Ok boys, I am bringing this thread on over so that you can check out my progress.
For the new guys: I am kinda nuts and decided to tear into my low mileage Rhino in the quest for MOAR POWER! I am not saying this is a How-To by any means, it is more a log or a journal of my progress. It's a place for me to get a lot of good, free, advice from you guys because this Rhino is really draining me, haha! So follow along, if you like. You might even get a laugh or two in, but please, don't laugh too hard. It's my first time in an engine.
Below are the pics of the new parts for the big bore kit. I already have a JBS sheave, gold secondary, Hotcams stage 1 Raptor cam, 46mm throttle body, Muzzys dual exhaust, and a MSD 3D.
Here is a pic of the CP piston. It is beautiful.
I put my phone next to it on the desk for a size comparison.
Underside of the piston
And here is a pic of the piston and new cylinder Alba sent me.
I started to gap the rings and check clearances.
According to the CP brochure that came with my piston, the top compression ring should be gaped according to this formula: (Bore x 0.0045") = ring gap
So for my build, my bore is 105.5mm, or 4.153"
4.153 x 0.0045 = 0.018" Top Ring Gap
You are supposed to determine ring gap with the rings inside the cylinder. So with the cylinder and rings bathed in motor oil, I proceeded to check and file. I used the piston to "square" the ring in the cylinder:
After filing for a while, checking, re-filing, and rechecking, I finally hit my target of 0.018" ring gap. Here is what eighteen thousandths looks like:
I am taking my time and working slow since this is my first time into a motor.
Here's the last pic of my Rhino 700. If I muck this up, at least I'll have the memories of 1100 miles of pedal to the floor action.
Here is where I started, I removed the engine cover. Gotta start somewhere, you know?
After draining the coolant, engine oil, I removed my 46mm Benchmark throttle body from the cylinder head after unplugging the various sensors and disconnecting the fuel line. I simply set the throttle body to the side and didn't disconnect the throttle cable.
This is a look down the intake track, into the cylinder head. You can see the valves. Cool!
Things start getting pretty involved at this point. I removed the exhaust (God love those Muzzys and their knuckle-bustin design) and the cylinder head oil delivery pipe. Don't lose those copper washers! I also removed the cam sprocket cover and the inspection ports on the lower side of the engine case. Now for my favorite part - putting the motor at TDC and making sure everything is in time before removing the cam sprocket and head.
I have run into a few minor setbacks. Here is the latest update:
The intake and throttle body are removed. The The coolant hoses are disconnected. The head bolts are about to be removed.
This is when I knew I was in deep... lol. The part you are looking at is the oil delivery pipe. It is the oil line that delivers oil to the top end of the motor.
Off with its head! The cylinder head lifts right off. Here is what the inside of my head looked like when I pulled it off.
The next part of the job is to remove the cylinder.
I carefully lifted up on the cylinder.
With the cylinder removed, I was then able to remove the stock piston from the stock rod. Be sure to cover your work area thoroughly with rags to prevent any parts from falling into the motor.
Here is a pic of the stock 102mm piston next to the new 105.5mm piston
This is where I started running into problems, however.
I had a heck of a tough time getting the new piston clips into place. But I held my tongue just right. I said my curse words in the right order, and wallah, they snapped into place!
Then it was time to install the new piston into the new cylinder. I lubed everything well with motor oil and tried to get the piston into the cylinder. I failed! I worked at it for a half hour and failed again. I just could not compress the rings with my hands enough to get the piston into the cylinder. I failed so miserably that I ended up breaking the middle cast piston ring.
EPIC PHAIL!!
And this is where I had to stop:
No big deal. I swallowed my pride and put in a call to Nate at Alba and he hooked me up with a new set of rings. They are in the mail. I am going to use a ring compressor this next time.
But wait, there is more!
I was ok with breaking a ring. It really didn't bother me too much. I was just glad I didn't put it back together with the broken ring and then start it up. That would have been a kick in junk!
I decided to cover my motor up since it would be a few days until my new rings arrived. Nate was off with Alba wining some big desert race (I'm totally tongue in cheek here - congrats!) and I knew It'd be at least a week before I got parts.
But evidently, I would still be kicked in the metaphorical junk. I mad a stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, [get the idea, lol] stupid move. As I was covering up my motor with rags, I knocked one of those cylinder head dowel pins into the motor!
It fell right into the side of the motor where the timing chain and stator live. I tried everything to fish it out, but I was unable. I ended up taking off the side cover.
So the good news is that I was able to find the lost part. I was able to inspect the stator since it was apart..
I'm sitting on go now waiting on the new stator gasket and the new rings. The parts should be here in a few days.
Thanks for following along in my [stupid] build thread!