So, I was reading up on the RD-LC and RZ's a bit which led me into looking at how various engine changes worked.
I noticed something peculiar on the RZ and compared it to the RD 350. The right side cover bolt pattern looks really similar. I know its basically a banshee motor. But, does the side cover on the RZ and the RD just about swap together? I've read a bit about crazy mods done to these bikes, and liquid cooling is out there as one of the cooler ideas. The question for me would be, how to drive the water pump and oil pump off the RD crank without going too crazy. :umm:
Just a thought lol.
it can and has been done, there is fab work involved. however, the rz/lc has a longer crank to accommodate the water pump. an LC crank will fit in an aircooled case, rz will not. ;) aircooled crank is a no go as its lacking the water pump drive.
its pretty involved but -could- be done
Side covers are a slightly different shape and have a different number of screw depending on the year of your crankcases. A small amount of Devcon or JB weld in the right places should be enough to seal the side cover gasket. That leaves two issues - water pipes and pump drive.
You need a longer crank nose and it may be possible to swap in a Banshee crank end for a 54mm crank.
Banshee top ends don't fit RD cases but LC top ends do. Banshee cranks are wider and require some machining to make them fit. RZ and Banshee transmissions are wider than RD air cooled and don't fit and Banshee trans has horrible ratios to boot.
The other possibility is adding a water pump to a slight modified R5/RD side cover. I used a TZ water pump on a 6mm adapter plate in place of the oil pump and used an RZ water pump gear IIRC. Those adapters were quite common for Kart racing a few years ago and I got mine with a Kart motor deal some years ago.
For an air cooled motor using a Banshee lock up clutch, it's simpler. Same JB weld to keep the oil in and a couple of blanks to block the water passages in the cover.
Some RD/TZ cases have a screw mount at the front and some don't. Some have an untapped boss that needs to be drilled and tapped. Check the side cover and crankcases to see how well yours match.
Why not just use an inline electric pump? That way you can retain the oil pump if you want to and use all RD stuff with an LC top end?
^ yup.
last 2 i did, one was elec one was a tz pump, and i had the rz cover sitting right there, wasn't worth it to me. :twocents:
An inline pump ha? Seems like a good idea. Curious how it would control at speed? But if is anything like my PC, the water pump can be cranked up high and left alone at speed.
does fine no issues.
Use a thermo switch. They are used on most watercooled bikes to turn on the fan, but wire it to turn on the pump.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Electric-Secondary-Auxiliary-Water-Pump-Direct-Fit-for-Volkswagen-Audi-New/371814248591?fits=Make%3AAudi&hash=item5691db308f:g:DdMAAOSwfCZdHQax
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Auxiliary-Cooling-Water-Pump-Fit-For-AUDI-A3-VW-Jetta-Golf-Passat-1K0965561J/333407478657?fits=Make%3AAudi&hash=item4da0a26381:g:fGEAAOSwN4Bd103l
Are examples of what's out there. Or get one plus controller from Davis-Craig.
Quote from: m in sc on March 20, 2020, 04:31:54 PM
does fine no issues.
Shit, I KNEW it was a bad idea to sell my TZ750 cylinders and head........Any idea what current draw those electric pumps have?
Illustrations for the cover options, Banshee clutch cover on RD350 cases:
(https://i.postimg.cc/4y57HsbH/E7-E61-F55-DC2-D-40-D1-A40-A-45-E6-FC5-F6-E3-A.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/XYXGXMZX/B0-E22-A46-708-D-4306-87-DD-09-C144-B9-A44-D.jpg)
LC clutch cover on RD350 cases, basically the same
(https://i.postimg.cc/bwFnRYXQ/FF8-F7-A96-2318-42-A3-A647-D0-A061121-E64.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/nVYQPGbV/2-B26148-C-1-A7-F-4-F89-911-B-256219563996.jpg)
no switch needed, they come up to temp fast enough. its a bit under an amp. the electric pump one I built was on s stock charging system with the fird voltage regulator. ran the pump, 35w halogen headlight, AND an allison ignition, zero problems. new owner has had it... 4 or 5 years? still doing well he hasn't had an issue either. .02
So the standard LC top end will fit aircooled cases but the RZ with YPVS will not correct? RZ top ends are pretty available but the LC... not so much. Good food for thought though. Its also safe to assume you could use a few different styles of radiator as long as the cooling surface is at or better than what the LC had right?
^^^^^^correct^^^^^^^
i used an rz radiator on one with an lc topend, it was fine but the aftermarket lc radiators on ebay are dirt chap and work really, really well, and, in my opinion, easier to mount AND have the radiator cap integrated.
Quote from: Striker1423 on March 21, 2020, 11:10:08 AM
So the standard LC top end will fit aircooled cases but the RZ with YPVS will not correct? RZ top ends are pretty available but the LC... not so much. Good food for thought though. Its also safe to assume you could use a few different styles of radiator as long as the cooling surface is at or better than what the LC had right?
Yup.
LC was only made '81-'82, so really not a lot of units out there compared to the aircooled, RZ and Banshee.
Good thing is, RZ powered/LC chassis hybrids are very popular in the UK and Japan, so top ends are out there, just expensive, and not many here in the States.
Aftermarket rad is easy. China made aftermarket aluminum LC350 rads are available on Ebay for like $50 shipped and have the hoses in the right places. Hose kits are cheap too.
Finding cyls is the hard part, but not that hard. There are still tons of LC's up in Canada. Just gotta start shaking the trees and see what falls out.
Here's some parts for sale: https://www.rzrd500.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=16383
(https://i.ibb.co/bdzbB08/D47-DB95-D-7-DA0-4208-B497-D9-B50-DC17-FFF.jpg)
Hey, an LC top end is going for 400 bucks CAD on a second oversize on that forum. That's just as much as a what a good AC 350 top end goes for in USD. Wow. That's actually not too bad.