86 VFR orphan rescue

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by chuntera, Oct 16, 2019.

  1. Loki-of-control

    Loki-of-control New Member

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    Thanks for the post - this was educational since I also just bought a sitting '86. We'll see what we find.
     
  2. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Decided to play the ebay lottery. I picked up a used crankcase, pistons & connecting rods. Supposedly 30k miles on the engine.
    Some minor pitting on front cylinder walls (ie. likely common for this model), back cylinders #1 & #3 look good:

    #4 cylinder
    [​IMG]

    #2 cylinder
    [​IMG]
     
  3. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Oooh, tempting.
    Was it you or someone else who posted last year about replacement orings for oil lines & cooling tubes from McMaster Carr ?
     
  4. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    Wasn't me, but I source my own orings for quite a few things, especially carbs. Not hard to grab some dimensions and find what you need (in Viton).
     
  5. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Fired off the parts cannon this weekend, started with online order at oringsandmore. Haven't ordered pistons rings yet.
    I went searching for my honing tool which I haven't used in 10+ years. I found it under pile of basement crap, one arm bent and stone smashed to bits. I guess this is my chance to try out one of those ball hone tools.
     
  6. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Cleaning the front head today.
    #2 cylinder looks pretty good

    [​IMG]


    However #4 combustion dome has good amount of corrosion.
    [​IMG]

    squirrelman earlier commented maybe a blown head gasket had caused the rust. I checked the head gasket for signs of leakage but didn't see anything.

    Is this head past recovery ?
    Plan B is swap in a spare 87 head.
     
  7. raYzerman

    raYzerman Member

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    Maybe carbon disguised as rust... can't really tell from the pic. Try chipping it off, nothing to lose. Maybe on both while it's apart, pull the valves and lap them?
     
  8. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Been distracted over the summer by pandemic and home reno. Good news is lots of saddle time on my 87 vfr & RE.

    Motor is still apart. I have everything for the top end, still looking for a bottom end. This candidate I picked up last year soaked cylinders in oil over winter and recently pulled apart. I would say flood victim.

    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
  9. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    swapping an '87 head without the front cam pulser iddin't so easy.
     
  10. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Yeah, I thought about using an 87 head but decided too much work and will go with head from an 86 motor. I was hoping to use the rocker arm retainer spring/plate thingy from the 87 but that won't work on an early 86 motor.
    This vfr model only sold two years in the USA but with 3 variations of rockers arms :/
     
  11. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    got the crankcase halves back together.
    Compromise was necessary to move this project forward (I needed to reclaim my workspace).
    I swapped engine cases; this meant finding correct thickness shell bearings to set the crankshaft clearances and checking with plastigage. FYI the shift linkage was a PITA to re-install.
    I installed used connecting rods, wrist pins & pistons in decent shape with new rings. The cylinders got a light honing.
    Other projects competing for time & $$$ so the heads will probably wait until fall.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Jim McCulloch

    Jim McCulloch New Member

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    Good job! Weird how much that block looks like a VF500. I had to enlarge the "699 CC" on the block to make sure it was not a 500!
     
  13. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Well "until fall" became spring but the heads are back together.
    I lapped the valves & installed new valve seals and cleaning...lots of cleaning.
    Some corrosion around #3 intake valve guide but I decided to live and let live. I am more than ready to move past the engine rebuild stage.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  14. RogueRC24

    RogueRC24 Member

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    :Popcorn: I am outta my league with all the engine knowledge, but I do find it very interesting. Thanks for posting this kind of stuff!
     
  15. Brian Rodgers

    Brian Rodgers New Member

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    Keep it up ! Almost there !
     
  16. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Well its fall again, and I realized I haven't updated this post. Actually I've only logged into vfrworld a couple times over the summer :/
    Surprisingly I made progress on this project.

    End of May the rolling frame came out of the garage and got a scrub and power wash.
    End of June the bottom half of the engine went back into the frame. I did this as a one person job which is not recommended. I used an ATV lift to position the engine in the frame. The trick was tilting the engine forward at the correct angle with various bit of scrap lumber.
    [​IMG]

    Then towards the end of June the rear head went back in
    End of July front head was in
    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]

    It took until September to get the camshafts in, along with the oil feeder tubes, coolant pipe and cam speed sensor

    [​IMG]

    And then a couple weeks ago the valve clearances were set.
    I haven't put the valve covers back on because they need cleanup and new paint.

    In between all this I cleaned up and installed the exhaust headers (rear exhaust is PITA). The 4-1 collector and slip-on are done but not installed. I pulled the subframe & grab rail and gave them rattlecan paint job. I also spray bombed several smaller brackets and hangers.
    Right now the rear inner fender is on my workbench for some doctoring. I will cut out a section of the plastic to make space for a larger voltage regulator.
    fyi, the stock regulator on my 87 vfr700 finally died this year...surprising how much cooler it (briefly) ran without the stator connected. That gave me an opportunity to test fit a newer mofset regulator, so I've got half an idea how I need to cut & patch the fender.

    [​IMG]
    Last weekend I pulled the brake components and hand controls. I'm waiting on delivery of various rebuild kits before I dive into those. If the brakes go well I might be able to pull the forks off for a rebuild before end of year. When I did the suspension on my 87 (8 years ago?), I boxed it up and sent it to Jaymie Daugherty and was very happy with the results.

    Slow progress is still progress.
     
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  17. squirrelman

    squirrelman Member

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    nice work, but the sensor on the front head picks up cam position, not speed. tape up/cover those intake holes.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2022
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  18. Brian Rodgers

    Brian Rodgers New Member

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    Very clean ! Thanks for the update.
     
  19. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    Well brake rebuild didn't finish by year end.

    The hand controls and master cyls were cleaned up earlier, including new sight glass. It appears the popular way now is to replace the lens frame & oring along with the sight glass (eg. https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/parts/tusk-replacement-brake-master-cylinder-sight-glass-p). These replacements are plastic lenses which won't last as long as the watch glass bezels and the plastic scratches easily.

    Here's a photo of the brake calipers on the bench
    [​IMG]

    There is some discoloring to the finish and some road rash on a couple. I could clean these up, strip & repaint but that was a huge timesink the one time I did it. At this point I am so far behind in the project I keep telling to myself "perfect is the enemy of good".
    A couple caliper pistons were is rough shape, particularly the rear, which had deep scratches above the dust seal mark. Which means I will be replacing the seals again in a couple years.

    Once I get through this mess of calipers. I'll start on the forks.

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. chuntera

    chuntera New Member

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    The forks came off this weekend. The dust seal on one fork was in bad shape and the circlip corroded.

    Here's a photo of the forks on the bench along with seals and circlips.

    PXL_20230326_022025936.jpg
    Here's some detail on the fork bushings and dregs of decades old fork oil/ATF. I think the lower bushings are supposed to be bronze colored.


    20230319_174043-0.jpg


    Replacement parts are on order which I hope to receive in a week or so.
     
    Last edited: Apr 2, 2023
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