Hey all, copied these posts out of my intro thread to start my actual build thread. This is my first attempt at rebuilding/repairing any engine. Should be a fun ride!

The patient- '06 drz400s, with a bad top end ~12,500 miles on the clock

My goal- rebuild and ride!

The bike:


Got her home, and took some photos of its current state. There is some pretty bad scouring on the exhaust cam journal. There's also some fragments on the top of the piston head. I haven't pulled the jugs off to inspect further, but that's my next step. Here's some photos;

Cylinder walls look OK


but there's definitely some chewed up bit in there


Head:


Damaged Cam Journal:




Valves:

You got it this way I take it? What caused the damage?

Yeah, it  popped up on craigslist in my hometown, price was about right so i jumped on it

Not sure what caused the damage. It has 12k on it and lived most of its life as a commuter. After some reading there are a few things that could have caused lack of oil in the top end.

I've got too many projects, but i plan on spending some more time on it this weekend.

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

The more reading I do the more it looks like I'll have to risk more cash than i'd like to for a rebuild. As much as I hate to see it, she might get hoisted onto the chopping block.

I'm going to get an old friend who is a moto mechanical to come by and look at before i start tearing her down though.

If anyone has a good top end for sale, let me know! Would feel more comfortable buying from another member as opposed to someone on ebay askin $500+

part it out...and if you do please give me first bite at the wheels.

Make me a tempting offer to persuade me to start he part out!!

I'll know by the end of this weekend what I'll be doing with it

I've been researching as much as possible. Haven't had any help so its all been reading off of old threads.

I've gone over this thread more than a handful of times, pretty informative, and even has some almighty Eddie posts;
http://www.thumperta...lown-drz-motor/

Finally found a decently priced head. $165 shipped for a 2003 drzE head with a valve not seating properly. Might have been a mistake(bad valve), but haven't had any help/replies. So I pulled the trigger. I'm willing to try everything just short of paying someone to rebuild it, but without any pointers/suggestions I'm just feeling blindly.

Here's some of the photos;

Where in VA are you? I rebuilt my top end last summer. Not sure what help/replies you are looking for. I have a cylinder if you think you might need a new one.

South west VA, about 30 minutes south of VA tech. Thanks for the heads up the on the cylinder. Going to spend some more time on it this weekend, I'll let you know.

List of things to be double checked; cylinder wall, piston/rings, rod for side play or damage, plastic oil pump idler gear, and oil filter for any debris. Anything else to look over?

I read something about the oil screens(one in frame and one in the engine) I can get to the one in frame, but i'm sure i'll have to dig into the case to get at the other.

Haha after rereading my last post, I was definitely grumpy this morning. Not really even sure what help/replies I was looking to get. All of my small questions and concerns can be answered in previous threads. I guess my main concern is;

- Does(or should) the bottom end be split to clean any debris, before the rebuild?
  ----I read a thread where the guy rebuilt his top end and just changed his oil a few times after the rebuild. Seem sketchy though..

steezin_and_wheezin, on 12 April 2012 - 10:58 AM, said:

i'd drop the oil and look for contaiminants. if it didn't look terrible, i'd assume the filter caught it all....


new / used head, big bore kit (because, hey, it's time !) and enjoy the ride.

i'd assume the PO sold the bike to you because he was too lazy or unskilled to attempt to rebuild the minor problems.

disclaimer: i'm very cheap ;-)

Got some more time on it today. Drained the oil(or lack thereof) from the frame, engine, and filter. Just a bit from the frame and engine, more from the filter. I'm assuming they drained the oil before beginning to work on it. Good new is - all was free of any debris!

Pulled the cylinder jug off- piston, rings, walls, cam chain, and tensors all appear to be OK. Doesn't look like there was any valve to piston contact. There was a small spot on piston that looked rough(see photo.) Minimal side play in the rod, and was able to smoothly turn the engine over by hand. I feel pretty comfortable that the bottom end is still in good shape.

Will be inspecting the idler pump gear, and cleaning all parts this weekend.

The head i bought just shipped today, and I'll be getting a set of stock S cams from local member. Guess I should go ahead and get new gaskets all around.

New Questions:

- Should I go with the E gasket upgrade? Have heard of it but haven't researched it much
- Should I replace the piston and rings? Or could i get away with just new rings?
- Is there anything else I should replace other than just gaskets?

Photos:

Edited by steezin_and_wheezin, 13 April 2012 - 04:01 PM.

The gasket is up to you, if you're not going to put in E-cams then single layer won't do much at all except make a thinner gasket.
I would change the piston and rings, 12k miles on it and it's already apart might as well. Make sure you get new circlips for the piston pin.

Thanks for the info jz!

After successfully rejetting my SuMo, I am gaining more confidence working on the DRZ's!!

My moto mechanic friend stopped in last night and looked it over. Went pretty well, learn a few things and am feeling pretty confident i'll get this thing up and running. He said since there was still horizontal machine marks on the piston skirt, I'd be good to reuse it. Rings definitely need to be replaced as they are gapped pretty bad. The scoured cam journal toasted the original head, not worth fixing. He's going to do a minor hone on the cylinder just to be sure. Also said we could fix up the bad valve in my new head no problem!!

Got the new head in the mail today, going to look them over a bit tonight. Then setup a time to go over the my friends and get all the parts 100%

Will be ordering gaskets and fluids here in the next few days.

If you change the valves you should cut the seats as well.  From what I understand it takes a special cutter to do the seats properly, does your buddy have that?  Also, no lapping of the valves if they are the coated version.

Good to know, thanks for the heads up for sure! I'm just starting into researching cylinder head rebuilds/repairs, and have lots to learn still

Not 100%, but I'm pretty sure he has access to all the needed tools/machinery. He's actually works at a motorcycle shop that's local here

Not much to see in the new head, so I dropped it off with my friend. Cylinder will get honed up, and valve will be replaced. Going to attempt to use the valve out of the original head, but will get a new one if needed

Ordering my gaskets, piston rings, TT oil change, coolant, loctite, and maybe a few other clicks and whistles while I'm at it.

Anything random I should replace/check while I'm at it?

New head has a bad valve guide... Back to square 1

steezin_and_wheezin, on 17 April 2012 - 11:46 AM, said:

Heads UP:

the guys here, and at my local diesel reman shop informed me the cylinder walls are plated with nikasil. it's extremely hard, and very very thin. Once it's breached however, it will not last. Short version: skip the hone !

I was told by several sources that all this cylinder needs is a little soak in PBBlaster and then a very light working (hand) with brown scotch-brite pads. All you're doing is removing the carbon, you don't want to effect the nikasil at all.

following your progress, i did a similar ring job on mine a couple thousand miles ago. thankfully not head work on mine, yet.

:-)

Good to know, thanks ohgood. he's done a few drz rebuilds, but i'll definitely run that one by him!

Well we're not quite at square 1. he was able to get the guide seated, just have to add guide seals to the list. Its in pretty well, but now i have an 'unkown' hahah. New guides and all the machine work to go with it is steep. I still have some budget left, but not enough for a $500+ head.

Going start ordering all the gaskets, seals, and fuilds this weekend. But going to keep an eye out for another fair priced head as well.

Edited by steezin_and_wheezin, 19 April 2012 - 03:57 PM.

I seem to remember that seating the valves was tricky... something about lapping them is a no-no... replace the valve seats and don't use kibblewhite (sp?) valves... eddie can sell you the best valves on the market if you need one.