1976 Gold Wing Swamp Thing

[Jimbonaut]

They sure do, and this thing's not exactly lithe at the best of times

 

[pidjones]

IF (sometimes a big if) you can get the bleeders out, you can put metric zirc fittings in their place (loose will usually do) and pump the pistons out with a gease gun.

 

[Jimbonaut]

Water pump etc arrived so pitter patter let's get atta. Everything OEM, followed a great walk-thru I found over on ngwclub and got it done, buttoned up with new stainless hardware

I'd already bead blasted the timing belt covers and picked up another set of gaskets for them - not new but better than the shitty ones I had. Also, as one of the cover bolts sheared off in the case, I cut the stem of the bolt and epoxied the head onto the cover to con that all four are in place. The two outer bolts are enough anyway apparently.

There are two o-rings over from the OEM kit I used which is a little disconcerting - any ideas what they're for?

 

[Maritime]

look at a parts fiche and see where they go.

 

[Jimbonaut]

New valve cover gaskets arrived, so the bead blasted valve covers got installed today -

They may get glammed up a bit, they may not.

 

[Sderbyshire]

Swampy is looking swanky!

 

[pidjones]

How did you tack the gaskets to the covers? I used old Indian Head because it comes off with acetone if necessary. Sucks getting RTV out of the groove.

 

[irk miller]

Indian Head is a must have in the shop for gaskets. Best stuff ever. I also helps make covers easily removable without ruining gaskets, in the event they need to come off for adjustment or maintenance.

 

[Jimbonaut]

How did you tack the gaskets to the covers? I used old Indian Head because it comes off with acetone if necessary. Sucks getting RTV out of the groove.

I didn't need any for the valve cover gaskets (at least not yet), they fitted up perfectly. I got them from a guy called georgefix on eBay, really good quality, as the ones that came on the bike were proper roached. For the timing belt covers I just used what I had lying around - three bond, sparingly. Just enough here and there to hold it in place while I finagled the things into place. But I'll put some Indian Head on the shopping list, thanks for the Indian heads-up. Groan.

 

[Maritime]

Ha, yep the valve cover I always seem to get on without, belt covers I always need something to glue them on a bit.

 

[Jimbonaut]

My mate gave me four used bottles of CLR industrial Grease Magnet (he used it to clean up some mufflers) but the plan is to pour it through a filter or two and then dump it all into the radiator to clean it out. Good plan? I'll rinse the bejeezus out of it after and then once it's all hooked up on the bike I'll flush the whole system a few times before filling up with coolant. Think the CLR routine will do the job?

 

[Maritime]

It should.

 

[Maritime]

use distilled water to rinse it. then run it with distilled water after till hot and it cycles a few times, rinse repeat a couple times then get the Ethylene Glycol coolant. Should be green and they sell it at CT. 2 different brands but use only the one that says Ethylene Glycol and water as the main ingrediants.

 

[irk miller]

Ethylene Glycol is clear. It’s nothing to do with the color of the coolant.

 

[Maritime]

Ethylene Glycol is clear. It’s nothing to do with the color of the coolant.

I know but the one CT sells here that is the right one is green. they have reds and blues that state Contains Elthylene Glycol but they have other additives in them you don't want in the GL block. They have to dye them per law here. can't sell a clear coolant. But if you have access to a lab supply store you can mix your own clear with 50/50 ethylene and distilled water.

 

[pidjones]

Definitely NO SILICATES! I generally buy that intended for Japanese cars or go to the Honda auto dealer and get theirs (a heck of a lot cheaper than the motorcycle dealership, and the same stuff!) Silicates eat the mechanical seal in the water pump.

 

[Maritime]

Definitely NO SILICATES! I generally buy that intended for Japanese cars or go to the Honda auto dealer and get theirs (a heck of a lot cheaper than the motorcycle dealership, and the same stuff!) Silicates eat the mechanical seal in the water pump.

this. Here in Canada Canadian Tire stocks 2 silicate free you can buy cheap and I've been using for 8+ years. 3 refills so far and 0 issues, half the cost of the Honda car dealer price and 1/4 the cost of the bike dealer.

 

[Maritime]

pretty sure it's this one, comes premix 50/50 and this concentrate you can mix with distilled water.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/...oncentrate-3-78-l-0293020p.html?rrec=true#spc

 

[irk miller]

Canada and their regs. LOL They don't sell clear here either, but good to know how that works. We have an orange option that's Ethylene Glycol.

 

[Maritime]

Yep, I have used 2-3 brands over the years and they are always green here. I have seen the orange in O'reillys in Maine though but they have the green in Peek brand over there too that is correct and cheaper so I bought jugs of that the trip my head gaskets went, I eventually stopped buying coolant that trip and switched to distilled water from Walgreens and Walmarts as the coolant was getting pricey every 30-40 miles LOL.