possible engine work?? or heads changed??

[rebeltaz83]

owned my vmax for a year now, and just noticed the bottom half, and the valve covers are a shiny black great looking paint, and the heads seem to be dull with spots missing paint, is this common as the heads get the hottest, or is this a sign of some possible major engine work that has been done in the past? bike runs great, but i'm just kinda baffled, lol. and i noticed numbers etched in the paint on the bottom half, one spot is on the water pump side next to the frame by the mount....... oil change reminder?? and another spot was above the clutch cover on the left rear side of the bottom half, clutch change reminder?? the guy i bought it from never mentioned anything about engine work, but he gave all the stock parts, and told me everything he did to it, like super trapp slips ons, stage 1 jet kit, k&n air filter, furber fix in the steering stem, shaved seat, and i have all the oem parts, mufflers, old seat foam, oem windshield, he put a taller one on, wich doesn't look bad..........he was the second owner, maybe the first owner had work done....... and what is the o.d. on the stock pipes at the head?? mine look big, like after market pipes, but would slip ons fit after market pipes?? :ummm:

 

[rebeltaz83]

just from a naked eye i would say my pipes are 1.5" o.d. sound right for stock??

 

[genecarroll]

Everything you mention is completely normal on a stock engine.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

The paint on the heads is the first to go, starts looking like it's been slightly sandblasted.

Aftermarket exhausts will not use the factory heat sink finned looking donuts around the pipe at the heads.

Factory pipes look big because they are double walled, inner and
Outer tube.

 

[one2dmax]

Exactly. Normal paint wear.

OEM chrome pipes are huge on the front though that's just the outer wall and not the inner pipe diameter.

 

[rebeltaz83]

ok, i was just checking...... no worries....... my oem pipes are flat black....... i repainted the slip ons last year, they were starting to spot rust. Figured it was a good time to paint them as the rust was just starting an it's easy to take care of when it's not far along. litttle bit of 80 to take it away, and then 400 to feather it out, and bam like new. this place is great!!!! i haven't posted alot in the year i been a member, mostly just alot of reading, and just trolling around and reading, absorbing everything i can before i post the same thing up thats been posted before...... so much info on here. thanks guys for your hard work, and knowledge sharing!!!!!

 

[MaxMidnight]

...and i noticed numbers etched in the paint on the bottom half, one spot is on the water pump side next to the frame by the mount....... oil change reminder??
...and another spot was above the clutch cover on the left rear side of the bottom half, clutch change reminder??

The numbers by the engine mount, two numbers and four below them, are used to select the correct bearing shells for the balance shaft (top numbers) and main bearings (lower numbers).
The other numbers, adjacent to the engine number, are for middle gear shim selection.

For obvious reasons, if you decide to powder coat the crankcases then it would be a good idea to make a note of the numbers or better still re-etch them when done.

 

[rebeltaz83]

The numbers by the engine mount, two numbers and four below them, are used to select the correct bearing shells for the balance shaft (top numbers) and main bearings (lower numbers).
The other numbers, adjacent to the engine number, are for middle gear shim selection.

For obvious reasons, if you decide to powder coat the crankcases then it would be a good idea to make a note of the numbers or better still re-etch them when done.

ok, that explains that, lol....... i thought maybe it was a used bottom end, with the original heads, and for some reason new valve covers..... my 14 plus years in the automotive industry, i don't rule out anything, as something that sounds very dumb, and stupid, has been done........for example using armor piercing bullets to remove a wheel off a junk car to gain access to the brand new tire because the nuts were rounded off.......... i thought they were etched numbers from a recycling yard, but most places use tags, and paint markers. thanks again!!! and if i do have them coated, i will absolutely write those numbers down.