Help with intake boots

smoskal

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Hello. Thanks for the site. I have a '79 xs400. I bought it last summer and runs great. However, this spring, the inatke boots (a littel cracked last year) are now puffing out air. The cracks have obviously broken all the way through.

Hs anyone had any success repairing these? I read on another blog to try "amazing plumber's goop." I bought some and I am ready to start taking apart. Before I do, I am wondering if I am wasting my time and if I can expect any surprises. Do I need to protect anything (motor) when I take them off? I am a novice at this and just want to have an idea of what I am getting myself into.

Thanks.
 
i had the same problem last year i used a high heat epoxy around the outside of the boot... prob not the safest way to do things or the cleanest but it has been effective so far..good luck
 
That's what I'll do. Thanks.

By the way, I was looking at the pictures. How did you get the aluminum to shine?! I heard that it was very tough to get the shine back.
 
I tried to repair mine, but after removing and reinstalling the carbs many times I was not happy with how it was holding up. For reliability and ease of troubleshooting lean conditions I simply bought new ones. Partsnmore.com has some for like 35 + shipping and you can avoid ebay.
 
ebay is not all that bad to buy stuff last fall i got a set of nos yamaha intake boots for $25 and that was with shipping! You just have to keep your eyes out for good deals.
 
I love paypal best thing ever I use it all of the time to buy and sell stuff.
 
...By the way, I was looking at the pictures. How did you get the aluminum to shine?! I heard that it was very tough to get the shine back.

Wet 600 sandpaper, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and aluminum polish....and elbow grease. If you have a Dremel (for small stuff) or a buffing wheel of some sort, red rouge works pretty well for the last step. However, if the aluminum is dull, I don't see a way around all the wet sanding. I ended up with a nice satin finish which I really like. I stopped at 1000 grit before polishing. Go to the 2000 and polish more, you get the "mirror" finish. Some pics for inspiration:

Before:
rightbefore.jpg


After:
rightafter.jpg


After:
xs3v.jpg


Since that last pic was taken, I have replaced the seat cover with an OEM look one. I have also lowered the front 3/4" and, most recently, put lower "superbike" handlbars on it.
 
I say give it a shot. If your aluminum is better than mine, maybe. I used flitz after the sanding and it worked well.
 
Get some 4" wide heat shrink. Cut it to length 1" longer than your boot on either end. Remove the 0 ring. Punch a hole for the valve stem in the heat shrink. Put the heat shrink around the boot, place in the oven at 160 degrees and bake until the shrink wrap is tight around the boot. Remove, let cool and trim off the excess, be careful not to score the boot. Next, get black tool dip. Coat the inside of the boot with a thin layer and allow to dry completely. Once this is done, replace the 0 ring with a new one and reinstall.
to see how its done. My mechanic told me about the tool dip and that its the best as its extremely heat resistant once dry.
 
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