New member Intro

[jojob]

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to say hi, and hoping to get a lot of help from everyone. I picked up what I guess is a 76 GT500 this weekend(basically a barn find). The story is that someone was trying to build it back up, but passed away. It has been sitting in someone's barn for last 6 yrs. Supposedly at the time, it had spark and the guy was just trying to find a petcock for it, but couldn't. I am now the new owner, and trying to figure out what I want to do to it. I thought about just parting it out, but I do enjoy bringing stuff back to life. I know this bike needs a lot of work to bring it fully back, but it does have a spark, so I am going to hook gas to it tomorrow and see if it will at least start. I am new to these older bikes, and have only really worked on 90's and up bikes. So I am a little lost. I have looked for a "break-down" manual, but I guess they didn't have them back then. As you can probably guess this bike is older than I am. Anyways, I will post some pics, and please feel free to comment or give any suggestions or help that you want.

[jojob]

More photos; not sure why some of them are showing up sideways.

[ConnerVT]

Happy reading: T500/GT500 Service Manual

[GTandcbr]

Hi welcome to the madhouse/forum! Okay so you know you have your work cut out to get this bike back to some semblance of order.... there are a few things you need to do before trying to start this old girl as it's been in the shed for at least 6 years but probably a lot more before that. Being a stroker you need to look after the crank seals first before firing it up. The seals can harden and split as all rubber does over time. There are a couple of ways to do this. One is to remove the jugs/barrels and fill the crankcase up with diesel and over a period of weeks turn it over by hand. The other is to buy seal sofening oil. The next stage then is to flush the petrol tank and strip and clean the carbs. I see the bike has pods fitted instead of the standard airbox. Make sure they are clean and clear. Make sure the battery is fully charged fully charged plugs and points clean with timing set. Let us know how you get on any questions just ask.
Again welcome

[GTandcbr]

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[jojob]

So I did try to crank it, and some rusty water like material came out of the left cylinder by the plug. The pistons move fine, so I pulled the jugs to look. The right side had a milky oil looking substance in it, and the left side had the rusty water/oily material. The first pic is of the left side, and the second pic is of the right side. Any thoughts?

[GTandcbr]

I would suggest that your bike has been stored outside for a while as it looks like it has ingested some water. That milky substance looks like a mixture of oil and water. Its good news that the engine was not seized.

[jojob]

So I was thinking the same thing, and went to drain the oil. The oil that came out looked new. I did notice 2 big plugs under it. I only opened the one on the left hand side of bike. Is the other one for the oil as well? So do I just clean up the piston areas, and put it back together, or is there something I should do before? Thanks for your help

[GTandcbr]

First of all there are two types of oil in this engine. There is 2t engine oil which is stored in a tank and is fed by a pump to lubricate the crankshaft small end bearings and the upper cylinder walls. This oil is burnt off during combustion and goes out the exhaust.
The other oil is contained in the transmission to lubricate the gearbox. The two are kept seperated by rubber seals on the crankshaft.
The oil you removed was likely the transmission oil. Please don't disturb the other bolt you mention it contains the gearbox stopper detent plunger on the end of a spring.
I would definatey do the diesel thing to the top of the crankcases and turn it over on the kickstarter to clean the inners as much as possible and dispel any water.
Alternatively the only proper thing to do is split the crankcases.

[jojob]

Well I went ahead and took the engine off the frame. I figured it needed cleaned up as well. So I guess I can just split the crankcases, and clean the inners. This would be the best way, right? Is there anything that I should do or check while cleaning it up?

[GTandcbr]

Be sure to unbolt the cases in sequence each bolt is numbered and I think I would check the condition of everything whilst it is apart. It is not necessary to disturb the gearbox it can be left in situ if you want. It may save you some work. Buy some threebond instant gasket for when you come to reassemble the cases. If you are not sure if something is okay put some more pictures up so some of the gurus on here can comment.

[dorT500]

So I was thinking the same thing, and went to drain the oil. The oil that came out looked new. I did notice 2 big plugs under it. I only opened the one on the left hand side of bike. Is the other one for the oil as well? ............

From here http://www.ozebook.com/compendium/techbuls/index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[GTandcbr]

That was a good spot! Never seen or heard of that before.

[jojob]

Thanks so much for your help so far. Next question is an easy one. Is there an easier way of cleaning the water with rust and oil out of the crank case without actually splitting the cases? I have flipped engine over and dumped a good amount of it out, where nothing is really coming out. But when I turn the crank, it always looks like it has fresh rusty oil on one side, and milky oil on the other. After looking at what all I would have to take off to split the cases, it just has me a little concerned.

[GTandcbr]

If i were not splitting the cases i would be filling the crankcase with diesel right to the top. This will wash the oil and sludge from everywhere. Dont worry this is a tried and trusted method used by some members on this forum. Yes it smokes like hell when you start it up after but it soon clears. If you are nervous about diesel i have heard you can use a mixture of petrol and 2 stroke oil after all that is what goes into the cases anyway. The difference with diesel is it will soften and lubricate the seals too.
Just to be sure this is for the crankcase not the gearbox