Flood damaged Bike

Hi folks the story goes like this we have had floods in my part of the world recently and after helping some people in the aftermath they offered me an '81 XJ750 seca that had been sitting unloved in their shed for around 10 or so years before being covered for a day or 2 by around 8 to 10 mtrs of water.
Now I've cleaned out the tank it has some rust but nothing dramatic, taken the carbs off for cleaning obviously,taken off the exhaust which was in fairly poor condition but may be salvageable.Originally I was just going to strip off whatever I could use for parts[I have a 750 and 900]BUT I hooked up some power and the electrics work! I put some oil down the plug holes and lo and behold the engine spun over,Now my issue is this there is water and mud,silt call it what you will sitting on the pistons internally.
How do I get it out?
Do I have to remove the head? Or will it pump it out through the exhaust with the plugs in?
I will change all the oils and fluids as a matter of course, if it is possible to revive the bike I will simply because I dont like to see a good bike die and I am particularly fond of this model because one of these was my first big bike many years ago My 750 and 900 are both later models.
It is in pretty poor condition [der! couldn't swim]so if I can make it a runner I wont feel the need to keep it reasonably original, thinkin tidy rat bike, clean bedliner paint some shiny bits but nothing over the top something I wont worry to much about scratchin or bumpin but everything working just as well or better than it did originally.
That flood water gets into EVERYTHING so what I am asking is you people among the brains trust what have I leftout?, what else needs to be done?,
Is there anything that I haven't thought of?
Thanks in advance
Glenn
For those that are interested http://www.ipswichadvertiser.com.au/pho ... -11&num=64
My family and I were pretty much untouched but a great many people lost everything.

 

Hi another Aussie here. The electronics that run the ignition and the
spark advance and is called the ignitor will have to be cleaned out. There 4 small screws on the front of the ignitor box. If you take the
4 screws out and take the cover off you will be able to clean out the
water and any crap left from the flood by using WD40 water dispersal
spray. If you prop it up on its side to drain the WD40 out I recon that
it will work ok again. I think that there will probably be mud in the engine where ever the water could get into it judging from the pictures
on the TV. Where ever the water went the mud went as well.
From Bob

 

This is going to sound radical but it would probably work the best. It's what I'd likely do in the same situation:

HANG IT from the rafters by the rear wheel, and with the carbs and plugs out, dump a whole bunch of diesel fuel down the intake ports and turn the motor over slowly; I would do it over a kid's plastic wading pool myself.

It's gonna make one great bloody mess, but you've got to get any and all the silt out of the cylinders/rings and not drive it deeper into the motor.

Then put it back on its wheels, drop the sump, pull the oil filter housing, clutch cover and starter and start flushing again.

It's either that or you're going to need to tear the motor down; but if you can get it sufficiently flushed out before you put any stress on anything it might actually run for a few thousand more miles.

Might.

 

Electrics!

Not just the ignitor box, but also the instruments and switches should be stripped down.
Swingarm and headset bearings, rear diff, the list goes on.

Realistically a complete stripdown. I have worked on drowned cars and they can end up with one failure after another for the rest of their life.

Sadly I will have to say that this is a very bad idea.

 

Glenn.. i reckon resurrecting an ole 750 from 10 metres under as a bit of a rat, from out of th mess, would be a great thing to have. There are probably a lot of wet vacuums around at th moment...and add compressed air to th methods mixed with what fitz said, th diff should be easy..drain n flush. A bike is simpler than a car.

Great idea, good luck with it.

 

Damn guys you just confirmed pretty much what I thought but hey it's all a learning experience isn't it, got nothing invested but time.
Bigfitz haven't got any rafters that strong see your point though,bloody nice bikes that little collection of yours.
Bobe walking around peoples homes and seeing what the water can do is amazing fridges, upside down in another room of the house,upside down as in fridge still standing but resting on its top!and yes your quite right wherever the water went so did the mud quite amazing up the exhaust through the carbs but the water drains awaythe mud stays.
Darkfibre watched your build on PSB pumba looks great mate well done how good are the R1 brakes in comparison to the stockers?and yes the electrics were one of my original issues I was amazed that with some power the dash lit right up! all the lights flashed up ready to go to be honest Im a bit of parts hoarder so had a speedo ready to go off a different model wasn't intending to do much with the originals as they were more complex than necessary for what I had in mind after all you accelerate until wont go any faster in that gear right, didnt need a tach.
I tend to agree with your diagnosis as in total strip down but was hoping as some of the locals talk about Dad or Grandad running the car after it happened in 74 but an old red motor is a different kettle of fish to a high performance motorcycle.
I guess I will bite the bullet and strip her right down and see what I can use or refurbish at least I will be pulling one down that isn't going anywhere thanks guys.

 

Hey Bushy timing is everything eh.Yeah still going ahead but will take longer than I hoped but drain and flush everything was always gunna happen was just a bit perturbed by the amount of crap still left in the cylinders themselves.
If she runs again she is not just a bike but a story.
Thanks
Glenn

 

My last old red motor runs out of rego next month, th xj will NEVER do what it has. RIP

 

The R1 brakes are outstanding, but I never rode with the original brakes so I cant give you a difference between the 2.

 

Be a very young bloke hasn't had a lot of good times involving a red motor in this country Bushy.I remember my mates spending a fortune to make them go for what was, at the time, fast.I funnily enough had an XJ at the time.But when buying a car Holdens were always at an advantage you could buy parts at kmart and if you couldnt fix it a mate always could.Amazing how many repairs could be done for or with a carton.Not to mention that I'm old enough that you used to measure distance in beer "How far is it?" "Oh about a six pack"
Thank the deity of your choice that is over.

 

Before you flip the bike, pull the drain plug and see how much water actually made it in the motor's crankcase. You would have silt inside, and you might need to pull the sump (pan) also.

My idea is a variation on Fitz's, invert the bike, plugs out, rinse with soapy water thru the plug holes. Only 2 valves were open, if you're lucky.
use a garden weed sprayer as your squirter. Then WD-40, compressed air.

Any remaining fine silt will help with the "break-in"
Let the brake shoes dry, and see if they delaminate. I'd get 'em hot !
At least get some WD-40 on everything right away. Including inside the frame rails.
Good luck.

 

No help at all, gunnabuild - but I live 25 miles from Ipswich, England.

Small world.

 

Drained the engine about 8 or so litres of water and oil.Water was surprisingly clear, bit of luck the silt got trapped in the oil but who knows?
Left sump plug and filter housing open overnight will replace oil and filter after turning engine over and draining top end.
Will use variation on Bigfitz and Times method was reluctant to use water but I figure if I hose cylinders out while inverted then use kero then finish with a bit of metho should dry the water out and then whack some oil in turning over slowly.
Markie, wifes a pom,Dads a pom, so yep probably even smaller than you thought.

 

I would only use kerosene or WD40 (you can buy it in gallon tins) to flush with; I would NOT introduce any more water, in any form (soapy or not,) into the engine.

 

http://www.boatus.com/hurricanes/pickle.asp

It is important for you to complete the dry-out immediately.
In the boat industry, they even suggest to keep the engine TOTALLY submerged until the process can be done properly - - none of this "open it up and let it air out" stuff. That's what makes it rust, the oxygen in the air, not the oxygen in the water.

And Holy Cow you had alot of water in there !

 

I saw a guy on the news who had 2 bikes in his tinny.. then it tipped.. that would have been heartbreaking!
Hope you all up there are doing well with your cleanup!

 

Ok can any one tell me if the TCI boxes are the same or similiar enough to swap over from different XJ models?
I have no spark so I swapped the TCI from the wet 750 to my 900 to see if that was the problem,it didn't fire so should I assume the TCI is kaput?
Can they be repaired?
Late here so haven't swapped the other way yet also reluctant just in case it fries the good one.
Any one know?
Look forward to some answers.Thanks.
Glenn

 

Robert could fix it,
How about baking it in your oven, at exactly 100* C
Drive off the moisture.

 

You can swap them for testing, the bike should at least run; don't run it at high revs though; you don't know what the differences in advance curves are.