Rebuilding my 748RS
 

Story so far:

My 748RS did a big end at Gaudix in Feb 2008.

The bike - minus engine - was shipped to Aus in June 2008.

I had the engine rebuilt with extras in Summer 2008, shipped to Aus in October 2008.

So 12 months later, I have now just got around to putting it all together.

I have two boxes of bits, a manual, no idea what I am doing (never done it before) and over the next four days of holidays plan to put it all together!

What's the worst that could happen?

I shall post some pics, and maybe ask some questions as I go.

Looking forward to it!

Its great fun Chris, done it with my first 620.

Its a great learning curve building the bike and you only have yourself to blame if things like the starter dont work, lol.

Andy

cant wait for pics........

What could possibly go wrong???


;)

That's a massive undertaking mate, best pay my flight buy a case of beer & watch me do it;)

End of day 1 Results with photos....
 

Starting from here:












Extra points for guessing the car in mid restoration....


End of day 1:














Problems:

New crankcases - engine mounting bolts dont fit, had to drill them out to 12mm, pain in the arse!

Heavy engines!! FFS!

Missing box of bolts....???? 18 months ago I put them somewhere? In one of 135 boxes. Damn it! I will have a shopping list for Adelaide Ducati tommorow.

But, all good!

It will rise again....

Standby Chaz.....I'm having trouble getting the beer:lol:

A nice shiraz be ok?

Shiraz will be fine:) all looking good Chris apart from that blue wheel you still have:rolleye:

Is that a kangaroo skin on the back of the chair:D:

Don't you scratch that Pinarello!!

FFS Chris, get yourself a nice set of Samco hoses on that bad boy!

Yep, thats todays job.

Bottom of pics..near front wheel, fresh in the bag.

Nice :D

Keep going with the pics, might inspire me enough to pull mine apart and give it a damn good clean!

Ok, I didn't get it done yet.

My coolant system is non std, so Samcos don't fit yet.

I broke two brackets, not using a torque wrench, damn...

Just need to remove wheels for repainting (no more red/blue), change sprockets, chain, etc.

It may just be fired up this week!

Long time since coasting to a halt at Guadix.

More pics to come.

It's ok Chris, you are well in front of me, I did the 'coasting to a halt'-in Almeria not Gaudix back in Easter 2006. Still haven't put the Saturno engine back together yet..................she will be ready for next year though-probably.

John

Looks good Chris, nice bike you have there. I have actually seen a brand new 0 km one a few weeks ago. A bit dusty but still... nice bike and has everything you might want from a proper race bike.
Keep us updated.

Hi Chris,
Whats the make and spec of the dash?
Great pictures etc, looks a great garage. Keep us up to date, recon your a dab hand at this stuff.

Regards,
Jonathan

Alfa Giulia Spider?

Genuine 748RS mate.

Nearly correct! 1962 Giulietta model...resurrected from a barn, was in horrible condition. My father's work in progress, Ducati red though!

Lucky to be able to work in the garage, 8 car size, my dad has 2 Alfa spiders, this one and a '75 2000, he is great at tinkering, and I am rubbish! He has all the tools too!

It runs, it runs....oh yes! ran it up to temp, sounds and looks good!

All back together, a couple of issues, was a non starter at first. Have always used a slave battery to give it some oomphh, but it was no go!

Checked everything, then realised the coils were connected to the wrong cylinders...oops. Quick change, then it started on the button.

Couple of things to get, oil pressure blanking screw/plate, bolt for rear brake caliper, some extra blue samco hoses, new battery maybe, new tyres, repaint the wheels, check all connections, etc....

Then get it on the dyno or track to do the running in process.

I'll post some pics.

Standard Marelli dash, as it came out of the box!

Nice one.

Break it in HARD?
 

Yep got that, nice article...any opinions or views.

I'd appreciate anyone's comments on this, is it good in theory, as long as its not my engine, or does it make good sense?

My engine is NEW, crank, crankcases, shells, rods, pistons, barrels.

Never run an engine in ever, some years ago me & a mate bought a pair of YZF 750s he ran his in by the book I thrashed the nuts out of mine:eek: mine was always quicker than his only kept it 2 years 4000mls so don't know if it lasted.

We then bought 748s same thing only his blew up at 1200 mls.

I had my engine rebuilt and took delivery in May 2009. The tuner said, he once talked to a guy at Cosworth racing and asked him about engine running in. The guy said "if we got lots of time... 3 laps.". There you go.
I did that to mine and it´s running really good :)