Author Topic: K5 Engine Cases  (Read 931 times)

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Offline Mini Mo

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K5 Engine Cases
« on: March 07, 2014, 03:48:23 PM »
Do any of you guys know if there is a difference between the K5 cases and the K4 cases? The K4 I'm working on has had some pretty crappy TIG welding done on the upper and lower cases where the inevitable chain breakage blew through the cases. There was some obvious leakage even with the weld and a good helping of JB in the area.

The micro fiche shows the same part number. I'm looking at some '75 cases on ebay and for the cost of these cases as opposed to dealing with the welded area I may be better off changing them.  Thoughts?

Thanks
750 K1 (Just finished)
750 K4 (In Process of resto)
2) 750 K6's (Restored and sold)
750 K5 (Restored and sold)
'75 850 Norton Commando (Restored and sold)
'99 Triumph Tiger (Daily rider)

Offline chewbacca5000

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Re: K5 Engine Cases
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2014, 04:27:01 AM »
No difference you should be good to go.  The difference in cases is k0-k2.  Starting somewhere in k3 they switched the output shaft to a double row of bearing so k3-k6 all use the same output shaft.  You could use an earlier year case, but you would need the single row bearing and output shaft.  Hope this makes sense.

Offline Bowswell

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Re: K5 Engine Cases
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2014, 04:41:41 AM »
And you need to change all bearing crank for matching with new case...$$$

Offline Mini Mo

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Re: K5 Engine Cases
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2014, 08:36:50 AM »
Thanks for the replies.

Aren't the bearings matched to the crank and not the cases? The bearings are perfect and will be a real bummer if I can't use them. All of the internals look to be pristine. 
750 K1 (Just finished)
750 K4 (In Process of resto)
2) 750 K6's (Restored and sold)
750 K5 (Restored and sold)
'75 850 Norton Commando (Restored and sold)
'99 Triumph Tiger (Daily rider)

Offline BPellerine

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Re: K5 Engine Cases
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2014, 03:55:58 PM »
the bearings are matched to the crank and the cases through a letter no combination so you have to check to make sure that your cases have the same letters on them.not very likely though.bill
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Offline HondaMan

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Re: K5 Engine Cases
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2014, 10:15:19 PM »
When you get the new cases, check the bearing stamps against your existing one. You may well find that several of your existing crank bearings will still fit, as the grand majority of the cases came in "A" or "B" sizes in the K4-5 era. The cranks generally varied little. Keep in mind also: there is only 2 ten-thousandths inch difference between bearing shell sizes, and 8 ten-thousandths for the entire range: most shade-tree SOHC4 engine builders can tell you that for a general-purpose, commute-to-work engine, even making the mistake of a Black bearing on a Yellow crank will still work. It will, however, be somewhat cold-blooded for the first couple minutes. If you go the opposite direction, like a [very rare] minimum crank bearing with a Yellow (largest dimension) bearing shell, running 20w40 or 20w50 oil will keep it happy for many tens of thousands of miles. ;)

The spec clearance wear-out point is 0.0032", which corresponds to the Yellow bearing shell on a Black crank bearing with about 40k miles on it. The spec bearing "too tight" scenario is 0.0004", which is impossible to obtain with any of the cranks and bearing combinations we have: it will always be looser than this number.

So, not to worry, Honda helped you out long ago. ;D
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Offline Mini Mo

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Re: K5 Engine Cases
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2014, 09:54:52 AM »
Great advice Hondaman. My stampings are- ABBBB in that order. Member Bentonracing is checking on some cases for me now.

The real issue with these cases is just the crappy welds that are leaking. Being a former welder by trade I could grind out most of the slop, heat the cases up to boil out the residue and re-weld them but I thought it might be easier to get different ones. It's looking like I may just bite the bullet and fix these.

Thanks for all the advice
750 K1 (Just finished)
750 K4 (In Process of resto)
2) 750 K6's (Restored and sold)
750 K5 (Restored and sold)
'75 850 Norton Commando (Restored and sold)
'99 Triumph Tiger (Daily rider)