Everybody keeps telling me I need to start a project thread for this. Warning: I ramble, but there will be "pretty pictures" occasionally.
The Story:
So... I "inherited" a '93? GS500e. We're unsure of the exact model year as it was previously powder coated and the VIN was sanded off or destroyed during the process. (WHY?!?!) We're fairly certain though it's '92-'94 due to the engine number. (That engine is actually the second.) Nobody can locate the paperwork for it, so until that happens, we're guessing.
The bike is definitely in need of some TLC as it was left to sit for 10 years outdoors after an incident that completely destroyed the engine. It was allowed to run dry on oil while riding across six states solo at major highway speeds. (Previous owner learned his lesson though, he had to wait roadside for hours in December!)
I wish I had thought to take a picture of the "before", but the bike was rough. Plastics had been "painted" with a rattlecan from the original red to black over the decals, and were seriously scarred up with a couple massive chips missing. Looks like it was laid down at least once, broken signals and scarring on the clutch cover. Handlebars definitely need replacing, it had a set of dirtbike Renthals! Wiring had all been redone just prior to it's hibernation. Seals, grommets, etc all rotted. Had brand new tires right before it sat, likely toast.
Current ride in back, battle ax in front sans plastics, engine, tank and seat
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170129_120535.jpg)
The Grind:
I already procured a new engine thanks to a local bike salvage yard, testing and running. Wish it was a complete though, it's just the block. Got it for a good price though - $200. All secondary components need to be swapped from the old engine. Found another local place to re-powder coat the frame as it did not survive the test of Mother Nature too well.
On Sunday, my neighbor and I put in some serious wrench time. Lots of stuff had to be whacked with a hammer at least a few times before it'd unbolt. Still gonna have to buy a pack of heli coils anyways, had a few break off. Who knew a motorcycle could fit in three Rubbermaid containers? I sure didn't. Anyways, the bike is currently just a pile of parts.
During tear down
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170129_145112.jpg)
Frame components
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170129_172556.jpg)
Parts I was going to powder coat second color
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170129_172547.jpg)
Everything else
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170129_172604.jpg)
My dog tried to help with the tear down
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170129_141446.jpg)
The frame was sent to the powder coater on Monday, no ETA. I had a color in mind, only to find that particular powder is only sold by the 44lb bucket and it would cost me $600 just to get it, not counting the application! Ended up getting something similar, just hoping it looks good. Wanted to do two tone, but budget wise, looks like I'll just have to do custom paint on the body instead.
Powder coat I'm going with
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/10260.jpeg)
While the frame is gone, the plan is to start fleshing out the engine. Might need to send some of the parts to the small engine repair shop. It's run by local Mennonites and I swear they are whizzes when it comes to anything related to an engine. We have them work on our car parts all the time and they'll completely rebuild stuff for less than half of what it costs to get a reman from AutoZone.
There are a few upgrades and add ons I want to do to the bike while we have it in the "shop". Figured you folks might be able to help out with making up my mind and any tips or tricks.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Was looking the Wiki and think I want to put Superbike bars on it. I'm not really a agressive style rider, and prefer a slightly more vertical riding position.
Debating trying to add an F series style front faring and windshield. How hard/much work would that be? I know the bolt positions aren't gonna line up with anything.
Want to convert the lights to LED. Brighter is better in my book. I run a standard bulb on my Rebel's headlight and feel like I'm blind at night. It needs a couple new signal covers anyways, comparing prices to just get whole new mounts. And if I'm changing those, I might move 'em as well.
Kinda want to add underglow. Final body colors will be black and purple, thought purple glow might add a nice touch and make it more noticeable at night. Lots of little backroads here, visibility is key.
The handlebar controls are both sun/weather damaged and the choke control lever is busted somehow. Any good swaps or upgrades that are close to plug and play?
Probably just going to rebuild with "stock" gearing and suspension unless there's a common tweak that will improve the experience for a newer rider.
Really want a digital dash unit with a few extra whistles like gear indicator and trip, but not real sure how to go about that.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
That's the big stuff I've been thinking about. Looking at minor things as well like some new grips and mirrors, yadda yadda. Thoughts?
I have the superbike bars, and if you want a "slightly more vertical" riding position, they are probably not the bars you want. They are slightly lower than stock (and likely lower than that set of dirtbike bars I would imagine), so they will lean you forward more. Personally, I really like the way they feel as I wanted "sportier" handling. But, if you want a more upright/standard riding position, maybe look elsewhere.
As for adding F farings, I'm not sure you'd be able to do that easily, as I don't think the mounting points for the F fairing/headlight brace aren't present on the front of the E frame (I could be wrong though...). And if you're planning to add the side fairings as well, you'd have to drill into the frame to have a place to put the mounting hardware. If you're into welding/fabricating you could probably find a way to make it work though. More trouble than it's worth, IMO. :dunno_black:
Others on here have done some of the other mods you mentioned so I'd imagine you can get some decent ideas just browsing the other build threads. There's also a few LED-centric threads in the general forum, so be sure to check that out as well.
Hi Jem!
qc is on the right track about the superbike bars. I have them on my GS and I absolutely love them...!! However since you are after a more upright posture, perhaps just buying a set of stock GS bars would be the best for you. I studied the first pic in your opening post and from what I can see, your current blue bars look very similar to the position/setup of superbike bars... looks like if you were to have just pushed them up and forward a bit, they'd be almost identical to superbikes.
I'm not sure what lights you were wanting to convert to LED but I've done all the bulbs in my bike except the signals and dash indicator for the signals. That project can be a bit tricky but a few people on here have perfected the conversion. Here's a recent thread about it and I'm pretty sure if you PM'd any of the people in this thread they would be happy to help you!
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=71143.msg854546#msg854546
If you were wanting to switch out your dash indicators (oil, neutral and high beam) then I suggest these bulbs here:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-1-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/197/856/
I bought one of each color (red, green and blue) and I'm really happy with them.
For the gauge lights, these here are the ones I have. These are really good at lighting up the whole gauge as well as the trip counter and odometer:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-5-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/199/876/
They have some cool colors to choose from! I went with a blue one for the speedo and a red one for the tach.
Recently I made a thread about LED bulbs for the tail/brake lights. I want to make it clear that the bulbs I chose are NOT the brightest most BEST EVER upgrade you can get. I never claimed that they were. I had a set of 3 goals I wanted met and that's why I chose the bulb I did.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=71273.0
It is strongly suggested by most of the internet to go with a RED LED in the stock red lens. I went with white because of the license plate being lit by the tail/brake bulbs. If you want to get red LED bulbs and wire in a separate license plate light, mr72 has done that and I bet he could tell ya exactly what he did :thumb:
The topic of an LED headlight was pretty hot around here over the past month or so. I have learned that if a person wants the brightest sharpest most amazing headlight upgrade and they don't care about reducing power draw from the battery, LED is not the way to go. However, I wanted to keep things simple... wanted to reduce as much power draw from my battery as possible... and found an LED bulb that I'm very happy with. Here's the thread so you can read and decide what you'd like to do. Lots of good information IMO.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70670.0
...and here's a shorter second one that is related.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=71274.0
Purple underglow! :woohoo: I have purple and green on my bike that I installed this past summer. Was a really really fun project and cost me about $20 IIRC. Here's a link to my project thread and on page 3 is where I did the underglow install. I totally agree about visibility... I work evenings and ride home in the dark. I can take more pictures if you're interested to see where I actually mounted my LED strips. I didn't want them to be seen and that took a bit of planning considering it's a nekkid bike lol!
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70880.0
I'm super excited for your project and can't wait to see how it goes :cheers:
I don't personally have them or have seen them but, in looking at the bikemaster offerings, the Daytona's seem to support more of an upright position and might be worth a shot at ~$25.
Stock handlebars can be had new from either Bikebandit or Suzukipartshouse (babbitts) for ~$65 + shipping.
Awesome thread! Looking forward to following your build.
Jem, will you be able to ride / insure that bike without a VIN? That's a pretty huge red flag (at least here in PA). Worst comes to worst, you could use it as a parts bike and look for a cheap GS with road rash or a blown engine.
While the F fairings would require some welding to the frame (and ruining any previous powder coating), there is this option from Airtech :
http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/suzuz/GS500Titan.htm
Although at $600 plus shipping, it certainly isn't cheap. And..... you would need clip ons or clubmans, so it wouldn't be comfortable at lower speeds.
Quote from: Suzi Q on February 02, 2017, 04:54:58 PM
I don't personally have them or have seen them but, in looking at the bikemaster offerings, the Daytona's seem to support more of an upright position and might be worth a shot at ~$65.
Even more worth it at $23.
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/15392/i/bikemaster-daytona-handlebar
Quote from: qcbaker on February 02, 2017, 01:12:41 PM
I have the superbike bars, and if you want a "slightly more vertical" riding position, they are probably not the bars you want. They are slightly lower than stock (and likely lower than that set of dirtbike bars I would imagine), so they will lean you forward more. Personally, I really like the way they feel as I wanted "sportier" handling. But, if you want a more upright/standard riding position, maybe look elsewhere.
As for adding F farings, I'm not sure you'd be able to do that easily, as I don't think the mounting points for the F fairing/headlight brace aren't present on the front of the E frame (I could be wrong though...). And if you're planning to add the side fairings as well, you'd have to drill into the frame to have a place to put the mounting hardware. If you're into welding/fabricating you could probably find a way to make it work though. More trouble than it's worth, IMO. :dunno_black:
Others on here have done some of the other mods you mentioned so I'd imagine you can get some decent ideas just browsing the other build threads. There's also a few LED-centric threads in the general forum, so be sure to check that out as well.
Good to know about the bars. The dirtbike ones that were on it were super low profile almost like bicycle handlebars. Never really ridden with the sport bike positioning, moving up from a Honda Rebel. From what I could find the Superbike bars were the tallest after the stocks. Been surfing eBay and looking at common replacement parts and seen "Z" bars a lot too, not sure what's up there. I'm not against a lower position, I just don't really relish the idea of laying down to ride.
I was going to leave the engine cage area faring free, but kinda like the look of the front one from the Fs. BF welds so not much issue there. That's a it looks cool but not sure if I wanna upgrade.
Quote from: ShowBizWolf on February 02, 2017, 03:27:11 PM
Hi Jem!
qc is on the right track about the superbike bars. I have them on my GS and I absolutely love them...!! However since you are after a more upright posture, perhaps just buying a set of stock GS bars would be the best for you. I studied the first pic in your opening post and from what I can see, your current blue bars look very similar to the position/setup of superbike bars... looks like if you were to have just pushed them up and forward a bit, they'd be almost identical to superbikes.
I'm not sure what lights you were wanting to convert to LED but I've done all the bulbs in my bike except the signals and dash indicator for the signals. That project can be a bit tricky but a few people on here have perfected the conversion. Here's a recent thread about it and I'm pretty sure if you PM'd any of the people in this thread they would be happy to help you!
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=71143.msg854546#msg854546
If you were wanting to switch out your dash indicators (oil, neutral and high beam) then I suggest these bulbs here:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-1-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/197/856/
I bought one of each color (red, green and blue) and I'm really happy with them.
For the gauge lights, these here are the ones I have. These are really good at lighting up the whole gauge as well as the trip counter and odometer:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/miniature-wedge-base/194-led-bulb-5-led-miniature-wedge-retrofit-car/199/876/
They have some cool colors to choose from! I went with a blue one for the speedo and a red one for the tach.
Recently I made a thread about LED bulbs for the tail/brake lights. I want to make it clear that the bulbs I chose are NOT the brightest most BEST EVER upgrade you can get. I never claimed that they were. I had a set of 3 goals I wanted met and that's why I chose the bulb I did.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=71273.0
It is strongly suggested by most of the internet to go with a RED LED in the stock red lens. I went with white because of the license plate being lit by the tail/brake bulbs. If you want to get red LED bulbs and wire in a separate license plate light, mr72 has done that and I bet he could tell ya exactly what he did :thumb:
The topic of an LED headlight was pretty hot around here over the past month or so. I have learned that if a person wants the brightest sharpest most amazing headlight upgrade and they don't care about reducing power draw from the battery, LED is not the way to go. However, I wanted to keep things simple... wanted to reduce as much power draw from my battery as possible... and found an LED bulb that I'm very happy with. Here's the thread so you can read and decide what you'd like to do. Lots of good information IMO.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70670.0
...and here's a shorter second one that is related.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=71274.0
Purple underglow! :woohoo: I have purple and green on my bike that I installed this past summer. Was a really really fun project and cost me about $20 IIRC. Here's a link to my project thread and on page 3 is where I did the underglow install. I totally agree about visibility... I work evenings and ride home in the dark. I can take more pictures if you're interested to see where I actually mounted my LED strips. I didn't want them to be seen and that took a bit of planning considering it's a nekkid bike lol!
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=70880.0
I'm super excited for your project and can't wait to see how it goes :cheers:
Hey Showbiz.
Yeah, the dirtbike bars that were on it were mostly what was throwing me off. Fairly certain those were slapped on after a crash that bent the originals. Fortunately, bars are way down the list in repairs so I'll definitely have the seat reapolstered first and be able to more accurately gauge angles by then.
Light wise, I was gonna switch as many as possible. The signal housings are kinda junky so most likely I'm replacing those too which would make the process a bit easier I would think.
With the underglow, BF thinks I'm nuts, but I figured it would be fairly cheap and easy and it definately makes the bike stand out. I like riding at night and would be using the bike for transportation to and from work as much as possible, sometimes it's dark by the time I get off.
Quote from: Suzi Q on February 02, 2017, 04:54:58 PM
I don't personally have them or have seen them but, in looking at the bikemaster offerings, the Daytona's seem to support more of an upright position and might be worth a shot at ~$65.
Stock handlebars can be had new from either Bikebandit or Suzukipartshouse (babbitts) for ~$65 + shipping.
Awesome thread! Looking forward to following your build.
Thanks for the info and checking out the progress!
Quote from: Big Rich on February 02, 2017, 06:55:26 PM
Jem, will you be able to ride / insure that bike without a VIN? That's a pretty huge red flag (at least here in PA). Worst comes to worst, you could use it as a parts bike and look for a cheap GS with road rash or a blown engine.
While the F fairings would require some welding to the frame (and ruining any previous powder coating), there is this option from Airtech :
http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/suzuz/GS500Titan.htm
Although at $600 plus shipping, it certainly isn't cheap. And..... you would need clip ons or clubmans, so it wouldn't be comfortable at lower speeds.
We have the title for it, just can't locate it. Moved a couple times and it's probably in a pile of papers in a box that nobody's though to check yet. If it came down to it, we were going to stamp the VIN on a plate and rivet it to the frame. We've done that for a couple seadoos and MD didn't have a issue with it. They're fairly accommodating with vehicles that are older, they know sometimes the VIN gets damaged or whatever.
And woo! $600? That's a bit high for my budget...
Quote from: mr72 on February 03, 2017, 07:50:13 AM
Quote from: Suzi Q on February 02, 2017, 04:54:58 PM
I don't personally have them or have seen them but, in looking at the bikemaster offerings, the Daytona's seem to support more of an upright position and might be worth a shot at ~$65.
Even more worth it at $23.
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/15392/i/bikemaster-daytona-handlebar
Nice snag, I'll have to look into those!
With regard to the type of bars you want, basically any 7/8 bars will work so you have tons of options. Bikemaster has a large variety of styles/positions that you can check out:
http://bikemaster.com/replacement-parts/control/handlebars.html
If you look at that page, you can see they have quite a few that are geared to a more upright riding position. The Daytona ones Suzi Q and Mr72 recommended are good, but there's also the Touring, LTD, and Nighthawk styles, which are all more upright bars. Not sure how cruiser-y you're looking to go. Daytona would probably be the "slightly higher than stock" and then the others go up from there. Superbike are slightly lower than stock, and the drag bars are even lower.
Quote from: qcbaker on February 03, 2017, 09:17:10 AM
With regard to the type of bars you want, basically any 7/8 bars will work so you have tons of options. Bikemaster has a large variety of styles/positions that you can check out:
http://bikemaster.com/replacement-parts/control/handlebars.html
If you look at that page, you can see they have quite a few that are geared to a more upright riding position. The Daytona ones Suzi Q and Mr72 recommended are good, but there's also the Touring, LTD, and Nighthawk styles, which are all more upright bars. Not sure how cruiser-y you're looking to go. Daytona would probably be the "slightly higher than stock" and then the others go up from there. Superbike are slightly lower than stock, and the drag bars are even lower.
my advise if you want to ride the GS for any length of time 30+ minutes im talking. get the tallest bars you can get away with and are comfortable with. stock height stinks for long rides.. idk why I had such an issue with the stock bars. but they would kill my back and shoulders no matter how hard I clinched my knees to the tank to support myself.. taller bars fixed this. I'm only 5'9" too...
Quote from: mr72 on February 03, 2017, 07:50:13 AM
Quote from: Suzi Q on February 02, 2017, 04:54:58 PM
I don't personally have them or have seen them but, in looking at the bikemaster offerings, the Daytona's seem to support more of an upright position and might be worth a shot at ~$65.
Even more worth it at $23.
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/15392/i/bikemaster-daytona-handlebar
Uhhhh yeah...that's what I meant. It was late when I was posting. $65 is the price of the stock bars new.
Kinda bummed. No work on the GS this weekend. Trying to finish renovating the laundry room instead. Need my washer and dryer back!
Still waiting on the powder coat guy to call me back with his ETA for the frame. Did have an idea though. The body panels are a "bit" scarred up and the tank needs repairs (seems to be rusted out in a couple spots and seeps), so I wanted to replace them and do custom paint. Tanks are apparently hard to find and new panels are a wee bit $$$ so.... until I get get my hands on a new set, I think I'm just gonna fix the tank up as best I can with some leak repair and get a couple rattle cans of that new Paint N Peel rubber paint I've seen at AutoZone. They have a chromatic version that's silver/blue/purple. Some "light" sanding on the body panels and a few coats of rubber stuff, it should look halfway awesome until I can replace them with new. Kinda tempted to spray the wheels too! Blingy... :icon_mrgreen:
Hi, first of welcome :cheers:
Looking forward to seeing how things go! Good luck with your first rebuild. It's quite good fun :cool:
Chris
O0
woo hoo it's a party in here,....
(http://acidcow.com/pics/20131211/most_painfully_awkward_things_that_happened_in_2013_07.gif)
then what happened,.... :dunno_black:
Quote from: cbrfxr67 on February 07, 2017, 09:26:15 AM
woo hoo it's a party in here,....
(http://acidcow.com/pics/20131211/most_painfully_awkward_things_that_happened_in_2013_07.gif)
then what happened,.... :dunno_black:
lol. Haven't been able to work on it as of late. Needed to finish the "Oh crap" remodel to my house. Trying to beat the delivery guys!
As of the moment, I'm in a holding pattern. I'm waiting on parts and time to be available.
Heard back from the powder coat people. Frame should be finished by next Friday. They had to order more of the particular color I wanted.
Once that's done, hopefully we can start reassembling and fixing things along the way. Thinking best order of business would be to put as much of the frame back together as I can, then rear suspension and swingarm, then forks. Don't think I'm gonna run into much trouble on the back end other than I found out I need a new chain, but we have to rebuild the forks. Mother Nature did a number on the seals and everything went icky.
With the fact that I know I need new tires, I'm trying to figure out if I should just start reassembling with the yucky ones so it can at least stand and replace them later, or if I should just suck it up and get new ones now.
Have you thought about new fork springs since your rebuilding the forks? For most people, the front end is too soft from the factory....
As far as the tires go - it's not hard at all to pull the wheels off an assembled bike. I would divert funds from new tires to whatever else you need for now.
Subscribed for rambling and pretty pictures and party time (and cbr's gifs!)
(I would SO do the purple under-glow if my bike wasn't red!)
Quote from: Big Rich on February 17, 2017, 03:51:30 PM
Have you thought about new fork springs since your rebuilding the forks? For most people, the front end is too soft from the factory....
As far as the tires go - it's not hard at all to pull the wheels off an assembled bike. I would divert funds from new tires to whatever else you need for now.
Huh. Hadn't thought about different springs. Never ridden a GS, so I have no thoughts about what I like/don't like or stuff I wanna change other than visuals.
For a newer rider, which is the lesser of too evils, too soft or too hard?
Quote from: pandy on February 17, 2017, 05:37:43 PM
Subscribed for rambling and pretty pictures and party time (and cbr's gifs!)
(I would SO do the purple under-glow if my bike wasn't red!)
Hiya!
Do the underglow anyways! Red and purple look good as long as you're careful with the purple, some of then are too blue.
So I'm slowly making my way...
Got most of everything swapped to the new engine. Remind me for the future I don't like stators. Didn't realize it needed a special tool for the first ten minutes, then made two trips to AutoZone, then finally said "F it" and Jerry rigged something to work. :2guns: Gotta wait for a couple parts to finish though. The intake manifold seals crumbled into a million pieces, and I gotta dig through the parts bucket again cuz I can't find the starter cover anywhere. But, I got lucky, the clutch seems to be in fairly good condition. :thumb:
Picked up some new spark plugs while at the store (the first time), plan on doing a full tune up before it's done. Might as well, right?
Pretty pictures!
Need to clean and shine it up!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170219_200917.jpg)
New vs old.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170219_200905.jpg)
The side the stator is on, on the underneath where the two case halves come together [not the oil pan] is there a bolt under there with an Oring?..
Quote from: Jem767 on February 20, 2017, 06:21:20 AM
So I'm slowly making my way...
Got most of everything swapped to the new engine. Remind me for the future I don't like stators. Didn't realize it needed a special tool for the first ten minutes, then made two trips to AutoZone, then finally said "F it" and Jerry rigged something to work. :2guns: Gotta wait for a couple parts to finish though. The intake manifold seals crumbled into a million pieces, and I gotta dig through the parts bucket again cuz I can't find the starter cover anywhere. But, I got lucky, the clutch seems to be in fairly good condition. :thumb:
Picked up some new spark plugs while at the store (the first time), plan on doing a full tune up before it's done. Might as well, right?
Pretty pictures!
Need to clean and shine it up!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170219_200917.jpg)
New vs old.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69/faeriekitsune/GS500e%20Rebuild/20170219_200905.jpg)
Rotor comes off with a 14mm front axle bolt and a sliding hammer. I had one made about 10 yrs ago that would made mince meat of that rotor even when it was super super super tight ...
Now that the rotor is off, you could remove the valve cover and cam shafts and that way the motor slides into the frame a lot easier.
Its much much harder with those parts on, but doable.
Cool.
Buddha.,
Quote from: J_Walker on February 20, 2017, 01:55:02 PM
The side the stator is on, on the underneath where the two case halves come together [not the oil pan] is there a bolt under there with an Oring?..
I would have to check. It's been sitting on the bench the whole time we've been working on it.
Quote from: The Buddha on February 21, 2017, 07:41:25 AM
Rotor comes off with a 14mm front axle bolt and a sliding hammer. I had one made about 10 yrs ago that would made mince meat of that rotor even when it was super super super tight ...
Now that the rotor is off, you could remove the valve cover and cam shafts and that way the motor slides into the frame a lot easier.
Its much much harder with those parts on, but doable.
Cool.
Buddha.,
Yeah, we didn't have the slide hammer. Went to auto zone to rent one and what they gave us didn't work. Went back and the other thing they gave us didn't work either. Ended up going back and getting something else that finally worked.
The engine on the left is the "new" one, the one on the right is the busted one. We pulled it from the frame before disassembling everything else, whole. I have no idea what the plan is for putting everything back together, being a newbie to mechanic-ing I just follow orders! :embarrassed:
Hopefully, the frame gets finished by Saturday, I'm waiting for them to call. If that happens, things will slowly get reinstalled on the frame bit by bit, fixing as we go. (It's not the only project running right now, we have a F250 in need of work and an Altima with a blown engine.) The two major time factors are simply having time to work and waiting for parts to arrive. :dunno_black: