My GSX250 project

Project update:
I dumped the oil and took out the spark plugs. The spark plugs are a bit of a worry:



The right hand one (blue background) especially. The pieces of gunk around the thread are metal, like thin shredded foil. Piston seals?

Seeing as I have the 500F for a few more weeks I thought I might as well jump right in. So I've taken the engine covers off, and started getting making them look nice. The come up ok with a wire brush. I plan to get the cam shafts out and the cylinder block out, but leave the rest of the engine in the bike. That way I can clean most of the engine and sort the piston rings if necessary. I also have the airbox out (required major surgery, with a hacksaw), and the cam chain tensioner off, ready for next stage.

Now may be a good time to ask you all for your collective wisdom on a particular problem I have. The bike has always had a bit of an oil leak. Its coming from a worn seal around the clutch push rod, apparently a common problem on these models. The seal is secured behind a plate, access to which requires the removal of the front chain sprocket. My problem is that the sprocket nut is welded on:

There's two more blobs of weld around the nut like the one in the pic.

Anyone got any ideas?!

 

Thanks for all your tips re the plugs and sprocket nut.

I had a mate over at the weekend, so we attacked the cylinder head. We couldn't separate the head from the block, just the block from the rest of the engine. It turns out there isn't quite enough space to slide the two pieces up over the rods while the engine is in the frame. So we took it out. It wasn't that much extra work.

The pistons are in a right state, have a look. My mate has taken a few engines apart and reckons they're the worst he's ever seen

I still can't separate the cylinder block and head. Anyone got any tricks? The book says use a soft headed mallet so I should probably invest in one of those first.

Anyone have any blaster tips in Sydney?

 

An update on my project: I've busy, sorry for not posting sooner. First thing I did was start building a tray for the electrics. I used a design similar to Dave H's, except I decided to hang the tray below the frame, making use of the same connection points as the old airbox. I cut a template from a pizza box and gave to it my flatmate, he cut it out of sheet stainless steel at his work

 

Some more pics of the tray:

 

I bought a seat on ebay. Then borrowed an angle grinder and cut the unused tabs from the frame so that it could sit on top. Also removed the tabs from around the battery area, also no longer needed

 

Meanwhile the pistons got cleaned, new piston rings added. Glazebusted the bores - not sure I had the right equipment for that, best I could do was a few minutes with some wet and dry... and put the engine back in the frame.

 

Progress on the engine was slow. I did some very stupid things. First, while trying to put one of the pistons back on its shaft, I dropped a circlip down into the crankcase. Exactly what the book says to avoid by stuffing a rag down into the gap... This was AFTER the engine was back in the frame. My heart sank when I realised all the work ahead to retrieve it. I was lucky - I could see it down the hole, and it is magnetic. I grabbed it with a trusty Stanley flathead.

Then when bolting one of the camshafts back in, I over-tightened one of the bolts, snapping it in the body of the cylinder head. I think I set the torque wrench wrong... anyway I got it out eventually with an Alden drill-out bit thing. Very clever device.

THEN, when putting the cylinder head back on, the second time, I dropped two of the copper cylinder head bolt washers down into the cam chain gap! Unbelievable. Again, exactly what it says to avoid doing in the book. I was lucky again, I managed to retrieve them both with a bit of coat hanger wire.

Lessons learnt

 

The other job on the go is painting the fuel tank. Spent quite a long time stripping the paint off, especially around the bottom corners where the plastic side panels were connected

The front guard was also stripped, but with abrasives. Also cut down a little with a dremel type tool. That got rid of the dented bits. Will post photos of those next

 

Good thanks Ben. Well, could be better if I'm being honest. I hate taking the bus to work!

I put the bike all back together. I think. She's looking much better, but doesn't start...

Starter motor turns over. There is fuel in the carby bowls for sure, as I slightly loosened the drain screw on one, and my finger got wet with petrol.

I unscrewed the (brand new) spark plugs and laid them on the cylinder head. With ignition on, and turning the crank by hand, I see sparks at the right time.

I'm confident cam chain timing is good, and I checked and adjusted valve clearances when re-assembling head.

Dunno where I'm going wrong. Any ideas anyone?