L2 resto - first time for everything

[Mori Man]

Coming together nicely and rapidly looking like a bike again

Plenty life in that back tyre yet

[Neosophist]

It shouldn't pass an MOT without a rear-reflector which you removed.. are you going to re-fit another one?

[stonemonkey]

Ah right wasn't aware. I'll retro fit a small one to the flat plate on the back for the mot.

[Danman109]

Ah right wasn't aware. I'll retro fit a small one to the flat plate on the back for the mot.

The other alternative being those small round ones to go on the corner of the no. plate? Not sure about other MOT places but i'v taken them bikes with no reflector and rather than failing it they slap one of these on and charge you an extra £1

[stonemonkey]

Yeah could be a possible alternative thanks, it would come off again afterwards

[Danman109]

Yeah could be a possible alternative thanks, it would come off again afterwards

haha yeah they always did that on mine too.. weird that..

[stonemonkey]

[stonemonkey]

Some more parts arrived yesterday: top and bottom rubber washers fir plug towers, new rocker cover gasket, new rocker cover washers and bolts. Took the cover off and one of the plug washers had dislodged and was sat below the cams. Showed no signs of any damage so that was lucky. The washers on the lower part of the plug tower were so brittle that each one snapped when trying to remove them. The previous attempt to seal the rocker gasket involved masses of sealant so it was all cleaned up, gasket and rubbers changed, rocker cover painted matte black and reassembled with fresh parts. I have also cleaned the block and box and clear lacquered to save coating the load with an a extra 500g-700g of paint. After all it all makes a difference.



The light was very poor hence it looks very dark






The engine will hopefully be in by Sunday then I need to knock up some blanking plates for the oil cooler holes and start wiring her up.

[Danman109]

looking good how many miles has this engine done? im keen to know what the rocker arms looked like compared to the holes in the 41k mile engine i have! (if you went that far when stripping)

[stonemonkey]

I don't have any pics of the rocker arms unfortunately. There was no apparent wear. Mileage is 17k. How's the build going?

[Danman109]

I don't have any pics of the rocker arms unfortunately. There was no apparent wear. Mileage is 17k. How's the build going?

Ahh i see ok, at 17K i'd be VERY suprised to see any wear.. the ones from my 21k engine look pristine, the 41k ones had holes in though!

Its going ok, few more parts come from cradley tomorrow then I can clean everything up and get the engine back in the frame of the moto gp rep. The track engine head has arrived now so i can start stripping that block down and having some fun with it!

Im in contact with a website that supplies free magnetic neodynium (pre-drilled for lockwire) sump bolts with their oil filters for £9.99 seems a pretty good deal! At the moment they supply a 'no-name' oil filter for the 400 but a K&N for all other bikes. If i manage to get him to put together a K&N oil filter kit do you think there would be some interest for this?

should stick it in the free for all thread and see i guess.

[Tirpitz]

If i manage to get him to put together a K&N oil filter kit do you think there would be some interest for this?

should stick it in the free for all thread and see i guess.

Nope 'cos I can get a Champion oil filter from Halfords for the ZXR400 for £7 and I wouldn't pay more just to have a magnetic sump bolt, which I've managed without for all these years.

[stonemonkey]

Just bloody bought a filter and magnetic sump. I've always used them in my car as I once removed one and it look like a bloody hedge hog! God knows why damge it could have done being pumped around.

[Tirpitz]

God knows why damge it could have done being pumped around.

Not much, that's what the oil filter is for. Only reason you're seeing it is because it's sticking to the bolt instead. If it wasn't magnetic the rubbish would have been pumped through the filter and removed there before reaching the engine parts. I'd rather have the crap in my filter, removed from circulation, not stuck like a sea of swarf on the sump plug at the bottom of my oil.

The additional danger with these things is that they can magnetise the swarf. If it then get dislodged it can go elsewhere and stick to some other component. That component can be a bearing surface. This then causes far more damage.

If these plugs were a good idea they would be fitted by the factories. They are not and there is a very good reason for that.

[Danman109]

If these plugs were a good idea they would be fitted by the factories. They are not and there is a very good reason for that.

They are however present in and around the cam chain tensioner as fitted by the factory presumably to catch the swarf from the cam chain before it gets to the filter, so it cant be such a bad idea?