Since my FL350R #2 is 99% complete, I'm sick of it sitting around not running. Needs an Engine & starter rebuild, carb clean (or up-size), and other standard Engine reliability mods. Period. And this is something I can work on NOW in my heated garage versus the ice-cold pole barn shop. Starting a thread will help keep me on-task, too.

All other chassis-related stuff / upgrades will not be listed here.

Picked it up a couple years back in Zanesville, OH as a part of a 3-buggy deal. It had been sitting outside under a tarp then, and has sat in my dad's hay barn under a tarp for 2yrs.

The Engine turns freely...provided the quart of WATER in the crank isn't frozen. LOL! So it needs rebuild. Will also get converted from Salisbury clutch to 94c.

Gearbox will get opened up, inspected, and likely new needle bearings on the input shaft. Box has clean fluid in it and was capped, so I'm assuming the roller bearings are fine.

Attached the overall pics. Engine pics to come as soon as I get started on it, hopefully pulling it apart tonight.

Parts:

1. Crank seals -- got 'em.
2. Balancer seal -- got it
3. Starter rebuild kit -- got it
4. Gaskets -- got 'em, well...I think.
5. 6306.C3 crank bearing -- new FAG bearing ordered, ETA 2/10
6. 6307.C3 crank bearing -- new FAG bearing ordered, ETA 2/10
7. 6204 balancer bearings (2) -- new NACHI-Japan bearings ordered, ETA 2/10
8. Gearbox AB bearings -- not yet ordered
9. Replacement crank if needed -- got a clean one on hand
10. Fitting elbow for vent mod -- got it
11. Bellows for vent mod -- not yet ordered

Tools:

1. Bearing puller -- got it
2. Salisbury clutch puller -- don't have one, but can make one if needed.
3. Leakdown tester -- got it
4. Compression gauge -- got it
5. Bottle of PB Blaster -- oh yaaaa! lol

Needs a little TLC

Someone started to remove the paint from the roll cage?

No, they had these crappy roll cage pads that were actually pipe insulation with adhesive. Held moisture and created a little surface corrosion.

Gotta' love the hex tube nerf bars welded to the frame! lol

Slight change of direction....

Going to do a total teardown on (2) of the engines on my shelf, and then build one complete good Engine with new bearings/seals. Then pull the Engine out of that buggy, replace it with the rebuilt one, and then rebuild the one just pulled.

Engines are sitting on the workspace in the attached garage, but...my heater out there also runs on LP. My tank has been slowly but surely emptying from 20% Sunday...now down to 14% today and praying they come fill it up. Stupid weather can KISS MY A$$!

Got Engine #1's (uglier of the two) cases apart and crank removed with ease. My trusty DIY crank tool works again.

Engine #1 has some corrosion inside where some moisture would settle. Balancer bearings are shot dead. Main bearings actually spin nice once some PB was in there, but they are comin' out, too. No case damage. Piston has some nasty exhaust-side damage, likely from the bridge expansion. Rod bearing looks okay with no play.


Here we go...

And some more...

Onto the balancer bearing...

And finally...

New bearings and starter rebuild kit. I have a couple rebuilt starters in my stash, but will use this to rebuild the starter that came off this lower end.

- FAG 6306 C3
- FAG 6307 C3
- Nachi 6204 C3 (x2)
- RBK-5 starter rebuild kit (from eBay, won it for $13 shipped)

That's all for today. Hoping to get the parts degreased and cases media blasted tomorrow. Will also chuck the crank on the lathe and check crank runout.

Sure feels good to be working on a buggy again!

Slight delay....my '08 Ram is SLAMMING to a stop when I'm in reverse. Hoping it just ate parking brake pad and is randomly hanging up on junk when I'm in reverse. Found some other Ram owners on line that have had the EXACT same issue. I'm at 65k and have never looked at the rear brakes (discs or the parking drummies). Will need to take care of this ASAP!

Well, got my truck brakes fixed and I was right -- one of the driver-side e-brake pads had come off the shoe and was catching on the other pad (which was lifting off the shoe) when in reverse. THANK GOD it wasn't anything in the trans or the diff. Took 2-hrs of wrenching, but also replaced the rear disks and pads while I was at it.

Also made some progress on the Engine build. Got the cases completely cleaned up. The got power-washed, dried, media blasted, wire-wheeled (not bearing surfaces), #00 wool, and then #0000 wool. They look great and the media blasting even gives the cases a "sparkled". Crank has a little bit of "ugly" on the clutch side right where the oil seal rides, so this crank will not be used.

Got the rest of the parts out of their storage bins including a very clean stator/flywheel set, very clean crank, rebuilt recoil assembly, 102c clutch, and my G-Force jug & head I've been waiting and WAITING to run. Not shown but also included is a rebuilt starter, starter ring gear w/ recoil basket, balancer gears, clean balancer cover, and OddATV1 Engine (3) seal set.

This will be pretty and pretty quick when its done. Its going in buggy #1, and then buggy #1's l/c Engine is going into buggy #2.

Had to clean-up a 1st thread on an cylinder stud, and chased all the threads elsewhere on the cases.

Next, I need to finish cleaning the case gasket seal surfaces, Hoserize the bearing lube holes, pull a main bearing off the 'new' crank, and complete the vent mod. Then will layout everything to make sure Ive got all the parts before re-assembly day.

I brought everything indoors last night, too, so I could work on it this week. Gonna' be at or below zero almost every night this week.

Finally picked up a bearing separator from good ol' crappy HF today.

Tonight, my objectives include:
1. Getting that bearing off the good crank
2. Drilling out the one bad case dowel pin
3. Closing up the balancer-side vent
4. Cleaning up the main bearing lube holes

Only got #1 accomplished. Decided to clean out my truck instead.

Bearing came off with ease with the separator. But out of the box, the leading edge of both separator halves was very dull, like 3/16" edge dull. The bearing was literally touching the crank face, so I ended up taking the Metabo and a tigerpaw disc and sharpening it up. Did the trick. Bearing came off easy, adn the fine threads on the separator make it easy.

"Pittsburgh" brand Separator was $29.99 from HF, plus I had a 25% off coupon. This is pretty much only the type of crap I'll buy from HF.

BAD NEWS...the evilBay seller sent me the wrong effing bearing. I open the package the alleged FAG 6306 bearing is in, and its a SKF 6206 bearing. GRRRRR! I got it in the mail and popped it in the freezer bag with the other ones awaiting install, so it was a total surprise. Hoping the seller can get the right bearing to me ASAP. He's probably got another unhappy buyer who wanted a SKF 6206 but got a FAG 6306 instead! MORONS! I won't disclose the name of the seller unless they fail to right their wrong.

Good news is that I got the 6307 and one of the 6204's in with ease. Wiped the case down with acetone and let it evaporate dry and blew it off with the air gun. Put the Engine case on my 200k btu LP construction heater for about a minute, took the bearings out of the freezer, wiped off condensation that quickly formed, applied some Loctite sleeve retainer (green), moved warm cases to the bench, and the bearings dropped right in like pea-gravel dropping in the lake. =)

that's the attention to detail thing I was talking about the other day that just drives me nuts if someone would have spent another 5 seconds to peer check themselves to ensure they picked up the right bearings and they matched the order you could have given them a positive feed back now you have no choice but to warn others about their lack of attention to detail, how hard can that job be to match parts to what it says on the paper lol.

Amen to that! Sucks. I was hoping to button this lower end together tonight, and then have the day off tomorrow to spring clean my barn. Supposed to be 51 and sunny!

I ordered another 6306 bearing from another seller and should have it by Wednesday. The mutt seller doesn't have any listed on their store, and I want this Engine back together before this coming weekend.

EvilBay seller has the right bearing dropped to USPS Priority Mail. It will prob get here the same time as the other one I ordered (Weds). No worries about an extra bearing -- I've got a couple more stock engines to rebuild anyways.

Got a recoil cover gasket, intake gasket, and balancer cover gasket cut out of 1/32" material. I couldn't find any .020" gasket stock that didn't cost more than the center case gasket, so just using a Vesrah gasket I've already got. Also have a Speedchaser base gasket and a used stock head gasket set for this Engine.

Just waiting on the bearing...

Update: The bearing finally arrived Wednesday. Got all 4 bearings in today, along with the crank, balancer gear assembly/cover, stator/flywheel, and recoil/cover. Loctite'd, torqued, and buttoned up with new bearings, new gaskets, and an OddAtv1 seal set (they fit great). Just need to go dig up the small bolts for the recoil cover and the intake. Has a brand new pull rope, too.

That crank that was in the picture I intended on using turned out to have its own issues. Had a crack on the rod at the wrist pin bearing. I'll have to send that one out to be rebuilt with a new rod in the future. Ended up using the crank/rod that was in this Engine prior. Thought the rough spots on the shaft were on the balancer cover oil seal, but they were just outside of the seal diameter.

Will have the piston installed this week. I've got a speedchaser base gasket and a pair of stock head gaskets that will get sprayed with copper sealant.

I know this "Pete Garrison" worked top end and the pipe & Klemm muffler will throw down some power, so I'm planning on running a PWK39 carb or a Mikuni 38mm flatside. QUESTION: How the heck am I gonna' get either one of those carbs into the stock carb boot??? If I need to order a new boot, I'd like to get it ordered Monday so it'll be here before the weekend. I may just have to run a custom airbox setup, or run a stack filter mount.

Also want to track down some reeds. I'd like to buy the VF3 #V305B's off Halo, but no one anywhere can confirm if they'd work/fit on the FL350. Might go with a stock valve from the '88 CR250R. They come CHEAP and are a tick better than stock. UPDATE: I snagged a very clean '88 CR250R reed cage with nice reeds for $20.

Pics to come once I get the rest of the bolts on.

Here's that connecting rod that had the crack. Didn't notice it until I was pulling the old pin and wrist pin out, and they were REALLY stuck in there. Looks like someone tried to even grind it down or something b/c there is material missing at the top. Not complaining really, since I only paid $65 for this crank back in June '12, and also got a NOS flywheel for $9.50 in the same deal. Rest of of this crank is in great shape.

This crank will sit in an oily bag until I ever decide to have it rebuilt. Not only is the rod bad, but it has a noticeable amount of run-out, too.

All new oil seals from OddATV1. Good fit indeed. Just make sure that driven gear collar has a really smooth OD surface since it seals on that big double-sprung oil seal. I ended up wire-wheeling, #000 & #0000 steel-wooling, and polishing mine to get rid of a little bit of oxidation.

Was looking into this Pete Garrison top end I picked up. The wall clearance is TIGHT, as in 0.002" TOTAL. I'll put up some pics tomorrow. Might just take it to the local Honda shop and let them take a gander. It's an 80.50mm "COOL7" piston with the intake port and has mo exhaust bridge lube holes. Will also need to pickup an 18mm wrist pin and wrist pin bearing. And need to soak this piston in the carb clean bucket, as there's still some castor residue on the piston lube grooves and circlip grooves.

Looks, feels, and rolls a HELLOVA lot different than when I started...

Although I may pop the balancer cover off and swap out the driven gear. Its got some roughness on one side about 3/4" from the edge (like where it sat in muck or something). And when I roll the crank around, it will make a very small sound. Crank is true, no doubt whatsoever, per the dial indicator when chucked on my lathe. I know its the gear because there is no noise whatsoever when I pull that gear off and roll the crank and the counterweight by themselves.

The "G-Force" top end by Pete Garrison out of Florida...

Before I button this up, I want to transfer the ports onto paper to let some local PO.com experts have a look-see at the the magic this cylinder may (or may not) have.

One more of the piston...