Dan's NC30

[bikemonkey]

You can always borrow my abba stand for a few days at least, couldn't let you have it any longer as I use it regularly, and you'd have to pick it up (I don't have a car).

Then you could use the axle stands under the engine before you drop it out/after you've stuck the new one in.
Can always lend a hand too, but I work shifts and weekends so getting the timing right would be difficult.

Offer stands though

[iDemonix]

Thanks mate, I'll bear that in mind, but I wouldn't want to take it as I could end up needing it for a while. I'm going to figure out how to get this flywheel + stator out and on to the new engine, once I've done that then I need to get the old engine out the frame - once that is done I can decide how much of a rebuild I'm doing.

[bikemonkey]

Kind of snowballs doesn't it :D

[iDemonix]

Well after borrowing a very expensive 450nm portable rattle gun, I got the bolt off the flywheel. Unfortunately I now can't get the flywheel itself off. I've threaded in the big bolt from Graeme France but it just won't budge. I tried braking and doing it but no joy, going to borrow a MASSIVE breaker bar tomorrow and try again.



I also got the front wheel off, don't have a socket big enough for the back, but I'll get one tomorrow and then I'm taking them to a powder coater. If the price is right, I'll get them done, if it's over £100 I'll just get fresh rubber and maybe rattle can them or something. I still don't know the colour code though.

I discovered the rear brake leaks when applied heavily, glad I discovered this BEFORE the wheels are painted! Probably just a loose line or bleed nipple, I'll investigate that soon. I need to get a few parts ordered:

- Water pump O ring
- Wheel bearings
- Dash light bulbs
- Float bowl gaskets

I think now I'm this far I might bite the bullet and put the new swingarm on seeing as it's better condition and has new bearings, but I don't want to do this until the front wheel is painted and back on the bike as it's a bit too unstable just jacked on the sump and I have no headstock stand.

I need to get the stator on to the new engine, once that's done then the old engine is ready to come out of the frame, it's just proving difficult, I learned that a socket extension bar isn't useful for jamming the rear wheel:



So, the next steps are:

- Finally get the flywheel bloody loose
- Get wheels painted
- Fresh rubber
- Fix leaking rear calliper (not having that leak on new paint!)
- With front wheel back on, swap swingarms

[iDemonix]

Say hello to my (not so) little friend!



I can't really afford it but I can't really afford not to own it so I went and picked one up. Got the flywheel off in about 2-3 seconds, which I'd been struggling against for 30 minutes. Also got the rear wheel nut off, took a bit of fighting but it got there!

So now the bike stands like this:



Looking a bit bare! Was VERY glad to see this beauty that's been eluding me for days:



Stator took a bit of freeing, mainly the rubber bung that holds the cable in and stops leaks. Got it out with some plumbers grips and inserted it in to the new engine, didn't use any sealant on the rubber as it seemed a nice tight fit. Stator is now on the new engine, along with the flywheel and flywheel nut, but not torqued it up as I'll do that when it's in the frame so I can use the back wheel as resistance. Anyone know the torque for this nut?

Here's the sorry state of the current swingarm:



Since I've gone to this length of dismantling, it's probably best I get this done now:



But before I tackle the swingarm I'll wait until the wheels are back from new tyres and powder coating (if I decide to get them coated) because I don't like doing much to the bike with no front wheel, it's not very stable, it'd be ok if I had a headstock stand but, alas, I do not. The bike is currently stood with the rear paddock stand in the hub, hydraulic jack under the sump and that's it. There are two axel stands under the bike BUT they're only there for in case the jack fails, there's also an upturned bucket with a bit of wood on under the forks, but that's more to stop them rotating and, again, a failsafe in case the jack should fail somehow.

Got the front sprocket freed and off the bike, I don't have a chain adjustment tool, I really should buy one, they're just expensive for a bit of shaped metal.

I can't afford new chain and sprockets, so I reckon I'll just clean up the current, what's best for this? I've heard paraffin but that means buying a new jerry can and going to the petrol station that sells paraffin a few miles away. Effort and money.

Soldiering on.

[iDemonix]

Dropped the wheels off for powder coating, should get them back on Friday (6 days from now) in a vibrant red instead of the old black. Can't argue for £70 for both.

Going to be in the garage today but only for a short while as I have other stuff to do. Going to see if my castle nut tool fits the swinging arm mount, if it doesn't will have to order a new one, I think the one I have only fits the clutch.

I can't access the bolts for the rear manifold at all, they're very hard to get to. They'd be easy with no swingarm, but I'd like to get the engine out before I remove the swingarm for balancing reasons. Does anyone know if you can undo all the front engine mounts first, then lean it forward, take the back mounts out and lift it out (with an assistant) with the manifold still attached?

Then my thinking is put the new engine in the frame with just the rear mount bolted up, bolt on the new stainless steel rear header pipes, then bolt the engine up properly. Access to rear header nuts is more or less non-existant.

[bikemonkey]

Where did you take your wheels to get coated? Won't be too far for me to go you see

[iDemonix]

Friend of a friend of my mechanic lol

[iDemonix]

Wooh! New engine is finally prepped.

- Stator fitted
- Flywheel + housing fitted
- New spark plugs fitted
- Water pump fitted
- Various loom brackets fitted
- Valve clearances done

Engine is now ready for the frame. I haven't got the correct sized sockets for engine removal, so I need to do that. Not in a rush though as now the wheels will take a week, the MOT has expired and I've definitely missed the magazine shoot (sadly) so no point rushing now.

The rear manifold has a snapped bolt, I remember being told about it when I took it to a VFR400 specialist bloke. Because it's snapped, I'm going to have to remove the engine with the manifold attached - is this doable?

[Le_Blur]

Yeah, it's no problem removing and installing engines with the manifold attached.