Armycopter,

Are you going to post the final pictures of your kit? Looks like it all worked out very well.
It is the best mod report for the 351 so far and it should be finished off and posted in the stickies.

 

I'm not sure. I didn't take too many pictures during the "put it back together" phase. I basically just went in reverse of the teardown. I wrote the steps on a piece of paper and just used the manual for torque settings and some other basic info.

 

Hey AC,

Terrific write-up with exceptional photography! Keep us posted with any new details. You kept me glued to the 'puter for quite a while!! I've been off line for quite a while and do already have the parts ... just waiting for the final decision. I ride mostly some rather knarly off rode stuff and am mostly concerned for too much power .... like I had with my former DRZ-400S.

 

Well, I wouldn't say there's TOO much power, but a lot more low end grunt which will be perfect in the woods where I ride.

 

yah - that's the best thing.. All the low end torque.. Reminds me of driving a big block V8

 

Thanks guys. As you all know, rolling that throttle over for a measured increase of power is a safety issue when climbing that rock strewn twisting goat track up an unfamiliar mountain ride.

Thanks for the quick reply!!

 

army, wanted to say a word of thanks for your excellent write-up. My friend and I just finished installing my 351 and we used your write-up as a step-by-step checklist.

I have two small suggestions/areas where we chose to do it differently:

• We removed the spark plug before turning the motor over to TDC. Your photo shows that you left the plug in.
• We also turned the motor over to TDC BEFORE removing the primary and secondary cam tain tensioners. My friend said this was the "proper way" to get the accurate timing read.
• I know you compressed the rings by hand. We didn't like that, so we tried to use a piston ring compressor tool. But that damn thing didn't work so we just did what you did.

Overall, thanks so much for taking the time to help out everyone else.