Topic: Terry's Boneyard Barn find Budget Suzuki T500 Reanimation.

[grcamna2]

Another option on the petcock is to buy a cheaper one that you manually turn on and off and ditch the expensive vacuum set up. Mine was a leaker,probably needs a rebuild but have an aftermarket for now.  I bought some Echo chainsaws that I have been happy with, made in Japan and start every time.

Thanks Eric, I bought a new manual petcock for the T350 (because I didn't have the OEM one) and I suspect strongly that it doesn't shut off at all, by the amount of 2 stroke fuel that dribbles on the floor of the patio hours/days after I fire it up or ride it? I've had leaky vacuum petcocks too, so maybe this one is just a dud?

I have 3 chainsaws now, a Solo (my grandfather bought it not long before he died in 1983) a McCulloch (a German Dolmar in Mac clothing) and now the Jonsered. Oh, and my Chinese pole saw, a dangerous POS that I wouldn't trust as far as I can throw it, but it was useful when the tree fell on my roof, so I won't throw it out just yet.

Terry,I have refitted manual aftermarket petcock/fuel valves with an OEM rubber internal 4-hole 'disc'/seal which fixed them right up.Do you have access to anyone who has tons of vintage bike parts that have bunches of worn-out petcocks/fuel valves? breakers? I would just see when you remove the 'leaker' aftermarket petcock 4-hole rubber disc behind the fuel lever on yours and look(measure the O.D.)to identify which OEM petcock has the same size(close fit)disc then do a 'parts search' to get the part # for that OEM 4-hole 'disc' originally from that vintage bike(Suzuki?)so you can substitute a quality OEM 4-hole 'disc' rubber seal and replace the crappy China-rubber one.
I know 'The Big Four' manufacturers used very similar petcock brands(Mikuni for one)back then and you should be able to identify which one fits your aftermarket petcock after a bit of research;the aftermarket petcock will be just as good as OEM when you replace that little 4-hole 'disc'.The China-rubber is sh*t.
I've purchased less expensive low miles or NOS OEM petcock/fuel valves from one of the other manufacturers on Ebay once I've identified which one has the right size internal parts for my needs and used the rubber 'disc' and other parts to fix one of mine. 

The other procedure I've used,if you can't find an NOS 4-hole disc:take the original OEM 4-hole rubber disc you find out of a used petcock and plan to substitute into your aftermarket fuel valve/petcock and turn it completely over which will give you a fresh surface to work with,it usually works.The Big Four manufacturers made excellent quality rubber parts back then and as you know they can last at least 10 times longer than some of the modern China crap.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, my Jonsered is "Made in the USA", but the little bit of digging I did revealed that Jonsered was part of the Husqvarna group (which also owns Poulon) a Swedish company.

Jonsered Sweden by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Steve, be very careful with phosphoric acid and aluminium. Interesting most aluminium cleaners contain phosphoric acid, but our engine castings weren't pure aluminium, they contained a high quantity of zinc, and phosphoric acid eats zinc. I remember dumping a CB750 gas tank into my phosphoric bath a few years ago and when I pulled it out, the petcock had disappeared? I sifted thru the mud at the bottom of the bath and found the brass pipes, seals and screws, but the actual body had disappeared.

If you're thinking about your head, cylinder block and engine cases, just get them bead blasted, they are going to be painted again anyway, so no need to have them vapor honed, and bead blasting will slightly etch them, which will help your paint stick. (make sure you use etc primer first, before you lay on the satin black though) 

The weather didn't look too good this morning first up, but the sun has come out, and it'll be 18 deg C (64 deg F) at it's peak so almost warm. I might have a look at the tank and forks, and see where I go from there.

[jaytee-nz]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

[Terry in Australia]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

Ha ha, no biggie John, they're all good brands. Having said that, I need to give mine a little love before I use it, it fires right up, runs for a sec, then dies. I can't help but wonder if that's why it's in such good condition? Most used chainsaws here are very well used, with lots of "Patina". We'll see.

[grcamna2]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

Ha ha, no biggie John, they're all good brands. Having said that, I need to give mine a little love before I use it, it fires right up, runs for a sec, then dies. I can't help but wonder if that's why it's in such good condition? Most used chainsaws here are very well used, with lots of "Patina". We'll see.

Terry,you think it's fuel system related? I've heard that sometimes the crank seals can give problems,although they aren't too difficult to replace.
You might try testing for that with a custom adapter over the intake port and hook-up a leak-down tester to it with low pressure air and see what you get.

[Terry in Australia]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

Ha ha, no biggie John, they're all good brands. Having said that, I need to give mine a little love before I use it, it fires right up, runs for a sec, then dies. I can't help but wonder if that's why it's in such good condition? Most used chainsaws here are very well used, with lots of "Patina". We'll see.

Terry,you think it's fuel system related? I've heard that sometimes the crank seals can give problems,although they aren't too difficult to replace.

Thanks Bill, not sure, it's in "As new" condition, so I'd hope not, but it could be a fuel blockage, so I'll do a little investigative work and see what I can find. It's a nice looking day outside so I'll get some T500 stuff done while the sun shines.

[RAFster122s]

I have seen a small two stroke weed-eater motor have a pinhole in the flexible corrugated feed line from the tank. It didn’t leak fuel but engine suction caused it to pull air causing the motor to do start and die as you described. So, if it is clear tubing give it a look when trying to start if you can do so safely. Rebuild kits aren’t too expensive for these parts.
But, dirty carbs can also cause this…

[grcamna2]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

Ha ha, no biggie John, they're all good brands. Having said that, I need to give mine a little love before I use it, it fires right up, runs for a sec, then dies. I can't help but wonder if that's why it's in such good condition? Most used chainsaws here are very well used, with lots of "Patina". We'll see.

Terry,you think it's fuel system related? I've heard that sometimes the crank seals can give problems,although they aren't too difficult to replace.

Thanks Bill, not sure, it's in "As new" condition, so I'd hope not, but it could be a fuel blockage, so I'll do a little investigative work and see what I can find. It's a nice looking day outside so I'll get some T500 stuff done while the sun shines.

I would also check the fuel inlet hose inside the tank,some of them use a heavy type of brass-looking 'stone' filter? at the suction end(when you cut with the saw at odd angles,it is heavy enough to continue to drop-down into a limited fuel supply)of the hose up inside of the tank and that could also be clogged with varnish.I think T500 work Rules Terry ! 

[BenelliSEI]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

Ha ha, no biggie John, they're all good brands. Having said that, I need to give mine a little love before I use it, it fires right up, runs for a sec, then dies. I can't help but wonder if that's why it's in such good condition? Most used chainsaws here are very well used, with lots of "Patina". We'll see.

Terry,you think it's fuel system related? I've heard that sometimes the crank seals can give problems,although they aren't too difficult to replace.

Thanks Bill, not sure, it's in "As new" condition, so I'd hope not, but it could be a fuel blockage, so I'll do a little investigative work and see what I can find. It's a nice looking day outside so I'll get some T500 stuff done while the sun shines.

I would also check the fuel inlet hose inside the tank,some of them use a heavy type of brass-looking 'stone' filter? at the suction end(when you cut with the saw at odd angles,it is heavy enough to continue to drop-down into a limited fuel supply)of the hose up inside of the tank and that could also be clogged with varnish.I think T500 work Rules Terry ! 

Thanks for this! Checked a little chainsaw I “parked” last year (with similar symptoms). That little weight was totally gummed up! Brilliant.

[krusty]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

Ha ha, no biggie John, they're all good brands. Having said that, I need to give mine a little love before I use it, it fires right up, runs for a sec, then dies. I can't help but wonder if that's why it's in such good condition? Most used chainsaws here are very well used, with lots of "Patina". We'll see.

Terry,you think it's fuel system related? I've heard that sometimes the crank seals can give problems,although they aren't too difficult to replace.

Thanks Bill, not sure, it's in "As new" condition, so I'd hope not, but it could be a fuel blockage, so I'll do a little investigative work and see what I can find. It's a nice looking day outside so I'll get some T500 stuff done while the sun shines.

It's possible that the fuel tank vent may be faulty. It's designed to let air in as fuel is used up and, at the same time, prevent fuel leaking out when used in different positions, on side, upside down etc.

[grcamna2]

Ok, confession time. I mixed up "Stihl" with Husqvarna in my previous post !
I think our current lockdown is getting to me.

Ha ha, no biggie John, they're all good brands. Having said that, I need to give mine a little love before I use it, it fires right up, runs for a sec, then dies. I can't help but wonder if that's why it's in such good condition? Most used chainsaws here are very well used, with lots of "Patina". We'll see.

Terry,you think it's fuel system related? I've heard that sometimes the crank seals can give problems,although they aren't too difficult to replace.

Thanks Bill, not sure, it's in "As new" condition, so I'd hope not, but it could be a fuel blockage, so I'll do a little investigative work and see what I can find. It's a nice looking day outside so I'll get some T500 stuff done while the sun shines.

I would also check the fuel inlet hose inside the tank,some of them use a heavy type of brass-looking 'stone' filter? at the suction end(when you cut with the saw at odd angles,it is heavy enough to continue to drop-down into a limited fuel supply)of the hose up inside of the tank and that could also be clogged with varnish.I think T500 work Rules Terry ! 

Thanks for this! Checked a little chainsaw I “parked” last year (with similar symptoms). That little weight was totally gummed up! Brilliant.

A quality syringe filled with strong carb cleaner can be used to force fluid back up into the tank through the fuel line and can usually clear it enough to run,initially.Those stone strainer/filter things need a lot of soaking most times.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, and I'm a tad embarrassed to report that there's nothing wrong with the saw, only with my brain. Apparently you actually need fuel in the tank to keep it running, regardless of the amount of fuel in the clear "priming bulb". Oops........

Anyhoo, it was quite a nice day today, and even though my back gave out after only 3.5 hours, I got a fair bit of stuff done. I did some work on the tank (forget about PDR tools unless you know what you're doing, I was worried that I'd bend the fuel filler hole, so gave it the arse and bondo'd up the few shallow dents) and was happy to find two small cans of the blue that I used on the F2's tank last year, which is actually very close to the OEM colour for 1974 I think, but I am color blind. (seriously) I'll have to buy more as these are really only touch up cans, so I can spray it on and then compare it to a pic of a restored 1974 blue T500, and if it's too light, or if I just don't like the shade I can still use it as a primer coat.

I pulled both fenders out of the phosphoric acid bath, and while the chrome is buggared, they're not rusty any more, so will be fine until I can either get them re-chromed, or find some better ones. I also pulled the nice clean fork springs out of the bath, washed the acid off, dried them in my oven, gave them a cleanup on the wire wheel and hit them with some WD40, and will re-install the forks into the triple clamps tomorrow.

As previously mentioned I mixed up a litre of 40:1 two stroke mix and fired up the chainsaw, and was happy that it cut thru a couple of thick branches like butter, but as no one was home to take me to the ER if I accidentally cut my own head off, I thought it best to put the saw away. Yes, strange but true, I'm finally becoming careful....... My back gave out before I thought to take some pics, but the weather is supposed to be even nicer tomorrow, so I'll snap some pics then.

[ekpent]

  Yes - please no bloody gory pictures of saw marks through knee caps,face or other body parts !!  You got too much work to do and your accident prone. 

[RAFster122s]

Maybe we need to send Terry some Kevlar pants and jacket along with gloves and faceshield and helmet setup for his chain saw work, just in case...less not forget the boots too.

[grcamna2]

Maybe we need to send Terry some Kevlar pants and jacket along with gloves and faceshield and helmet setup for his chain saw work, just in case...less not forget the boots too.

Please be careful Terry.  I'm glad you checked the tank on the saw;I was afraid there would be more varnished fuel in there to deal with that had fouled things up.I'm glad it's a 'runner' !
That paint you had used in the past(it was nice looking )on your F2 didn't look(if my memory serves me correctly)as light blue as the Suzuki tank that Eric posted earlier but it could be the upload that changed it.
Do your forks seem in decent shape overall ?

[MauiK3]

I was trained on chain saws by some old school loggers in Idaho. Those guys would not pick the saw up without their Kevlar chaps on. They had seen too many terrible accidents, many fatal. Consequently, when I occasionally need to use my saw there I am, in shorts, sneakers, tank top, Kevlar chaps, hearing protection and a straw sun hat. Quite a sight.

[Terry in Australia]

Well it was the warmest day today for probably 3 months, 20 deg C, or 68F. It pissed me off nonetheless, because we had almost gale force winds all day, which really messed with my bike work, as I ducked flying cardboard cartons, tree branches and cats. Windy days suck balls.

Anyway, I did a bit more filling on the tank, then left it to harden while I cleaned up the forks. When I bought the T500 the forks had a a good cover of surface rust on them, but a week in the phosphoric bath cleaned them up very nicely. The fork stanchions were in good condition like the T350's, and only the external springs were rusty, but once again, a little time in the phosphoric acid and they were much nicer.

T500 Sunday 22 Aug 2021 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I installed the new gaiters, and reinstalled the fork legs in the freshly painted lower triple. I gave the top triple a cleanup but it probably needs a little more. The top handlebar clamps were missing when I bought it, (Andrew had used pipe saddles to hold the handlebars in place) but I found some from the original T350, so that's another small piece I've managed to recycle to solve a problem.

T500 Sunday 22 Aug 2021 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   

I like the look of the Dunlop Gold Seals on the rims that I bought from the US, but they're a little bit less than roadworthy as they're probably 40 years old. I saw some new Dunlop K70's which are apparently the same tread pattern but with modern rubber technology, so I bought a pair in the same size as the ones that are on the rims I bought, 3.25-19 front and 400-18 rear. That might be slightly wider than Geoff recommended, but I was having problems finding other tyres (Metzlers, Heidenau's and Mitas) here in the recommended sizes, so these ones should do. More tomorrow.

 

[RAFster122s]

Very nice work Terry!

What became of the car that was hit by the "fellow who fell asleep"?

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks David, the mighty Mitsubishi was a write off and was towed away to be chopped up for parts, I presume? I couldn’t really complain, the insurance company paid out more money than I’d paid for the car 4 years ago, but it was a shame, because it was a really good car until then.

It was a sh1t magnet though, the previous (original) owner had it in the shop 3 times for Kangaroo damage, and I was almost killed in 2017 or ‘18 when a 3 foot long piece of steel was launched up into the air by a car in another lane and smashed into the hood a couple of feet in front of the windscreen before “Sleepy Head” crashed into it when he apparently fell asleep between leaving his driveway and plowing into it. It paid for the CB750A.

[MauiK3]

Your acid bathe works well, I’ll keep it away from my aluminum parts.

[Terry in Australia]

No worries Steve, it’s great for steel, but not so good for aluminium and will also eat cast iron, and cast steel too. I made the mistake of putting some CB750 cylinders in the bath once, I’ve never seen a chemical rebore before, it wasn’t pretty.

[Terry in Australia]

Anyhoo, sh1t weather today, we had a storm last night and trees came down all over my neighbourhood, but surprisingly my monster tree survived. I still have the remains of the branches that I cleared off my roof a couple of weeks ago so I rang the local council and they told me that if I chop it up and bundle it together, they'll send over a truck with a mulcher and will remove it for me. I'll save some of the bigger branches for Spotty's open fire, and chop up the rest when we get some nicer weather. (raining on and off all day today)

I did sneak out and knocked down the Bondo on the few dents that I filled yesterday. It'd looking better, but there will be a ding that I can't remove completely. Oh well, I can always keep my eyes out for a better one later on. I'll keep building up the base with high fill primer and get it as smooth as I can before I lay on some paint, once again, as soon as the weather permits.

[BenelliSEI]

I’ve used a few sets of the Dunlop K70 tires. Decent tire and they look “right” too.

[MauiK3]

Terry
What paint do you use?

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks John, that’s good to know, and another bonus is that they’re as cheap as Stinko’s too. Steve, I just rattle can car touch up paint. I do have several compressors and guns as I used to paint cars for pocket money, but there’s too much waste and overspray, so rattle cans do the job nicely. I painted my K0 with rattle cans and had an excellent result.

K0 Saturday 20 Mar 2021 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

K0 Friday 19 Mar 2021 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr