RZ350NC2 Resto Mod

[kpke]

You better believe it.

I am going to bench test this one prior to disassembly of the side case. I have never seen a bad oil injection pump and suspect this one is fine. But something went haywire on this first over top end. The left piston and cylinder looked beautiful. The right piston and cylinder had significant scoring. Something went haywire. Hopefully the expert that bored my last top end will be available to analyze this one. He will know what the cause was.

 

[SFMCjohn]

The lenses look amazing! I could never do that. Also clever what you did there with the epoxy. In the future, I know a guy who knows a guy who could machine those posts in ABS plastic. Maybe even put a step so the new post fits over the stub of the old post. Then simply glue with ABS cement.

In other news, some folks on the FB RZ forum were chatting about a new YouTube channel... something called Ken's Garagearty

That’s better.

wow ... awesome thread is awesome!

what’s an ‘internal tank flap’ and why does it need to be removed?
(EDIT: found the YouTube episode that answers that question ... )

enjoyed this episode of Ken’s Garage, thanks Mr Frame Maker for the poke in the ribs to check it out!

[YOUTUBE]b9iI0JCoDVA[/YOUTUBE]

I have a box full of broken pre-gen KLR speedos I figured were garbage, which I couldn’t bring myself to throw away, but now I know if I ever turn into a real motorcycle guy when I grow up I might be able to do something with them.

looking forward to having the mystery resolved wrt what happened to the right cylinder on the first-over top-end ... arty

 

[kpke]

3/18/22

The top end has been disassembled. From this view it looks pretty darn good.

The squish band was measured in this configuration. It is a very conservative 2mm.

More random photos of the pistons and cylinders. It still looks pretty good.

 

[kpke]

Pistons have been removed.

Here we see that something went haywire on the right side. I’m hoping to get a professional assessment from the person that will bore the cylinders. The piston is grooved pretty heavily as is the right side cylinder. I am hoping to get away with a second over bore for these cylinders. It’s possible it may have to go up two sizes.

Here is the head and thermostat parts cleaned up.

A little bit of clutch side cover disassembly.

Make sure you install the water pump seal properly when reassembling okay?

 

[kpke]

Before I disassembled the side cover I rigged up a system to bench test the oil pump to ensure it was pumping oil properly. This setup did not measure specific output. It was just to verify that the oil pump is pumping uniformly on both outputs. Maybe the right side is not pumping enough oil and that caused the piston/cylinder scoring?

Here is a video performing the bench test of the oil pump.

[YOUTUBE]gv7PRpwRk-k[/YOUTUBE]

I have determined that the oil pump is working properly. After I reassemble the engine and install it I will check the pump stroke gap and of course adjust the cable to spec.

 

[Dirtbandit]

man, this bike is bike is soooooo awesome!!!!!

 

[Lonster]

It's great that you have all the parts, and that the pump is working. Each pulse from the pump looks very consistent.

 

[Frame Maker]

Ken, your attention to detail is amazing! As for the cylinders, those will definitely clean up with a single bore. If me, I'd be tempted to just give them a good hone and slap together with new pistons... but you're not mearty

Hopefully "the person who will bore the cylinders" will be back in town this week. I'll keep you posted if I hear anything from him

 

[kpke]

Thank you for the comments fellas.

Since we seem to be a little slow in this subforum…

Other stuff has slowed me down on this project but I think I can get back on this now.

Next up is case matching.

Then porting.

Credit to Ed Erlenbach Racing for this wonderful intake porting procedure.

Credit to forum member tacky1 for this port map.

I used a piston and a ring to set measurements within the cylinders.

With some recent purchases of tools (and some I already had) I will be trying my hand at porting these cylinders.

If successful the result should be

Before

After, (with some luck and a steady hand) should resemble some parts I have in a couple of other recently rebuilt RZ350 engines.

A slightly milder port job on this one.

 

[kpke]

A new crankshaft and the Partzilla order has arrived. So the warehouse has kitted up an RZ350 seal and gasket rebuild kit.

And on another note I have received this spray system. This has required setup of a whole new department in Ken’s Garage. The goal is to use this system resulting in professional (show???) quality body parts. Recent quotes of paint work were approximately 50% ± of the value of the bikes. I needed something to do.

 

[Lonster]

So much excitement in the last few posts. Good on ya Ken. Keep 'em coming.

 

[kpke]

Thanks Lonster.

4/15/22

Case matching…start

I had to set up some custom fixturing to accomplish this task. The case on the right is a practice piece to get a feel for cutting the aluminum using the rotary tool with the double cut cutter.

Starting on the real one.

Finishing up with the rotary tool and then followed up with jewelers files to clean it up a bit.

It’s difficult to tell but there is no more ledge or shelf in there. A nice smooth transition between the case and the cylinder transfers.

Here is a YouTube video of the process.

[YOUTUBE]43znZCnhA4E[/YOUTUBE]

 

[kpke]

4/16/22

Porting cylinders. A new process for Ken’s Garage. The data used for porting the cylinders is in a post above.

Here is the starting point. A couple of repeat photos I believe.

Here we go getting started on the first cylinder. I had a bit of apprehension having never done this before.

And then getting started on cylinder number two.

The cylinder on the left was a sample destroyed but heavily ported cylinder used for some visual reference. I was able to use the same fixturing for this task as I used for the cylinder case matching. Universal tooling you know?

Making progress.

I thought I was done at this point.

Further analysis the next day showed that the symmetry between the cylinders wasn’t so great and I could not live with it. So the next day I went back at it.

A bit more cutting took place and I beveled the edges.

Much happier with the finished product now. I will be able to sleep tonight.

Some cleanup on the exhaust ports was required.

Before.

After.

Here is a YouTube video of the process.

[YOUTUBE]JqS_IJEzxAY[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Lonster]

Patience is a virtue. B. Franklin
nice work.

 

[kpke]

Thank you Lonster

Prepped 3 rotors for paint. Cleaned, sanded, taped, then cleaned again. Here I started with ¼ inch tape.

Then went to 2 inch tape and started trimming the excess.

Painted rotors using the same Duplicolor gold wheel paint I used on the wheels.

Next time I will do a little better on the prep work. Which really means stripping all of the old paint off.

 

[kpke]

Yeah, it’s not the motorcycle but eventually it should all connect.

Remember this…

I finally unboxed it.

And then my first experimental paint job with it was painting this trailer which has gotten quite seasoned sitting outside over the years. Very little preparation was done. I scuffed it up a little bit and then painted over the rust.

 

[kpke]

Picked up the shaved (and apparently repaired) head, second over bored cylinders, and pistons, from Brian. He said the combustion chambers were not properly centered to the cylinders so he corrected that. Thank you Brian.

Next, in preparation for paint, using the heavily modified Harbor Freight blast cabinet, glass bead blasted the cylinders and a few smaller parts. Then converted to aluminum oxide media and blasted the head and clutch cover.

The upper case was just scuffed up a bit as it was in good shape and I am attempting to preserve the original finish under the fresh black paint.

 

[gixxerjeff]

Thanks for sharing, Ken.
Your work and this thread are awesome.
I can't wait for you next installment.

 

[kpke]

Thank you gixxerjeff

Engine parts and a few other miscellaneous parts were taped off in preparation for paint.

A ghetto paint booth satisfactory for painting engine parts was set up. In the background is a Lazy Susan I made out of a chair base.

Painted engine parts and a few other parts using Rustoleum Semi-gloss oil base paint thinned with acetone and added Japan Drier.

 

[kpke]

Did a long overdue deep cleaning of the workbench. Where does all of this "stuff" come from?

Staged engine, sealants, and new parts for assembly. The Rustoleum paint on the parts has cured to a very hard finish. It will be interesting to see how it holds up.

Assembled bottom end using all new OEM Yamaha seals.

Both case halves get three bond 1211

Sometimes my own brilliance simply amazes me. After assembling the two case halves together and torquing all of the bolts to specification, I was quite proud of my achievement. Then looked to the left a couple of feet on the workbench and over there by the assembly manual were the two locating dowels that align the cases together. I took them out to make wiping with acetone and laying down the 1211 easier. I made up a few new curse words, took a walk around the back yard, then proceeded to disassemble the engine, remove all the sealant, wipe down with acetone, install the dowels, and reassemble the engine.

Did shift star mod. More bottom end assembly has taken place. I stopped here. The clutch basket and the other big nut on the primary/water pump gear are not tightened and torqued. The clutch basket needs to come back off so that I can install a new improved shift detent that uses a bearing (not here yet). Waiting for the shift detent and clutch pancake bearing (this has arrived now) to arrive to finish.