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Gear Driven Cam Conversion & Restoration


Loftust

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When i had my frame powder coated, I bought cheap hardware store metric bolts and washers, and screwed them into all the frame connections and tightened them. 

 

That way, I didn't have to worry about masking, and when I got the frame back, I just removed the temporary bolts and washers and none of the connection points had any powder on them. 

 

PS: the swing arm got done too, just at a later date. 

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That was a sensible idea.

 

Today was frustrating - party because I was delayed getting started, and partly because the Goodridge hoses weren't made to spec properly. I'm going to have to send at least one hoses back because one of the unions is facing the completely wrong way. I may send one of the rear hoses back as the union where it connects to the proportioning valve doesn't have enough of a bend/kink in it - I only just about got it on, but the sheath got damaged in the process. It's the same story for the hose that connects to two ports on the right caliper - the union doesn't have enough of a kink in it. The other end of the rear hose was very difficult to connect as the union isn't at the correct angle. All in all, I'm not happy with them at the moment but will give Goodridge a chance to redeem themselves.

 

I was however able to wire the grips in, along with a relay, and bonded the coil adaptors in place. 

 

I may indeed have an issue with the starter, or starter earth path. I decided to see if I could turn the engine over briefly, but only got a single click from the starter relay, and even that required me to pull the clutch lever in. I'll take the starter out tomorrow and connect it to the battery, which should tell me something.

 

I've also filed away more of the powder of the rear of the frame where the negative leads connect. The resistance is ok between the block and negative terminal, but need to have more of a think about what else to try - the voltage across the terminals is 12.4V.

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I've tested the clutch diode and I'm not convinced that it's working correctly - I don't get reasonable and consistent continuity as you'd  expect, but instead get intermittent high resistance across two of the terminals. This would explain why I have to pull the clutch lever in to get the starter relay to to operate.

 

I wouldn't be too surprised if the starter has gone - IIRC, the previous owner mentioned that it was a bit difficult to start at times. I would like to ensure that the engine has a good earth too though, and will look into running a dedicated earth lead again tomorrow.

 

One interesting thing is that the Fi light flashes a code even without the service connector being bridged...odd. The code is 27 (VTEC solenoid) which is down to not sorting out its own earth lead yet, which is a separate issue to the starter not operating.

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The starter turns nicely when removed from the engine and earthed to the frame. I now need to work out if the battery simply does not have the cranking power to turn the starter under load, or whether earth path for the starter is crap when fitted to the engine.

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Three of the hoses went back to Goodridge earlier this week for some adjustments. I hope to have them in my mits by early next week at the latest. I'm not particularly looking forward to bleeding the whole system though - especially as it's completely full of air. Becuase of this, I'll back fill the calipers and proprtioning valve via the bleed nipples (using a syringe), which was really effective for the clutch. Once that's done, the nosecone, mirrors, headlights etc will go on.

 

In the meantime, I've got a spring clip to fit to the fuel return line under the tank, route the tank overflow and breather hoses, and stick some fuel in the tank while its raised in order to check that the gaskets are doing their job.

 

I'd like to get the oil round the engine a little more, and whislt I'm aware of the right method for turning the oil pump, I'm not removing the clutch cover again to obtain access. I'll therefore continue to turn the bike over on the starter motor, which turns the oil pump and will hopefully give everything enough lubrication before going for a proper start.

 

I've managed to find a reputable tuner to do the tuning as well, so that's promising, even if they're ~ 50 miles away. 

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It's alive!

 

I had the engine running, albeit a little roughly, for a minute or two this afternoon.

 

It cut out after that, and wouldn't restart as I had flattened the battery by turning it over on the starter for a minute or so a little earlier.

 

The nose cone, screen, headlights, mirrors, seat, and solo seat cowl also went on - it's looking more like a VFR now :-)

 

I'd like to get the bike running a but smoother and for longer, but will need to put the battery on charge first. 

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  • Member Contributer

Well done m8.

 

Gonna miss this but hope yr close to a rideable bike when we get back.  :beer:

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Cheers!

 

Looking forward to getting out with a mate on his 750 when it's been mapped. We're also hoping to do a short tour of Belgium/Holland later in the year too.

 

Have a great holiday in NZ!

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  • 2 weeks later...

So it turns out that a V4 runs better when all 4 coils are connected. Oops! I also swapped the battery for a new one - the old one wasn't charging properly.

 

So the bike is now firing well without the PCV, although I've limited the revs to about 3.5k thus far. I had a go at bleeding the coolant too, but burnt myself on the downpipes twice, so decided to call it a day. 

 

The new brake hoses turned up during the week, although they sent me back the unmodified rear one - needless to say I'm a bit miffed and have emailed them, asking them redress the situation...sigh...

 

Once I've got the coolant bled, I'll be able to stick the remaining fairings on - hurrah!

 

There isn't much to do now, although I need to borrow a set of manometers to balance the SVs, and will make sure the head bearings and forks are adjusted correctly as well.

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12 hours ago, Loftust said:

There isn't much to do now, although I need to borrow a set of manometers to balance the SVs, and will make sure the head bearings and forks are adjusted correctly as well.

 

Yet again, I have a set of those.

 

Unfortunately, we are 3 weeks away from being able to post them to you!

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  • 1 month later...

Okay so it’s been a while since I posted up about this, which is primarily due to my GF and I going through an uncertain patch (she wants kids, I don’t think I do).

 

I have however received the other pair of cam covers from the powdercoaters, complete with the coil adaptors in place:

 

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Of the jobs left to do, I intend to do these ones:

 

- Fit proportioning valve to rear caliper brake hose
- Finish wiring for heated grips (tap into switched live and connect relay)
- Have a combined pannier/numberplate/reflector plate fabricated
- Fit Numberplate (to be ordered)
- Fit fairing side panels
- Fit fairing infills

 

Due to a couple of constraints, I’ll be asking someone else to do the following:

 

- Bleed coolant
- Adjust head bearings (new ones fitted)
- Fit bar risers
- Setup front suspension (forks 5mm lower in the yoke than standard)
- Bleed brakes
- Torque hub nut & stake – as I don’t have brakes atm, I can’t stop the wheel from rotating
- Fit fuel tank heatshield (rubber bit under rear of tank)
- Chase a couple of threads on the swingarm for the chain guard – the size I need is broken
- Chase thread for nearside front disc and fit remaining bolt – ditto above
- Sync Starter Valves
- Look into the fuel dripping from overflow hose; it might not be a problem

 

That should be it, thereby allowing me to get the bike taxed and MOT’d,  which will subsequently allow me to get the bike up to the dyno for mapping.

 

I'd quite like to ride the thing soon!

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  • 2 months later...

IT'S FINISHED!!!!!
 
Well very nearly. I took delivery of the bike yesterday morning, having passed it on to someone else to undertake the (not so) wonderful jobs of bleeding the coolant and brakes, along with a few other odds and sods that I simply couldn't be arsed to do. Given the amount of time and effort that I have committed, I really don't feel too shameful for doing so.

Left to do - adjust the grip on the throttle tube to prevent rubbing on bar end
Temporarily fit numberplate to OEM pannier bracket
Purchase and fit 2p reflector 
MOT
Mapping
Fit integrated pannier and numberplate bracket
Sort out private registration (yeah, I know)
Have fun  :grin:

There are a few untidy bolts etc, including the front axle, which I will sort out in time, but for now, I'm done...although I may replace the silencers in the near future  :grin:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I've been riding the bike over the last few weeks to give it a shakedown - the fuelling has been WAY off and there has been very little power with the VTEC ECU, unsurprisingly.

On Friday however, I took the bike to Dynotech near Basingstoke, who spent a good 3 hours sorting the mapping out, and it now pulls like a freight train - really strong.

All of the jerkiness and hesitation has disappeared, and the bike is now much better to ride, although the sag definitely needs sorting out, and a corbin seat wouldn't go amiss.

Having adjusted the chain as well yesterday (one or two tight spots  :thumbdown: ) I found that there was a bit of a clonking noise at the rear wheel. Fearing it was the hub bearing, which is new, I set about removing the rear wheel to take a closer look, only to find out that all 4 wheel nuts were loose!!! I can only imagine that heat cycling during the dyno runs had something to do with it, but needless to say, I'll be keeping a very close eye on them.

I also re-adjusted the forks wrt yokes to the OEM spec as the turn-in was too sensitive. Managed to scratch a fairing infill panel in the process though, so that'll have to get repainted :(

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12 hours ago, CandyRedRC46 said:

Awesome news about the bike! Sorry about the GF issues :(

Can you post the dyno sheets please and thanks?

 

Thanks, and here you go:

 

 

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Can't read those numbers m8. Image quality appears too poor.

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14 hours ago, thtanner said:

98.55 / 53.38

 

Yep - you need your glasses Gareth :wink:

 

Those figures are at the rear wheel too. Engine figures are supposed to be ~ 12% higher due to losses in the drive train.

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