how hard to build a 951 Di?

[ricardo1]

Who has experience rebuilding these motors? I have build 2 strokes, 4 strokes and even Honda motors before so I'm mechanically inclined and don't want to shell 1300 on a SES or 1900 on a SBT.

 

[AdamXP800]

Never rebuilt one, but from what I hear the 951 isn't a motor that likes to be built on a bench. You really can't beat a 2 year no fault warranty. That's worth 1000$ to me

 

[- BiRkS_]

I just built my 951 carbed. (same idea with internals, but slightly different parts) The hardest part is cleaning and prepping the gasket surfaces. It took me a whole evening (4:30-10 (with supper break) just to clean everything. I used an angle die grinder with the 3M gasket surface prep pads. They looked brand new when done. Thats the only way to do it IMO. A knife or scraper gouges the surface and are prone to leaks.

As for aligning the crank/ counterbalance, its just 2 gears. I would say the hardest part is manipulating the crank and getting the internal crank seals in their slots without pinching or tearing them. Racerxx suggested I use Threebond 1211. Fantastic stuff. Sealed my case perfectly the first time. Then drop the base gasket on. Install pistons. (all easy) Then it helps to have 2 people to wrestle the cylinders over the pistons. One of the hardest motors i've worked on. Just as you get one in, the other pops out or you catch a ring so go slow and be careful. Put the studs in and play with those stupid O-rings. Then toss the head/headgasket on. Torque it down evenly, and you're set.

I did a near OEM build (only things non OEM were piston rings and gasket kit from WSM) OEM crank, rebuilt OEM counterbalance shaft, OEM pistons came just around 850$ maybe a little more (including shipping). So if you want to do a quality build yourself, its well worth it IMO. Because good parts don't often fail. Its the cheap cranks that will get you. Or a bad hone job that catches a ring.

 

[AdamXP800]

I respect your skill and I bet your build is high quality that will stand the test of time.
IMO 1000-1200 for a reman engine with a 2 year no fault warranty is hard to beat. You can be back on the water in no time.
If you make the slightest mistake on a build yourself, it could be 850$ down the toilet.

 

[- BiRkS_]

Yes, but i've seen many threads where people have had to send engines back because of a failed gasket or it blew up. So then you have to ship it back, wait for them to diagnose, then ship you another/repaired engine, re-install.. could be months. I'll be straight up and honest, I've been burned by 2 engines. But I caught them before they imploded. Once a new remanned crank blew a bearing in the crank, the other, a ring blew apart. Luckily I hit the kill as soon as it made the noise and the ring chunk didn't get to bounce around and do much damage before the engine stopped.

The biggest argument is that you get to choose what goes into your engine. So good parts will go a long way. There isn't an SBT crank in there that's going to puke its guts 5 hours after a rebuild.

For me, time is money. So if I can get an engine back together in a week if I have to order new parts, I will. That, and I have difficulties trusting someone working on my toys. I guess you loose the excuse to blame it on someone else. but i'm willing to stand behind my work.

It takes lots of time to get surfaces this clean. I doubt most reman shops do this.

 

[Sportster-2001-951C-Stock]

"I used an angle die grinder with the 3M gasket surface prep pads."

These pads are made of scotchbrite, and this is the same way I do it, using a 1" or 1.5" pad in high speed air die grinder. It's very effectice for cleaning gasket surfaces, if you haven't done it this way you should try it.

You didn't say if SES offers a warranty, but SES does better work and uses better parts from what I hear.

 

[Dr Honda]

............... It takes lots of time to get surfaces this clean. I doubt most reman shops do this.

Either a wire wheel, or a 3M deburring wheel will strip them clean in seconds. (it's basically a mounted scotch brite pad)

 

[- BiRkS_]

Sportster and Dr Honda, Yes I do it with the 3M scotchbrite pads. It works amazing, but by the time you clean off the old paper gasket, remove dowl pins, clean all the surfaces (I did the exhaust too) then wipe them down with acetone, it takes time. I also had to clean rust stains out of my cases and the grease that came out of the CB bearings. That took like 1/2 can of brake cleaner and 3 rags to get that crap out!

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

SES has 1 and 2 year warranty options.

I'm running 3 of their engines now. Not a single engine related issue. Me melting the exhaust, and bending a driveshaft... Yea... That was my bad lol.

 

[ricardo1]

Thanks for the info guys, I enjoy the pride of I build this but for the price difference I went and got a premium engine from SES with 2 year no fault warranty, should be out tomorrow morning.

 

[dustindu4]

Awesome, keep us updated on how it goes. What kind of turnaround time did they give you?

 

[ricardo1]

I will,he said 3 to 4 weeks.

 

[dustindu4]

Well that's good. At least you'll be able to take it for a spin before it gets too cold. I don't know what the riding season is down there in GA but here you're pretty much done by the end of September. Unless you've got a wetsuit.

 

[ricardo1]

yea, I want to take it out and at least do the break in before I winterize the ski. I have the cold weather so no wetsuit for me lol, where im from Venezuela its 95+ every single day so I never got used to the cold.

 

[dustindu4]

Georgia isn't cold weather like we have up north. Your ski season is a lot longer than ours

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Ski season? Dry suit!

 

[ricardo1]

I ment i hate the cold weather.
Only 4 to 5 months are cold here but last year was one of the coldest ones in jears.
Never used a wetsuit before but who knows...

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