1982 XJ550 Maxim rebuild

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"?