851 restoration project

hindsight

It's been a while since I've posted, and I've not made as much progress as I should have.. a 999 project and a few other things got in the way for a little while. However, with renewed enthusiasm, I've been busy.

I'm pretty pleased whith how the heads and barrels have turned out. Once fully stripped, I used etch primer and PJ1, then baked them in an oven that I installed in the workshop, specifically for that purpose..

Now fully rebuilt with new valve seals, gaskets and clearances set appropriately (five requiring adjustment, which I fortunately managed to resolve with a small number of spare shims that I had on the shelf).

The main cases have also been recieving some treatment. No pics of that at the moment though. Next job will be to start re-assembly.

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

No plans to do so. I have a personal preference for originality where possible, and I've already had the Marzocchi unit refurbed.

Mr.R

Those cam pulleys look different to me? I've never seen them before with a flange on the outer faces.
I certainly don't run them (with an outer flange) and have thought of dumping the inner standard ones from the later motors to save weight, the later motors have steel washers behind the pulleys.
I've never known a belt try to run off the inside or outside of the pulleys. If everything's lined up correctly/running as it should they always self centralise IME.

Steve R

hindsight

Mr.R wroteThose cam pulleys look different to me?

Absolutely. I noticed the same, and assumed it due to being an early model (or at least, earlier than the 888's, 916s and later that I've previously worked on).

Here's a photo of one of the heads sitting next to a 748 head for comparison..

hindsight

More progress... horizontal cylinder on. I was hoping to get the vertical in place too this evening, but I bungled it and managed to snap the oil control ring.. 😡

I guess I'll have to go looking for a replacement - is a main dealer the best location for this or are there aftermarket alternatives?

BARONROJO

The pulleys on my engine are like those. It surprised me a bit but that's what's fitted (Strada '91)

hindsight

A case study in why an open clutch cover in Scotland is a bad idea...

Fortunately I have a spare basket in *much* better condition that will be going on shortly.

d6lc

Did you strip the cases apart to paint them?

hindsight

d6lc wroteDid you strip the cases apart to paint them?

I didn't - after popping the barrels off, I could quite clearly see the state of the insides. Previous posts worried about rust, but there was no evidence of that. I figured that the only possible advantage to completely stripping was if I could fit the cases in the oven for baking after painting, but a few measurements showed that they wouldn't fit.

Having taken some advantage from a friend who did similar on a 900SS/944 last year, I spent an age masking everything that needed to be masking, then primed and painted. Took a while, but it's looking good. I've got a photo on my phone of it in progress.. I'll post it in due course.

Hopefully I'll see the vertical barrel and head, and the clutch-side engine cover on in the next couple of weeks - I'm stalled at the moment waiting on a clutch cover seal, and a oil control ring, both of which should be in the post to me. 😎

oilyfinger

Sounds good. If you haven't stripped the cases are you sure the main bearings and oil gallery plug are OK? I had to strip mine as the mains were shot. I also discovered the oil gallery plug was making a bid for freedom. That latter part is real pain to do if it's all that needs doing and the work involved stripping a motor for a part that's £1.58!
Mine is still in bits and I thought to myself yesterday really I just need to allocate one evening a week to getting the motor sorted

Mr.R

BARONROJO wroteThe pulleys on my engine are like those. It surprised me a bit but that's what's fitted (Strada '91)

Just checked out my collection of Desmoquatro heads and my '91 Strada heads have the cam wheels without the outer flange??
The casting mark on both of them shows that they were cast in '91, so the bike was probably a late '91 model.

Steve R

hindsight

oilyfinger wroteIf you haven't stripped the cases are you sure the main bearings and oil gallery plug are OK? I had to strip mine as the mains were shot. I also discovered the oil gallery plug was making a bid for freedom. That latter part is real pain to do if it's all that needs doing and the work involved stripping a motor for a part that's £1.58!

It's a fair point, and one that I hope to not come to regret. I did specifically check for swarf in the oil screen, and split the oil filter (and filtered the oil) looking for debris, and once the piston is removed, you get a good view inside the cases, and there was certainly no evidence of oil gallery plug shavings, so I'm reasonably confident on that front.

Main bearings. Well, yeah - it would be a blow if they turn out duff, but I've not (yet) detected any untoward movement on the crankshaft.

Here's a photo of the engine while I was applying acid-etch primer..

oilyfinger

you going to use 2k paint? It's the best finish really but you need to be really careful and use a proper air fed mask taking air from a clean source. Or maybe easier, take it and have it painted by someone who has the kit. the health effects don't bear thinking about

hindsight

Mr.R wroteJust checked out my collection of Desmoquatro heads and my '91 Strada heads have the cam wheels without the outer flange?? The casting mark on both of them shows that they were cast in '91, so the bike was probably a late '91 model.

I've referred to this bike as a '91, because that's when it was registered, but checking Falloons book, I see that the M1R suspension that this bike has was only fitted for MY89-90, possibly supporting the theory that the flange is from earlier machines.

hindsight

oilyfinger wroteyou going to use 2k paint? It's the best finish really but you need to be really careful and use a proper air fed mask taking air from a clean source. Or maybe easier, take it and have it painted by someone who has the kit. the health effects don't bear thinking about

It's already painted - that photo of it primed was from a couple weeks previously -

I used PJ1 satin on recommendation - http://www.feridax.com/product/01919...ack_satin.html

You can see the finish here - it does look good:

I'll get some better photos once I've got the clutch side engine casing on in a few days time (currently waiting on the seal for that casing before closing that up.

d6lc

So did you paint over the case bolts, mask them or swap the out after painting?

hindsight

On both the case and the engine covers (and the various covers on the cylinder heads), I painted over the bolts, and have been replacing them as I build it up again.

Mind you, on the horizontal head and the alternator size casing I had to drill so many seized bolts out on disassembly that I was always going to have to replace the bolts anyway..

hindsight

Here we go - I was lucky enough for the postie to bring the clutch seal this morning, so managed to get the clutch side engine casing and clutch in place. These photos show the paintjob a bit better.

d6lc

Nice job, did you mask the Ducati logo's, or polish the paint off?

hindsight

d6lc wroteNice job, did you mask the Ducati logo's, or polish the paint off?

Once the engine covers were baked, I carefully ground the paint off with abrasive paper (240 grit).

hindsight

Engine build complete. New belts on, and ready for frame.

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