What I will be using it for is just to get me back on 2 wheels after a good few years without a bike.
I gave up motorcycling when my wife got pregnant with our first in the year 2000, (I felt it was the right thing to do for me). He is now 15yrs and I haven't ridden a bike since before he was born.
I've previously owned a few bikes, most relevant here would be a TZR250 and a couple of 350 Powervalves, my last bike was a 31k Powervalve back in 2000.
I'd been looking at getting another Powervalve but the the prices are just stupid nowadays.

Well I have now got the bike, I've got some decisions to make.
I think the cases are too damaged to use, I'll try and upload some pics of the damage.
I figure, I either get a second hand engine, or get a good pair of crankcases and build what I have into them or get a 600 engine.

Does anyone know if all the FZR400 crankcases are the same, or even is a set of 3HE could be used?
Neil
.....No I can't upload pictures here.

I've found somewhere to upload pictures.
What do you guys think, have the crankcases sustained too much damage?





Neil

Once you consider the cost of the rebuild the engine looks like toast.
The 600 3he cases are only common to the earlier 400 model. The 3tj engines are hard to find because they're raced.
Check the forum for putting a 600 engine in.

It's not all bad news, the rest of the bike is pretty good, it has a rattle can paint job but there is no crash damage or bent bits, brakes are all good, braided hoses, head and wheel bearings are OK, rear tyre is worn but came with a brand new spare, chain and sprockets are recent, I am really pleased with it, it's going to be a nice bike when I'm finished.
It also came with a replacement used clutch and a complete set of used gearbox internals, the guy bought them with the intention of fixing it himself but due to circumstances and an R6 to keep him occupied he never got around to it.

I've been eyeing up these...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YAMAHA-FZR-40 ... SwBahVRzck
But they are from an eariier model, I'm not sure if they will fit my frame barrels head etc. does anyone know for certain?
Thanks for all the help so far.
Neil

The 400 and 600 have common cases, that's to say 1wg > 3he and 3tj > 4jh.
When I put a 3he crank into a 4jh case the seal on the alternator was different for the 2 engines, the alternators are different and possibly the front sprocket is closer to the engine. It would be easier to use a 4jh case like ebay item 172118089968 but that would mean new crank shells, big end shells and gaskets which will be more than the cost of a 600 engine.

Yes I did have a look at those cases, I'm undecided on what to do at the moment.
What with all the complications with crank bearing shells I don't think it would be a good idea to get replacement crankcases.
I read an article the other day about Yamaha crank journals, they grade each journal according too the minutly small differences in size they end up after the machining process, then stamp a 5 figure number inside the crankcases, each one of the 5 represents one journals relative size, then the shell sizes are calculated from that number and the diameter of the crank bearing surface for each of the 5 journals so the 5 bearing shells for the same crankshaft can end up with 5 different size bearing shells, and that is from new!, trying to get any sort of tolerance with a used crank doesn't even bear thinking about without a complete crank re-grind.
I'm not sure what would happen if I just dumped my crank, with shells into those cases, I'm sure people have done it before but would it last more than a couple of thousand miles?

Ideally a nice condition reasonably priced 3tj engine will surface in the next week or so but meantime I'm going to start stripping my engine this weekend, if the clutch bearing seat is OK I'm going to see if I can get someone to run a line of tig weld along the edge where the aluminium has been peeled away, then a good clean out, new, (second hand), gears and selectors, new clutch and hopfully all will be good.
Neil

I think the reality of the crank shells is a bit more forgiving. You want them looser rather than tighter if you see what I mean.
I doubt a 3tj engine will appear

By the way, are the YZF600Thundercat crankcases the same as the 4jh and the 3tj?
Neil

Yes they're common.