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mongo wrote:Take the cylinder head off the l9 engine and get it pressure tested.

Looks like from the picture, that it may just be the exhaust headers that have bent and cracked the metala/alloy around the headers, which stick out from the head. A bit of alloy weld then smoothing it back off if oyu sitll wnated to use the l9 engine...

Yeah i considered how bad the cracks were but i dont think i wouldnt feel happy with it. Iv sourced another complete L9 head probably for similar money to getting the current one welded (i cant weld myself)

The other advantage being I have a complete top end to use as spares should i need it.

no way im gonna bin that engine its got low milage and previously had 62.4 break with an exhaust on it, i was always keen to see how far it would go!

Sorry about the bad news with the head

But good progress elsewhere

stonemonkey wrote:Sorry about the bad news with the head

But good progress elsewhere

Thanks matey

What paint have you used to spray up the brackets in your resto? thinking about either spraying mine or getting them powder coated.. not sure yet

For the majority of the small brackets I used black enamel in a can. Great glossy finish, goes direct to rust. If using on bare metal make sure you key the surface well or apply a thin primer. Anything large I got powdercoated including all te rear brake arm and caliper holder etc.

So progress has been slow recently due to the freezing temperatures making working on the bike difficult when your fingers are numb!

Last weekend the engine was re-built however the obligatory small pin was discovered on the side just as the last bolt was torqued up :smt013

note: above the camshaft one pin is missing..



so it was all opened up again to put the pin back! So this weekend im at the point i thought i was at LAST weekend!!

next on the TO DO list:

1) degrease and paint the rad (once the hose outside isnt frozen solid!probably do a rad flush too)
2) clean up the engine and frame
3) engine back in, new silicone hoses,
4) fire her up again!

Zx6 shock ready for reconditioning and putting on the track bike

Lighweight disk arrived today too

Moto gp engine is all shimmed up, rebuilt and ready to go back in the frame!!


let the re-building commence!

Ok...

So last night i spent aaages cleaning the engine with de-grease, I then moved on to the radiator but i have no idea how to attempt to clean out 18 years of mud from between the fins.. the radiator is effectively 'blocked' by a triangle of mud and grit from central bottom to the top of the radiator..

any ideas?

i useed compressed air and blew the muck and stones out. worked ok but alot off the fins are damaged on mine

gargarzxr wrote:worked ok but alot off the fins are damaged on mine

was that as a result of the compressed air? for 18 years old the fins are in very good condition (apart from the mud, sand, grit etc) so im keen not to damage it. I've had people suggest soak it overnight and then light pressure washing but again worried about bending them

Id take the soaking overnight method too. I think to properly clean them your meant to use steam from the back of the radiator, so one of those steam cleaners off one of them shopping channels should do it perhaps?

Otherwise, its a painstaking removal gap by gap.

we have a winner!

A £1.99 spray mist bottle on jet mode, a well exercised hand :wanker and about 2 hours later... 18 years of mud, bugs, grit and god knows what else is now all over my face... but the radiator looks pretty darn good

now then... to paint the radiator or not to paint the radiator?

any chance of it holding more heat if its painted? im not all that fussed about painting it, its just one of those things that'd look nice ya know?

I guess black would be ok? Heat sinks are painted black to help radiate heat better in electronics but weather that the same for radiators i dont know. Youll need a decent primer to paint it, but it was never painted at the factory maybe not worth it?

Ive just painted mine with hammerite silver spray paint. Seems to have stuck well and looks great, If your debating whether to or not because of heat issues It has to be better than all the crap it was covered in. And you could always just paint the sides and grille leaving the fins bare.