Engine swap

[raige]

Hi guys.. My name is Jamie, brand new here,I just bought a
1982 xs400sj heritage for 200$ and am planning on hardtailing
it, my question is I also found a 1980 xs400 frame that I could basically
just chop that up and move my engine from the 82 over..
Is that possible? I'm not quite sure of the vin number of the 80
It would make things a lot easier if I could just hardtail the 80
and move the motor

 

[hardtailed77]

Should work, but wait to hear from someone with a little more experience with the Heritage. I'm pretty sure they are both SOHC engines, so it shouldn't be much to swap frames. Post up some pics of what you're working with, and we can definitely tell you if it's feasible.

Also, for the hartail.....contact Travis (member here and also site owner) to check out his kit. You won't beat it for the money!

 

[hmusket]

^+1 A couple pics from Yamaha parts site. Left 1980 400SG Right 1982 400SJ The only thing thats hard to tell is mounting measurements. But you should be able to compare that between the frames you have.

 

[hardtailed77]

Man, after looking at the frames pictured above, the mounts are a lot more different than I would have thought. I figured it would be a direct swap really, just thought the Heritage was mainly styling changes only.

Post up a couple pics of both frames if you can....I'm intrigued to see if it's possible.

 

[raige]

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated.. I am just going to pick up the 80 frame and chop it up for a trial run so to speak, for the price of the frame it's worth it to me to butcher it instead of my 82 just in case a few mistakes are made ;-).. If the guy still has it.. I will post pictures as it comes along, I am far from a mechanic and fabricator..

 

[hmusket]

I went back to the site to look at the crankcases, they look identical. So I'm thinking it might be minor positioning differences, but everything would bolt on the same.

 

[raige]

Sweet, you guys are awesome.. I can see that I will be staying at this site for a long time, to pick the brains of you all.. LOL

 

[hardtailed77]

hmusket - Wierd.....I wonder why the crankcase never changed, but the engine mounting did? Hmmm Still though, if the crankcases look identical, then it would just be a swap of engine mounting hardware, so it shouldn't be too hard of a swap.

raige - Do stick around.....there's tons of people here that do their best to help anyone and everyone. I've been here since the beginning and have never once seen a dispute on the forum between members. This is by far the best forum that I'm a member of, and I'm a member of a ton! lol

 

[drewpy]

its the front mounts that are different. they had them rubber mounted to quell the vibes!

the cases are the same throughout the range on SOHC, that's 250, 360 and 400!