FZR 250 Engine Swap Saga (with pictures) - advice welcome!

Those valve clearances are not bad, but they are out of spec. Mine was worse than that. When you pull the shims out you need to measure them to see what the new size needs to be, and see if they can be used elsewhere to minimise the number you need to buy/swap.

The timing marks are as close as you can get and there is nothing you can do to get it closer.

 

The engraved number is ok, but just make sure there is no distortion/damage/wear on the shims. If so do not re-use.

 

Some shims may not have the laser engraving. You wont know untill you get them out.


My suggestion is that you print up a card the same as the one you have posted up and clean and sticky tape the shims on it as you remove them.



When i did the shims in my last bike i checked the thicknesses with a set of digital verniers, not terribly accurate but good enough for the job. Some of the shims had small font and some were badly faded, some had nothing. So i suppose it depends how messed with the motor is. I highly doubt you could make an FZR250 motor get anywhere near the 130,000 or so the old Kawasaki had on it, even if you rebuilt it over and over.

And make sure your sticking with the metric measurement on the feeler gages. I think after i had my bike back together i measured it up in thousandths of an inch. lol. Didnt matter as i had no intention of pulling it apart again.


I got the shims off a guy over the other side of Melbourne and it cost me $80, that was an 8 valve motor and i was able to reuse a few. I think they were just under $10 each including GST. I could find the details, i did notice that he is advertising in the dirt bike magazines.

The fact that they are all consistant is a good sign. If you had some with no clearance i would have been concerned. The exhausts will close up quicker than the inlets, temprature and quicker wear and all that.



Take care with the timing chain tensioner. Release it and gt the same out and pay carefull attention to re-tensioning it. Turn the motor over by hand for a few rotations and check the timing again.


Cheers, Bob.

 

Whats the moly meant to go on???


You can buy moly lube. Its for valve trains.


Cheers, Bob.

 

I checked the 400 manual and it specifies a molybdnum disulphide oil, not a moly grease. I presume that is what Rodeobob is talking about using

 

Molly based grease for the shims, only a tiny bit, it holds them in place while you are putting it together.



Molly oil / cam lube is for bearings or cam lobes.
Molly or cam lube is harder to wipe off. The theory is that by the time it is all wiped off you will have oil pressure up and a constant oil supply.


I would never grease an engine bearing or camshaft. Its just not the right stuff, it wont liquify till it reaches and astronomical temprature, its not meant to be pumped through a motor, its grease not oil.


Cheers, Bob.

 

I would go along with that. I only use new engine oil to lube the dry parts when assembling.

 

you could try <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.precisionshims.com.au/a/Precision_Shims_Australia">http://www.precisionshims.com.au/a/Prec ... _Australia</a><!-- m -->
not sure if they will be any cheeper but thats one I had saved a link to.

Tina

 

Yeah thats the guy i got mine off.

Price depends on how big in diameter. I think its $8ea +GST.


Bob.

 

Most machine shops can do the shims, i would say thats where they are going.

My mate had a Diesel workshop and use to get quite a few Toyota diesels in, they had bucket and shims and you would have to measure and send them off to have the shims ground down. He had a bit of board made up to put the shims in to keep them in order.


Might be a bit cheaper than getting the new ones, but you will not get them back with the size etched onto them. Can make it a bit more tricky for next time you need to do valve clearances.



Cheers, Bob.

 

Hi Shredder
I think that the advice you have been given for the oil after re-assembly is very accurate, these are the same steps that I have been using for years on race motors that I rebuild for racing. It's a method that I have been very happy with the results of. We get good strong motors with excellent compression and a good seal between the bore and rings. This might be a little controversial but I believe in heat cycling motors a few times then using the more robust run in methods. Mineral oil helps this method work well by reducing the potential for glazing the bore.
A little bit of dinosaur in the oil helps stuff mate together well <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s --> .

Tina

 

If all you are doing is shimming the valves to get the clearances back to spec, all you need is a small tub of grease and an oil can with the same oil in it that you run in the bike.


All the bits youve pulled off need to go back in the same place. Dont mix any of it up.


Your not running anything in. If you put it together and start it all in the same day you wont need molly lube. If you do not start it in the same day leave the valve/cam cover off/loose and dose it up with oil before you do try cranking it with the starter.


Bob.