Make
sure you have a pan underneath to catch the coolant. My plug came out without any
problems, but check it for rusted tight before trying too hard.(or how Dave Dodge saved me from sleepless nights)
Eventually, I will come back and write a "full" description of installing this kit. For now, however, I will just list the basic steps and insert pictures that were taken during this installation. Every picture is available in two sizes. Displayed on this page is a lower resolution (about 576 x 432 pixel) image. Clicking on each image will display a higher resolution picture (1152 x 864) of the same image.
This description is for my 1984 VF700C Magna. While the steps would be similar for the other models and engines sizes, certain things would clearly be different. For example, apparently the stock oil filter can be used on a V65 Magna after this mod, but the VF700C requires the smaller replacement. Therefore, assume this description is for the VF700C only.
Do all work with the bike on the centerstand.
The first step is to remove the radiator. The instructions suggest this to aid in installation of the front head tap. In reality, I can not imagine how the front tap could be accessed with the radiator in place without removing a carbs. Between removing the carbs and removing the radiator, I'll choose the radiator.
First drain the radiator. Remove the radiator cap and then open the drain plug. The drain plug is on the left side on the lower frame as shown here. .
Make
sure you have a pan underneath to catch the coolant. My plug came out without any
problems, but check it for rusted tight before trying too hard.
After draining the coolant, remove the radiator. The plastic shield is held on by four screws, remove these first. The frame is held on by two bolts, one above and one below, on each side. Removing the frame also removes the plastic front guard.
Finally use an allen wrench to free the radiator. The red circle
on this picture shows where this is attached. Be careful of the rubber bushing
between the frame and the radiator mount. It is best to remove these now so they
don't get lost.
At this point, the radiator is being held by the hoses only. Remove the electrical connection that is visible below the red circle in the picture. For the next step, get an assistant to help. You want to make sure the radiator doesn't fall against anything as you remove the hoses. With your assistant holding the radiator steady, the hoses (on each side) can be easily removed. once the hoses are removed, pull the radiator slightly away from the bike and remove the connector to the fan. The radiator is now free to be pulled out to the right side and removed.
The oil filter
can now be removed. You will very likely need an oil filter wrench to get this off.
Have a pan under the filter when removing it since a certain amount of oil will
come out. Once the oil filter is removed, you will have to take out the existing
threaded hollow bolt. There is almost no way to remove this without destroying the
threads, so don't try to hard to save it. To remove mine, I wrapped the exposed
threads tightly with electrical tape and then clamped down hard with a set of vise-grips.
Surprisingly, it came out without too much trouble. Needless to say, at this
point, with the filter and hollow bolt removed, be careful to keep dirt out of the
chamber.
With the radiator
removed, a metal shield is exposed. This is held on by two screws, both of which
were on very tightly. I was able to remove one by tapping lightly with a rubber
mallet on the screw driver as I turned, but the other would have stripped if I had tried
the same approach. Luckily, the screw heads are high enough that I was able to grasp
it with the vise-grips.
Now it
is time to remove the original stock oil lines. This oil line starts at a tap on top
of the transmission on the left side of the bike. The line wraps around the rear
cylinders and then forms a "T" between the heads. A line from one side of
the "T" goes up to enter a tap on the rear head and the other side of the
"T" continues on to the right side of the bike. On the right side, it goes
up to the front head. First remove the end from the tap on the transmission.
This is easily accessible and should present no problems.
Now comes the fun
part, removing the existing oil lines as they enter the heads. The instructions
suggest that the rear tap is easily accessible, but the front tap is the problem. I
found just the opposite to be the case. With the radiator and shield removed, the
front tap is easily accessed from the front. The rear tap, however, is harder to
reach, stuck back between the head and the carburetor. Perhaps by removing parts
that are in the way, this could be made easier, but I didn't trust myself not to screw
something up. I therefore chose to leave everything in place. The only
concession I made to making things accessible was to pull back the blocking hose as I
worked as shown here.
First the rear tap.
The open end of a combination wrench was used to remove the existing banjo bolt.
Be careful of the sealing washers, there is one above and one blow the banjo head.
remove the bolt, but just leave the oil line in for now.
With the radiator removed, the front banjo bolt was easier to remove, a combination of a 1/4" ratchet and a combination wrench made short work of it.
With both banjo bolts removed, the old oil line can be removed. This existing line will have to be cut to remove. I used a a bolt cutter to cut the line and I made my cuts far enough from the banjo heads and the "T" so that if neccessary, I could reuse these lines (by adding hose).
The next step is to install the new hollow filter bolt and the adapter. Make sure everything is clean before you start. Insert the hollow bolt through the adapter and install it into block. DON'T USE LOCTITE YET. When you are sure that everything will correctly, remove the adapter, add LocTite, and reinstall. Secure tightly, but don't over torque.
The instructions tell you
to add the new lines to the adapter before connecting to the head taps. Instead, I
found it was easier to connect to the heads first. This allowed the lines to be
routed neatly down the side of the engine and around to the adapter. Use your
existing banjo bolts. From existing writeups, it would appear that some of the oil
mod kits from Dave Dodge come with new bolts. This was not the case with my kit.
Apparently some engines used a triangular shaft bolt that could block the oil
lines. My engine had square shaft bolts and these were reused. The kit does
come with new sealing washers and one is placed above and below the banjo head when they
are installed.
The instructions specifiy that the banjo bolts should be torqued to 14.5 ft. lbs. There was no way that I was going to get a torque wrench head into the confined space and so i simply used a combination wrench. Care was taken to not over tighten these bolts and I did my "best guess" at 14.5 ft. lbs.
With the new lines
installed, I routed them down the right side of the engine, through the frame bars, and to
the adapter. By twisting the lines slightly as they route around a corner, the lines
can be made to lie neatly against the engine. Once down by the adapter, they are
secured as specified in the instructions.
With the lines connected,
the support bracket can be added to hold the lines tight and away from the engine block.
this picture also shows the new line connected to the front head tap.
A filter can now be installed. As mentioned above, I had to repalce my stock filter with the smaller size (p/n 15410-MM9-013). Unfortunately, I didn't notice this until after my local Honda shop had closed for the day. As a temporary solution, I installed the corresponding Fram filter, but replaced this filter with the Honda filter as soon as the shop next opened. For the small difference in price between the Fram filter and the true Honda filter, I don't think it is worth taking the chance.
This completes the installation. The radiator now can be reinstalled, which is simply a reverse of removing it. Again, an assistant should be used to hold the radiator as it is installed. Remember to install the shield before installing the radiator. I had the entire radiator installed and noticed that I had forgotten this shield only when cleaning up.
New coolant will need to be added and a small amount of oil to replace what was lost when removing the filter.
The installation is complete. Go ride with the piece of mind that your cams are protected!