83 VT750 Teardown & Rebuild Project (For "Educational" Purposes!)

[mattyo]

Originally Posted by OHjim

None ........................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ..................... ... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .................... 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ............... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil .................... 106 pounds
ATF*- Acetone mix...........53 pounds

The ATF-Acetone mix was a home brew mix of 50 -
50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone.

So do people using the ATF-acetone mix just wipe in on the rusted bolt with a brush or something? Just curious if people have a fancy way of applying this homebrew I'm not aware of.

[mattyo]

Originally Posted by keb709

Matt, I guess I'm talking about both the clutch and the flywheel. I guess I need to take both of them off to split the case anyway. I don't have the special tool referenced in the manual, did I read that you used a pipe to hold the gears in place?

Yeah I put a piece of aluminium between the gear teeth to lock things up while taking off the clutch and flywheel. Also, an impact wrench works very well in this case and generally doesn't require locking the gears up.

[OHjim]

Originally Posted by mattyo

So do people using the ATF-acetone mix just wipe in on the rusted bolt with a brush or something? Just curious if people have a fancy way of applying this homebrew I'm not aware of.

I assume so. Maybe a trigger sprayer would work, but not sure how long the plastic would last with that mix in there.

[rpartsman]

Originally Posted by keb709

Ok, so the person who I thought had a motorcycle jack does not have a motorcycle jack... and new ones are damn expensive. Suggestions?

I used a floor jack like the shops use to pick a car up like this one http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...5FjfWc1aLKw1iE just takes two to work as it is a little unstable to move and steady the engine I also used jack stands to lift the rear and support the bike one on each side of rear tire with a ratchet strap to hold them together though the rim so it would not fall off them. Looking forward to your post on your progress.

[keb709]

Jim, that's some really interesting information! I've been using liquid wrench, glad to see it's one of the better performers! If I ever find myself really stuck, I'll be sure to look into the ATF-Acetone mix.

rpartsman, I also used a regular car jack to take out the engine. Got a buddy to come over and together we made short work of the removal.

It's funny, I look back on some of my earlier problems and they seem so simple now, even though at the time they seemed like huge roadblocks. I guess that's a sure sign that I'm learning, so this project is already successful in my eyes! Thanks everyone who has contributed so far and I look forward to hearing more from you all as the project progresses further!

[keb709]

Today is a great day, I went to my mechanic and he used the impact wrench to take off that problematic flywheel bolt in 5 seconds! I'm extremely happy that the project is back up and running! Pics to follow...

[keb709]

Matt, I was really hesitant to stick something in the gears, but I came across a cool trick that seemed less risky. So for anybody who uses this thread in the future for their own project, here's how I locked up the engine:

There's two ways of doing this, first the way I did it. I had the combustion chambers removed when I needed to lock up the engine, so this way was more efficient for me. With them removed, I stuck a couple rags into the combustion chambers. I then reattached the chambers to the engine case, with the rags inside. Once I turned the flywheel a bit, the piston was unable to complete the compression stroke, effectively locking the engine.

The second way, which is easier If you haven't removed the combustion chambers: First remove the spark plugs. Then take a couple leather shoelaces and push them into the combustion chamber. Turn the flywheel until the piston begins the compression stroke. The laces will have the same effect as the rags, preventing the piston from completing the compression stroke, locking the engine.

This worked REALLY well for me, and I would imagine it is less dangerous than putting a screwdriver between the gear teeth. Hopefully this will be useful to someone's future project!

Cheers,

K

[justinmahn]

I betcha that rag or leather scrap would work as well in the gears! I'm leery of using the piston block trick, and I have no idea why. Maybe it's the chance of leaving debris in there.

Keep up the good fight!

[keb709]

Originally Posted by justinmahn

I betcha that rag or leather scrap would work as well in the gears! I'm leery of using the piston block trick, and I have no idea why. Maybe it's the chance of leaving debris in there.

I guess where I'm doing a full teardown and restoration, I don't really have to worry about things getting stuck in there

[mattyo]

Originally Posted by keb709

Matt, I was really hesitant to stick something in the gears

Yeah, I was a bit hesitant at first too. But the gears are hardened steal. I had a scrap piece of aluminium bar-stock that I used. (steal >> aluminium) I tested it out and there wasn't any sign of wear on the gears using the aluminium so I just stuck with that method.

I guess it depends in which order you take things apart, but at some point I already had both cylinders off and needed to get the bearing bolts off for the output gear box and the trany secondary. In that case I had no cylinders or pistons and couldn't use those methods for locking the engine. So that's where Mr. Aluminium came in handy. But whatever works for you is the method you should use.