I'm going to helicoil these threads myself. Well at least try. I'll try an easy out on the one first though. Here's the welded nuts. Both of them took off chunks of the stud. So the welds held. The bolts on my current motor came right out, and my bikes a 97, the replacement motor is a 98. These came right out, no issues, no penetrating oil needed.
If welding a nut on the stud didn't work then an "easy out" is very likely just gonna break off...and the machine shop has a hefty up-charge to remove broken "easy outs"...also, there isn't much room for error with those exhaust stud mounting bosses being so narrow to begin with...
Wise choice IMO. Maybe you used the term helicoil as a general description, but I really prefer thread inserts. We always used Time-Serts...very low failure rate if installed per instructions...I think this would be a good application for them as they won't take away much, if any, strength from the stud boss.
Yeah, I was thinking helicoil, but I looked up the time sert when the crank case drain plug threads were compromised on the original motor last year. Thanks again for the advice! I definitely appreciate it.
Ok, moving along. Here's the left stud hole, before I drilled any. .3258 is the helicoil final drill size. I have to buy a 21/64 bit, but I had a 5/16 and that is .3125. there's enough meat left after I use the m8 helicoil. The time sert it's the best option, but helicoils are stronger than threaded steel. The Helicoil kit should be here by Saturday. Here's the left hole at .3125. I had to drill it out a little too get the last remnants of the stud they left in. All gone now. This hole is simply needing the 21/64 drill bit, then tapped for the helicoil, and helicoil placed in. The hole is a little off center, but that's how they are, on all 4 cylinders between both motors. That doesn't concern me. Next up is center punching the right stud, then drilling it out. Progressively of course, starting with a small drill.
I took the valve cover off of the front cylinder on the TLR motor. Looks clean, no wear on cams. I'll check the clearance on all the valve tappets before installing the motor.
More work tonight, working on getting the old motor out. Midpipes and mufflers off, airbox out, radiator off, many electrical connections undone. Getting there. Yes, I've started it up like this once. No mufflers. Very very very loud, deafening really. Also, you get hot feet too. I can leave the throttle bodies on the motor if I want. I'll probably do that. I put about 2 hours into it tonight. It won't get done on its own.
Good idea to get TB (or tape...something) on the new motor ASAP..."things" tend to end up down there...tends to muck up the works! Bent a valve on a Yamaha FZR 600 motor one time because a stupid little vacuum line spring clamp fell down the intake when the carbs were off!
I've got rags in the ports on the new motor. But yes, I'll get some caps on the bellmouths. Maybe rubber gloves?
Ok, helicoils installed in the front exhaust port. They should have no issue the exhaust header on no issue. Rear wheel and chain off, exhaust headers nearly off. Just one cranky clamp band in a tight location on the rear down pipe and the exhaust will be all off. I put a couple hours on it tonight. More tomorrow.
Ok. Lots done today. Exhaust off old motor. New threads on front cylinder work great. Test fit pic. Looks like I'll need a couple washers as there's a gap and I can't tighten the bolts down any more than that. Or try the exhaust gasket front my old motor. The yoshimura full exhaust might take a thicker gasket? Should be simple. I cleaned up the rear wheel/tire combo. Should be all good. Removed gas tank Then throttle bodies and all associated electrical stuff. Started taking a few engine mount bolts off. But oh boy it's it humid out there. I'm dripping sweat. So much I couldn't grasp the wrench to loosen bolts. My hands just slipped off. Ok shower time.
Ok, a bit done today, now that I had some time. I got the old motor out. I cleaned the TLR motor up a bit, replaced the t stat fittings , put my new iridium spark plugs and the PAIR valve block off plates on. Of course there were no gasket for the block off plates, so I made some from gasket material I had. I swapped the rear exhaust stub from the old to the new motor, took off the throttle body mounting flanges from the old motor, and took some pictures. Motor out. Old motor out The bad side the old TLS motor. Look at the output shaft. Ummm A closer look at the carnage. Classic 97 output shaft bearing failure. But a really drastic one. So, see the chunk of aluminum on the left of the motor? That's supposed to be around the output shaft. Crap everywhere. Getting there..
So it looks like my buddy can swing over after work this week and help me get the new motor bolted up. It's just too heavy to have one person do this task. Now, because I have a buddy that works in CNC, I'm having him make this little bracket.. I simply buy an 04-08 Yamaha r1 shock, and take the spring off of the r1 shock, and it will bolt right up. I can find the shock on eBay for under $40. The shock conversion loses a good bit of weight too. Like dis.. I then can get rid of the rotary damper which was a great idea, but lacked the final amount of engineering by Suzuki to get it right. For me, the rotary worked, but wasn't as smooth as it could be. The r1 shock I'm told is night and day handling wise. I have been able to hustle the TL around pretty darn well over the past 16 years. So if it handles even better, after the new shock, I'll be very happy. But I'll just get it running first... That way I can ride, and then do a nice comparison of the rear shocks.
The weather has been cooperating, so I worked on the motor swap tonight for a couple of hours. No pics, but I swapped front valve covers with my old one as it is perfect, and there were a few scratches on the replacement motor's front valve cover. I also removed the starter motor from the original motor and attempted to put it in the new motor. That didn't work. The oil cooler housing on the TLR motor hits the housing of the starter. Just barely. So the starter will get clearanced tomorrow at work. It's just on the aluminum housing and it'll be just fine. I also got all the frame spacers and engine mounting bolts installed, put the TLR water pump cover on, and hooked up a few electrical connections. I'll need to get some new blue thread locker as I can't find my existing tube. Once I have that, I can install the throttle body boots, and the thermostat housing. There's a lot of electrical connections, but as I hook up each item, like each coil, then the cluster of wires will get smaller and more obvious to where they go.