851 restoration project

hindsight

Not expecting a great deal of progress over the next week or so, but at least the Ariete (ARI.083) seals arrived, and I took the opportunity to rebuild the forks.

Usual story - drain the old oil, replace the rusty old bolts with stainless for aesthetics. Check the tubes (a couple of small chips in the chrome, but all well clear of the working area of the seals). Thoroughly clean everything - install new seals and refill leaving 170mm air gap. Job done.

hindsight

I had a call back from the uphostery company in Edinburgh that was working on the seat and I popped through this afternoon to collect them. Looks like a job pretty well done, compare it to the photo at the start of the thread.

A few other pieces of progress - brake calipers rebuilt and looking nice, and throttle bodies cleaned and replumbed with new hosing. I could have gone to town with the throttle bodies, but decided to just make it "presentable", rather than a full-on shine job.

I've also taken delivery of some stuff that I'm not looking forward to using... though I've got a lot of cleaning and masking to do before it gets anywhere near the engine, and I've been reassured that the end result will be worth it 😉

hindsight

While I remember.. the speedo cable. While it's not unusual for a speedo cable to be broken, in this case, it's the outer sheath that is broken, the inner drive cable is just fine.

Much like everyone else, I've got a bunch of old cable sheaths in my parts box, but none of them are the right size (about 79cm). Has anyone got a spare outer sheath of the right size one before I order a full replacement?

oilyfinger

great looking thread.
Speedo cable, no brainer, £12 from Ducati new for an SS one, they're slightly shorter and fit better.
I'm currently into my motor on my 91 851, the bearings were shot. I sold my 90 M1R bike in the summer. FYI dust seals for that one can be had from Moto Guzzi, I think they're NLA from Ducati.
also these things are great on fuel lines [not sure what size you'll need, these were for my airlines]

and I crimp them up with these

hindsight

Hi Oily -

I've not made an awful lot of progress in the last month or two. Weather, family and christmas seems to have gotten in the way. The frame and wheels are still away getting blasted, the individuals involved there have a lot on their plates, and I'm not in a hurry, and the rear shock is away to Eddie (who infrequently posts on this forum as "Mad Duk Man") to put back into a decent shape.

I've made a start on paintstipping the engine, but that's going to be an evil, ugly job to complete and am taking my time with it. I did however manage to lay my hands on a speedo cable to suit.

Great call on the fuel line clamps. I wasn't exactly liking all those jubilee clips, and connecting them up was a pain in the ass, so I can definately see some of those crimps being bought to re-do the fuel lines.

Mike

oilyfinger

I like the job on the seats, the ones on mine had been redone in Holland, bit naff tho!
I guess you know of Bike Paints in Fife, they did a lovely job on my SL side panel a few years back

Phil

jcmduc

Good thread and reminds me when in 93 I totally restored my 851..good crack to bring something back to life, will have to do it all again before its trip to Bonneville...

wgsvintage

You're doing great! That first ride will be priceless, and this part is fun too.
Bill

kennyjames

The 851 deserves your attention, a great bike.

hindsight

Over the last couple of months, I've struggled to find the time/motivation to crack on with this, partly due to Christmas and family stuff, and the rapid pace of life at work. The frame and wheels were also on the go-slow with supplier issues..

However - a little bit of progress, which is pretty motivating. I've now got the frame/subframes/yoke,etc back from the blaster, and I've passed it across to Willie the painter (who also did the paintjob for my wee Monza a couple of years back). I suspect that I'll also be giving him some of the fairing panels at some point, but plenty of time for that.

I also recieved the rear shock back from ERS Racing at Knockhill racing circuit.Eddie has done a cracking job of cleaning up the original Marzocchi shock and rebuilding it for use (which was supplied with the bike, which had a WP shock fitted)

Still awaiting the wheels back from the powder coater, and I haven't put nearly enough time into cleaning up the engine yet, though it is beginnig to look presentable. Photos of that next time.

Also

Great call on the fuel line clamps. I wasn't exactly liking all those jubilee clips, and connecting them up was a pain in the ass, so I can definately see some of those crimps being bought to re-do the fuel lines.

A bunch of 14-17mm clamps and a set of pincers are on order. Looking forward to re-doing the throttle bodies properly. It'll come in useful on my 888 also - I've got quick-release connectors on there, but the drives on the jubilee clips are a little troublesome as they catch when raising the tank.

Mike

hindsight

Time for a little more progress...

Picked the wheels up from the powder-coater in Falkirk this afternoon. Took a while because he had some equipment issues with his blasting equipment, but has done a fantastic job, and turned out to be a decent fella, and quite up to taking ten minutes out for a good old blether. He recognised the brembo wheels as being "something a bit special".

Spent some time this evening putting the bearings and cush drives back in. It's a shame the disc carriers are a bit grotty, but we'll get some rubber on those wheels, and see how the rest of the build goes..

Also got around to re-doing the throttle bodies with those nice double-eared o-clips. Much nicer than those worm-drive jobs! - really quite pleased at that, it'll come in useful for other bikes.

I've also picked up the frame from the painter, so the garage is starting to fill up with bits again. I'll grab photos of that some other time.

hindsight

Holy toledo, what an afternoon!

Found a few hours to spend on the engine. First two hours were trying to convince the valve stem seals of the vertical cylinder that they really wanted to leave the head. Took a while, but got there, and the veritcal cylinder is now all prepped and ready for paint.

I also took a deep breath and pulled the horizontal cylinder off the motor, then counted 14 seized/rounded allen bolts - the allen key could not turn them at all, without rounding them off.

All fourteen bolts had to be drilled out of the head and barrel to remove all the cam covers/hose attachments. Thankfully, I had a bunch of fresh Ti drill bits (I used about four or five of them, discarding each one as I felt it beginning to blunt). Aside from the nuisciance factor, they all came out cleanly, without any damage to components. Once I took the head of the bolts off with the drill, I could remove the component from the cylinder, then cut a slot in the top of the exposed headlessbolt with a dremel, and unscrew it with a screwdriver.

Acid etch and high temperature paint now on order. Next step will be to strip the horizontal cylinder and prepare it also.

I guess I'll need to find myself a gasket set also. I've got a few odds and ends in my spares box, but a complete set would be useful. I think I'll do some phoning around tomorrow.

oilyfinger

I think you only need the head gaskets, so long as the side covers come off ok. I think it's general to use three bond for the crank case to crank case joint. Also Mr R was saying drill and tap the oil gallery from under the barrels [where the O ring is] to M4 and put a grub screw in, should cut down on oil leaks from that area. I think I'm going to use 2k satin on my cases in the odd place they need doing.

hindsight

oilyfinger wroteI think you only need the head gaskets, so long as the side covers come off ok.

Virtually every gasket tore on the way off (rocker covers, cam covers, intake), plus I've got little confidence in the various o-rings (e.g. on the cams), they don't feel as supple as they ought to.

I've used 3-bond on engine covers before (mental note: need to reshim the pickup there). Currently not planning on splitting the cases, so oughtn't need to worry about the crankcases.

oilyfinger wroteAlso Mr R was saying drill and tap the oil gallery from under the barrels [where the O ring is] to M4 and put a grub screw in, should cut down on oil leaks from that area.

Thanks - M4 grub screws now on order.

oilyfinger

if you're going to drill and tap the oil ways then you need to split the cases to keep them clean really. While it's out I'd be tempted to do the mains, mine are shot. but again that's case split time!

hindsight

oilyfinger wroteif you're going to drill and tap the oil ways then you need to split the cases to keep them clean really.

Taking my time, I used a M4 tap, lightly screwing it in, and removing it completely and cleaning the threads of it every turn of the tap. There is so little material removed (and most of it came out on the tap) that it doesn't merit a case split. Sealed with loctite, and grub screw now in.

Additionally, once the engine is back together, I'll be flushing the engine with a fill of cheap oil before I drain and refill with the good stuff.

Wheels now back from tyre fitter, and added to the growing collection of stuff awaiting the rebuild.

I took a day off work yesterday to make a bit more progress. Both cylinders stripped (grrr.. those valve seals were troublesome to come out!) cleaned and masked. Will need just a final degrease and will be ready for paint. Additionally a full top-end gasket/seal set and a pair of belts arrived in the post earlier in the week, so that's all ready.

Engine starting to clean up too. I've been stripping the paint using a combo of steel wool, pot scourers, paint strippers, and wire brushes on a rotary tool. Slow progress, but is starting to look reasonable. I'll be removing the alternator/clutch covers and starter motor in due course. I reckon another half day will see the engine ready for paint.

Jammin851

Your hard work is making me feel lazy. I'm going to spend a couple of hours on mine just to make me feel better.

Sorci851

I love these projects.

Projects about rescuing Ducatis makes me really happy to read about. I was in high school when the 851 went into production, and I knew some day I would own one....the most beautiful motorcycle in my opinion. To a high school kid at the time, the 851's US $12,000+ price tag may just have well been a $1,000,000. My dream came true a few years ago when I found a neglected 92 851, and ever since then I have been pouring lots of work and love into it. I love seeing these bikes cared for and ridden like they were intended....rolling works of art.

hindsight

I agree. I recall being in my formative motorcycling years, reading "Bike" (UK magazine), and marvelling at these 888SP models : I hadn't the faintest idea what the difference between the models, nor why anyone would pay the seemingly outrageous price being asked by Ducati.

That began a long period of fascination, that to the frustration of my wife endures to this day.

Now that I've got the 999 (see my post in the "for sale" forum) off my bench, I'll be getting back onto the 851 next week.

Pompey

Just out of interest will you be upgrading the Marzocchi shock? The Showa and ohlins units make a huge difference in handling performance ...

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