Success!

[robert campbell]

With Ian's expert tutelage I lit the 1975 WB up with a freshly rebuilt water pump last night. Bike has 5k miles and runs great after some carb cleaning. I was able to remove the pump without drilling the hole and not ruining the pump shaft. Worst part was getting the impeller off. She was stuck a bit.

Paint is next, but last night I HAD to ride her. Strapped on a clean windshield washer reservoir from one of my early Mustangs with a bungee cord. Half full of gas. No tank or side panels. Rob the geek is ready!!

Bike runs like a top. Pulls hard and is like a Cadillac when compared to my T-500 Titan! Smooth as silk and wow, so much more power than the 500! Been a long time since I rode a GT-750!!

Coating the tank today and then off to the painter! Back to 1975 candy gypsy red! It’s original color!

Went under the bike today, and no oil leak from the pump discharge hole after a full temp cycle!!! Did the run with just water. Drained it out and there was some “stuff”, but overall very clean. I have two quarts of the Kawasaki coolant that I can dilute to a 50/50 mix.

Any thoughts on antifreeze and water pump lube?

Pictures soon. This is one nice bike! One owner!

Rob

[H2RICK]

Congrats, Rob.....although your temporary "gas tank" might not be recommended by the Insurance Underwriters Association !!!

Any antifreeze that's rated as compatible with aluminum (as most are these days) will be suitable. Water pump lube is not really necessary because your bearings are lubed by the tranny gear oil and the mechanical seal doesn't really require any lube.....as long as the coolant is clean clean clean. Change your coolant and flush the system every 2-3 years or so to be on the safe side and you should be just fine. One last tip: when you mix your coolant use only DISTILLED water.....not filtered.....but DISTILLED......just like you'd use
tp top up your battery. Your Buffalo will thank you for your kindness.

[robert campbell]

You da man!! Distilled it is!!

Rob

[rngdng]

CONGRATS!!!! Glad to hear another Buffalo is back on the road. You'll love it.



Lane

[Suzsmokeyallan]

On the topic of radiators for the Buffalo, I had some I am cleaning up for painting so along with this i decided to clean out the units.
There was nothing too serious that i could see, so in went some diluted lime-a-way to just remove any possible lime scale or residue.
I did this a few times to the ones I was working on and soon enough they were clean and looked like new again inside.
The thing I'm getting to is this, after they were dried and put aside for a few weeks I figured the insides would be clean.
Now I've looked at them recently I notice one of them had some very thin dried flakes that i was able to blow out.
It seems the PO used regular water in this one for a while and now these wafer thin dry flakes have pulled away from the interior after the chemical cleaning and drying.
So as Rick says, use only distilled water and coolant for aluminum or magnesium, it pays to avoid problems such as this.

[robert campbell]

Back in the early 1970's I worked in a radiator shop. Recored, repaired, and "rodded out" radiators and heater cores. From cars to industrial things as big a D8 Caterpillar bulldozers. I was the skinny, bendable (no more) kid who could dive under the dash and remove that heater core!

One thing that I learned was how much people neglected their cooling systems. Come on, how hard is it to drain and refill a radiator? The coolant I would drain out was amazing!! Even in a couple year old cars.

I change the coolant in all my cars every year! Now I have a bike that has a radiator! Same thing!!!

Rob

[Suzsmokeyallan]

Great news then you're on the ball, although not as flexible anymore.