making a firestorm/engine rebuild

[vtrjames]

hello all, i have decided to build a bike out of my spare firestorm parts, some sort of street fighter custom thing.

i have the pistons ,crank and gearbox assembled in the upper crankcase half and i have a couple of questions.

has anyone re connected the big ends re using the bolts or should i replace?
and this is the one i am most unsure of/ cant remeber. where the two oil orifices fit into the oil galleries in the crankcase do the o rings just sit snug round the orifices and then squashed down between the two halfs the workshop manual is not quite clear on this.can i order theese orings seperate it doesnt appear so using lings honda parts site?

i can get orings from work but i am unsure of the size as i no longer haver the old ones.

any help appreciated..

thanks..james

[VTRDark]

Welcome to the forum

That all sounds very interesting. What pistons did you use? And are you intending on using standard cams?

has anyone re connected the big ends re using the bolts or should i replace?

Your talking about the bolts that go into the con rod. Not a good idea to re-use. I would buy new ones and torque them up as specified.

(:-})

[vtrjames]

i am just using standard engine parts.pistons cams etc.i am re building the engine to get the frame back together and get designing but i will be stripping down again for powder coating and painting once ive got my look i want. so i might go for some fancy engine internals then ,although my licence doesnt need me to have more power at the minuite.

the o rings on the orifices has ground me to a halt at the mo.

[VTRDark]

the o rings on the orifices has ground me to a halt at the mo.

Yeh I'm not sure on that, but Tony.mon will be along shortly. he's the expert in this field and will set you on the right path

(:-})

[tony.mon]

I think you must be referring to the small aluminium dowels that have a half-round end sticking out on one end.
These don't have o-rings on them, though. Haynes has a picture detailing how they fit.

There are no o-rings in the crankcase mating surfaces.

The only o-rings I can think of are the ones that go around to oil feed pipes coming into and going out of the oil pump; these are on the lower crankcase to sump mating faces- it's a good idea to get all of these right......

Re the big end bolts; they're only a couple of pounds each so fitting a new set is essential.
They need a special 12 point hex socket to do them up.
They are tightened to a specific torque and then must be rotated an additional 120 degrees (check before tightening).
They are stretch bolts; they don't contract to their original length and so cannot be re-used, unless you REALLY like building engines.
But if using Plastigauge to measure bearing clearances you can assemble and then re-use again; but tbh it's simpler and better practise to just fit new big end and main bearing shells, assuming no visible crankshaft wear.

Be careful that the locating dowels and half-rings locate in the bearings for the gear shafts; if they're not inserted correctly you'll crack the crankcases when you tighten them up- game over if that happens.

Why was the engine stripped in the first place, and what damage was found/repaired?

[vtrjames]

cheers for that.aye thats the 2 bits im on about,they look like dowels but are half round at one end they are part of the oil ways and spray oil on the gear shaft etc..i dont have the haynes manual i have the other one. bm i think. i remember taking them out with o rings on but cant fully remeber the position.am i right in saying the o ring goes round the half round bit then the bits are pushed down into the hole in the crankcase?.

i have done all i want to do to my vtr that i want to twin lamps,high levels re jet etc,so im going to do a custom sort of thing with my spares.

i bought the bike over a year ago as spares for my vtr.the rear head had its valves bent. i stripped it down for parts but im going to rebuild it now.i just need a rear head , big end bolts and some gaskets to complete the engine.

[tony.mon]

These items are shown here as item 2:
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1596/e1300.tif

But there are no O-rings.

By the way, I have a good rear head for £30 plus postage, if you need it.

[vtrjames]

ok thanks for that.that clears that up for me.yeah ill take that cylinder head from you.just let me know your details etc ill ill take it asap.is the head complete with valves?

thanks..james

[AMCQ46]

is that Banff..........as in Alberta, Canada?

Tony, that will make the postage more than the Part

[vtrjames]

no its not banff in canada!its banff aberdeenshire

[tony.mon]

PM'd.

Yes, I'd assumed the more local one.......

[vtrjames]

i wouldnt mind being in canada tho!!lol

[vtrjames]

major big thanks to tony.mon for the supply of a rear cylinder head!!

[VTRDark]

Get some pics up of the rebuild for us all.

(:-})

[vtrjames]

i will do,i am just at engine stage at the mo,got the crankcases back together just waiting on cylinder head gaskets to complete the engine, then i can start putting the bike together and get creative!!!