'83 Heritage chopper top-end rebuild

Ehhh for the permatex stuff its pretty lenient. I usually lightly slather it on the gasket by hand wait, 5 minutes or so till its just slightly tacky, install and snug that part up, wait a few minutes then final torque it. I believe its an anaerobic hylomar-esque sealer.

The primary benefit that I like is it prevents gaskets from sticking when you take things apart.

The copper coat I can't remember if you let it totally dry or just till its tacky. The permatex stuff all has pretty detailed directions.
This is great; thanks, man! I’ll be picking up that stuff in addition to the rest.
 
Ok, got the cam out and the head off. I ground the rivets a bit and then used a Motion Pro chainbreaker/press I got from Mike’s. Cam was a little stuck but I was able to pull it free with just my hands (no way I was gonna tap it with anything). I don’t see any pitting on the lobes, but let me know if there’s something else I should check. Here’s a question; I’m assuming you could measure lobe spec with a digital caliper, not necessarily a micrometer? Just got a new one I’m playing with. Given how clean it seems, I can’t imagine it’ll be out of spec, especially with less than 20K.

I’ve added a couple shots of the combustion chambers. The one from the right side where it was spitting oil on the exhaust seems to have slightly more oil around that section of the gasket, which would make sense. Valves and chamber seem slightly less sooty than the left, which I assume would be from sucking air through the leak (running that much leaner than the left? Honestly, I’m surprised the head gasket looks like it does - I though it would be more abraded on the leaking side. Anyone know what the stock gaskets were made of? I assume some fiber (not metal)? I’ll pull the cylinders and post more/better pics, but the crosshatching looks good on top at least. Carbon buildup on the pistons I think looks normal - what does everyone think?

I figured I’d take a straw poll now, as my next stop will to place that I’d like to do the machine work - bore measurement to see if I need a hone or overbore, check the valves and do seals. Who does everyone like for gaskets, rings (and pistons if necessary), seals, valve guides and cam chain and front tensioner guide (believe that seems to be the one to replace?)? I wouldn’t mind getting everything in one shot from one place, and have been looking hard at 650 Central and more recently, Hoos Racing (I think Mr. Hoos posts here?). I get and will continue to get certain things from Mike’s, but I’m a little leery of getting this
kind of stuff from there, though I know there’s plenty of it. The Vesrah gaskets seem to be the ticket over the Athenas Mike has - I’d also like to keep the same compression ratio. 650 Central and Hoos also seem to have name-brand chains as opposed to Mike’s. Anyway, I appreciate any thoughts and input. More to come!
 

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I doubt you will be able to get everything from one place. Hoos Racing has the new good reproduction front cam chain guides. About the best deal on a cam chain is directly from Yamaha. Although the parts listing doesn't seem to indicate it, the couple I've gotten so far were split and came with a master link. Best deal on rings or if need be, oversize pistons and rings is from Cruzinimage. I don't think the Vesrah gasket sets include valve guide seals but nice Viton ones are available from eBay.
 
I doubt you will be able to get everything from one place. Hoos Racing has the new good reproduction front cam chain guides. About the best deal on a cam chain is directly from Yamaha. Although the parts listing doesn't seem to indicate it, the couple I've gotten so far were split and came with a master link. Best deal on rings or if need be, oversize pistons and rings is from Cruzinimage. I don't think the Vesrah gasket sets include valve guide seals but nice Viton ones are available from eBay.

10-4; I’ll give the local dealer a call and see if they can get one. Maybe Partzilla if not? I see they offer some OEM items. I’ve seen the good feedback about Cruzinimage and will take a good look at them too. For that matter, I wonder if it’s worth trying to find an OEM gasket rebuild kit on eBay; I’d be worried about what could have happened to it in 40+ years though. I’ll look for Viton seals - I know that’s a good name. I think some of the supply houses may carry them too. Thanks, 5twins - any info is good info!
 
Don't think I've ever seen an O.E.M. gasket set but the Vesrah one is a good choice. Partzilla discounts their parts so if you were to order a few more things, you'd probably save a few bucks. Something to consider is copper washers for the 4 outside head studs to replace the rubber ones Yamaha used. Mike's sells brass ones but the copper ones used on Suzukis work just as well and cost less. Partzilla is also a Suzuki dealer so you could order them from there.
 
Don't think I've ever seen an O.E.M. gasket set but the Vesrah one is a good choice. Partzilla discounts their parts so if you were to order a few more things, you'd probably save a few bucks. Something to consider is copper washers for the 4 outside head studs to replace the rubber ones Yamaha used. Mike's sells brass ones but the copper ones used on Suzukis work just as well and cost less. Partzilla is also a Suzuki dealer so you could order them from there.

I think I’ll start pricing all this out. I also saw Mike’s was carrying some copper washers, not listed for any specific application. But OEM is always a good choice. Do you happen to have the Suzuki P/N? No worries if not; I’m sure I saw it here on another thread.
 
Suzuki part #09168-10017 for the washers, about $2.50 each. Mike's gets $3.25 each for their brass ones .....

https://www.partzilla.com/product/suzuki/09168-10017

The Tsubaki cam chain is about $40 from Partzilla, $51 from Mike's but with no master link. The chain from Partzilla should come with the master link .....

https://www.partzilla.com/product/yamaha/94500-02106-00?ref=62d1e0c2d701e33ae846d25fa478f585d31cc7fc

If you need any rubber bits like shift and kick lever covers, O.E.M. is best and still pretty reasonably priced. Add those to your order too. Side cover grommets as well. The ones from Mike's suck and fall apart within a few years.
 
Suzuki part #09168-10017 for the washers, about $2.50 each. Mike's gets $3.25 each for their brass ones .....

https://www.partzilla.com/product/suzuki/09168-10017

The Tsubaki cam chain is about $40 from Partzilla, $51 from Mike's but with no master link. The chain from Partzilla should come with the master link .....

https://www.partzilla.com/product/yamaha/94500-02106-00?ref=62d1e0c2d701e33ae846d25fa478f585d31cc7fc

If you need any rubber bits like shift and kick lever covers, O.E.M. is best and still pretty reasonably priced. Add those to your order too. Side cover grommets as well. The ones from Mike's suck and fall apart within a few years.

Excellent; thanks so much for this! I’ll get that on order soon, looks like they don’t have many left...
 
Onward with tear down. Bringing part to the machine shop on Saturday, so I need to get this done. Tried to get a good shot of the cylinders; crosshatching looks OK, but light vertical scratches as well. I’ll see what the shop recommends - they build quite a few motors. Need to clean the combustion chambers before I bring them in, if I can by then.

Left and right piston rings shots - left side looks like the rings are starting to line up, so that’s good to catch now.

I expected the head gasket to be damaged at spot it was leaking, but was surprised at how sturdy it feels after all these years. Part of me wonders if I should have just re-torqued the head and tried to stop it that way! You can see where it was leaking at the front of the right cylinder.

I used “airplane“ paint stripper on the old gaskets. I’ve used that stuff on paint before, and it was always a beast, but it took a lot and was very slow. I let it soak and hit it with Scotchbrite pads - plastic scraper did nothing. I then tried something I’d love some feedback on. I found a Dremel attachment that was a little Scotchbrite pad and ran that lightly over the head gasket imprints on the top of the cylinders. Came right off - pad wore quickly, but would last a little longer if I went lighter. Any risks with this method? I also found a flap-wheel attachment with plastic (hard rubber?) flaps. That worked too, but I could see marks on the metal, so I stopped. Tried to get good pics. The cylinder head is with no work, the bottom of the cylinders is with the Dremel tools... thoughts, reprimands, accolades

I’ll post more with the cam and cam chain components...
 

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Shots of the cam chain tensioner shoes - as 5twins and others described, the front one is slightly off center towards the left cylinder, and is cracked. No brainer on replacement. Rear is grooved but a bit of meat left on it. I might replace it anyway...

Shots of the wristpins - super smooth and no perceptible play when in the pistons. Not sure if the two discolored worn sections are within normal range?

Shot the rod bushing - smooth, no obvious issues... ?

Machine shop tomorrow... more to come!
 

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Lookin good. Im sure the machine shop will be able to tell you if that wear spot is normal or if it needs replacing or anything. I'd replace all of the chain guide components while you're in their.
 
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