Using a Wet Sharpening Stone to Prep. Gasket Surfaces

[leonardhcross]

Removing all of the gasket residue on aluminum heads can be challenging. Sidecar Bob has recommended the use of a new, perfectly flat sharpening stone. In this video, I try this method. The resulting surfaces look and feel good to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CubCcDcdP8

[gltriker]

your Best video yet, Len!

[redglbx]

Great video Len ! Thanks !,,,, thanks for the suggestion Bob, it was a great one.

[Sidecar Bob]

As I've said many times, I didn't invent using a stone to clean mating surfaces.
I had been working at cleaning the old gasket off of a head for a couple of hours and was dreading doing the mating surface on the block when it occurred to me that there was no way that anyone would pay shop rate for that much labour just to get them clean enough to put back together. I emailed a childhood friend who grew up to be a Honda mechanic and he told me how to use a stone to remove the gasket residue faster.
This is the same guy who, when I got my first bike and asked if I could bring it to him when it needed work said no. Then he told me to get a Haynes book for the bike and when it needed work reading that section of the book while sitting beside the bike and call him if there was something I didn't understand. The next time I called was to tell him I'd successfully done the job and thank him. You all know where that led.....

I later found the same procedure in the Honda Common Service Manual. I'll say this again too: If you don't have the HCSM find somewhere online where you can download it and have a good look through it. It has a lot of stuff that is common for many models so they didn't give it space in the individual FSMs.

Re the video:
- It doesn't matter which brand of detergent you use. I use whatever is on sale when I go shopping.
- The foam backer is a god start BUT you can clearly see gaps where the rods don't meet. I would make the ends meet in the area between the cylinders, push them in a bit farther and stuff something into that area (rag, toilet paper, whatever is handy) in to protect those areas. Also, you didn't protect the oil passages so they should have had rags or something too.
- Since you debris may have entered the coolant passages you will need to flush the cooling system. This can be done when the heads are bolted on by disconnecting the rad hoses, removing the thermostat and connecting the nozzle of a garden hose into the upper rad hose and letting it run until the water comes out perfectly clean & clear.
- Since you debris may have entered the crankcase via those oil passages I would change the oil & filter after a hundred miles or so.

Before you re-install the heads make sure that you clean the holes that the bolts screw into thoroughly. I prefer to chase the threads with a tap to free anything stuck to them and then spray in something like contact cleaner or brake cleaner to flush the holes and then blow them out with air (I can't remember if any of them are open to the crankcase on these engines so be careful not to blow debris into them if they are).
I believe the FSM recommends lubricating the head bolts but I can't remember so you'll want to look that up and do what the book says.

[redglbx]

Yep Bob, the manual says to lube the threads and it has a tightening sequence for the head and cam holder bolts that should definitely be followed.

Great advice !

[Shadowjack]

"Get a manual, read it, and look at your bike until you understand it." I read a lot of posts on various FB bike groups. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes not. But what astonishes me is the number of people who never heard of a shop manual, or seem to think that there is no value in a shop manual, or just want someone to quickly tell them the exact steps to resurrect their barn find junker.

[pidjones]

The "easy button" seems to be many people's favorite tool.