskets had split completely in two around 2 of the 3 fastener holes. Bein' sorta irritated about that, I plum forgot to take some pics before I peeled the 3 pieces off the housing. Also found the o-ring crushed. Don't recall the name of the gasket set, but color me unimpressed.
I went ahead and made a gasket from some Fel-Pro 1/32" gasket material...


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Although the right side wasn't leaking, I pulled it to look and it was starting to split too. I went ahead and made one and replaced it also.
All better now.


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Got some more stuff done... jus' too lazy to type anymore tonight... :cautious:
 
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Jim said:
More from the "annual."


The left cam cover started weeping oil last year. Not bad... a days riding would leave a light mist on the front of the frame side cover... just enough to be irritating.

Back when RobinC was having trouble with his cam seals leaking, I picked up a set of seals that are 1mm smaller I. D.... 24mm instead of the factory 25mm.


View attachment 209962


I figured I'd install them and see how well they worked out. Shortly after that, Robin passed away and I forgot all about 'em. Dug around for a bit and found 'em. Pulled the chrome cover off and the bottom of the cam cover was wet...


View attachment 209963


... but the end of the cam and the seal was dry.


View attachment 209964


So... it's not the seal that's leaking. I pulled the seal housing off and the damn paper thin green gaskets had split completely in two around 2 of the 3 fastener holes. Bein' sorta irritated about that, I forgot to take some pics before I peeled the 3 pieces off the housing. Also found the o-ring crushed. Don't recall the name of the gasket set, but color me unimpressed.
I went ahead and made a gasket from some Fel-Pro 1/32" gasket material...


View attachment 209966


Although the right side wasn't leaking, I pulled it to look and it was starting to split too. I went ahead and made one and replaced it also.
All better now.


View attachment 209967


Got some more stuff done... jus' too lazy to type anymore tonight... :cautious:
Click to expand...
The green gaskets might be Athena that I use, but I haven’t had issues with them yet (knock on wood). These are the ones XS650DIRECT direct sells as their premium set. Interesting about the smaller diameter seals. I replaced a couple of cam seals on the ‘76 already but the last time I used Yamaha seals that were a bit thinner or narrower than the XS650DIRECT seals. Hopefully they’ll hold up better.
 
Yeah, I think it was an Athena set. Everything else is staying oil tight, so who knows...
Somewhere in the back of the mind I recall thinking those gaskets felt kinda thin when I installed 'em. :shrug:
 
Was lookin' at the pics and just noticed.... you can see in one of the housing holes where the gasket had worked it's way out toward the edge.
My cylinder base gasket has done the same. Although it's not leaking... it doesn't exactly give me warm fuzzy's.


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Jim said:
Was lookin' at the pics and just noticed.... you can see in one of the housing holes where the gasket had worked it's way out toward the edge.
My cylinder base gasket has done the same. Although it's not leaking... it doesn't exactly give me warm fuzzy's.


View attachment 209968
Click to expand...
Ok now you’ve given me something else to worry about🧐. Lol.
 
I didn't have an issue with those Athena gaskets but I did find the black Athena o-rings deformed as you did. Originals were red, silicone I think. Luckily I saved some. They weren't deformed so I put them back on and they seem to be working fine so far.
 
More "tales from the annual...."

My Athena jug base gasket has migrated quiet a bit. In fact... enough to be worrisome. This is how it looked when I did the top end. This pic is from my top end buildup thread, so disregard the red arrow.


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And this is how it looks now. That's a 3mm allen wrench for scale. In some places it's moved out almost 6mm...


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Anyway... adjusted the valves. Both on the right had closed up slightly. Intake was a "tight" .003" and exhaust was down to .005" Both on the left were a little loose. Rest all to 3 and 6 thou.
When I removed the right exhaust valve cover, the bottom nut was already loose. When I finally got it off, the stud and threads came out with it. Oops...


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Drilled, tapped and J B Welded a 6X1.0mm helicoil back in and reinstalled the stud. All better now.


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Also replaced the plug caps with non-resistor types and installed new BPR7ES plugs.
 

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