Went back out feeling very sorry for myself, (imagine Liverpool at halftime against AC Milan in Istanbul 2005) and tried once more, drilled out 2 more holes, re-positioned myself to the other side of the bike and BOOM!! 



The last of the broke tach drive has fallen! I AM SPARTA!

Now to address this:


They are the the broke thread bits off the camshaft...mostly. I think. Hopefully all the thread bits fell in there!




UPDATE:
I really hate this project right now! the tachometer drive I bought over a year ago doesn't fit. I can't believe it  one step forward two steps back with this thing. I'm so elated that the drive came out but utterly devastated that after being so close to solving an issue that's been present since I bought the bike, I'm once again months away from achieving my goal because the part I need is just too expensive. I mean in the last week I've spent 25% of my bank balance on the bike 

In other news, I test cut the rear fender and the cut was quite clean. Before I make my final cuts I'm waiting on the light so I can see if it'll fit, if I need to make any adjustments etc. So that won't be until Thursday/Friday. My eagerness to get my camshaft has gone now, unless I can miraculously source a suitable replacement quick time.

New taillight came this morning. Confirmed that my idea was a hair-brained scheme. Doesn't fit.  Nevermind. At least now I now.

After the disappointment of my tail light plans I have put the light back up for sale and I think I will go with the F tail light. Just trying to find a decent cheap one now.

I ordered some new fuel lines, and a new inline fuel filter to replace the one fitted. New carb diaphragm is also on its way so hopefully by the end of next week the carburetor will be buttoned up and installed and I can embark upon the sync/balance adventure 

I did come across a set of k5 gauges which were cheap, (£36/$45)  so I've picked them up as a contingency plan, incase my mechanical tach fails again. Found the part number for a blank that closes the tach hole too, 26442-45000.  Will try and source one of those if/when the time comes. They're on eBay UK for £14, US $12 and AUS for AUS$16.50 if someone else is actually reading my ramblings and want to upgrade their "E" gauges to "F". They were intended for the early K series which used F gauges and E cylinder heads.

I dismantled the dash and learned that I had LED's installed in the gauges, so that's one job I don't have to do. I have bought LED's for the warning indicators though so that will be done next week too.

My tachometer drive gear came this morning so that is now installed with my new exhaust camshaft,   the valve clearances were less than 0.03 all round and as I could measure less than that I have assumed clearance is 0.01mm. The intake shims are 2.62mm and the exhaust shims are 2.72mm. Going to order 2x 2.57 and 2x 2.60, assuming that all clearances are 0.01mm this should take clearance to 0.05mm intake and 0.08mm exhaust. At the very least the new shims will provide enough clearance to provide a measurable space. But for now the engine is all buttoned up again.  Need to get a new breather gasket.

I have removed the front caliper and dismantled it and given it a good old scrub and will be rebuilding tomorrow. It's basically a rebuild without doing a very good job. Doing the fluid tomorrow too. The pads have millions of wear left on them. Going to make a start on the rear end tomorrow, breaking down and cleaning. 

Didn't really do very much today, had a bit of lie in after being up until 4am, I went along to a Suzuki dealer near me (yes I have one now  ) to get a couple of shims. They said the shims were £11 each and would take approximately 2 weeks!  I can get them online for £8 and it would take the same amount of time roughly. So that was a waste of time. On my way home I stopped off at an autoparts shop/garage for some grease and ended up picking up some cheap fuel lines.  And my inline fuel filter arrived too. I needed to reposition the speedo drive and clear the disk off a bit so that's done, caliper back together with new seals and new brake fluid. I hate bleeding brakes!! Fitted the two lines from frame petcock to carbs with filter in fuel line.

Plan for Sunday/Monday/Tuesday is to replace tank lines, check rear wheel bearings, remove the rear wheel and clean it up, clean the disk, check rear brake pads, open up the caliper and clean it, replace piston seals, build caliper, clean underneath the bike while the wheel is off and get some of the crud off, I need to reroute the clutch cable because I did it wrong when I installed it and I can then clean in behind that cover while I'm at it.

This bike is so filthy I'm not sure it's ever been washed. It's going to take 2 or three good passes to get it to an acceptable and maintainable level. Hopefully then by Wednesday the LEDs I've ordered and the carb diaphragm will be here so I can stick them in their respective holes.

I need those valve shims before I can concentrate on the carburetor. I am looking forward to seeing that tachometer in action though! Oh Yes! 

Today I took the frame petcock off the tank and fitted the new on, reserve and drain lines and connect the first two to the frame petcock to stretch them out a little bit.

Then I took off the rear wheel and removed the sprocket and brake disk and gave them a clean up.

I determined that the exhaust valve clearance is actually 0.03mm, so going to chuck in the 2.62 from the intake giving 0.13mm cleaarnce  and putting in 260 for the intake valves, should give between .03-.05mm. Just ordered those.

I watched a youtube video on a sv650 caliper clean and think I could have done a better job on mine. Wish I'd rebuilt it properly at least with new rubbers, bleed nipple etc. Prompted me to really sit down and think about what is needed to get the bike where I want it. I came up with a to do list of 57 things, I've ticked off 11.

 :bs:Another update: Day 13

It is about 2 weeks of constant work on the bike and the harder I work the less progress I make. Due to not having any any turn signals because I can't find any I like and because I've spent all my money, I can't MOT my bike until springtime, soo Marchish. Which is a good thing because I also need to save up for a new rear brake caliper 

My k5 gauges arrived and I learned that gauges have a foam ring behind them, and that's why I couldn't get my gauges to sit correctly. So I stole them from the donors and put them on the bike. Looks the same but it was nice knowing the bike was closer to being right.

Rear wheel is nice and clean and shiny, rear sprocket is nice and clean and shiny, brake disk is nice and clean and shiny. I took the front sprocket cover off to rereoute the clutch cable, and spent approx 8 hours cleaning up the cover and it's almost clean!! Almost... Next need to clean out the dirt and grime from around the sprocket. May need to replace the sprocket too, It's just rust and I don't know if it's just surface rust. 

I can't get the chain guard off either, the fasteners are rusted solid and they are now rounded off. With no money for new tools, and without the tools I'm running out of options.

I took the rear brake caliper off to dismantle and clean and it's rusted bad. Needed to use my torque wrench to get the bolts out that hold the caliper together, that was a ball ache and one of the retaining pins for the break pads is rusted in place, not budging at all. So because I couldn't get the pads out, I couldn't pump the pistons out and they are also stuck tight in their little holes...still don't know what seals they need.

**managed to force one piston out, the piston that is still stuck is the one that the fluid didn't enter from the back. It's also the same side of the caliper that the rusted pin is stuck in too! I'm out of ideas for the minute, I soaked some blue roll in gt85 and wrapped it around the rusted pin in the hopes that it'll soak and release. No idea how I'll remove the piston without damaging it with pliers, I sprayed it with some break cleaner to try and ruin the seal.

Still waiting on my LED's, valve shims and carburetor diaphragm to arrive.

Goals before Christmas:
1.Clean speedo drive and regrease
2.Try to salvage fender
3.Install LED's into dash
4.Clean around sprocket
5.Hook up clutch cable
6.Install valve shims
7.Install carb diaphragm
8.Clean cylinder head
9.Install carbs
10.Install airbox
11.Route new lines and install tank and fuel tap

Depends just how deep the scratches on the mudguard are but an electric heat gun will often smooth them out like new with careful application. Filler-primer can also help.

Quote from: gregjet on December 14, 2016, 01:41:46 PM
Depends just how deep the scratches on the mudguard are but an electric heat gun will often smooth them out like new with careful application. Filler-primer can also help.

The scratches reasonably deep, but I was thinking about a couple of lighter grits, and maybe a layer of filler. If it doesn't work I'll just have to ride with the hideous fender for a bit. I've seen a couple of purple fenders on eBay as a back up. I just figured while I have a wrecked the fender I could try and fix it. I like the heat idea. 

This is behind the sprocket cover - Before:


Behind the sprocket cover - After(I gave up tbh):



This is the back of the sprocket cover:


Back of the sprocket cover #2:


Back of sprocket cover #3:  Not going to get it any cleaner this!


Rear brake caliper bits #1:


Rear brake caliper bits #2:


Rear brake caliper problem part:


LED's came this morning too so they're in place. Don't really make much difference apart from the high beam, which was quite washed out by the light bulb and is now richer with the blue LED   

Will update this post later with a fresh picture of behind the sprocket cover. TBC...

Sprocket cover looks great!!! Cleaned mine like that a few years ago... so. much. crud. Ugh... I will want to check it out this coming year and clean it out again I'm sure.

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on December 15, 2016, 11:46:14 PM
Sprocket cover looks great!!! Cleaned mine like that a few years ago... so. much. crud. Ugh... I will want to check it out this coming year and clean it out again I'm sure.

Thanks, I did it in three stages
-degreaser, hot soapy water and wire brush
-degreaser and blue roll
-degeaser and cotton buds


Here's a picture of the front fender after the 40 grit 



For the last 3 1/2 hours or so I have been working on the fender. Started with a 240 grit, tried to 120 some of the deeper scratches but it didn't have much effect, and now moved to 400 after a quick and gentle 240 again. It's not perfect but it has improved so much and so quickly. Considering applying a thin layer of body filler to even out the deepest scratches and the weird dent on the fender. It's coming along nicely I think. Going to pick up some finer grit tomorrow.

Still waiting on the carburetor diaphragm and the valve shims

You don't Need to go finer than 400 grit if you do it right. And don't go finer than 400 if you want paint to stick to it. You'll need a dedicated plastic primer and maybe adhesion promoter.

A replacement fender is cheaper than the sandpaper, primer and adhesion promoter plus way easier. Just scuff the factory paint with a Scotch brite and paint.

Quote from: mr72 on December 17, 2016, 06:06:37 AM
You don't Need to go finer than 400 grit if you do it right. And don't go finer than 400 if you want paint to stick to it. You'll need a dedicated plastic primer and maybe adhesion promoter.

A replacement fender is cheaper than the sandpaper, primer and adhesion promoter plus way easier. Just scuff the factory paint with a Scotch brite and paint.

Cool, thankfully I was too lazy to go out today so didn't get anymore sandpaper. I think the surface I have now might be good to paint on. I only have an etch primer, but I do have adhesion promoter. There isn't any factory paint left, took it all off, but the scuffing tip is good to know because I wanted to do tank and tail too, they're looking really neglected.

This is what it looks lie now:

compared to this


I lied, the primer I have is just a grey primer

Just pulled the stuck pin and piston out of the caliper. 

Trapped the pin in the chuck of my drill and gave it a few blasts one way, then the other and whamey! Issue resolved. Will need to replace the piston though as the pliers actually bit through the inner tube I was using as a cushion and has caused a couple of marks.

Would anyone file off the little burrs and reuse the piston?

Went along to my local Halfrauds this morning to get some plastic primer, couldn't find any on the shelves so went to ask a member of staff, who told me they don't sell it. I explained that it was on their website, did he mean they didn't stock it. Off he went to his manager and he explained my query to her and she told me she'd never even heard of it.

Top notch service as usual 

Came home, cleaned the surface of the fender and gave it a couple of coats of adhesion aid. I gave it the hour recommended on the can, and it is touch dry, but its only 6^oC, 43^oF so thought it might be a good idea to leave it for another hour.

Thing is, it's 2pm now and the light is fading pretty fast. I'll give it half hour, then shoot the primer and bring it into the kitchen over night. Little bit warmer than the garage.

Hopefully tomorrow will be an engine day if the parts I ordered ever show up. Stay tuned

So I'd sanded the fender and thought it was more or less ready to go. here's what I started with (post sanding)




1st pass with primer

This morning I called the company I ordered my carb diaphragm and valve shims from. The diaphragm was ordered 11 days ago and the shims were ordered a week ago. The lady I spoke to apparently chased up the royal mail to find out where my mail is. When she called back she said she would send me another diaphragm but the shims I ordered were out of stock so she would refund the cost. I am livid. I wanted the bike running by now, but instead I'm just twiddling my thumbs, waiting for the primer on the fender to dry. So looks like I'll be running sub .04mm intake and .03mm exhaust clearances instead. 

I put 2 more coats of primer on the fender this morning, and it should be enough to fill any deep scratches I made with the 40 grit...I think. I'll rub it down a bit and then coat it again, see how that turns out.

*The fender was pretty nice, got a large percentage of the scratches covered so I put another primer coat on, there's still a few imperfections but I'm out of primer now so tomorrow the colour is getting laid down  *

I've ordered a thread pitch tool, planning on some fastener replacement/database build up in the new year. The wiki seems short of one or two bolts.

I double checked the front wheel bearings too and they need replacing  There's like nothing on this machine that's ok! Tyres are getting close, and there are spots of rust on the frame. I'm ticking one job off then finding new ones to replace them. This is my list, some of these things are not essential though, just would likes for the future:

1.   Check Front wheel bearings – done
2.   Replace Front wheel bearings
3.   Remove front fender - done
4.   Prep front fender
5.   Paint front fender
6.   Remove fender bracket - done
7.   Paint fender bracket - done
8.   Remove and clean speedo drive - done
9.   Remove and clean front wheel - done
10.   Remove and clean disk rotor - done
11.   Remove and clean front caliper - done
12.   Check brake pads - done
13.   Replace brake line
14.   Rebuild caliper (new seals/rubbers and nipple)
15.   Replace brake fluid - done
16.   Remove and paint stanchions
17.   Get new turn signals
18.   Fit dash LEDs - done
19.   Reroute clutch cable - done
20.   Swap clip-ons around - done
21.   Bar end – underbar mirrors
22.   New fuel tank lines - done
23.   Remove and paint fuel tank
24.   Scrub and clean exhaust headers
25.   Clean engine block
26.   Check valve clearance
27.   Replace shims
28.   Breather cover gasket
29.   Oil change
30.   Fit carb diaphragm
31.   Check float height
32.   Sync carbs
33.   Idle adjust
34.   Swap airbox for lunchbox & rejet carbs
35.   Refurb battery box
36.   Clean under tail section
37.   Sv650 shock swap
38.   Remove chain guard and clean
39.   Scrub chain
40.   Lube chain
41.   Recover seat
42.   Swap tail light to F
43.   Remove and paint tail plastics
44.   Touch up grab rail
45.   Repaint luggage rails
46.   Fenderectomy
47.   Relocate rear reflector
48.   X shaped number plate bracket
49.   Flush rear mounted turn signals
50.   Remove and clean rear wheel – done
51.   Check rear wheel bearings
52.   Remove and clean rear disk rotor - done
53.   Remove and clean rear brake caliper
54.   Rebuild rear caliper
55.   Check rear brake pads - done
56.   Replace rear brake line
57.   Replace brake fluid
58.   Remove and clean rear sprocket - done
59.   Bandit 400 rear hugger

Ugh I hate the whole "hurry up and wait" thing... very frustrating indeed!!

Glad to see that Bandit hugger on your list    You'll probably get one and have it modified and installed on your bike long before my silly friend Gordon in Cumbernauld finds time to send me the one I ordered back in August 

Quote from: ShowBizWolf on December 19, 2016, 12:35:32 PM
Ugh I hate the whole "hurry up and wait" thing... very frustrating indeed!!

Glad to see that Bandit hugger on your list    You'll probably get one and have it modified and installed on your bike long before my silly friend Gordon in Cumbernauld finds time to send me the one I ordered back in August 

I think I exercised my patience, it's only a problem for me because once the diaphragm is in, I can put the carbs, the airbox and the tank back, connect the fuel lines, check the float height and fire the bike up. The shims aren't too urgent, both sides are on the bottom end of spec, but that'll work for another few thousand miles.

I'm focusing on the front end, a few more bits and it'll be right on the money. Few more bits = £500 give or take.

The tail end is going to need a lot of work, it needs a new shock, planning the hugger, new tail light, new tyre, new brake line, new pads, new everything in the caliper except the castings (pistons, seals, pad pins, shims, springs).

One step at a time

Chris

Put two coats of colour on the front fender. It's drying in the kitchen right now. Will fit it to the bike when I get back home after the holidays.




Some of the nasty scratches coming through:



Alot of the mess is lost in the picture to be honest, but considering what it looked like 3 days ago I'm quite happy. First real spray job, without doubt room for improvement but, it's going into the win column. 

Chris