Engine swap, I might be in too deep.

Very brief background :

My starter clutch is on the outs. I'm getting the olde marble in a can sound when trying to start warm, even after switching back to the straight dino oil that I've seen can cure a slip if semi-synthetic has been run.

I came across a /very/ affordable parts bike with low miles, 14k. It's an absolute junker, but the engine was present and turned over by hand just fine, so at the price I was willing to pick it up and just swap it in wholesale vs. getting forearm deep in an engine teardown.

Both my bike and the donor bike are 1981 XJ650 Maxim.

I'm working on getting it off the old frame (no sheared bolts in the head, I'm the luckiest fella ever!). Before I got to pulling it off the frame, I drained the oil since I figured this was easiest done engine on frame. The first gush of what came out the plug was straight water. I stuck my finger in it and smelled and tasted it to be sure (because I'm dumb). No water came from the oil filter. Most of what came out was chocolate milk looking. If I had my guess, I'd say this bike sat outside at some point, and that was rainwater.

At this point, my bike is still fully intact and runs and rides fine. Just won't restart once stopped while warm (I can bump start it readily though). Is this donor engine likely toast? With the water down low in the sump, would a thorough oil flushing set me on course or is it likely to just be junk now? Is the only real answer "open it up and see" if that's the case it's fine, just trying to see if anyone has any experience in this area. It turns over by a wrench on the crankshaft just fine.

Thanks in advance for any insight. It's not every day you discuss water in the oil on an air cooled engine.

 

I'm doing my second starter clutch is not as hard as it looks see my "dreaded starter clutch" thread . Only a few tools needed that are required , 30mm socket , a 19mm wrench . I have a set of torx sockets , as well as a set of of Allen sockets , a impact also speeds it up I have an old craftsman electric impact . A wooden palate is perfect to keep from marring the engine . Good luck

 

First you must determine if if it tasted like water, or chocolate milk.

 

Water in the oil - thats interesting, you have to wonder how that got in there? Maybe someone left it outside with the cam cover off? Either way, if the oil is white - emulsified, it's been running afterwards....
Strip it, as a practice for the other engine. If it's all good you could just rebuild it carefully and swap it in.

 

I just read through your thread. Your symptoms are identical to mine, so it reinforces what I have to do. I was discussing with my coworkers what tools I might need and one was adamant I was going to need specialty tools. I'm glad I won that argument.

I left it dripping into a pan, so I guess it's not too late to get some cookies to dip.

I'm thinking this is what I'll do. It costs nothing to tear this one down at this point. I figure having a play engine gives me some good stuff to have on hand. Spare engine covers for customization and a supply of shims as well.

 

Now I'm just tossing back and forth on, do I shelve and keep the Carbs and TCI for spare, or do I try and sell them.

 

Don't write off that engine yet until you dismantle it. Might be repairable. Keep the TCI it's always worthwhile having a spare unit . I would keep the carburettors too. Post pictures of your engine dismantling so we can see the condition of the internal parts. Good luck.

 

True enough. Don't know till I know. So far for the starter clutch replacement, I'm looking at getting the parts for the starter clutch I need, then the starter alternator chain guide. Should the chain itself be replaced while I'm in there, or should it be good to go? I'm looking at the "you will need: " Posts in Jetfixers thread starting to build a grocery list.

 

You will need the guide and bolts, and the starter clutch rollers and springs. Heat the old guide bolts prior to removing them to soften the factory loctite to prevent the old bolt heads shearing off. Check the starter clutch unit for cracks. As for the chain see the video below you can check it with the sump off. If you need to replace the starter/alternator chain you need to remove the cylinder head and cylinders to loop it over the crankshaft.



If the chain is worn it can hit the crankcase and take out the oil nozzle if the guide breaks up. This one is getting too close to the case.

Here is a photo of my new guide and the oil nozzle on the 900f engine.

 

Check these out.



https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/xj750-engine-removal-and-split-pictures.38545/

 

As far as special tools , Harbor Freight has most of these items a a reasonable price. Xj4ever has the gaskets, guides if required . The case bolts are 10 & 12mm . The worst fasteners to remove are the torx screws behind alternator, and final drive , the torx socket and an impact will get these out ...note the torx fasteners in the final drive are staked (peened ) .

 

I haven't had time to do any work on the bike yet, but I may have a solid guess at where the water came from. The oil fill cap is not fully seated. I'm guessing the few threads that are engaged with the clutch cover aren't even remotely water proof. If that's the case the water intrusion should be much less impact since I can easily swap over clutch components.

I'm just getting off of working 15 days out of the last 16 on backshift. I should be able to get moving on this soon.

 

Started pulling stuff off, and this bike carcass shows some pretty significant signs of neglect. Mostly in the form of water intrusion. The wiring harness was chopped up pretty badly, and as I pulled leads off and let them hang, water dripped out from the insulation. But now the wiring on the bike is all off.

The instrument cluster is off. If anyone needs a functional gauge cluster for an 81 xj650, showing 14xxx miles, let me know.

Pulled the air box. It was still present, but mangled in an interesting way. Someone had cut it pretty much even with the frame so the filter element holder was still there but that's about it. I'm not sure why. There were no pods, and it was still in place otherwise. I was able to wiggle it out with the engine still in place. So that's how you pull the airbox with engine in. You utterly destroy it. (I lean towards leaving bikes stock, so that just made me sad).

I'm trying to strip the frame of usable/sellable parts and get the engine on a milk crate or something so I can be efficient with space. I caught wind of a Suzuki Gs1100 that runs but might be up for sale super cheap because it has no title. I want that engine for my GS1000, that definitely does have a title. (and this is why I never have free time).

 

Sounds like you have the bike rebuilding sickness (like most of us on here have) good thing. Yes your bike sounds like it has seen better days and I would almost be scared to she what else you might find. No weak spots on the frame from rusting?
Good luck on the GS1100 bike, if that is a "E" model with a frame for cheap you have the possibility of a great bike and can flip for $$

If you can get some more pics are you pull the bike apart and pics of the new to you GS that would be great.

 

Engine is out of the donor bike. Now to print out Jetfixers thread and pictures and start pulling it apart

 

My $.02: it depends on if you need the dough or not. If you can afford it, it is always nice to have a backup part sitting around. For example, I'm planning to do my XJ650J caliper and master cylinder this winter. I found a decent looking caliper and master cylinder on ebay for a reasonable price, so I plan to rebuild the ebay ones. Worst case scenario, if I cock up the ebay parts, the bike is still usable. That's why it's nice to have duplicate parts, in my opinion. To be fair, it does come with a cost.

 

I don't need the money, so I may just hang on to them. This is why I'm practicing on the junk engine first. If it's garbage, I can still learn from it. Best case scenario, I've got two engines. Worst case, I learn before doing surgery on mine.

Started making progress today. I first established a working space. I cleared off a shelf in the garage to put stuff as I remove and label it so it won't be disturbed, then moved the Gs1000 engine off the "work table" I had it on. This is really just an end table I snagged from Goodwill for about $5. If it gets thrashed, we'll that's ok. Lifting that liter engine off and settling it in a new resting place was a pain. I really need to get an engine joist at some point.

I've got the clutch, left side cover, stator/rotor cover off, and the retaining bolt for the rotor out. I'm kind of stalled out here till I get a suitable bolt to pull that rotor. I have two Fastenal locations within striking distance that I should be able to get to after work tomorrow.

First impressions inside is "not too bad actually". If I'm right about the source of water intrusion, it was never run with water in the sump. Things look mostly clean in here. I'll definitely be pulling apart the clutch plates for inspection though.

One question I did have, what's the tube off the left side cover for? I know it goes to the airbox, and I figured it vented the crank case, but that volume doesn't really seem to be continuous with the rest of the engine.

 

I'm waiting on my rotor removal tool. Just ordered the motion pro version off of Amazon. Should be here tomorrow. I'm the mean time I've pulled the clutch apart. It seems to confirm my suspicions about the source of the water. The drive plates have some very conspicuous rust that is directly beneath where the oil fill hole is. Looks to me like it dripped on them then down into the sump. I'll still be looking for any tell tale issues, but to me this seems like a very good sign for the top end. The rest of the clutch area looks great. Dirty, but not degraded. Clutch hub spins freely with output to the shaft. No broken off fingers on the clutch basket. I'll have to see what level the water made it to in the sump once I pull that off.

Every time I shift the motor around a little dribble comes out. I'll have to do some creative movement to see if I can get it all before flipping the engine over.

 

Remove the 30mm nut to remove the flywheel , use two 6mm full thread bolts . Tighten them down even , this will draw out the bearing and then you can remove flywheel. Take a cardboard box draw a rough pattern with a sharpie mark where each bolt is located in your pattern cut a small slit and put the bolt in , this way you know exactly where the bolts are oriented. Take off top first , flip engine over and remove oil sump remove the oil pump carefully there are six bolts inside the sump area, there are several 12mm bolts at the front of the engine and two 10mm bolts on the end. Remove the covers from the crank shaft , remove the timing plate but leave the timing pointer in place. Remove the final drive shaft , remove the four torx bolts inside there are two plates , remove these . Use a rubber malet....no steel hammer , tap carefully around the case , try not to use a screw driver on mating surface , you can gently get it started if needed just don't get crazy . There some guide dowls , the back of the engine may hang up . Lift lower engine case off and flip case over. The clutch shaft can be lifted out now , once rotor is removed , remove the three torx bolts on the retaining plate . Use a hook tool or pick on the ears and plate should come free . Be careful there is a seal on the plate and a large O ring on plate. Draw out shaft carefully remove the small oil nozzle towards you...don't push it in ( don't ask me how I know this. Lol) there is a small dowl pin that can break. You can look straight down from above and lift the starter clutch up and away from the chain . Move the starter clutch to a clean surface ...carefully and slowly remove the large gear from starter clutch...the rollers and springs and cups will come out . Examine the rollers for scoring ,flat spots , galling . Remove the three Allen bolts, The smaller gear is held in place with a snap ring , remove it and the gear this separated the plate . Examine the plate for wear where the rollers ride , as long as it is not grooved a dremel tool and metal polish can be used to polish these out. Examine the face for cracks if you find any pitch it. Or you can replace it completely, REPLACE the three springs and plunger caps and rollers , the kit I used has oil holes in the end of the plunger and springs are slightly longer . To reassemble use red lock tight on the three Allen bolts , can't recall torque tighten down flip over and peen the end I'd the Allen bolts , put end in place ,install the snap ring on small gear. Use some silicone grease on the rollers put springs in and put plunger in and roller , when all three are in place install the large gear in place can be a bit fiddly . Reinstall back in case with chain put back on gear , push the rotor shaft back in clutch all the way . Put oil spray nozzle back in , put on the plate, put the three torx bolts back in . Clean and case mating surfaces , now here is what I do with lower case flipped over . I put the clutch shaft in place with the shift fork lined up on the shaft , I loop a couple of times a length of 0.32 thousands safety wire around shaft through the oil sump opening. Apply Yama bond to the mating lower surface very light , I use an acid brush CAUTION keep it away from the crank journals...but put a bit on the crank seals . Put lower case in place , tap with a rubber mallet till case halfs mate . Put a few of the 12mm bolts in place , undo the safety wire and pull it out . Shine a light into the front of the case and ensure the front chain guide is in straight the lower case half ....if it is not you will have to pull case off to get this in place there . The rest is bolting back up and , put the fifth gear in place and rainfall the four torx fasteners in place with red lock tight these are also peened over . Install final drive note the shims have to be reinstalled, I should state leave the case fasteners loose at back until you put back in final drive is placed back in . Torque all the fasteners and , reinstall the oil pump put chain over clutch shaft and reinstall the three Allen bolts . Reinstall oil sump with a new gasket preferably...I usually put some wheel bearing grease on the gasket ...if you have to remove for any reason gasket will not tear . You can then put flywheel back in and reassemble, torque nut and bend locking tab , put clutch back in . Torque the clutch bolts carefully as I recall 7 ft lbs do it in a cross pattern. Put the sump plate in place and align the clutch shaft with the tang on the end of the clutch ...oh snap forgot to tell you make sure the two dots are aligned before the clutch late is put on. Now you can put the clutch cover in place, reinstall the timing plate and you can install the left cover the fwd edge the wiring runs down between the the case there is a plate that is one of the bolts for side cover. Reinstall the neutral switch wire , the low oil level wire needs to be reconnected . Well the rest is self explanatory I'm sure I left something out but this is a general overview. Cheers

 

Got the rotor removed. Took some doing even with the motion pro removal tool (bolt). Managed to get it out without stripping out the threads of the rotor. Always fun when you get to use a sledgehammer for maintenance.


Also got the clutch hub and flywheel out. If I could do it over I would have pulled it before I got the engine out of the frame. I ended up just putting a pipe wrench on the engine output between the flange and engine case and that held tight just long enough to break loose that nut.

I got the clutch bearing pulled, and the flywheel out, but I'm afraid in my oil handed state, I dropped the needle bearing. Three of the needles popped out. I was able to recover them no problem, but does anyone know if they can be placed back in place safely? I made some token efforts at putting them back before I figured I'd ask after my initial attempts weren't readily successful.

I've also potentially seen the first indication of worrying effect from the water in the sump. The shaft of the oil pump looks like it may have some corrosion. Seen in the one picture. I'll look more closely when I get in there. That may still just be sludge.

 

Making slow but steady progress. All case bolts on the bottom are out, and because I'm dumb and didn't read my Haynes manual carefully before I started, 5 on the top. I plan to put a couple of bottom case bolts back in, flip the engine, pull bolts up top the flip it back for the removal.

I have 5 of the 6 along the back edge of the engine out, because I could reach them with the engine flipped. The sixth feels a little on the spongy side, so I doused it liberally with Kroil from the bottom and will let it sit before I try again. I'll be replacing it one way or another. I don't like that spongy feel. If it shears, it's not the end of the world. It's one that the bolt hole is open on the bottom so I can drill it out with careful effort if it shears flush to the bottom case. The rest on top I'll probably pre-treat with Kroil before making the attempt.

I went ahead and started looking at the carbs and rebuilding while I let the penetrant do its thing. Oi... They are ugly. Nothing is broken except for one butterfly valve that looks a little mangled on one edge but may be serviceable. The amount of missing hardware on these carbs is concerning. Nothing critical to operation, but a few of the top hats were secured with three screws, and one of the float bowls had zero. It was RTVd in place. Predictably the inside of that bowl was a disaster. Pictures attached. The rest look like a set of carbs that is intact but needs to be taken to church. Two of the float needles simply fell apart when I pulled them. The rubber tip fell off entirely. The exterior throttle shaft seals look like they had been replaced, but not with shaft seals, just generic chunks of rubber. I don't think it was even an o-ring. So far nothing I wouldn't replace anyway during a rebuild so no heartache here. The idle mix needles all came out intact. The rubber o-ring down in each one was a crushed ugly mess.

This guy claimed his bike could beat a Honda CBR600. I knew better when he said that, and I know even better now.

 

The good news is that your workbench has a beer on it!! Cheers!!

 

Good luck with those!
It's surprising how they might come up though, provided there is no corrosion to the ali - the float pillars can be very fragile for example. You need a hot ultrasonic bath for them, and if your changing the throttle seals (yes you will), might as well pull the plates and shafts right now.

 

Got my stuck case bolt out after a 24 hour kroil soak. It definitely felt spongy coming out, and once it was out, I could see evidence of significant galling on the threads. Picture attached, ignore the fiber looking stuff, it's just from the cardboard my bolts are held in. This hole is accessible, so I plan on chasing the threads before reassembly, and replacing the bolt. Got the timing plate out, with some wiggling then removed the final drive shaft. That's pretty much where I'm stuck right now.

I'm working on removing the torx bolts inside where the drive shaft was. I know they are peened and an impact driver will help, should I make any attempt to negate the peening, such as by drilling them out, or is that likely to cause more harm than help?

 

I drilled mine out with a cobalt bit in a cordless gun at low speed. Better drilling them so the torx bolt has less stress on it, you don't need to remove much metal to get rid of the peened bit.

 

I have a set of 3/8 drive torx bits put the correct one and an extension and my impact wrench and out they came . Avoid drilling these out !!

 

After three days off (relaxing at Lake Chautauqua) I'm back to it. The peened Torx screws came out OK, and the rest of the process of removing the starter clutch flew by. The lower case is fully removed and I'm in a state to start rebuilding.

One thing I found that I hadn't seen mentioned anywhere: there is a useful place to start the case separation. With the engine upside down, to below and to the left of the oil filter there is a hole into which you can put a pry bar and pop the lower case right off. There is a detail picture of it attached to this post. This let's you put pressure on a face that is not a sealing face. By using that it was trivial to pop the lower casing off. No rubber mallet needed. It was about a 1 minute, easy operation, light pressure only, even with old Yamabond.

Step one is buying my supplies. Since this is a donor engine that I've never seen run, but only has about 14k miles, my plan is to fully refresh it. Replace all wear parts and once I've refreshed it within reason, swap it out right for the engine on my bike and repeat maintenance. End result, refreshed engine in my bike, spare engine carefully stored. So far on my shopping list:

1) full central hub replacement for the starter clutch. Going to go with an Xj750 unit for more durability
2) starter clutch chain guide. Hard plastic that's 40 years old? Ew. It's getting replaced.
3) full engine gasket kit. All kinds of gaskets down below need to be replaced. Anything paper tore on its way off and is unusable. Additionally, I know for a bare minimum I need to do a valve adjustment, so full engine gasket kit it is.
4) yamabond. Any recommendations on how much I need to seal the lower case back on?
5) at least one case bolt after the one that came out lost basically all its threads due to galling.
6) clutch pack. The old one was gross.

Any recommendations on other wear parts I should refresh or replace while I've got it open? Cam chain guide maybe? As it stands I don't plan to take the head or jugs off, but if it's something I really should do, I'd consider it.

 

Bravo ...I've now done two of these in the last couple of weeks . One tube of Yamabond is plenty , apply it with an acid brush this ensures it is even , keep it away from the bearing surfaces . Take apart starter clutch , examine the face for cracks on both sides , I got a good kit off of eBay from England ...really nice kit the springs are longer than the original, and the spring cups have an oil hole , which orginal did not. When you put the three Allen bolts back in clean bolt threads and the bores till all oil in removed , use red locktite and torque bolts and peen bolts . If you are going for a full rebuild watch Mezmos xj750 rebuild to 820 on You Tube , very detailed video. Replace the starter clutch chain and the primary chain , xj4ever should have most of the parts . Cheers

 

Unless there is a compelling reason to, I don't see a ton of reason to replace the chains. If there's a compelling reason, I'm on board. I just don't see chains as an age wear item, and the mileage seems low enough that neither engine (14k, 26k) would warrant it.

 

The chain stretches, if there is enough slack the starter clutch chain can run against the oil spray nozzle. As I stated Mezmos video shows the result of chain stretche. Both of my engines I did not replace the chain guide nor did I do the chain . Unfortunately on first engine I think since it skipped timing I may have bent a valve so I will be pulling the head .

 

Because holes only ever get deeper.... I hadn't planned to really do more than valves on the top end, but I decided to try and peep the cylinder wall condition from below and found what looks like significant rust. Did my best to get a picture of it. Realistically speaking. I know this needs a cylinder hone. So I guess I'm pulling the head too. And if I'm doing that, I may as well get new rings.

Any recommendations for honing tools?

The alternative is to try and clean the walls with the rings by running the engine. This seems like a shortcut to really bad compression.

 

NAPA should have a ball hone the right size , use LOTS of WD40 as to rings xj4ever should have standard diameter rings .

 

I know the cylinder bore if it's true is 63 mm. I was looking at ball hones. Do I just go for 63mm on that?

 

Yea that should be right size.

 

Pulled the valve cover off tonight. These cams are beautiful. Absolutely no wear at all. Really showing the 14k miles on the engine. I'll probably pull the head tomorrow. I've gotta figure what I'm working with before I can order my parts.

 

To my eye that's just light surface rust. Honing won't be necessary, and your compression will be fine. Since you have the head off you can drop each piston to the bottom of the bores in turn (squirt oil on the bottoms of the rings first), and feel with your fingernail. If it feels smooth, then you won't need to hone. If your nail catches on anything, then it would be best to measure and decide on honing or boring, depending on how deep any pitting is.

 

This might be a bit more than surface rust. I pulled the head and got my first look at the jugs. Most of them look OK. #3 is super ugly.

Any thoughts on the salvageability of these pistons? I have a buddy with a vapor hone I'll probably have help me clean them, but that #3 looks like water sat on top of it.

I got all my shim thicknesses documented before I pulled them, then as I was examining the head one of the buckets also fell out. I thought it would slip right back in but it seems quite stuck halfway on now. Probably just a little cocked. I'll have to see if back on or all the way off again will serve me best.

 

A brass wire wheel should be able to clean pistons up .

 

Last night got all my valves pulled and parts carefully separated into 8 bins. I went with making a tool out of a chunk of PVC and a wood clamp. The wood clamp had a rubber seat and ratcheted. So I was able to make sure I didn't gouge anything. I'll probably try to find a bigger piece of PVC for reassembly. Just to have space to get parts in. Using a dental pick I was able to pull them out, but I can see how reassembly will be rough.

Valve guides all felt good. Smooth moving but absolutely no lateral play. Which I was grateful for since I was reading the process to pull them and it sounded tedious at best.

Next step is pulling the jugs and cleaning them. I'll be picking up some more #0000 steel wool and naval jelly on my way home from work today. So far I'm mostly just having issues getting the gasket to let go. Right side popped right up, but the left side is still stuck. I used a block of wood and a rubber mallet and whammed it pretty good but it won't let go. I'll just have to work on it.

After I get that off and cleaned up, getting the pistons and valves is on the to do list. I have lapping compound on the way and a suction cup lapping tool.

 

There some sleeves in the cylinder casting the studs go through that accumulate rust & crud & will hold the casting from coming off. Another job for your kroil soak. I too have an engine with #3 rust & these stud sleeves were holding harder than the rusty cylinder vs piston.

 

I ended up basically jiggling free the jugs (sounds so simple when I put it that way...) and they are now off.

Overall I think you are right k-moe. I hit the wall with some WD-40 then a quick pass with some #0000 steel wool and most of its gone. For the most part I'm not finished with going over it, but I think that will get me there. There is one area of concern that I was hoping to get advice on though. At the top of the cylinder there is what appears to be a ring of corrosion. This seems much more than surface rust. I may be able to steel wool it off, but it's ugly. See attached pictures. Is this something that is above the piston and rings and I can live with it, or is this going to sink my battleship if I don't address it?

Other than that, I'm completely torn down now. I can start the decision making process on rebuilding. Tonight I'll be inspecting pistons and rings. (currently pistons are separated by cylinder in red solo cups). I'm guessing I want to do rings at a minimum since they are out. At least one top ring appears to be stuck flush in the groove on its piston. I'll be picking up a brass wire wheel to work on cleaning up the tops of the pistons. And probably using some chemical agents to start getting things cleaned up. I've already gotten started decarboning the valves themselves. They were kind of gross looking.

 

Looks to me like it will clean up. It is above the top piston ring anyway my engine is similar. Try a plastic scraper on the piston crowns first. Stuck ring might need a soak in 50/50 ATF and acetone mix.

 

That's just the normal carbon ring that forms above the compression rings. You can either scrape it off as mentioned above, or leave it since the pistons go in from the bottom of the bores.

 

I'm glad to hear that's not going to cause me drama. I'll probably try to get as much off as I can but I won't obsess over it.

Tonight I took a break from engine to turn my attention to the carbs off the bike carcass. I have a coworker with a vapor hone who was kind enough to have me over, feed me beer and let me use it. I have never seen such beautiful carbs in my possession. We did the carb bodies and bowls. His compressor is probably a little undersized for this application but with frequent breaks with got through it.

This is what 24 hours in old used Berryman's Chem dip, followed by an acetone rinse then a vapor honing accomplished (from when I got the carbs to present). The before and after here is solely due to vapor honing. One of those clean carb bodies is the gross RTVd monstrosity. It came very clean.

 

Oh boy. Now you have a real problem.

You're gonna have to do a full restoration of the entire bike, stripping the paint off and everything.

 

Carbs are too shiny. Gonna have to soda blast the engine so it doesn't look weird.

 

Fix the inside first then the outside

 

Jiggling jugs - what fun!

 

Bit of a break there while I took care of some stuff.
Mostly out riding because I just got a brand new toy. I'm a sucker for it.

But back to restoring this xj650 engine. (Just because I have new doesn't mean old gets thrown out. Now I have time to do it right).

I've been continuing to get bits and pieces of work done on preparing for reassembly, and I'm having a devil of a time removing old gasket material. I know this is an elbow grease involved task, so I'm not shying away from that, but has anyone got any tricks for getting it off? I've been using razor blades and steel wool primarily. Second part to that question, what does "acceptably prepared" look like with these gaskets?

As seen in the picture, I have cleaned up the right side while leaving the left alone. The color isn't consistent everywhere, but it feels pretty darn smooth. Where the discoloration is, I can feel some slight roughness as I drag my fingertip over it, but nothing dramatic. I don't want to be too aggressive and accidentally take my head out of true, but I also don't want to leave it needing more. Any advice? My coworker says that's what gaskets are for, but is more clean more better?

 

A brass wire wheel and a drill works good , brass will not mar surface .