GSX Rebuild.....doing it right??

[rotaxrule1]

Hi everyone,

I am finally getting around to posting my rebuild progress on my 1997 GSX.

Let me start with the background. Last year, I was riding it before I had a chance to go through and flush the oil system (previous owner mixed tcw3 and other oils). Anyway, the PTO cylinder siezed up for what looks like oil starvation.

Pulled the motor, got it rebuilt with new pistons, crank, seals, you name it. Now I am in the process of getting it all together. (will post pics and details of what I have found along the way if anyone cares to see)

- At this point, I have the motor in, carbs, pipe, throttle cable, choke, and oil cable all calibrated and set.

- I also did an engine alignment for the first time using the tool from SBT.

Here is what was weird. I had to remove 2 shims on each side of the rear mounts that used to be there to obtain what I think is correct alignment. Is this normal?? I would think that it should at least retain the same position with the shims with some minor adjustments from left to right or something.

Also, for exhaust bolts on the manifold (I believe it was one and 5), the book called for loctite 515. I accidently put loctite purple threadlocker in there instead. Will this cause an issue? loctite 515 appears to be a sealant rather than threadlocker. Why is it only needed on those bolts??

One more thing, I redid the fuel lines, so all of them are empty. What is the typical priming process for these things? I hate to pour gas in and start it for the first time on and off since this will be its break in period. But I also hate to crank on the starter over and over too. What do you guys usually suggest?

I am sure I have more questions to add, but thanks in advance for any help. I will also post pics like I said and get some more info on my progress when I can get to my home computer.

:cheers:

Brandon

 

[seadoosnipe]

rebuild...

Sounds like you got a good handle on what your doing. Just a few questions, thats pretty good!...

The loctite?.. Yeah, the manual calls for different types by workload or amount of frequency you might remove that part. For instance, the impeller and magneto flywheel is red (high strength), whilel carb bolts are blue (medium). I use blue on practically everything. The main purpose is to keep motor vibration from working the fasteners loose. I haven't had any real issues by taking that route.

To prime my fuel systems, when replacing the hoses? Usually, I leave the air box off till I get a run and have made all my adjustments. Because it's open, I take a plastic bag and cover the carb intakes, then roll the motor over. It's kinda like choke, but using the choke lets in a lot of air also. Using the plastic bag will put full vacuum on your fuel system. As soon as you hear ignition, remove the bag. It normally doesn't start because your just getting the fuel up to the carbs. Though many people think the fuel pump supplies pressure, causing the fuel to be sprayed from the jets, it's not. The fuel pump only circulates the fuel to the carbs and back to ensure there is adequate supply. The manifold pressure (vacuum) actually pulls the fuel into the motor. So, try the plastic bag. If you do pour gas in from your plugs, use your weedeater or chainsaw gas. Don't use gas without oil, even if your still oil injected.

Shims?... Trust your alignment. The shims might have been there and wrongfully so. If you did your alignment properly, then don't worry about what was there beforehand.

 

[rotaxrule1]

Good to hear from you snipe! I follow your posts quite a bit, they have been really helpful.

Anyway, thanks for your reply and re assuring me! I will try the bag thing, never thought of it that way but it makes sense! Kinda scary treading new ground with this whole process, but I am sure it will pay off in the end!

:cheers:

Brandon

 

[rotaxrule1]

Just a quick update, the plastic bag trick worked great! It only took about 10 seconds or so of cranking with that on and the choke pulled to get it to fire. After that it started back up. I have a few pics and a short video I want to post here for anyone that wants to see. But I guess you have to host your own pics from another URL?

 

[seadooya]

wheres the vid/pix?

 

[rotaxrule1]

Pics



Ok, here are the pics I took during the process. Sorry, there is not a whole lot of detail here. I was trying to squeeze in time for this between full time work and part time school.

But as you can see, they were after I dropped the motor in. The main issue I ran into, is the pipe....

Notice that I put it all together with the manifold last, big mistake! There was no way that was going to line up. So, I had to take the mid piece off again (and break the gasket seal :cuss

What I should have done is put the manifold on before even dropping the motor in, and also before putting on the carbs. Makes it a pain to reach some of those bolts there and torque them with all that being there. (Live and learn right?) Surprisingly, the service manual is pretty vague, (assembly is basically the reverse of disassembly right?) ya thanks!! lol

Also, in my moments of brightness, thinking it would save time, I left the carbs together when I took them off (just attached by the hoses) thinking that would prevent me from putting them on incorrectly. Well, when I originally put them on, both were upside down. (notice in one of those pics :banghead

So, it was quite an adventure. Probably still will be, knowing my luck, I will put it in the water and the pump will be misaligned or my carbon ring will leak.

I hope to dip it in this weekend and let it run on the trailer. I ran it for a bit with the hose hooked up and it seems to be great! I could not run it for very long though because I was smoking out my neighbors. And the PTO carb is leaking a little gas, so I have to pull that yet again and take a look.

I will try to get my short video up here too. I can't attach and upload that directly to this site I assume....

More to come!
:cheers:

 

[rotaxrule1]

[video=youtube;HA4bPcsRwqg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA4bPcsRwqg&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

Here is the video of the start up, sorry its a bit short because I had to shut it down. It was smoking like a freight train like they typically do and was choking out my neighbors... Still kinda cool though.