1982 XJ550 Maxim rebuild

Thanks. No, the vinyl will be water proof after it's oiled well over several months. I would not seal up the pores of the base form with anything since it would encourage mold and fungus growth that will destroy it. If it's physically broken down it needs to be replaced. The base and pan on the seat I refinished was in great shape. I just needed to soften the vinyl back up and fix the tears. I may pick up another one off eBay and do a refresh on it as a spare or to sell. That and metal finishing work is much less stressful than the engine rebuild work.

 

I used closed cell foam for my seat. .5 inch camping sleeping pad or yoga mat, .5in carpet foam and with an open cell foam for the final wrapping then another thin pad that's sewed into the leather. since the closed cell retains the water and mold I wrapped the foam with 6mil plastic that will sit between the leather and foam. I did this because the foam started to get musty and smelled like mold. I didnt see it but you can smell it. what chemical are you using the seal the vinyl.

I havent rode the bike yet with the plastic, but I am expecting the seat to retain more heat and give me swap butt

 

The plastic should be open on at least one side (or have holes) to avoid moisture retention. I will probably use refined coconut oil as a buffing oil and keep doing it until it saturates all the way through. You can use any any wax really, just keep in mind that it will oxidize over time and turn into powder.

 

Second oil soak. It absorbs in nicely, no residue.

 

Got timing sorted out with the cams and chain tensioner. Will need shims for sure. 150psi on all but one at 130psi. Atleast it is holding high compression now. Going to recheck lobe clearance tomorrow and get a list of shims. Once more around the cam caps and I will be moving towards reinstall and first fire-up.

 

Well, the head is back off again. Exhaust valve bent when I was trying to pull a shim out. Lost my lifter lock so was going to do it the cheap way. Another one is on order. I swear this bike really does not want to run again.

 

Waiting on new donut seals for the cylinder block. Both leaked during oiling and compression re-testing.

 

Gotta get a few shims. Odd thing is #3 is on spec but barely pushing 100psi. The others are 120 to 135 and shims are a bit off. Maybe 3 will come up with some cycles on it.

 

Are you checking new piston and rings on a new build? All things need to seat inside the cylinders with some run time. I am hoping you used some oil in the cylinders when you rebuild it and now you are spinning the engine?

 

Old pistons and rings. Don't really care at this point if they are holding compression. I'm about done with it.
Everything had Amsoil assembly lube applied. I poured a little T-Rod 30w in each cylinder and on the cam lobes.

 

Shims on the way. I stoned the cylinders before the first re-assembly. At this point two different piston and ring sets (used) have been in the bores. The set in there right now are used. #3 held almost 100psi all night and only leaked out about 3psi over 8 hours. It has to be shims and incorrect clearance measuring. I'll remeasure it when I redo the rest of them with the incoming shims. If it's around 100 I'm gonna let it fly because #2 is really good. I'll just have to make sure it's tuned accordingly.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for us. There could be come carbon on the valve seals too, so once it is running that could burn away and help you out a little. Checking shims should be a breeze for you after changing those pistons and rings out.

 

Intake on #4 had 260 needed 255 but I ordered a 255 in 25mm not 29mm. GAH.. It's close enough from clearance measurement so I'm gonna let it go for now. If I have a hard time with #4 I'll swap that shim out later. All are around 120psi based on battery crank test with no plugs in.

 

Well it popped a few times on start. When I filled the carbs #3 decided to overflow. I wet set these on level so WTF. Guess the carbs come back off again.. and again. Is it possible, in the TCI, to have ignition timing 180° out? I don't see how that's possible since it runs wasted spark but I have to ask because I could not get it to fire on all 4 at all. It ran on spray before I removed it from the frame and I see spark, albeit low, on both coils. Once I find the 2 missing oil pan screws (or substitutes) I'm going to fill the case up and get it all primed.

 

BEfore you pull the carbs tap on teh float bowl with a screwdriver handle. It's not uncommon for a float to stick during the initial fill.

Spark timing will only be 180 out if the coils are not hooked up to the correct feeds, the plug wires connected to the wrong cylinder pairs.

 

It is possible I could have the coil feeds backwards. The coils by cylinder are correct, though.

 

I have never had such a pita timing coordination to deal with.
Every time I got it all "right" on the top and put the tensioner in, it would end up off by 1 F'n tooth after a single cycle.




"And there was much rejoicing..."

 

Ya. Getting the cam timing off by just one tooth is pretty easy.
Did you notice the flats that are cast into the cams? Those are for a wrench so you can hold the cams in time as you set the chain on them. One of those things that the service manual glosses over (might not even be in there).
If I pulled cams more often it would be worthwhile to make a special tool for that job so the cam timing is fixed in place without needing to lay hands on wrenches.

 

This baffles me? If the ring gaps are correct how can it hold pressure for any length of time?

 

Yup, a 7/8 fits in there OK. Adjustable won't fit. The issue is the slack from the crank sprocket the intake sprocket. The intake always rocked backwards a couple degrees when the tensioner is put in. There are better ways of setting timing on an OHC like an indexing plate for the sprocket with more than 1 cam alignment position.