Prepping the crank cases

Following on from the last post on cleaning up the top end and removing the corrosion I am starting the crankcases this week. All the bearings have been removed and the joining surfaces are masked off for protection against accidental scratching with the dremil and wire brush.

Top End Refurbish

I attacked the top end of the engine with the dremil and stainless steel wire brush to remove the corrosion. I started with masking off and sealing the barrel and protecting the gasket surfaces from scratching etc.
Here is the before and after >

Wheels

I got the rear wheel and sub-frame sand blasted and I attacked the front wheel myself with paint stripper and a brass wire brush, it took a while but got there in the end. I getting a body shop to spray these up in the original gloss black, I figure its better than doing it myself with rattle cans as they can bake the paint making it more durable.

Here is a quick link to the original post on the state of the rear wheel >
http://2strokelover.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-lies-beneath.html

Bags

The engine is now fully stripped with all the internal components bagged ready for reassembly.

After an initial cleaning of the 2 crank casings I have run into a decision as to whether to proceed further to remove the corrosion on the exterior. This will mean masking off and sealing the insides to protect the bearings, but the engine will not be seen . . . decisions decisions.

Puller

With the aid of some basic engineering the puller has been crafted and coated. Works a treat and on a budget.

Flywheel

Came across my first real hurdle today -  the flywheel and how to remove. There is an aprilia tool for holding the wheel stationary to remove the nut but I made my own from some wood cutoff. The next task is to make a puller, again there is a dedicated aprilia tool for this but im going to make my own . . . which should be easy enough.

Engine Breaking

This weekend I attacked the engine. It is getting a total stripdown, I need to clean all the casings to remove oil and corrosion. It seems the head gasket/seal was shot so there was oil and coolant mixing away.