1982 XJ550 Maxim rebuild

Based on my research those were a factory option and these are original crash bars with road rash. I think I will try to weld the tabs up and paint them black to match the frame. There is one NOS set on ebay for $110. I need that for a new oil filter cap and possibly oil pan after an incident with the shop crane. I just glued the pan up too!

 

I said I was not going to pull the jugs? Well...

It is good that I did.

 

@chacal sells a spin-on filter conversion. Worth the money IMO, but oil filter housings are common, and cheap.

 

Already have one on the way. The filter cover is a critical part of oil cooling. Getting rid of it will reduce oil life, especially conventional mineral oil. It would take the same amount of time to change the filter and the flow will be better with the internal element.

 

Speaking of oil filters, the only filter construction that works worth a damn is Wix. I only buy theirs or Amsoil EA. They produce all of Amsoil's filters. Napa gold is the same filter production from the Wix plant, different branding. I was an Amsoil dealer for about a year and dropped their sales pyramid scheme. I am thinking about doing a slice and test brand comparison for my YouTube channel.

 

Alternator cover is curing.



Drive sprocket cover has been wire buffed and is curing.

 

Maybe I missed it in the thread. What color number/name is the paint? So far everything looks great.

 

It's dupli-color light silver engine enamel. I can get the UPC when I get home tonight. The topcoat is wheel clear for impact resistance.

The YICS orange is Chevy engine orange. I could not find the proper burnt orange color used on the original emblem but with black under it it's close. I'm not painting the circle emboss on the covers, I think it distracts from the logos too much.

 

Looks good!

 

Silver/Alum



Clear coat



Frame coating



Orange

 

Thanks man

 

Did you ask Chacal?
He has the correct colors for everything. He also has reproduction emblems that are an exact match to the OEM.

On the oil filter cover. It makes some difference in cooling to not have it, but it's not so difficult to fit the oil cooler that the Yamaha put on all of the XJ's that they made for the rest of the world.
One of my backburner projects is to machine the oil filter cover so it serves as a cap for the spin-on filter. I'll probably never get to it though; too many other projects that are of higher priority.

 

I will def need repro tank badges once the tank is done. The originals are split and scarred. The original yics tags are stamped copper. They will outlast my paint job. If I lose one due to glue failure it is good to know where to get a repro. Do you know what the repro ones are made of?

I am game for a solidworks project. I can draw it up, print it in PLA and have them CNC'd from 6061 at a company I use in China. A spin-on adapter with an external threaded seal flange is easy enough. Getting a bulk pre-order to pay for the production run is always the problem.

 

No CNC here. Just an amateur with an old lathe and some free time

Covering the production costs is always the tricky part, which is why I pay myself in beer.

I think all Chacal has in the way of tank badges are a stash of NOS stuff. He'd be the one to say what they repops are made of (should be in his catalog, he's very transparent about that stuff).

 

Hey, I am always game to make a few bucks off a side project. I will toss a few ideas around. Is the filter cover basr and filter tube the same size on the XJ engines?

 

Cylinder bores have been honed. #4 seems to have discoloration above and below the ring pack area from it sitting a long time. Not sure why the others are not stained. Rings feel and look good. Removed them and will be re-using them. The pistons have carbon and staining but look fine as well. I'll clean them up best I can and reinstall with the same wrist pins and new clips. All of the pins were really tight and not easy to remove. The rod end bearing surfaces look OK. I'd love to rip the whole case apart and have new rods WPC treated with the crank but I have to remember this WAS a budget rebuild. The cylinder block got a good cleaning and buffing too, more pics soon.

 

I like shiny new stuff even if it is actually 35 years old.


The 4" wheel on my drill press makes quick work of cleaning metal. Silver is curing. Clear coat tomorrow and it will get a new clutch rod seal and e-clip for outside. Inside parts are like new. I did not even attempt to remove the sight glass. Bad things can and would happen with my luck.




Um, eww? Good thing I disassembled the starter for paint. It needs a major cleaning and new seals.

 

Not exactly rebuild work, but here's what I've drawn up so far for a spin-on filter adapter with decor cap.
I'm going to create a screw-on decor cap using hex head cap screws but not sure about design yet. I'll try to pick a generic 4-screw pattern. The stock housing is 100mm so it makes the symmetry nice in solid editing.
I'm using an Amsoil EA15K13 4-cylinder skinny filter for the fitment test. Both it and the bike use M20x1.5 filter threading so it's easy to work with. It will even fit inside the stock housing.

 

Not sure about the hand grip design yet, but the assembly is done. I may try printing a set this weekend.

 

you sure you don't want to buy a real adaptor?

 

Where's the fun in that??

 

Just for clarity I won't be sticking a plastic oil filter adapter on the engine. It's a prototype for thread and o-ring fitment only. It won't be machined until after the bike is done and I have the cash for it.

 

Starter housing has been painted, all the bits cleaned and checked. Looks like it needs a grease seal, new o-rings everywhere and some grease to replace the stuff from 1982. I will probably use black moly instead of the red axle high temp I use since this sits and needs to move around when it runs. The insulation stickers on the rear cover look like they need some glue. One came off during degreasing. I may replace the case bolts since I had to use pliers to pop them loose. Hex cap screws would be better due to the length of the bolt.

 

+1 on using moly grease. The load on the gear faces is pretty high.

 

Rear tire was a beast to remove. Rear rim has been sprayed with black. After it cures I will hand buff the outer rim and then clear coat it all. I may go ahead and replace the bearings. These are smooth but a tad tight.




The Coke machine behind there was another 1980's project. It keeps the cans super cold and the kids from drinking all my soda.

 

Get a needle for your grease gun and slide it under the bearing shields. Pump a bit of new grease in. See if the bearings feel better.
Likely that the grease is just hardened a bit and that the bearings are fine.

 

True, all of the grease points have had chunky monkey in them. I imagine these are no different. I can always pull them later if they roar. Yay, more tool to lose.

 

Speaking of losing, I managed to lose the piston from the tensioner. Got an ugly, cheap, used one off ebay for internal parts. Still waiting on the parts and tank from SnoSheriff. Post office issues, hopefully the tank did not disappear.

 

The main parts are out for delivery today. \o/ Still waiting to see the gas tank show up at the DCU in Fayetteville.

 

Lots of sanding, paint and steel wool buffing but it is done.




Hand polished lip. Some rash, but it is 35 years old.


Clear is curing.


I am happy with the results, but wish I had the time to grind the spoke faces back to mill finish. Still, it is shiny now and a solid color.

 

An hour or so buffing the signal housing and lenses. 3 of the 4 Yamaha lenses have no screw channel and the gasket I ordered does not fit (OE #). Still they look good with new stems. I also polished up what I could of the side trim. Headlight braket and rear peg brackets are next.

The tank SnoSheriff shipped finally arrived.
Not a single dent in it. Light rust will be no problem for me. It will get POR-15 inside first.

 

Looking good

 

Well, the lens matches the book # and the lens matches the body. The gasket # I ordered is the OE # and it did not fit. Wth?? Any ideas? I can't even stretch the new one around anything to make it fit, it has to lay in the body and it's about 1mm too small in diameter to fit the seal flange. Maybe the NOS rubber has shrunk in a hot warehouse? Order an aftermarket replacement and try it maybe? Hmm.

 

I usually just stretch the gasket a little at a time all the way around several times til it is big enough to install. BUT-- if you're not going to ride in rain, don't bother with the gasket

 

A lil Lemi-Shine and a chip brush cleans up terminals without eating the plastic or paper. Used the stuff wet-tumbling brass casings. Nothing else like it for metal cleaning.

 

The peg brackets and mounts buffed nicely. The pegs need some work, though.

 

Coming along.

 

Looking good! I don't know if the 550 is similar to the 650 maxim, but make sure you put your rear brake pedal shaft back in before you get too far along assembly the rear.

 

Very similar. The brake and shift levers are curing with clear on them. They'll be ready in another day. I need to clean up the rear brake rod and shaft assembly still. Waiting on bearings for the rear hub. Brake cover is done, just need another couple days for the paint to cure. I will probably buy new brake shoes. Those look OK but I don't know how old they are. No idea when I'll be getting the cylinder studs in from NL. No tracking number still. Gotta wait a few weeks to buy another round of parts. Budgets suck! I got spoiled when I did the Genesis Coupe, I had a ton of cash to blow on it and could snag whatever, whenever.

 

The tank is getting attention now.

 

Sweet, just got DHL number from CMS NL. Two of the plastic sleeved cylinder studs and 2 others will be here Friday. Just gotta get funds together to get the other 6 from chacal. #brokeprojectproblems

I have to admit, the phosphoric acid solution in the POR-15 product set is about as good as Evapo-Rust. I think Evapo-Rust is a better and cheaper route to go if you want to dunk strip the tank. The cleaner works OK, but so does Super Clean. Next time, I'm just buying a quart of the sealer. The half-quart should work OK as long as I have time to get it coated well and fairly evenly. The outside looks a lot better, but could have used an overnight soak in Evapo-Rust. I'll just finish it off with sanding since the graffiti won't go away on its own. The inside is nearly spotless. A few rust spots still visible in the bottom saddle spots. Video coming out soon of the process.

BEFORE:



AFTER: an hour of wet contact with the straight metal prep from POR-15.

 

*SIGH* I did not even think to compare the tunnels before I sealed it (or buy it).
That looks like a 750 tank maybe? It is not a Maxim frame tunnel shape at all.

Old Tank:


Bought Tank (advertised and sold as 81 XJ550 Maxim):

 

Really like those larger rear tires on these bikes....

 

Time to tackle the forks and front wheel.


The speedo assembly has been purged of its 35 year-old waxy grease and is getting a coat of frame paint. Polished the thrust washers and inner face of the gear.
Speedo cable looks good, pulled out the wire and only saw some old crusty cable lube. Cleaned and ready to go. Wish the wheel was that easy.

Is it normal for the housing to resist the wire going through near the bottom? It's smooth all the way until the bend where the stand-off is and I have to force it through. It rotates fine by fingers, but it couldn't hurt if it wasn't so tight there.

 

Nice 1982 vintage fork juice. Seal looks good but replacing it anyway.

 

To me that is some of the worst smelling stuff! WOW

 

Yeah, stinky. A bit of sludge at the bottom of the tube to clean out. Wonder if I could sell it on eBay as used, "vintage fork oil for your next rustoration project"?