Project 73 Suzuki GT380

Dropped into my Suzuki dealer to collect an order of spares , I am amazed at how much new parts are available for early Suzuki’s , this lot hurt the back pocket quite badly , although half of it is for a customer

 

Lovely bike mate

 

it is Melbourne cup day , phones are quiet so I thought Id pull the GT380 engine down, it is in a **** state



head and barrels off



remove the oil pump and lines

clutch cover off and remove the clutch


4 pesky stripped screws, thank goodness for easy outs


cases apart

crank and gear box is now out, hmm, is that some bits of metal down there ?

why yes it is... looks like part of a bearing

there it is, sprocket output shaft bearing let go


Now to clean the cases up

 

I am lucky. In Brisbane that I do a lot of blasting for a guy who rebuilds cranks , he will be doing mine shortly

Phil started degreasing the cases before blasting them, I was quite sad to see that my lower case has had a hole punched in it about the size of 50c. The hole has been repaired but it is quite an ugly fix , It is not a matching numbers bike so Any cases will do. I called the guy who donated the bike and he has 2 or 3 sets of cases , he is going to dig them out and see if they are any good and shoot me some
Pics






2 steps forward , 1 back

 

Big load of parts arrived from cruising image this morning , In that lot was my crank rebuild kit , so I packed up my crank and rebuild kit and sent them off to my machinist to get it rebuilt , he has my barrels and pistons so now I wait



I pulled out all my rusty chrome parts and have couriered them to the chromer , probably won’t be back before Christmas so time to get back to doing some real work and stop playing with the gt380

 

The parts I am sending off are no longer available with the exception of the headlight rim, I can buy new for $120 overseas, but freight and gst blow it out .
I have ordered some chrome bits from Suzuki already

 

Started fitting up some parts such as the handlebars , switch blocks , front master cylinder , clutch perch, battery box, oil bottle

I kitted the front master cylinder , and rebuilt and painted the caliper

apologies if I rattle on a bit with my updates, but this is how I document what I have done

l received a text from my painter , tank and Side C overs have paint on them now
decals and Clear coat are next

if anyone is Brisbane is chasing good quality paint , pls PM me and I will put you in touch with my guy

 

the chrome is being done by Wizzard Classic chrome at Naranagba

 

Spare sets of cases arrived yesterday , they have been vapour blasted, there are not prefect but will do

Now I will move onto other things while I wait for the crank to be rebuilt

 

I know what you mean murdo , but all of the cases that I sourced have varying forms of physical and water damage, the bike will never be a 100 point restoration as my credit card won’t stretch that far , it is going to be ridden and enjoyed.

These cases are the best of a bad bunch and are a marked improvement over the set that came with it.

The gauges are another example of where I am am going to have to concede near enough is good enough, I have found some new old stock ones, but there is no way I am forking our $1200 plus gst and shipping for them.

After attacking this gt380, it makes me appreciate just well looked after my t500 was.

 

started cleaning up the alloy bits , hard work but very rewarding

 

New shoes , Avon roadriders , never used them , but they came highly recommended.

Should have the freshly laced wheels back next week