How I changed the crankshaft seals on my 1970 Kawasaki H1 500 triple

in this video i'll be showing you how i changed the crankshaft seals in my 1970 kawasaki h1 500 triple the first thing i had to do was to remove the engine from the bike take off the barrels and pistons and strip the bottom end into all its parts with the engine all stripped down i decide to clean the crank cases first so i take them out into the garden and give them a spray down with some of my bike cleaner and hose them off with a hose they will they blasted about 10 years ago but they come up like brand new with all the grease and grime removed i headed over to my barbecue to dry them off five minutes later they're all dry so i lifted them carefully out of the bbq went back into the garage to start work on the crankshaft seals the crankshaft looks in quite good condition the bearings actually feel really nice but the seals are very loose to rotate and some of them had some damage on the outside and the very end seal was really loose it just pulled on and off so it's about to go anyway the big end bearings feel really smooth and have no play so they'll be good to go again so now i'm going to start stripping the crankshaft so i grip it in the vise in some soft jaws to remove the top bearing the little c-clip and the oil plate the wire c-clip just prises off with a screwdriver then i use my sykes pickaband bearing remover to pull off the bearings they clip into the inner track and can remove a bearing without causing any damage whatsoever so it can be used again if it's good but i'll be replacing all of these with new skf bearings with c3 clearance the four oil plate screws are usually very tight but come undone easy with the jis screwdriver the crankshaft had previously been scratched with a line across all six webs this is to aid alignment on the assembly so i could reuse this where the rulers placed across all six they all lined up perfectly so next job was to press off the m web using an old gadget pin on my press these old crankshafts can sometimes be really hard stuck together and need a fair bit of force to separate sometimes five or six turns is not uncommon but the flywheel web came off and i could get off the first connecting rod and big end and that felt really nice so now i can remove the inner flywheel for that end cylinder with all the flowers apart i can now look at the seals have a quick look at them and they're quite bad i'm glad i did decide to strip the crankshaft these wouldn't have lasted much longer this one's actually split this m1 is really loose it's got no elasticity left at all and the bearings had slight rust damage on them probably from storage but felt smooth but they're all going to be replaced so they'll just go in the bin with all the parts cleaned up ready for reassembly i lay out the bearings and seals on the bench these bearings are skf with c3 radial clearance for high speed running and the seals are oem spec from japan and very good quality the first thing i'm going to do is replace the end bearing and seal assembly so i grip the flywheel in the vise in in the soft jaws pick up the bearing place it over the axle and tap it on with a round drift and a hammer it goes down easily with a few taps with the bearing in place i put on the seal collar and poking the o-ring pushing it down with a screwdriver i use special rubber grease to put on this new seals just for their first bit of running to give them the best shot in life a nice smear on that seal i then slide it over onto the crankshaft and then i have to replace the sprocket and do up the nut tight with a nut type the next thing i do is tap over the tab washer with my punch and a hammer i then remove the part assembled crankshaft turn it over and re-grip it in the vise using my aluminium soft jaws to replace the inner bearings and seals the last bearing has a snap ring groove and must be put on the crankshaft with a groove facing towards the center of the engine that's better those seals feel much tighter than the last ones so now i'm going to use my ruler and a magnet to line up the marks to replace the next flywheel web so it's just done by eye so you line it up and then on this side as well and when you're happy give it a light tap of a hammer just to secure it so i can lift it into the press to press the flower web on then using a suitable pressing punch probably a crank pin out of a crf450 i press the crankshaft back together once it's pressed together this little dowel goes in a hole that's got half cut in the shaft and half cut in the web is tapped in with a punch then it goes straight in nice and smooth i then replaced the next connection rod and big and bearing i always make sure the made in japan lines up on the same side just because i like to there's no real reason but it looks good i use a bit of zx1 extra lube to lubricate the big end bearing to give it its first bit of lubrication when the engine first starts and then i replace the next flywheel web just by eye i use a small set square to help line up the two edges of the flywheels this reduces the amount of tapping i have to do with a copper hammer in the end to true it up with the flywheel web pressed on i remove it from my press to start truing with my copper hammer but i had an accident and i hit my thumb and i had to go to a e it was really bad i needed stitches but anyway i don't think i'll be doing that again for a little while so i had to go and do some lighter work when i returned so i went out into the garden to do a bit of rubbing down at the side covers it was a nice day to be in the garden rubbing down some side panels but my thumb was throbbing really bad and i really wish i hadn't hit with a two kilogram copper hammer but hey sometimes these things happen you just have to persevere so i went in the garage to look for some spray and i couldn't find any silver the right color so i had to ring my friend neil hello is that neil great now do you remember the code for the silver paint for the kawasaki engines like my h1 i'm going to paint them in the garden what you were doing for me in your booth well you can do them straight away if i bring them over okay that'd be absolutely brilliant i'll whiz over straight away on my super six it's a lovely day see you in about 10 minutes bye with the engine cases at kneels for painting i thought i'd go back in the garage and have a go at the crankshaft i thought if i'm really careful i won't hit my thumb again will i no i won't i'm definitely not going to hit it again so i was very very careful i used my foot instead of my hand to hold the crankshaft with a crankshaft tapped true with a copper hammer i double check it with my steel rule by resting onto the crankcases and pressing down and rubbing the shaft and then rotating the crankshaft and i can feel the very slightest of movement i'm quite happy it's true so i replace the two bearings and seals and press on the next flyball web with the end webs pressed on i'll check the crankshaft in the crankcase using my raw method and i can see i've got a bit of run out so i mark the high spot go on the ground which is this cushioned flooring hit it once with a hammer at the high spot to tap it through put it back in the crank case check again and it's perfect i'm well pleased with that but i will just check it with a dti just to make sure i centralize my dti rotate the crankshaft and i'm really pleased it's less than a thousandth of an inch which is well within the standard specification with the crankshaft assembled it's ready to put back into the engine on the kawasaki triple you have to assemble it into the top crank case so i place that on the bench upside down so i can actually lower the crankshaft in onto the snap ring groove locating c-ring and make sure it's central and press it down and i just check it rotates and it's fine the next thing to do is to put the gearbox in onto the selectors and check they all rotate freely and it's really important that you line up the pegs otherwise it can cause damage when you do the crankcases up with the output shaft in place i next put in the lay shaft making sure that i engage the cc clip and the peg and it rotates freely which it does so now i can put some gasket sealer on the bottom crank case i use a little paint brush because it puts on just the right amount not too much and not too little you see so many engines put together with too much gasket sealer and what happens it all squeezes into the areas and jam the oil holes and gets in the way so a nice thin smear is all you need i placed in the kickstart shaft assembly and then lowered the bottom crankcase on carefully pressing it down gently to engage with the studs and the dowels then put all the washers onto the studs followed by the nuts i went round and tightened all the nuts by hand at first and then used my ratchet to tighten them down tight with the crank case bolts done up tight i turned over the engine and put the gear shaft in and connected up all the selecting mechanism then started to assemble the clutch i put the transmission into fifth and hold the output shaft with a socket and then use another wrench on the nut on the clutch to tighten it tight and yet rotates freely i'm well pleased with that so now i can assemble the clutch plates and the little spring washers that go between them the little spring washers help the clutch disengage when you pull it into the handlebar it helps break this distinction between the clutch plates with all the clutch assembled i just check it rotates and it's nice and smooth and rotates freely so that's great so now that's the bottom end assembled as far as i want to go at this point so i'm going to take it into the garden and fit it back into the frame i lift the engine up onto a bucket so it's about the same height as the bike that way i can lean over the tank and lift it across the frame without doing any damage and it drops straight in brilliant so now i can put the bolts in they slide right through from one side to the other i'll give the engine a bit of a wiggle to get the bolts to line up and then push them through with the engine bolt in place i can replace the rotor and stator assembly securing it in place with the three screws i then connect up the clutch cable and bend over the little tang to hold the nipple in place followed by the gear lever and linkage and i'll check the operation of the gears at this point and all work i'm going to be reusing the copper cylinder head gaskets so first i heat them up my blowtorch to anneal them heat them cherry red and drop them in water you can actually just let them cool down in air but i like to drop them in water because i can pick them up straight away with the three head gaskets annealed i fit the new paper base gaskets making sure the hole is at the back for the oil injection i then lubricate the little end eyes with a bit of zx1 ready to install the pistons the pistons go in with the arrow pointing forwards pushing in the gauging pin engaging with the needle roller bearings and then fitting the circlip and lastly dropping down the barrel and it fits perfect with the three barrels fitted the next thing i do is fit the cylinder head and the annealed copper gaskets the h1 kawasaki has long bolts that go down onto studs and these are put in and then timed for my ratchet each cylinder head is separate so it's treated like three single cylinder engines with the head bolts tightened the next thing i do is slide through the oil pump feed pipes and connect them up to the banjo points doing up the three bolts with my 14 millimeter spanner i then replace the three carburetors and connect up the choke cables and throttle cables putting them back into their original positions i can't go any further with the engine assembly until i get the bits back from neil from painting so i just i decide to refit the exhausts when i fit the exhaust i fit them to the bike and do up all the bolts by hand first and then go around and re-tighten afterwards otherwise they sometimes don't line up and here we are all three exhausts fitted and she's starting to look back like a bike again hello ellen your bits are done come and get them oh great i'll be straight over oh you're here then yeah that's gonna cost you oh they're wicked that's absolutely amazing great with the covers freshly painted and back at home i can now put them on the bike being very careful not to scratch them so the first thing i do is put the new gasket over the stator lining up the three holes then gently put the cover on and do up the three screws with the front cover fitted the next thing to fit is the sprocket cover this has to sort of wiggle into place and mine the gear lever and a few other bits and pieces and you have to line up this wire in the grommet and miss the carburetors but you get there in the end and then put in the three screws and tighten them and it looks amazing with the left side completely finished now i went around to the other side and put on the clutch cover and the oil pump and then i had to put in some oil because it's getting very close to a startup to see if it will run there's something quite satisfying about pouring the oil into a new freshly built engine it just pours in lovely and no dribbles i'll recheck the level with a dipstick and it's perfect so that can be screwed straight in now with the oil in the gearbox it's time to see if at the start so i turn on the petrol turn on the ignition press the choke and give it a kick and i'm really pleased it fired up on the third kick with the engine running great it's time to take it for a test ride so i pop in and put on my leather jacket and helmet uh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] well i'm just back from a road test and the kawasaki h1 is going great it pulls strong through the gears so with this new crankshaft seals and bearings it should be great for a few more years now thanks for watching i hope you enjoyed my video and don't forget to subscribe

Channel: Allen Millyard

Views: 391,367

Keywords: Super Six, six cylinder, home made, shed, shed made, old school engineering, engine repair, Z1, Kawasaki Z900, Kawasaki Z1, Hacksaw, hand cutting, MCN, Classic motorcycle Mechanics, The motorbike Show, HCA, Filing, Files, Colchester Lathe, Elliot Milling Machine, 1970's, Kawasaki, Camshaft, Dontgiveup, Notaseasyasitlooks, Haveago, millyard, millyardracing, hyperride2, lockdown, Kawasaki Z1R Turbo, Turbo, Z1R, Turbo bike, Wastegate, Mikuni, Its fast, Turbo lag, swiss army scissors, QBond

Id: fdaKXJM5eHQ

Length: 20min 49sec (1249 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 09 2020