$200 VF500F find and restoration.

I just bought 2 Purolator PL14459 PUREone oil filters and a Fram PH6010A filter.
I bought the Fram first localy, but then found a great deal on amazon on the PUREone filters, so I bought those too. They have much better reviews. It's not worth the time to return the Fram, so I'll just hang onto it, and I'll be all set for the next few oil changes.

 

I have a silly question; can a VF700 engine be put into this frame?

 

not that I am a ware of ...I think its a tad bit bigger....but ...If you have the right tools and the talent...you can make anything fit....

 

After doing some thinking, I might go ahead and remove the engine.
I've been rushing myself to get it running, but I really have the rest of the winter to work on it.
I've also decided to completely rebuild all the carbs. I've been reading about the issues with the jets becoming clogged, and that's not something I want to deal with in the hight of riding season next year. (btw, main jets are 95 for the front cylinders, 92 for the rear)
Anyone know where to get a carb rebuild kit for these?

A picture of the carbs.



The tank repairs are going... Not going well, just going.
I had thought that I got all the holes. Turns out I missed one. Here's the tank repairs:



(I REALLY need a new tank)

 

For those who are interested, the top end wear typically starts with the rocker arms and not the the cam lobe. When things get bad the lobe of the cam will certainly have begun to be damaged. In these cases you would have already known there was a problem because the engine would have been making a pronounced ticking sound.

If you want to scruntinize the top end for possible issues then the rocker arm faces are where you should focus your attention.

 

Anything is possible! In this case it would be very difficult because the 700 engine is physically too large to fit in there and you would need to make significant structural changes to the fame.

The VF700F, VF750F, and VF1000F engines are interchangeable. The 500 is quite a different animal.

 

I might just soak the carb in carb clean. I have a couple cans of it in liquid form already.

I may have a line on a parts bike. It's an '85 VF500F.
Are the '85 and '86 too different to be of use?

And more importantly, is the gas tank interchangable?

 

the carbs are diffferent but that is a awesome upgrade for the 86's to run the bigger 84-85 500 carbs if you can get them i would say go for it!

 

The gas tanks are interchangable. The petcocks are different and I think the 85 uses a smaller fuel line, but that should be pretty easy to take care of. The mounting, etc is the same.

 

Agreed, the 84-85 carbs are the trick setup on the 86 engine. It's probably worth a hp or two, but honestly it's about the easiest hp you are going to find in those engines.

 

I'm told the carbs on the parts bike are "messed up", so it might not be feasible to switch the carbs. I'll have to look at them to decide.

 

Ok, it's been a while since I updated this thread, the cold has kept me inside.

I got a couple parts, courtesy of VFRW member _Tango.
Parts include a new clutch slave piston, '85 carbs, and another set of stock exhaust.

The plan is to replace the #90 jets in the '85 carbs with the jets out of the '86 carbs (92 and 95 jets), and run the '85 carbs. In the '86 carbs the #92s were in the back and the #95 in the front, but someone had told me that the '84 or '85 (I forget which) ran the richer jets in the front if the jet sizes varied.
What do you guys think? Richer jets for the front or back?

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the exhaust, I'm open to suggestions there. If possible I'd like to make the mufflers look a little more modern. I have an extra set now, so I don't care about cutting them up.

I realized how badly I needed a new clutch slave piston a day or two after I removed the engine. All of the clutch fluid had leaked out through it and onto my garage floor. Looks like the seal is gone and the walls of the piston are pretty scratched up. I suspect a PO did some "work" on it. X(
Luckily (thanks to _Tango), I have a nice new (to me) one.


Now, some pictures.

First, join me in a good laugh. :biggrin:



Some pictures of the cams. The lobes look pretty good, and no mushrooming of the valve stems.


The engine on the workbench. not much to see...




My nice new (to me) '85 carbs gettin cleaned up. :biggrin:


One of my workbenches, with the carbs on it, frame in the background, and other workbench with the engine on it.



Guess what time of night I was working at.





That's all for now. Remeber to answer my questions about jets and give me some ideas for the exhaust.

Thanks for reading!

 

Looks like you are making some good progress!

Below is a link back to the carburetor thread you have noted above:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/1st-2nd-generation-1983-1989/28752-1986-vf500f-main-jet-sizes.html

 

Don't do that - you need to run the 85 jet sizes. The jets are matched to the carbs, not to the engine. Running the larger jets would make the mixture way too rich. Stick with what is supposed to be in the 85 carbs and you'll be just fine!

 

Altitude isn't very high. Massachusetts Mean elevation is about 500ft above sea level. Though my house is about 1100ft above sea level.

 

Many people make the mistake of thinking that since the 86's came with different jets that they should run them in the larger 84-85 carbs. That's not the case - don't worry about what the 86 carbs had in them. You need to set the jetting just as you would with anything else. The best starting point is the stock jet sizes for the 85 carbs.

 

OK guys, sorry for the lack of updates, though there really hasn't been much to update you on till now.

'Bought a couple things, and have a whole bunch of stuff on the way.

First, the stuff I already have.

Exhaust gaskets. I ordered 10, sold 4 to a friend, and will keep 2 spares. Paid about $1.80/ea


A new Chain. I got it 10 links longer than specification, just in case.


I also got a new helmet, as the only other one I had used to be my fathers, from when he was my age.
Here's the old mans helmet:



And here's the new one. AFX FX-20. Cheaper brand, but surprisingly comfortable. I got an awesome deal too, which helped with the decision. :biggrin:





OK, so that's what I HAVE, here's what I ordered (pics come when I get it).

Kenda front and rear tires
RACE-DRIVEN front and rear sprockets
Right side engine cover gasket
PROGRIP SUPERBIKE Grips, red
Tube for the old rear tire (I'll explain why I got this below)


I'm hoping to go to the Rods and Customs Nationals in July, and I might as well bring the bike. I'm considering paying to use the burnout pits, and happen to have a tire to wreck.
So I picked up the tube to put in the old tire and run in the pits. The tire isn't safe for road use, but it'll be fine for use in the burnout pit.
Might as well get some fun out of it before I toss it.

For those who care, here are some random pictures:

Old tires:




The old tire/sprockets/chain:


The engine which I REALLY need to get back to work on reassembling:


My only operational 2 wheeled vehicle:

 

Once you get your engine back together, want to do mine? I'm in th emiddle of pulling the back head to swap out a valve or 2. I'll revive my valve problems thread to go into more detail.