Proper Course of Action for leaking head gasket?

[Lostboy Steve]

Alright I got the bottom buttoned up. Hopefully everything went back together correctly without pinching an oring. I did notice some calcium in the heads which could be some more (hardened) blue devil. I've decided that once it's back together I will flush it a few times with vinegar. That Prestone flush hasn't worked well for me in the past and I read that distilled vinegar can work wonders cleaning a cooling system.

I took the liberty of powdercoating a few things while I had it apart. The engine mount in the front there, idk what type of metal they used, but as I was wire-wheeling it, there was rust forming under the paint. So instead of repainting it, into the blaster it went.

The cooling tubes were slammed together with rtv. Now here's my opinion on rtv, great stuff, in moderation. This was not moderation... this was half clogged with silicone. Now I'm beginning to think that's what the blue devil was for. Everything on this bike was rtv, even the timingbelt cover gaskets were covered with it. Again, I routinely use rtv, but just the thinnest layer and more of as a failsafe than a seal.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chilidawg]

See that bulkhead that the fan motor fits through, that says your bike used to have a full Hondaline fairing.

If your running it naked, (like your avatar shows) or ever want to single carb it, you might want to adapt it or get rid of that sucker.

1. If your carbs are good, then the naked bike never had it. Maybe that's why they ran so good.

2. If their not, then eventually you'll need the airflow directly off of the radiator to keep your manifold from freezing on the inside and reducing airflow.

I still have the fairing with a single carb and you need some of that thing to attach it to, so I just cut out the part inside those downward at an angle "torque stays" (really, that's what they are, so you need to keep those) with a Dremmel tool and it works awesomely.

I ain't making this $#!T up. All this information came to me personally from HOTT. No BS. Just passing it on.

 

[Lostboy Steve]

See that bulkhead that the fan motor fits through, that says your bike used to have a full Hondaline fairing.

If your running it naked, (like your avatar shows) or ever want to single carb it, you might want to adapt it or get rid of that sucker.

1. If your carbs are good, then the naked bike never had it. Maybe that's why they ran so good.

2. If their not, then eventually you'll need the airflow directly off of the radiator to keep your manifold from freezing on the inside and reducing airflow.

I still have the fairing with a single carb and you need some of that thing to attach it to, so I just cut out the part inside those downward at an angle "torque stays" (really, that's what they are, so you need to keep those) with a Dremmel tool and it works awesomely.

I ain't making this $#!T up. All this information came to me personally from HOTT. No BS. Just passing it on.

Well yeah it was (is) an interstate. [emoji6] The 75 that didn't have the fairing has a very similar bulkhead though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mcgovern61]

I have an '82 Standard and it has the heatshield too.

 

[Lostboy Steve]

I have an '82 Standard and it has the heatshield too.

I like your case paint!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[joedrum]

That piece is always the first thing I get rid of.....I don't care how it worded or who's blabbing the justification...there is simply no benefit to having the heat shield on an oldwing ...in my opinion...

 

[dan filipi]

chilidawg » Yesterday, 8:16 pm[/url]":2x18i7et]
See that bulkhead that the fan motor fits through, that says your bike used to have a full Hondaline fairing.

If your running it naked, (like your avatar shows) or ever want to single carb it, you might want to adapt it or get rid of that sucker.

1. If your carbs are good, then the naked bike never had it. Maybe that's why they ran so good.

2. If their not, then eventually you'll need the airflow directly off of the radiator to keep your manifold from freezing on the inside and reducing airflow.

I still have the fairing with a single carb and you need some of that thing to attach it to, so I just cut out the part inside those downward at an angle "torque stays" (really, that's what they are, so you need to keep those) with a Dremmel tool and it works awesomely.

I ain't making this $#!T up. All this information came to me personally from HOTT. No BS. Just passing it on.

That's some funny stuff :smilie_happy:

 

[mcgovern61]

I like your case paint!

I wanted something different and the Duplicolor Iron engine paint fit the bill. I saw it first on a Suzuki and liked the contrast the paint provided compared to the aluminum color. I think the paint allows the few polished parts stand out nicer as well as the chrome bolt heads.

Suzuki inspiration:

Final paint on mine:

 

[chilidawg]

[/quote]
That's some funny stuff :smilie_happy:[/quote]

Okay, hilarious!

But in the interests of full disclosure, that part about the icing manifold came from Tom Langdon at Stovebolt.

 

[slabghost]

chilidawg » Tue Jul 25, 2017 1:55 pm[/url]":1zr13jqi]

That's some funny stuff :smilie_happy:[/quote]

Okay, hilarious!

But in the interests of full disclosure, that part about the icing manifold came from Tom Langdon at Stovebolt.[/quote]
Someone forgot to let Tom know cars and bikes do not fly at 10,000 ft. Aircraft deal with icing issues. Ground vehicle get a nice frost outside the manifold occasionally. Big difference.

 

[Lostboy Steve]

Yeah it sets up your pinstripes well too. Very cool.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mcgovern61]

Lostboy Steve » Tue Jul 25, 2017 2:16 pm[/url]":m0go4tlg]
Yeah it sets up your pinstripes well too. Very cool.

It will look even better after the shelter and side panels are painted. I will be painting those units the original Cosmos Black Metallic and I have orginal color pin stripe decals. The new pin stripping will be that orange and gold.

 

[Lostboy Steve]

So, I've flushed this thing about 4 times and I still get oil bits out of the radiator spout. I suppose I'm just going to have to leave it and ride it and then flush it again. As for the headgaskets it did pull 26 inches of mercury but if I walked away and came back 5 minutes later the pressure had increased. Sometimes it's hard to tell if this is just the unit not holding 100%.

In other news, how much condensation is normal from the breather? I have the hose roughed directly to the case for now.

https://youtu.be/AKrFKPz6vx4

[video]https://youtu.be/AKrFKPz6vx4[/video]

https://youtu.be/UNIPnxaFRug

[video]https://youtu.be/UNIPnxaFRug[/video]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(added youtube video tags df)

 

[dan filipi]

First video looks like steam to me.

Is there any steam coming out the exhaust?

 

[Lostboy Steve]

First video looks like steam to me.

Is there any steam coming out the exhaust?

No but if I let it idle a while and crank the throttle there is bluish white smoke which I amount to the extreme rich condition that I haven't worked out yet. I'm battling a few things at once here. It immediately disperses and doesn't linger like coolant smoke.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dan filipi]

Run it for awhile warmed up and watch the coolant recovery for any bubbles going into it. There should be none, and the coolant shouldn't spit out of the radiator at all.

 

[Lostboy Steve]

Run it for awhile warmed up and watch the coolant recovery for any bubbles going into it. There should be none, and the coolant shouldn't spit out of the radiator at all.

i let it run till operating temperature a few times. No bubbles, but as it warmed up it spit some out of the cap. I suppose that could be a bad cap.

Maybe it's time to pull the heads anyway.... that's why I didn't put all the covers back on yet.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dan filipi]

It could have been just spitting air from the system out the cap.

Getting steam out the breather is odd to me. I've never seen that happen.
I'd give it some run time before deciding it needs head gaskets done.

 

[Lostboy Steve]

It could have been just spitting air from the system out the cap.

Getting steam out the breather is odd to me. I've never seen that happen.
I'd give it some run time before deciding it needs head gaskets done.

Alright. Yeah it's like a smoky steam. Smells like the fresh oil that I put in. Are these known to have a lot of crank case pressure?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[slabghost]

There should not be a lot of crankcase pressure. Especially since you've already found compression is good.