Zilla rebuild-bad news

[ChuckZilla]

Even if you do go with new cases you still need to have the crank bosses sleeved because that's the main problem with the Zilla. Tudor did a friend of mine's and cracked his case while pressing the bearing in but had it welded before giving it back, he's got 20-40 hrs on the motor and all seems well. Tudor also did my cases, I've got about the same amount of time on my bike with the same results.
Good luck.

[Banshee]

True it would be good to get the inserts but it is not neccesary on brand new cases. You figure most zilla motors have lasted atleast 10 years without having it done. It is only after the cases are old and used and rebuilt over and over again that it looses up and ruins the cases. Brand new cases would be like jumping back to 1987 your not going to have any issues for years. The case inserts are for not having to buy new cases, however he has a couple cracks and the cost to get everything done would almost equal the cost of new cases.

Seems like Tudors has a problem with cracking cases. I have heard other horror stores with never getting parts back and bad work on motors.

The case inserts are good to do but not needed on brand new cases.

[zillaguy89]

Good points guys...thanks. The more I think about it and the more I hear, the more I keep leaning toward just shelling out the money for new ones.

[Banshee]

Thats what I would do. I hate doing bandaid work rather just do it right the first time. Not that the case inserts don't work they do but having to do that plus the cracks I think your case inserts have seen the end of there life.

[zillaguy89]

Yeah, and the cracks are in the crankcase itself, the part of the case that goes around the crankshaft weights, right off of the joint between the 2 case halves. I'm having trust issues with that. I'd like to keep the possibillity of an air leak t a minimum since zillas have issues with that to start with

[Zilladude]

DT, I may have an extra set of cases that are in good condition. They are being shipped to me soon. I will let you know when I get them & I will send some pics to you if you're interested. I got a complete motor & I only needed the cylinder & trans.

[sparkzilla]

DT sorry to hear that.. But it will be all worth it when u get it done.

[flotek]

Originally Posted by sparkzilla

DT sorry to hear that.. But it will be all worth it when u get it done.

sparkys right ! look at it this way dt ,even though youve had probably the absolute worst luck of an atv trade ive ever heard of youll have a anew 2005 zilla
with new internals and should be good to go for a very long time ! when its all said and done youll have a great understanding of the internal workings of your motor
the better a guy knows his bike the better he can make it perform and save himself alot of trouble and $$$.your z400 might be more reliable but was it as exhilerating?
did you get off of it with 2 foot longer arms after a fast paced ride ? in the end the reward will be smoking all the stoolpushers with there 450 this and overhead cam that ! hey while you got her off ,get that flywheel cut for faster revs!

[370banshee]

Originally Posted by Banshee

OK here is what you really have to weight out. To get both cases machined and inserts done your looking at $170 a case so total $340. Then your looking at getting aluminum welded and your tolking good money for an aluminum welder. I really don't have a guess at what it would cost but lets say $150 just for shits and giggles. So now your about $500 into old beat up cases. You can buy new from Flattrack for $650 its only $150 more and if you think the cases in the zilla have held up for many years and they are just getting old and fatigued. My money is on new cases.

As for buying another motor it is a good option but your still buying into 18 year old cases and cylinder. Anything that old is bound to have issues.

The idea of putting a KX500 or CR500 motor in it is a good idea but it won't really be a Zilla at that point. It would be like a bastard child. Don't get me wrong I like the idea of swaping motors around but if you want a zilla stick with the motor you got.

I am thinking of getting a CR500 or KX500 and putting the motor in the ATC frame. However we are only going to use it as a dragster so vibration is not a big deal.

teh sprocket on a 83 R are on teh right side while the sprockets on a kx or cr 500 are on the left.

[370banshee]

he doesn't need faster revs quite yet